Confessions of a Flightsimer... (Tony's gonna love this)

[TSR2]

Well... yesterday was a bit of a red letter day, with the end of Ace's studios, I was rummaging arroung in the drawer that has all my flight sim CD's. I was remembering back to when we had that fantastic 18 months, A shiny new VC10, Trident with a boost engine, Rick was working on... lots of stuff always the way with Mr. P... I think it was the Argosy, Derek was working on the Dove, DG was doing the the Rapide I think, or he may have started the the Hunters, Garry... well... Garry was painting... hundreds of liveries, Comets, Viscounts, 1-11's, we had random nights a Llanbedr testing the latest and greatest, Sav was still around, There was the Shack in the wings, and things were good. We hadn't got the Horizon mesh yet, think it must have been arround 2004 - 2005. I met up with Henk in the dodgiest of hotels in Blackpool at the first UK Flight Sim Conference. There was a real buzz about the place. In the old days it was rare for a week to go by without some argument or other and tempers fraying on the forum. I remember Henk had an almost daily slot were he'd post links to various classic Brits he found on airliners.net. My personal life was utter shite, but somehow everything was ok when I sat down and logged on and when flying the latest incarnation with my chums, heading from Llandber to IOM and back to Brize... me flying manually wondering how the hell DB was doing such a lovely job of routing (he had FSNav lol). I remember when we spent about 4 hours on MSN at the time trying to pick a bloody domain name for when we moved the forum back to the UK.... you wouldn't believe how many permutations of CBFSIM one can come up with... that was a night alright Overthe years we've added forums to accomodate all the different rants lol... considering it started with only 2 from memory! Its like wading through a bloody encyclopedia now!

Anyway... while looking for my CD's.. I found I still had my old FS9 media, and in light of what happened yesterday, I thought I'd take a nostalgia trip. I installed FS9 :o Then I Installed the VFR stuff, Then the UK2000 scenery parts 1 - 8 , The the Aerosoft 146, Gibraltar, The Alpha TSR-2, Most importantly, The Dove, The Vangurad, The Meatbox and JP, 1-11 and trident... and the Mighty VC10...

And do you know what... when I fred it up... I was happy.

Let me make something clear... FSX is by far and away a better sim. The water is superb, AI boats... seriously, taking off from sydenham is dull without seeing the Norfolk line ferrys sailing over to Liverpool and the HSS going to Stranraer. For those of you who have the GenX stuff... my god thats incredible when you compair it to the ole VFR stuff... and theres no doubt the FSX Rapide, Beaufighter, Hunters and Hawk are absolutely miles ahead of what was possible in FS9.... BUT, I took G-ARTA off from Aldergrove, and for the first time in just over 2 years, I heard those conways.. properly. I saw the proper smoke. Yes I know she doesn't have a VC, but I really don't care.. for the first time in 2 years I had that silly grin on my face again... and it felt great.

[DaveB]

Welcome back to the 'Dull' side Ben :000:



Points fully taken on the bits about FSX you've mentioned. Few folk in their right mind can completely dismiss FSX as a load of cr@p because it's not but you get used to a comfort zone.. you look at the countless £'s you've spent then look at FSX and think.. hang on.. it's really not that bad afterall. Were I in a position as I was at my last pub with regular bonuses coming in.. a new motor every couple of years e t c.. I'd probably have cut the umbilical too but time comes when making do is the better option ;-)

Glad you're enjoying your wander back through yesteryear

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Kevin Farnell]

Ben, glad to hear that you enjoyed your FS9 ride. Whichever sim you (or anyone else) choose, may your face ache from 'that silly grin '.
I liked you nostalgic review of former CBFSim sites and readily confess to being involved in some of those arguments. Following the Aces closure, it looks like we may be in for a few tough years in flight sim.
We still have heated debates over FS9 or FSX, but really this is not important. Our strength lies in our community. And the strength of our community will determin the future of flight simulation.

Regards

Kevin

[tonymadge]

Ben, please do not post such a story whilst I am preparing the dogs breakfast...I was shocked and stunned so much so I sat down in the kitchen and re read your story, a tear came in to my eye and a lump in my throat..then I realised it was because I was eating doggy snap crackle and poop!

So good to hear you came to your senses and found the key to enjoyment again. I hope those horrid FSX thought monsters do not report you to the "I used to be happy police"

I have to agree FSX offers some great effects that maybe if they kept FS9 and incorporated this it would have been heaven.
Ok I have the bug and re installed FS2000 to make myself sick and remove the dog feast from my tum...

[ChrisHunt]

FS9? Seriously though I have thought more than once of taking a trip back to 2004/2005, particularly as I had VFR, all the UK airfields and various other bits and pieces that no longer work in FSX but... I gave everything to my brother as a prezzy! I may try to sneek it back when next in Lincoln. Despite the upcoming FSX, FS9 was a busy place back then and stable and performing well etc etc.

