Hi @moxiejeff
I’ve been using FCR - not tried the freeware ones to be fair. Ultimately it comes down to personal choice, but I have to say that FCR is really good and I’ve found it very reliable. It has a lot of features (which won’t appeal to all - there are a few I don’t use at all, just depends on personal circumstances). I did a big review here, albeit that was on the launch/first update version - since then the dev has added and improved it more.
One of the really hard things to do I think is to get the right data out of the sim and then played back into the sim in a smooth way, so that you don’t get stutters. I have to say that FCR is super smooth for me - but of course, with MSFS, ni guarantees.
The bits I like best:
- Unlimited recording - I did a 5+ hour flight the other day, the recording file was 1.4Gb, and I was able to watch it back, skip along parts, pause to take screenshots etc. I use it all the time on my round the world thread as now I can actually take of and land without having to constantly pause to take a screenshot. I record the flight and go back and do all that later
- Stop the replay and drop straight into the flight - that feature is awesome
- The two minute rewind is great - mess up a landing and you can just rewind
- You can change the weather/time of the replay if you want
- You can do cool things with “Play as AI” where you can fly along with your recording
- All the control surfaces move and in cockpit controls move too
Other features that you might like
- Record direct to video (I don’t use this as it creates a file type I can’t edit, so I just use nVidia video capture)
- Voice control
- Auto camera switch on replays
- You can add text at specific points of the replay
Big plus is thta the dev is keeping this up to date with monthly updates and is very responsive to suggestions. I’m trying to persuade him to improve the UI a bit to make it more intuitive at the moment!
I don’t think I’m seeing freeware with anything like these features (and I’m sure I missed some). I;m more than happy with picking this one (especially as I’ve seen a few bad reports about FS Playground), and not regretting buying over freeware. At 18 euros, it’s not the most expensive thing ever either