Note:
The Optima, (If it’s the aircraft I’m thinking of, looks like a cross between a helicopter and a low-wing trainer), is supposed to fly relatively slow, being designed as a military reconnaissance aircraft that ended up being re-purposed as a general-duty reconnaissance machine. (i.e. “eye-in-the-sky Wxxx Traffic Reporter” or police surveillance, etc.), where a competent pilot can fly it w/o needing a helicopter certification.
I have one and I think it’s totally boss! Great field-of-view too. (I’m primarily into sightseeing.)
Free flight
VATSIM / PilotEdge for ATC
Using third-party aircraft that I know work well in MSFS 2024
Using the TDS GTNXi which is very solid for navigation
Navigraph Unlimted subscription for navdata, charts and flight planning
Active Sky for weather
I only fly GA under VFR and IFR and it’s been peachy for me lately.
I am doing almost everything @SmotheryVase665 describes but I use BATC for IFR with GA aircraft like the C152/C172, G36 with Improvement Project mod, Longitude and C414 during daylight hours.
I have to admit I purchased the PMDG 737-600 during the recent sale, so am sometimes back to 2020 while waiting for its availability in 2024. I do like it when things work as expected.
Some days are very good, some are not so good. We may be waiting for awhile for SU1 but I’m guessing it will resolve quite a few issues.
I use BATC. It’s not perfect but the Devs are working hard and releasing changes frequently. They are a small, nimble organization with a pretty well-defined goal, so can react to changes and unforeseen issues quickly. But right now you can usually make it work pretty well.
And it is because of my luck, which is responsible for me experiencing the Navigraph-related issue I linked in the above post, that she is concerned some sort of aircraft-related failure, that no one else is going to experience, will happen to me.
And, unfortunately, given my luck she is probably right.
If I didn’t have bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.
ATC - mitigated by BATC default ATC turned OFF
AI Traffic - mitigated by BATC default AI traffic turned OFF
Nav - mitigated by Navigraph/Simbrief (although I do also use the default planner too)
Ground Ops - mitigated by GSX
FPS - mitigated by Lossless Scaling (same as with 2020)
Airliners - Fenix is fine, Ini’s airliners & A400M all usable, even the default 737Max is okish apart from a few glaring bugs, A380 works too
GA - Not tried that many, but I’m currently using th Cessna 404 and it works (apart from the GNS night lighting which affects all aircraft)
Helis - loads of VFR heli flights possible and fun to explore new environment
I usually in an evening do an airliner short hop and then a GA or heli VFR type thing. Finding streaming of airports to land in a bit torturous, so definitely choosing airports I have stored locally to land into otherwise blurry fields are what I end up landing into.
…and I’ve not been back into FS2020 yet, so some something is keeping me here. I suspect it’s the desire to find my way about, understand the issues and figure things out, coupled with the main reasons - better world to fly in (atmospherics eg starting at Lake Tahoe in walk around mode and first thing I hear is all the birds, I go for a walk and the snow makes a crunching sound under my feet), better lighting, huge choice of aircraft to go try out, and finally the much faster boot times which is a huge plus side.
It really breaks my heart to hear about all the effort, and all the difficulties, you’re having with the sim. And I agree, it’s inexcusable.
I really don’t know what to do. I feel so helpless, wishing there was some “magic bullet” setting(s) that I could offer you that would clear your angst away.
Maybe, just maybe, you and the wife need to spend two or three weeks on a sunny warm beach sipping those daiquiri’s I mentioned earlier?
Sometimes I get a bad case of the “Punt This!!” disease where I want to throw my robots or [insert name of project] against a wall, or take it out back and use it for target practice. That’s usually a sign that it’s time to plan a vacation away from the simulator/robots/projects and soak some rays on a warm beach enjoying the sea air.
Maybe by the time you get back, (and a few more updates have dropped), things might be better?
The kindness and thoughtfulness is truly appreciated.
What does get lost here is what isn’t being said.
When I am laser focused on trying to get 2024 working for me, I’m not talking about all the other aspects of life that I am also spending my time on – and those things are relatively positive. My big home renovation project is nearly done and the fruit of that effort (and spend!!) is being enjoyed here, immensely. There are so many other elements of my life that are going on that are like this. I have a very dynamic existence.
The other side of this is that if it was still Nov. 18 or earlier, I’d be flying 2020 with anticipation of 2024’s release, and none of this would be a bother. I still have the mental fortitude to approach my flight sim hobby with that attitude, and I do. I have been flying 2020 regularly. Looking over this forum, there isn’t really oxygen left in the room to talk about 2020, but it is still a very, very viable option that works extremely well for me. I have been having some great flights in 2020 and I’m enjoying the change to procedures by introducing BeyondATC to that experience.
Like I said earlier, I’m just stubborn and persistent. I feel like I should be able to overcome all the hardship I’m having with 2024, because apparently there are others that are finding success with it.