Nice trip down memory lane Ben.

Regards,
Chris

[Techy111]

I have to admit to something also...i been simming now since 1985 when i bought my first computer in the NAAFI that cost more than my months wages......since then its been a constant struggle for bigger and faster but even i have to admit that with some A/C that don't work in FSX that i re-loaded FS9 just so i can still fly them....

My desk now looks more like a collection from a museum with FS98 , FS2000 , FS2004 FSX Acceleration and all the various addons lying all over the place.....i have a AETI yoke , rudder pedals and a new pro flight panel but things are atill not right because my machine still isn't the biggest or fastest but i concede that FS9 now runs how the designers intended it too and maybe one day in the future FSX will....

Thanks to you guys for adding to our hobby and please.....keep it up....even the arguing....

Tony (not that Tony)..... :tab:

[DispatchDragon]

I keep recycling stuff

Just spent six hours reloading fs9 back on to my old PC so Tag can fly - I have CDs backed with scenery , aircraft etc etc that I have had since returning to the hobby in 2003 - amongst it I found some stuff I had forgotten - early Betas of the Argosy and the second incarnation of Rick 748 - DMs revived 1-11 and DGs Rapide and Hunter as well -- seems like a century ago when FS9 was new and bright and everyone was producing freeware like there was no tomorrow - oh yes and all night conversation's with Garry about why the Dan Air 748s had such a hodge podge of colour values in the early days - also remember Tony doing a
repaint of the Nord 262 in Dan colours for me - after being told by many that DA never flew them . Oh yes and a long written plea for a Britannia - only to be told Rick would NEVER build on -- never mind -- Garry is instead


Thanks for the mammries Ben


Leif

[speedbird591]

Brilliant dissertation, Ben! You should start a blog!

Please forgive me everbody, but Ben's 'mystical' experience has triggered me to share a few philosophical thoughts. You may think it's totally irrelevant to the FS/FSX thing, but I don't. . Sermon time!

Ben's actually touched on one of the main philosophical points of our time. What makes one happy? After following the almost unlimited paths of gurus, madmen and philosophers over many years, I've realised that the answer doesn't lie with anybody or anything else. It's inside every individual. (Ancient Japanese Zen saying: Don't seek to follow the masters, seek what they sought). The key is contentment.

You can be as rich as a Russian oligarch and own yachts and football clubs and although they might bring you gratuitious pleasure, that's not the same as contentment. Of course, we all want the best possible return from our hobby. We want to create a virtual world where we can fly what we want, where we want, in any virtual weather with a visual display as close to reality as technically possible. FSX has provided a step closer to that ambition but at a high cost. There's a physical cost - the thousands of pounds needed to buy PCs and components that will fully optimise the software and the time spent in earning the money to buy it. There is also the time spent in researching the latest hardware and the trial and error in installation and, because it is cutting edge technology, there are the problems of compatibility and reliability. All these things will be annoyances and frustrations which will be eroding the contentment one can get from simply flying FS aircraft. (HD Thoreau, US philosopher: Life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.)

I'm not immune to wanting the best FS experience and I wanted FSX to work for me. I could see the improvements and I also experienced the frustrations and realised the expense involved in optimising it for the aircraft I enjoy flying. But importantly, I could weigh up that the time and money spent on achieving those improvements wouldn't make me any more content. Using the mantra 'contentment' I knew that chasing that dragon wouldn't bring me any more pleasure than flying DM's aircraft in FS9, even though the visuals would be better. So I turned back and retained a reliable and solid hobby that requires very little maintenance and plenty of spare time to spend on other low-tech pastimes.

An advantage that we seniors have, is that we have trodden different paths and have tried different things that we hope will give us pleasure. Most are dead ends, which doesn't matter because we can then see what is most important to us. For example, I now know that a long walk in the country gives me more contentment than driving a fast sports car and reading a good novel gives me more contentment than watching an HD movie on a big telly. Not that those things are not pleasurable, but they are temporal, gratuitous pleasures compared to the real satisfaction I derive from simpler, quieter acivities.

The realisation has to come from within and with a genuine disregard to the critical observations of others. While you are young you have a natural energy and drive that urges you to search for the cutting edge and for perfection in all things. It's only as you gain more experience and that drive diminishes that you realise that perfection is unachievable. Once you have accepted that, it is easy to choose a lower, comfortable level that you know will bring you contentment and leave the frustration of chasing perfection to those who are better equipped.

Ben - two ways of looking at it. You are becoming mature. You are getting old. We'll save you an armchair in the retirement home

Ian

[Ben Hartmann]

........In the old days it was rare for a week to go by without some argument or other and tempers fraying on the forum...............

Rgds

Ben

[petermcleland]

:dance: