New to FS with no prior experience of gaming. Will be buying a Thrustmaster T.16000M HOTAS when it becomes available (from B&H preferrably). At the meantime, waiting for the xBox 360 controller to arrive soon.
What version of FS should I get? Is the Standard version good enough to get me busy for the next few months, or should I spend a little more for the Deluxe or even the higher version?
HI @TussalEmpress57.
There are two things for you to consider. Firstly, what store do you want to buy from:
Windows Store
Play on your computer, or on Xbox with Play Anywhere
In-marketplace purchases are charged against the credit card on your Microsoft account, meaning you can find your purchase history on your Microsoft Account Page
Does not require you to install a marketplace on your PC (assuming you have not removed the Windows Store App)
The Standard version is available on Game Pass for a small monthly fee. This subscription unlocks several other games including Halo MCC, Age of Empires, and many more
If you get the game through game-pass, you will be able to buy it outright later through the Windows Store at a discount.
Steam Store
Does not include Play Anywhere (If you want this you need to buy from the Windows Store)
In-marketplace purchases are charged against your Steam account. This can cause issues if you have a purchase problem as you may need to get support from Steam, or from Microsoft
The client download seems to be a bit more stable
Not as many game files are locked
Once you have chosen your platform, your next decision is what version you want.
Fundamentally, the only difference is the number of aircraft and bespoke airports the sim comes with. Each tier has five more of each than the other. It is possible in the future, that the higher tiers will get more freebies, but nothing has been announced to indicate that yet.
If you are wondering what extras each version comes with, the store page should include a full list. The one warning I would give you is to buy a premium version now if you are leaning that way. You get a significant discount if you buy a bundle of the Microsoft/Steam store. If you choose to upgrade later on, through the in-game marketplace you will pay quite a bit more.
Why bother purchasing the the most complete version?
I mean, you’ve already invested in controllers and those are more expensive…
What kinda machine are you going to ‘play’ FS2020 on?
I will be playing this on my computer. The following is the spec:
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Processor
ASRock B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Seagate Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (x2)
HP EX920 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Zotac GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6 GB Video Card
COUGAR MX330 Mid-Tower Case
EVGA - 600W ATX 12V/EPS 12V 80 Plus Power Supply - Black
Extra cooling fans (x3)
LG Internal SATA 24x DVD CD +/-R & RW DL Disc Burner Re-Writer Drive OEM Bulk
TP-Link TL-WN881ND PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter
I am using a 1920x1080 monitor hooked up to the graphic card with an HDML adapter.
I viewed some youTube video that flow over Hong Kong. But I don’t see it in any of the 3 versions. You know where is it?
@TussalEmpress57
That will do the job, but don’t expect topnotch behaviour in terms of performance and eye candy.
What I mean: I’m running the sim on a laptop with i7 , a 1650 Max-q , 12 GB RAM and 1TB SSD.
The sim runs pretty well but only in medium to high settings.
Ultra settings transform my screen into some kind of a slide show, especialy around densed area’s such as big airport.
Nothing to complain though, I know that my rig is somewhat limited.
About Hongkong: It is available in all versions but not listed as a so called ‘bespoke’ airport.
Be aware that the famous Kai tak airport does no longer exists IRL and thus, also not available in the sim.
Be prepared that you will also miss the vast majority of airforce bases, especialy in Europe.
The background reason for that is that ‘Bing maps’ blurres those area’s as a result of the long stopped cold war.
The main Hongkong airfield is now Lap Kok Airport.
Hope you’re having lot’s of fun with this amazing simulator
Happy flying 
I think I am a long way from being able to “enjoy” the flight. Honestly, all the terminology will overwhelm me for a long time to come.
I missed those flights that I took to Hong Kong landing in Kai Tak. Right before the landing, the plane would glide thru the Lion Rock Hill, then I would be looking into the apartments at eye level seeing families having dinner, and the clothes line out in their balconies. And I was young and could afford the travel as much.
@ TussalEmpress57
Don’t worry about the used terminlogy here…
After a while you’ll get familiar with it.
‘Bespoke’ in this case means that the developers put extra effort in modelling airports and sceneries on top of the ones generated from Bing Maps.
Such airports are a piece of art and beautifuly to see but also put a serious load on your machine…
About Hongkong Kai Tak: My brother flew there a lot, back in time, with a KLM 747… He loved it.
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