The A2A Simulations Community

My take is this: it is stupid trying to design ANY software for future hardware that doesn't yet exist. Imagine NASA trying to design the Shuttle flight control system software for tomorrows not-yet-available hardware. You'd be in fantasy land if you thought they would.

It is the same with FSX.

I'm still flying Falcon 4.0 that was written using DX6.0 back in 1997. It was designed for THAT DAY'S hardware, not some hypothetical future design, and guess what - I still fly it. Even more incredibly, it runs stock out of the box on Win 7 x64.

DCS:BS and DCS:W are written for TODAY'S hardware (in fact, YESTERDAYS hardware as they use DX9), and guess what? I'll still be flying those in 10 years time.

I can't say the same for FSX, and in fact, had it not been for A2A and AccuSim, FSX would already be in the dustbin.

Best regards,
Robin.

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A2A/AccuSim. 'nuff said!

True that

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Thankfully the earlier debate is now over, but I wanted to add the thought that FSX itself runs fine on modern hardware; just not when you add many of the latest add-ons to it, each of which when taken alone can push a modest system quite hard!

If you were to take any game that could be modded, which is all FSX is in effect, and then several years later added mods that were all far more detailed than the base game, you'd likely find yourself in a similar situation. I realise add-ons are more commonly expected for FS than for most other game genres, which is something the developers would take into account, but when it was designed the level of the add-ons wasn't as high as it is now. A2A have certainly pushed the envelope more than I ever expected, as have other developers in other areas (such as scenery).

If I had a high-end machine like you guys (I wish!) and threw the number of complex add-ons at it that you do, I'd be neither surprised it didn't all run perfectly with near-full detail, nor disappointed. As it is, my 3-year-old, £600 PC is doing a sterling job, even if the autogen is lower than I'd like it to be, but I have to live with that else I'd have to make do with reading books or something. Ultimately we're all here to enjoy our hobby, no matter how we choose to balance detail against FPS. Searching for a few extra FPS is always something that's necessary with flight sims more so than any other type of game. I don't think that fact will change any time soon!

Martyn