What is unfortunate is that I seem to run into issues that others aren’t. The Navigraph issue, for example. Sure, I could revert to the default AIRAC cycle, but that leaves using BeyondATC out of the picture (or opens it up to navdata conflicts if I stumble over a difference between the Navigraph and default data offerings, and with my luck, I will) and then I’m back to the #1 IFR issue I’m having with the default ATC – I can’t even file for IFR clearance from my home, uncontrolled airport.
To sum it all up, I have no problem walking away from 2024, again. It’s not that big of a deal for me. Yeah, I’ll feel like I’ve been defeated by it, which chafes, but I’ll live to fight again.
Are you sure you’re not a member of SQA Masochists of America? You sound a lot like me - tenacious as a lobster - and this is a target-rich environment.
When I get like you, (as I did when XP-12 first came out), I have to fall back to basics, stare at my belly-button and repeat my mantra:
“It’s only a simulator, only a simulator, only a simulator. . .”
That, and maybe an adult beverage - or a walk in the park with my granddaughters, usually helps bring my blood-pressure down to sub-stratospheric levels.
There’s also my robots, Charlie and Charlene, two GoPiGo-3 robots that also frustrate me, (but in different ways), so when one passion drives me bonkers, I can always flip-over to the other.
One of the things I always say to my friends over in the GoPiGo forums is this:
So, don’t stress[2]. Do what you can. Enjoy what you can. Life’s too short to get wigged-out over a game.
This reminds me of a joke I heard awhile back:
What do you get when you play a country song backwards?
You get your house back, your truck back, your wife back, your dog back. . .
A life-coach class I attended several years ago said this about stress:
“Stress is like YOU drinking poison and expecting SOMEONE ELSE to die.” It’s not worth it.
I am on a PC and have been flying since release and so far I have only had one CTD. I am flying just GA, mostly using the stock DA-62. It has a G1000 but is a nice easy plane to fly. I have not used career mode, photography mode, etc. I only fly in free flight. I use live weather. The only add on that I use is Track IR and SayIntentions. I fly a mix of VFR and IFR depending on what the live weather is. Although I see tons of bugs such as floating aircraft, rocks, huge dips in runway and taxiways at airports, etc. I have had success just flying. I have a pretty top of the line PC to include a 4090 and I have 1 gig fiber to my house so that may have some to do with it. I pretty much have all my settings maxed out, TAA and frame gen running. Good luck getting it sorted out. Flight simming can be one of the most rewarding and frustrating hobbies, often within the same flight. Releasing an alpha stage sim was a mistake by Microsoft/Asobo and we are left to deal with mess. It should have never been this way.
To your question, yes, it is working.
What do you have to do that you are not ?
You have to fly the Flyboy Rans S6S, the FSR Sting or TL-3000. No flight plan, no long flights because EFB and fuel adding are broken. Just short VFR flights. And shut down ATC. It is non-sense.
Fly above clouds (those by ActiveSky, they are more pleasant) so that you don’t have to look at the blurry ground.
And now, above the clouds of bugs and mediocrity, you can see the blue sky and true happiness.
I wish I’m so zen. More than often, I just shut down my PC and go do other things to stop being angry at MS/Asobo…
When you were handed MSFS2024, you were effectively given, diplomatically speaking, junk. I recall when I installed and began playing 2020, and it felt groundbreaking and fun. I am flying MSFS2024 regularly, as I bought top-of-line PC and peripherals prior to launch - but I have to say - as I am flying a Pilatus at 19,000 feet (because it cannot go higher without crashing) - this has been a terrible experience for many.
I really do not want this thread to turn into another of these.
That said, yes, I have clearly acknowledged the realities of this sim’s state in other, more appropriate, places. I’ve logged 55+ bugs. I have no illusions about the state of the sim – this thread wouldn’t even exist if it was working as it should be.
What I am trying to accomplish here is a means to pick the brains of those that are flying 2024 regularly with no real intention(s) of returning to 2020.
I am trying to be a lighthouse in the midst of this fog that is all the noise over 2024’s state.
I appreciate all the contributions here. At minimum, I love that this community reaches out to one another to find common ground and to help each other out – this is why I spend ridiculous amounts of my time here on this forum.
In short, yes, 2024 isn’t where it should be. Let’s keep this thread focused on how we can make the best of that regardless.
I’m having the same free flight issues the OP mentioned, plus several others. Scanning responses from people who are having success with 2024, I see common themes - dumbing down the game by avoiding complexities, such as ATC and IFR, and sticking to a small subset of functional aircraft. That’s a truly shameful outcome for this massively hyped 2024 version. The previous one had rough edges but it basically worked. Developers eliminated many of the intuitive and fun features of 2020 and focused on shiny new add-ons that don’t work.
Trying to take a product to the next level does not work if you totally destroy the foundation it was built on.
But as this ever-so-popular phrase is being uttered more and more around these parts, “It is what it is.”
We can rail against it, uninstall it (I’ve done so several times!), or we can try and make the best of it.
The latter is where I am right now.
As an aside, using Settings > General > Advanced Options > Package reorder tool I was able to move Navigraph’s AIRAC Cycle to load last and it looks like it has resolved my issues with it. IFR is looking closer to reality for me.
