horton`s hints for fsx - The PC Aviator Network

HORTON’S HINTS for FLIGHTsimX
BY DOUG HORTON
H
ere’s another collection of hints for FSX,
gathered from various sources, including
my own trials and discoveries in “flying”
the program. This installment urges upgrading
from FS2004 to FSX if you haven’t already done
so, featuring hints related to performance issues,
plus information about the fun and fantastic
missions in FSX.
Upgrading to FSX
I urge those still using FS2004 to upgrade to FSX, particularly
to enjoy the included missions, significantly improved scenery and
terrain, aircraft, and other improvements over FS2004. In my series
on benchmarking FSX, I’ve shown that upgrading your computer’s
operating system to Windows 7 will provide a surprising benefit.
Moving from Vista Home Premium 64-bit to Windows 7 Home
Premium 64-bit on two computers I use for benchmarking FSX with
Gary Dunne’s FSXMark07 method, I’ve enjoyed about 20% FSX
framerate improvement on one computer with a default installation of
FSX with Acceleration Pack and 35% on another computer with FSX,
Acceleration Pack, and many active add-ons. Both operating system
upgrades were accomplished with ease, including retention of all
programs, settings, and documents.
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Though FSX scenery is not photo-real in the sense of displaying
scenery directly from satellite photography, such as the MegaScenery
series and similar products, Microsoft has employed aerial imagery
and various databases to accurately display roads, rail lines, rivers,
lakes, and other features. FSX coordinated these simulator land class
elements with the real features to provide a convincing suggestion
of photo-reality. For example, there are golf course scenery textures
in FSX near locations where there are real golf courses, and there
are oval running tracks near locations where there are real sports
facilities. The best example I’ve found is shown by the accompanying
FSX image of scenery that depicts a real golf course I pass on my
way to Chicago Aurora Municipal Airport (KARR), which is seen in
the distance in the upper left. Compare this with a screenshot taken
from the same point in FS2004, and note also the distinct depiction
improvement in FSX of realistic farm fields compared to nondescript
“green stuff” textures in FS2004.
processing is enhanced. In addition to keystroke adjustment of traffic
density within FSX, UT2 has a keystroke option, which if used on
approach to airports with a heavy AI traffic and/or scenery load, will
temporarily clear AI traffic from the airport. You’ll need to be flying
on an IFR or VFR flight plan, so that FSX can determine at which
destination airport it should clear the traffic. As described in the
Ultimate Traffic 2 manual:
“If you are on a flight plan in FSX (under FSX ATC control) you
can clear the runways and approach momentarily to make room
for yourself. Just press CTRL + SHIFT + S all at once. UT2 will
reinject the traffic in a minute and the aircraft will not be permanently
removed, but just out of your way.”
FSX Missions
Another great reason to upgrade to FSX is the missions, whether
default or add-on. If you’re in the “my hardware isn’t good enough
to run FSX” category, you should be able to easily fly missions by
reducing display settings, such as AI traffic density. Although it
has been a few years since FSX was released I’m still hooked on
experiencing the default missions, as well as trying new add-on
missions provided by other users and developers. Look especially
for a collection of interesting freeware missions developed by Owen
Graham at www.FlightSim.com, some of which are based on real
historical flights.
FSX VIEW OF GOLF COURSE NEAR ITS REAL LOCATION EAST OF CHICAGO
AURORA (KARR) AIRPORT
AMAZING SCENERY FROM THE AMAZON TREK MISSION, WITH AIRCRAFT
REFLECTING FROM WATER
COMPARATIVE VIEW OF GOLF COURSE AREA IN FS2004
Here are some of the discoveries I’ve made that can make flying
missions much easier. One of the most important features is the
ability to save and resume flights during missions, particularly if you
experience problems. You don’t have to start from the beginning
again! The accompanying screenshot shows the Grumman Goose near
surprising scenery in the default Amazon Trek mission, which is one
of my favorites. Other favorites include Telluride Landing and Tokyo
Executive Transport.
I’ve also shown with standardized benchmark testing of FSX
that a few changes in display settings can lead to such very large
improvements in framerate performance that those with older
hardware can run FSX on their computers with a few simple
compromises in display settings. The amount of active AI traffic is
a very fertile area for improving performance, and because of the
potential benefits, I run Ultimate Traffic 2 (UT2) instead of default AI
aircraft traffic. UT2 injects traffic from outside FSX, so that parallel
Mission Rewards. If you check the “Enable changes in selected
Mission” box in the mission interface, no reward will be given
for completing the mission. Some in-game menus are disabled in
missions and the settings on those menus cannot be changed if you
want to receive rewards. Though you can’t change essential FSX
settings from within a mission, such as changing aircraft, weather,
realism, and crash detection without affecting reward eligibility, there
are many actions you can perform before and during missions. A few
examples follow.
