FSX SP1a

[EHM-1001 Robert]

Hi mates,

although they have only 2 Service Packs, they are successfully confused me :s After installing SP1, do I need this SP1a package, or is this for developers only

Thx.

[EHM-1703 Philip]

I think SP1a is for the SDK so if you want to play with the mission creator or any of the advanced tools for aircraft and scenery in the SDK then I suggest you get it.

[EHM-1001 Robert]

Cool thx. Then I do not need it now

[EHM-0654 Murray]

Here's some news for all our FSX conspiracists (gotten from one of the FS Devs blogs a while ago, forgot to post at the time)...

We all know that FSX doesn't play well with current gen multi-core CPUs and/or SLI/Crossfire, and here's why; initial development on FSX started a whole year (near enough) *before* FS2004 shipped to end users. Since they (MS) had no way of knowing how PC hardware would develop, they took the path of least resistance and started from the core they already had - FS2004 (which also knows nothing of multi-processor or multi-GPU if you've never tried it). Four years down the road, multi-CPU and multi-GPU are becoming commonplace, but the guts of FSX are fixed in stone four years in the past, hence it's tough for them to fettle for multi-CPU/GPU. To make an FS that supports these things natively, they're now looking at a major re-code (think "start from scratch" and you'd be close) and as such, are less than keen. In fact, the GFX engine of FSX is almost unchanged from FS2004 (which is one of the biggest problems FSX has with multi-CPU/GPU hardware... the GFX engine is built as a single "pipeline" that's now pretty much impossible to fix)

You can also think along similar lines for Vista; it was supposed to be an XP killer, but was hobbled from the get go because they didn't have a firm grasp of how PC hardware would progress...

[EHM-2155 Mariano]

Heh wish me good luck then, im trying to run FSX over Vista on a dual core laptop. Ha. Ha.

Not funny, its painfully slow

[EHM-1703 Philip]

Well, I was one of the guys that went straight out and bought FSX and upgraded to a new PC.... Lucky??? Well yes but I wish I had waited a few months as I would have had an even faster Quad Core machine for the same price.... Anyway, I digress!!!!

I have FSX running on Vista with a Dual core CPU and with DX10 enabled and yes, it is not super fast, but it is certainly flyable. I am getting between 16 & 25 FPS depending on the traffc and scenery running.... I will say though.... It looks fantastic!!!!

These pictures have been resized so the resolution and beauty of FSX can not be fully seen, but I hope you get the idea from this. Notice the frame rates in the information at the top left....

FSX With Acceleration Pack and DX10 running.... Rocket Launch Carrier Mission...

On the deck ready to go.... Todays mission is to patrol the Cape Canaveral area during a Delta V Rocket launch.


After takeoff we circle round over the carrier before proceeding to the mission area, notice my leader "Guardian 1" up ahead.


A nice shot of the fantastic F/A 18 included with the MS Acceleration pack! I have always flown heavies but this baby has me converted!


"Guardian 2, Breaking left". I just got the order from my leader to break off and make a low patrol of the Kennedy space center while he maintains a high lookout!


Coming up on the bogey... Low and fast, there is a rogue Cessna in the launch area and it is my job to escort him down on to the Shuttle Landing Facility before they have to scrub the launch of the Delta V rocket. (Cessna can just be seen on the right of the picture about half way up whilst Guardian 1 maintains a high patrol overhead.)


The area is now clear so the Delta V launch can go ahead and we can get home for lunch!


Dinner is on the table so it's time to stir the pots and add some colour to the sky!!!


Okay, we are number 2 for landing, Guardian 1 is on short finals so it's time for Gear down and to extended the hook!


"Wire 2 trapped, the deck is red!" Down safe and sound, a little off to the right but not bad considering I have only been landing on moving runways for a day!!!!


"Engines off, the deck is green!" Let's go get that lunch!!!!!


Now we can slag MS off all we like but I tell you what, they should have kept the name "Adrenaline" for this expansion pack cause it got my heart racing and I like it a lot!!!! If you haven't got them already, start saving up for that quad core CPU and and an 8800GTX gfx card!!! I have nothing bad to say about FSX and DX10 but then again I am lucky enough to have a rig to handle it!

[EHM-1821 Javier]

I read on the FSPassengers forum that the words on the F/A-18 panel was tiny...now that i've seen it <- this is how i have to read them :]

could we get pictures of the other planes too?  i want to have a look at them inside and out before i think of getting it :]

[EHM-1617 Iain]

Very nice Phil! A question: will FSX utilise multiple graphics cards (SLI/xfire) if you have them? And no, I don't, and I'm not currently think of getting them.

[EHM-1703 Philip]

Iain, No Crossfire and SLI is not supported and the reason is, it is not needed. FSX (and FS9 for that matter) suffer from the problem that the CPU is bottlenecked not the GFX card. The thing that slows Flight Sim to a crawl is the positioning of Traffic, clouds, trees, buildings etc not the rendering and drawing of the objects so GFX card performance is no where near as much of an issue as CPU speed. I have heard that some people are getting the same results as me from far lesser graphics cards (ATI 2900 series and Nvidia 8600 etc) so I guess you could manage a system with a lower spec gfx card and spend the extra money on the processor if your system is purely for flight sim although of course if you want to play other games then your gfx card will be the bottleneck then!

Jav, I will post some more pictures later... I agree, the font on the VC of the F18 is small..... But it is a fighter jet..... Who wants to read your MFD's to see what your N1 is when you are engaging a bogey at Mach2.... That is what the HUD is for and that is perfectly readable! There is no 2D cockpit on the F18, there is however an expanded HUD when in 2D cockpit mode which is very nice!

[EHM-1821 Javier]

Originally posted by EHM-1703 Philip
Jav, I will post some more pictures later... I agree, the font on the VC of the F18 is small..... But it is a fighter jet..... Who wants to read your MFD's to see what your N1 is when you are engaging a bogey at Mach2....

true :]

[EHM-0654 Murray]

Just to make everyone (that didn't know already) aware, FSX SP2 is available for general download now (I got it from FSInsider).