225: Will Prepar3D be My New Cup of Tea?

A big thanks to Mario Cote, James Long, Niko Grozdanov and Colin Moir, who shared with me their experiences with P3D while I was wondering over the last few days if I should turn to this new simulator platform.  But unfortunately, both pros and cons have their supportees.  Also, I found the more I researched, the more I was perplexed.

Since I always emphasize that our systems are in general unique from each other, trying the P3D on my own system seems to be the only way to find out whether it will be my new cup of tea.    If it is no good, I could join the FSX league again at anytime.

So, here are a few screen shots from my first flight under P3D with all settings slided to maximum.   My new i7 4700K computer is running at stock speed without overclocking and tweaks.

News: FSDevConf Recap

Did  you ever take the chance to join the FS Developer Conference (FSDevConf) on the weekend of 16th November?  If you missed it, you can watch the recorded presentations from the conference’s website here.

224: Turning Off the FIP – Black Friday

Due to various unexpected situations, the Turning Off the FIP series were stopped for over a month.   To compensate for the interruption, I have put the OFF Masks for the remaining RPM, Integrated Fuel Gauges, and even the new Turn Coordinator into a single RAR file on this Black Friday for existing users to download by clicking the image below.  The OFF masks for the earlier Altimeter, Vertical Indicator and Airspeed Indicator are also included.  Just put the files in corresponding folders will do.

Misc: Computer Broken Down Update #2

It’s really a mixed feeling if you ask me whether I like the new Windows 8.   Certainly it excels in many ways than Windows 7 but I did spend a lot of time to adapt to the new interface and operation flow.   Over the last few days,  I have reinstalled the OS three times so as to get the system setting up in the way that I want it to be, including minimizing non-flight simulation related software, composing backup and storage structures that best fit current and future needs, etc.

Now, I am at the crossroad wondering which direction to go.

The just launched P3D version 2 seems to to be quite promising and full of potential.  However, I’ve been using FSX for nearly a decade and all my set up, both hardware and software, was built around it.

Does it worth the effort to start over from scratch again?   I am bewitched, bothered and bewildered…

Misc: Computer Broken Down Update #1

After trying various methods for nearly two weeks, my computer still couldn’t be fixed.   There are strange intermittent software and hardware issues that I have no clues what causes them.

Since I’ve been talking about upgrading my computer for over a year,  now it seems that there are no more excuses to hold my purchase.  So I just ordered a new PC today.   It’s a DIY with ASUS Maximus VI Extreme motherboard, 4770K i7 CPU, 16GB RAM and MSI GTX 780 Lightning.

Yes, I’ve switched from AMD to Nvidia.

I’ll probably need another week or two to set up the new computer properly.   For those who are asking for the download links for my gauges and other utilities, sorry that you still have to wait a little while until those files are restored properly from my old computer.

Lastly, thanks to Mario, Aviascorp, Richard and Denny, who sent kind words to comfort my “troubled” mind during these computer broken down days.

Misc: Computer Broken Down

Hi All,

Please note that my computer has broken down these days.   Will not be able to response to comments and requests these days.

Tom

223: Useful Tips on Multiple FIP Usage

In addition to the stunning 18 FIP cockpit photos Andrew Crowhurst shared with us earlier, he also summarized his experience about setting up multiple FIPs as follows.   (BTW: some of you may have not noticed that the cockpit photos from Andrew posted yesterday have just been replaced by newer, higher resolution updates.)

Despite one of his recommended suggestions on how to link multiple hubs for FIPs which requires a little DIY technical knowledge and skill,  Andrew’s tips are pretty straightforward and should answer many questions FIP users generally have in mind.

1. Should I connect all my FIPs directly to my PC?

I found that

News: 18 going on 24 FIPs

How many FIPs (Flight Instrument Panels) can one add to a system? —  That’s a pretty common query among FIP users.

Andrew Crowhurst in New Zealand tells us that he has 18 FIPs and is planning to add 6 more.   Photos are added to the Cockpit Section.   Just can’t help to post a notam here.

Misc: Another Wet Compass Version

Dirk Reussner, who is also known as redi-ENT, just sent me his version of Wet Compass, which is a little more 3D-like.  He is so kind to share his work with us all.   You can directly download his compass version by clicking here.    Thank you Dirk.