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Captioning, Compass, and Pointer. If you enable mission
captioning, you’ll see text that corresponds to audio, or in some
cases, text without audio. This is selected by checking the “Show
captioning” box on the Settings – General screen. At the same time,
you can select the default display of mission compass and pointer.
The compass displays the distance to, elevation of, and name of the
next mission objective or point of interest. Regardless of whether you
select the default display of mission compass and pointer, you can
cycle through the compass and pointer with the U key.
NO REWARD WILL BE GIVEN IF YOU CHECK THE BOX TO ENABLE
MISSION CHANGES.
Mission Objective. In the lower portion of the mission compass,
you’ll find the current mission objective or point of interest. This
display will update as you work through all mission objectives, and
sometimes it will disappear and reappear at various points during the
mission. If left or right arrows appear on the objective line, you can
cycle the list of objectives with the K key, such as in Tutorial 3, which
involves flying the “Trike” to three balloons. In this training mission,
pressing the K key cycles the mission pointer among the balloons
and changes the mission objective text under the mission compass,
including changing the indication of distance and elevation.
Thermals. If you’re flying soaring missions, you may wish
to enable graphical representation of thermals before starting
the mission, by selecting on the FSX menu, Options, Settings,
Display, Weather tab, then select in the drop-down list for Thermal
visualization, the setting for either Natural or Schematic.
PRESSING THE K KEY CYCLES THE MISSION POINTER
AND MISSION OBJECTIVE.
FOR SOARING, YOU CAN SELECT NATURAL OR SCHEMATIC
VISUALIZATION OF THERMALS BEFORE STARTING A MISSION.
Map View. You can use the Map View during missions without
affecting reward eligibility, though it’s usually more realistic if you
don’t look at the map.
GPS Track. Many missions include a flight plan that is already
loaded into the applicable GPS instrument. You can pop up the GPS
and see where you are in relation to the track, though this may detract
from realism, depending on mission and aircraft type.
Autopilot. You can use the autopilot in missions, and for those
missions that I’ve flown with the autopilot, there was no reward
penalty. If you see a track on the GPS, you can use the autopilot to
follow the track, though again, this may detract from mission realism.
(SELECT MISSION CAPTIONING, COMPASS, AND POINTER ON THE
SETTINGS – GENERAL SCREEN.)
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Automated Saving of Interim Flights. This is important! You
can press the semicolon key to save flights during missions. You
can then resume these mission flights by checking the selection
box for “Show saved missions” on the Missions menu. Also, if
you’ve installed the registered version of Peter Dowson’s FSUIPC
4 for FSX and you’ve activated its Autosave feature, flights will
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be automatically and periodically saved during missions, though
they’ll only be available on the mission menu until the time they’re
overwritten by subsequent Autosaved flights. In the accompanying
screenshot, saved interim mission flights are shown on the mission
menu in blue. Whatever title you give the manually saved flight
appears above the related image, which is the forward view from
your aircraft at the time you saved the mission.
IF ENABLED, SAVED MISSIONS ARE DISPLAYED UNDER MISSION TITLES.
Kneeboard. In at least one mission, I was distracted and forgot
the last mission text and audio messages. No problem! Pop up the
kneeboard with an icon click on your panel or Shift+F10, and then
click the Messages icon to see a cumulative record of all mission text
and audio messages.
MISSION BRIEFINGS, DETAILS, AND CHARTS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE
KNEEBOARD.
Wondering how you’re progressing in achieving mission
objectives? This information is available on the kneeboard when
you click the Mission icon. The accompanying example is from my
favorite mission, Amazon Trek, in which you fly to several locations
in the default Grumman Goose. The mission includes unique scenery
animation, many other surprises, and it finishes with a significant
flying challenge. It’s best to save many interim mission flights!
POP UP THE KNEEBOARD AND CLICK MESSAGES TO DISPLAY A LOG OF
MISSION MESSAGES.
Clicking the kneeboard Briefing icon displays the current
mission briefing, including details and usually a chart image. This
is particularly important if you haven’t printed any of these mission
aids before flying the mission and need to review particulars. In the
accompanying image, I’ve clicked Mission on the kneeboard, scrolled
to show the briefing chart, and then I’ve dragged the kneeboard
vertically to show the area of interest on the chart.
CLICKING MISSION ON THE KNEEBOARD REVEALS THE STATUS OF
COMPLETING MISSION OBJECTIVES.
Enjoy one of the best features in FSX: fly the missions! 4
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