This might be a silly question, but I hear people talking about manuals for the aircraft? Are these MSFS specific and if so where can we find them?
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Would really love these too, in game tooltips and tutorials can only go so far! Only have been able to find whatās available on the internet for some planesā¦
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Thereās no documentation that comes with MSFS. If you search around you can find anything from documentation that comes with add-ons for other games, or even the real-deal manual for certain aircraft.
For example I found the Flight Crew Operating Manual for the A318/A319/A320/A321. Itās a 4 part PDF. Part 1 by itself is 921 pagesā¦
I think best bet is to ask specific questions here and see if people can field them.
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You can search google with the next keywords:
āFlight Crew Operating Manualā
āPOHā (pilot operating handbook)
The first one use to work for big airliners, the latter works great for little planes like the Cessna 152/172 etc.
Ultimate tip: Use your keywords followed by filetype:pdf ! it will filter your results showing you only PDF links!:
Example: POH Cessna 172 filetype:pdf
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Thatāsā¦ odd. I can look up the PDFs, I suppose, sure. Iāll do that.
I donāt understand where theyāre coming from with this decision to not include this stuff though, considering how little information you get in-game too.
If the idea is that the sim is aimed at new players, casual players, etc (hence the focus on scenery and visuals), then shouldnāt there be more in-game docs, performance data, etc? More lessons? FS9 and FSX had more going on than this, didnāt it? I get that just dumping a PDF on someone is going to be a turn-off, thatās fair enough, but this doesnāt seem very well thought out either. The aircraft arenāt exactly study level, but thereās enough complexity there that a lot of newbies are going to be confused by the systems, if they start playing with them?
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I think itās as simple as - they ran out of time.
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Hard to RTFM it, when there is noneā¦but that being said, Iām somewhat familiar with the heavies in the sim so I can manage my way through it.
What I would really like is a manual on all the settings in the sim, especially on how the camera systems and setting up the controls.
Iāll date myself, but when I first got FS2 for the C64, that came with an amazing manual.
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yeah, I agree with you. We are so used to suffering I guess. Most of us enjoy reading 600pgs books with technical data. Sincerely I prefer youtube videos, there are lots of guys teaching all kind of stuff, how to fly VFR, IFR, how to use airliners, etc. You can find a friend to fly with, he/she can teach you too. Reality is that no in-game tutorial will teach you enough to make you a master of VFR or IFR, there is a lot to learn so investigation and self teaching use to be a must for us simmers. The very first time I jumped into an A10C in DCS for example, It took me 6 months to feel like I knew all the basics of flying. So I learned with a fighter plane instead of a simple Cessna 152, my bad.
If you are a beginner, I would recommend you to learn how to fly VFR first, using landmarks and learning the basics of the Cessna 152 for example. Then you can learn how to use a VOR, an ADF and such. Sadly it is a long process, but I learned to enjoy the journey.
This sim makes a lot of things a lot more easier for beginners in the sense that the sim is easier, the UI is a lot more friendly for example, at least in my opinion.
Anyways, it is a hard topic, there is a lot to learn for an in-game guided tutorial to help. And just wait for the harder planes to come, starting up an airliner? sure, it will take you like 2 hours the first time you try it. Its fun tho, but it requires a lot from you.
Also, check FSEconomy, I am not sure it that is already working in MSFS, but if that is, it adds a lot to the sim, it adds like a layer of role playing to the game. You pretend you have jobs to do, deliveries and such with a complex economy system behind.
To be honest, I think the days of user manuals that come with the software are pretty much over.
Flight Sim way back when (FS2/3/4) and such sims as ATP had great manuals and even maps!! For something like this I think the best way is for a software manual that covers how you do stuff in the sim like setup options etc. and then for the sim to accurately model real-work aircraft and systems and then point the user in the right direction on the net. It would be nigh on impossible to provide the user manuals for all the planes. Hoping that a software user manual is made available - but probably by then we will have it all figured out anyway!
Bring forward the Learning Center from FSX. That was a great resource for understanding the various aspects of FS and the planes and controls it had.
Expecting user to āGoogleā how to do stuff in your program is not a great user experience.
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Just wait till all the study level aircraft come outā¦PMDG, FSlabs, and Majestic
The Majestic Q400 was the most difficult plane I ever flew in FS, but also the most satisfying when I finally got it right.
The Q400 was great. I thought it was funny that jet pilot veterans found it so hard to fly, I didnāt really have any problems with it, but then I never flew jets soā¦ shrugs. Iām a turboprop kind of person, weāre weird.
I too would like a manual. Some way of knowing which key does what; how to check that the joystick etc is calibrated properly - even if it is working. The problem is that nowadays people cant read written material. Ive tried a few times to āflyā and on no occasion did my X-52 Pro work even though set as default. Its just bloody lazy not to provide even the basic documentation. Iām on the verge of uninstalling and trying to get a refund if only through my credit card. Utter waste of money