Keep It Coming!

With the FSX demo not even a week old I want to give a "shout out" to all the folks that have tried it and provided feedback on the various forums and to tell_fs@microsoft.com. Keep it up! Most of the problems reported are known but I've discovered a couple new issues that have warranted further investigation. (Of course, the more cynical of you might suggest we're just trying to get free beta testing services but in reality we look at forum and email reports about supposed bugs all the time.) I hope to spend some more time this week scanning the boards for any new issues and I'll try to post them here to save you the frustration. Carry on!

 

P.S. The problem with the ultralight control bar working in the oppostite direction has been fixed. Thanks!

Comments

• Anonymous
  August 14, 2006
  As you use our comments for improving the product, wouldn't it be reasonable (and a nice gesture) to provide a fix that unlocks the time limit. Don't we all deserve it for spending time helping ourselfs (of course) but also the team in finding faults.
  
  Mike
• Anonymous
  August 14, 2006
  The comment has been removed
• Anonymous
  August 14, 2006
  The comment has been removed
• Anonymous
  August 15, 2006
  Mike:
  
  3.2 P4 HT//2GB Ram//256MB GeForce 6800//250GB HD//1280x1024x32
  
  I'm spending a lot of time experimenting with different settings in all of the various graphics choices and seeing how much I can
  bump up the settings for my system before experiencing unacceptable frame rate hits and stutters. Just for experimenting
  purposes I've locked the FPS setting @ 16 (gives smooth flight and acceptable frame rate for this purpose for me).
  
  I'm a eye candy guy and love GA flying; so having full scenery density and autogen is a must for me. With that in mind, I've
  found the following sweet spot with the demo:
  
  Frame rate locked @ 16//1280x1024x32 res//AA on; Anisotrophic filtering//Scenery objects max//Autogen max//Detailed clouds
  @ 100 miles//Hi res textures checked//1m texture res//Terrain detail @ max//Mesh @ 38m//AI traffic, ships, planes, cars @
  mid-levels//Water @ shader 2.x low
  
  Just some of the feature settings of course but gives you an idea of what I'm getting on my system. Would love to set my water
  to shader 2.x mid because it improves water detail a significant amount with cloud reflections but when I do frame rate
  drops to 11-13 in detailed areas and becomes choppy & I don't want to sacrifice other visual settings for it; setting back to 2.x low frame rates are rock steady again.
  
  With the autogen fixes in place you announced the other day I'm wondering if I'd be able to bump up water to 2.x mid now;
  but I'll have to wait for final product to further experiment with settings.  With further code optimization I'm hopeful I'll be able
  to do that, so will watch for further news regarding bug fixes, etc.
  
  I realize this won't be possible with team time constraints but would love to see an updated demo with the autogen and other
  bug fixes ( and a second scenery area to do further tests as a downloadable "add on" for the demo would also be great! ; )  ).
  
  Bugs I've noticed and found have already been listed so won't repeat them.
  
  Thanks for the demo, all of the information and hard work, and for contributing to making FSX what I can see will be the best version of FS yet!
  
  Keep the news coming!
• Anonymous
  August 15, 2006
  Rob expreseed exactly my thoughts. I love the demo and I understand perfectly that is just that. A little taste of what will come.
  Microsoft is making a good demo/beta policy on the lasts months. Office 2007, Windows Vista, FSX...
  Tnx for releasing them, and specially for FS demo.  
  
  Luke
  
  
• Anonymous
  August 15, 2006
  The comment has been removed
• Anonymous
  August 15, 2006
  Good to hear that you use our comments for something :-). Any chance of TFFJ getting a move to the north so that the hill and the beach are at the right ends of the runway? I've always wanted to see this fascinating airport done right.
• Anonymous
  August 16, 2006
  The comment has been removed
• Anonymous
  August 16, 2006
  P.S. ...forgot to mention my system, sorry for that:
  
  AMD Athlon64 3500+
  MSI K8N NEO4 (nVidia nForce4 Standard) 1 GHz FSB
  MSI GeForce NX6600GT 128Mb
  Kingston 1024Mb PC3200 RAM
  
  Ilya
• Anonymous
  August 16, 2006
  It sure takes the edge off of having to wait until October for FSX! Also alleviated my worries about whether my old FS2004 machine will run it in an acceptable manner until the DX10 video cards are out. I have also had fun in adjusting the sliders back and forth (one at a time!!) to get a "preview" of what it will be like with a good FSX hardware setup. Happy that my favorite FS2004 planes work well in addition to imported voice packs. Am still aprehensive as to whether SBuiler and AFCAD are going to continue working. I guess if they don't, I can always do the scenery design in FS2004 and then export it to FSX. Thanks for the demo!
  
  archtx
• Anonymous
  August 17, 2006

1. The reflections of the sun and the moon in the water seem to be the other way round.
   2) The root texture folder doesn't work the same as it does in Fs9.
   I have installed a RealAir plane in FsX and had to copy the textures in that folder to every single texture folder of the aircraft.
   3) The effects seem to be interpreted differently in Fs9 and FsX.  E.g. the navigation lights shine from the correct place on the RaelAir wings and a few feet away from those wings.

• Anonymous
  August 17, 2006
  Mike,
  
  Re the demo - is it intended to replicate the sound effect when viewing a/c externally in the final product?  In real life, whilst the sound does change a bit it doesn't change that much!  The main effect (at least with props) is an impression of changes to the throttle settings (up or down) when viewing the a/c from different angles - wierd and not necessarily very good on the ears.
  
  Regards,
  Chris