I still like the ThirdWire sims a lot, although nowadays I just fly WoE with the NATO addons;
concerning image quality, I still prefer a good simming experience over eye candy any day :)-thatīs why I still spend more time with IL-2 modded than any other sim;
the mods have breathed new life into a sim I would not touch anymore probably if those very mods would not have been brought to life.
so, even an old girl can look and feel great, if one knows how to tangle with her
and that is even more true for FS9

Tbag, it would be nice to see with my own eyes, but don't bother yourself unnecessarily as BL already drove home the point. Thanks for offering the help.

motivated by that discussion, I took the direct comparison yesterday night;
I took the MAAM Avenger from Wr Neustadt to Vienna Intl, using FS9, Austria Pro Scenery, Austrian Airports, UT Europe and GE, approaching from the South and taking the direct approach to RWY 34;
the result looks stunning on my PC;
the same route, taken in FSX using the Acceleration Mustang produced an enjoyable flight, but the scenery does not look anywhere near the above mentioned combination, even when using Austria Professional X and UT Europe;

afterwards, flying short hops with Tongass Fjords, the situation changed vastly with FS9 looking nice, but FSX blowing that experience out of the water any time;

it really depends on where you want to fly mainly it seems therefor;

for Austria, my initial statement still holds true, but for areas where there are dedicated FSX sceneries available, given your way better PC specs, the situation might really look much different

as soon as I have FRAPS up and running again, I might post some pictures to show the differences;

I think a factor is that FSX really does water well, and FS9 not really. So flying above dry Austrian scenery I'm not sure how much the improved GFX engine can offer (ground and grass is better down low, but not from any normal VFR alt). Flying Fords or tropical waters of Hawaii, you do notice.

Maybe I should spring the bucks for REX 2.0 when it's released on FS9.

You guys *do* realize that you're comparing apples with napalm here, right?

Expecting stock scenery to look better than addon scenery is just slightly more than i-n-s-a-n-e.

Besides, there's still this: http://secure.simmarket.com/aerosoft-austria-pro-x.phtml
or other products like Ultimate Terrain X (whuch is a must have).

For some missing aiport sceneries, there's always Gmax, Gimp and Airport Design Editor.

Ok I took a couple of pics.

Graz
[img:center][/img]
Zeltweg
[img:center][/img]
Zeltweg with higher settings
[img:center][/img]
Innsbruck
[img:center][/img]
Innsbruck with higher settings
[img:center][/img]

My rig is somewath poor for running FSX so its not the ultimate view but you get the picture.

Also there is photo scenery for Austria (80 cm resolution, night and winter textures, + autogen) in development right now. Especially in mountainous areas I've found orto scenery to be vastly superior to landclass rock textures.

http://www.friendlyflusi.at/index.php?pa...7f591c38a5a7133

Heretic, you did read what I have posted?

I do have Austria Pro for both (!!)-FS9 and FSX as well as Ultimate Terrain Europe!
the limiting factor here and this is what we were talking about, is the airport sceneries!

every flight has to start and end at an airport or airfield of sorts, and if these fields look dull, plain and lifeless, compared to what you know from the older version of a sim, things tend to get a little bit boring!
the scenery in FSX is very good, no discussion, but the stock airports are not great-and if you tend to fly in a certain geographic region, this can become a real show stopper, and for me it has.
so for flying around in Austria, and with certain aircraft that are not yet available for FSX, I will stay with FS9;

for other stuff, Tongass Fjords for example, or African Adventures, FSX will do the trick...

but view it as you want, FS9 can still be a serious competition to FSX in certain respects!

I'm too late I guess but since I already took this one I'll add it to the ones above:

I had FS9 for years, then saw FSX at Walmart with the expansion pack for only 39 dollars.
I flew it, and uninstalled FS9. I was that impressed! Haven't regretted it. Only the fact that I've spent way too much money on it! Every time I see a new plane come out, I want it.