Hi Guys

Still bothering myself with the decision to go FSX (up from FS9) or not. My three most favorite aircraft I already own in a combo FS9/FSX box, so that's sorted. I can get the Austrian Pro Scenery as upgrade for small money.

But, the major thing I can't get is the Austrian Airports addon. Which for some flights is not much of an issue (since even AAP2004 doesn't cover all my usual home bases) but for others might suck heartily.

Would someone be so kind and take three screenshots for me from stock FSX? Namely from the Graz, Zeltweg and Innsbruck Airfields. It would help a lot to see how good/bad they are in default.

Given that I'm upgrading my system in the next 10 days (GTX285 and AMD P2 965) and my current one already runs FS9 at max graphics, I really think it's time to shift for the newer sim, but I simple hate the idea of reverting back to bland runways with no taxiways or buildings. A lot of my flying is done from Zeltweg Air Base, and in all previous versions this was 100% #%&*$#.

I'll do it tonight but don't hold your breath!

Thanks, much appreciated. No hurry either, since my new system will not arrive this week, as I just learned.

BTW, is there a way to reduce FSX install size (for example deleting geographic regions you're not flying in)? At 15GB it would cost a sizeable chunk of my 128GB SSD, given that I'm mostly flying in Austria, Switzerland and Germany, but in any case within Europe.

Well, you could still try deleting some stuff, but it's quite of a lot of trial and error.

Then again, is the SSD your only HDD?

Yep, it will be. Right now my FS9 install comes in at 6.5GB fully loaded, and in total my OS, Apps, 10 Games, Digital Music and Pictures go to 65GB.

I'll do perfectly fine with a 128GB main drive, but I just don't want to carry unnecessary baggage. In FS2002 and earlier, I always during installation deselected everything but European terrain - an option I already missed with FS2004.

It wouldn't make much sense to put FSX on a slower drive either, since it does seem to actually benefit from quick load times. Would just be nice to get rid of 4 continents I don't intend to visit.

Hello!

I do own FSX, recently bought it and gave it a try, together with some addons I could get my hand on;

to make it short, forget FSX if you want to stay in Austria with the scenery, even when upgrading to Austria Professional!
VIE looks bad compared to the FlyTampa version and the other airports suck even more, compared to the real things;
I recently flew to Innsbruck in the pit of one of our new E190 jets and had the chance to view INN from angles not usually seen by most people if you are not flying yourself, and trust me, the FSX rendition looks like joke, compared to that experience;

so if you have a great running FS9 install and have the planes you love to fly and the old Austria Pro scenery and the Austrian Airports, forget FSX;

I have kept FSX of course because of other things, but I reinstalled my backed up FS9 install, just because in certain areas, it looks way better than the stock FSX scenery...

hope this helps
BL

Thanks BL, word from a fellow Austrian is the best advice in this case.

It's a shame since the Pat Suisse aerobatics addon really works best in FSX (the first thing so far) OTOH I would have to trade in the Captainsim C-130 (or buy the upgrade and look for Austrian Skin) which is nice in FS9.

Generally there are a few features I would love to have from FSX (better soaring, better weather reports, more flexible flight planning, helos with sling loads...) but whenever I do the math it just doesn't come out with a clean advantage over FS9.

your last sentence is the best description for the situation of FSX vs FS9;
I bought FSX because I had some bucks to spare and found a copy of the Gold Edition for 40 Euros, which is quite a good buy as it contains the Pro Edition and Acceleration pack;
also, a friend of mine loves the Tongass Fjords addon and the new Piper Cup and told me about how great a mission based bush flying experience in that area is;

I have to admit that my PC is nowhere near your specs and therefor, I could not crank up FSX to its real beauty, but nevertheless, the stock Austrian airports are just that, stock airports that vaguely look like the real ones, but really only vaguely;
while for example flying from Wr. Neustadt to Vienna Intl is a very nice experience using Austrian Airports and the FT rendition of VIE, in stock FSX its flying from a small concrete desert to a bigger one, even the unique Tower in VIE looks nowhere near the real one;

so as said, if you have a finely tuned great looking and great running FS9, I would not recommend, upgrading to FSX, it just does not look great and spectacular for flying around in Austria...

Saves me some money too

Besides, FS9 still brings me under 20 FPS with high-definition addon planes (cockpits) and over Vienna. It's just a matter of "I want to push some visual sliders further and can't anymore"...

BTW, and offtopic: Long ago you told me about Thirdwire and the excellent dogfight-feeling you got out of that one. Now with First Eagles and later SF2 Europe I also fell for that one. It's actually another argument in favor of FS9 - currently all my sims (also BoBII) look about the same level of image quality. If I had one which was prettier (FSX) knowing myself I'd lose enjoyment on the others.

Got stuck in the office, I'll do the screens tomorrow. Sorry.