So an addict? 
Pretty much!
Thanks, yes I have that one and it’s very good indeed. It flies well and I can launch and retrieve it from the MSFS version of my launching ramp at Rathmines.
The other one (FSX version by Aerosoft) was authentic, original 1940s in various forms, and it even included a working Sperry autopilot, vacuum powered and devoid of a single electronic component. I have the manual somewhere if anyone is interested.
Best not open THAT particular box or this thread will still be going when I am long dead and gone 
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Oh dear, this being a MS Forum, you are dangerously straying to the Dark Side
mentioning that 
If you want a quick litmus test, find a game on Steam that has been delayed, then see what the discussion topics are like. A prime example right now is System Shock. If those discussion were on here, most would have been locked, and warnings handed out, and rightly so.
It makes me sad for upcoming gamers, that they have to experience this.
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We live in an ‘entitled’ world nowadays where ‘wants’ have become confused with ‘needs’ and in a world where these so called needs have to be satisfied immediately regardless of effort, cost or thought for others.
This isn’t an age issue in my opinion but applies across the board equally to the young, middle aged or those approaching old age.
We need to get back to basics and discover what really matters. Everything else is just a diversion happy or otherwise.
For me flight sim is a happy diversion and not to be taken too seriously. Quite simply, good developers will get my money and bad developers won’t get repeat business. My aim here and with gaming in general is just to have fun. When it becomes too serious then surely we have missed the whole point? 
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Eh, upcoming gamers are probably so used to the negativity that they’ll just jump onto the Bandwagon anyways. I think for myself and others it’s really ‘hurting’ or affecting us more. There have always been hardcore gamers out there. Myself growing up in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, we still lived in a world where playing games was newish (in the way we know today) and our go to method of entertainment was either the T.V. or actually going outside and playing. Now with people or anyone being able to make a living through gaming through Twitch, YouTube, etc., people’s desire and need for being able to create content has never been greater. Humans get bored really easily, and so there’s a constant need for new content, ideas, games, to keep everyone glued to their screens or getting new subscribers.
This place being an online forum and no one really knowing anyone else on here, the vast majority of ‘tips’ or advice on here typically get ignored. But my advice, not that many youngsters (I know, a 31 year old said youngsters) probably read this thread, is that for people to A, realize this is just a game. B, unless you rely on MSFS to make $$ in some way (not counting developers) you CAN take a break. And C, going back to A, 99.99% of people probably have some type of responsibility they’re neglecting by becoming so wrapped up in this game. Whether that be family, friends, social life, work, or even one’s self. We’ve all done it. I mean, I’ve known people to lose their job and or relationship/marriage over gaming. Quite sad actually. Those people weren’t event making $$ either, just couldn’t walk away from the game.
What is different about MSFS is that we’re ‘lucky’ enough that if we want to ‘fix’ our issues, there’s nothing stopping us from taking flight lessons, booking a random flight to get the flying feel, or reaching out to someone who might be kind enough to take you up in a plane. Other games don’t have that option. If I could go outside and play GTA, I’d be dead or in prison. F1 racing, same as before. Can’t really go to space and Harry Potter only exists at Orlando Studios.
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That was a very good point. I decided months ago to uninstall (remove) the rest of the world from my flight sim. Now don’t get mad at me forum users. I can reinstall “the rest of the world” anytime I want to fly somewhere that has been removed. For now, I fly “mostly” in North America. I am fine with that until they get most of the bugs out and I upgrade my mediocre computer…
…
BUT… Here is what unexpectedly happened after removing most of the world.
My Flight Simulator Loads SO MUCH FASTER… I mean much faster… super happy.
…
When I get ready, I can load my favorite world area back… nothing lost but a whole lot gained !
Yup. Not only can you remove a bunch of the cached areas you don’t usually fly, because it all gets preloaded, you can also delete the unnecessary I don’t remember what you call it 60GB folder that doesn’t really make a difference if it’s there or not, just takes up space and impacts loading times. This thing:
Remove 60GB of offline mesh files to speed up flight loading times.
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I do believe to have touched on an issue that isnt solvable.
You see, most products tend to be aimed at a target market. Software is a product. GTA one can argue has a specific target market. So do other games.
But FS?
You call it a ‘Game’ and others will immediately argue with that saying no it is a Simulator and consequently pick up on every deviation from reality.
MS has cast its nets so far that they are marketing the SIM as both a Game and Simulator, different customer bases with different expectations, and not only that, they need to ensure the SIM runs on a fairly wide range of hardware specifications and two different platforms.
All these factors have different users behind them, MS/Asobo are trying to satisfy with a single product.
Add to that their laudable objective of ever developing and updating the SIM (for free) and you
realize that all this adds up to a set of Irreconcilable factors and differences.
So the conclusion can only be given these circumstances that the SIM will always represent a giant compromise. It has to, that will both leave people satisfied and dissatisfied at times.
Better for all to realize this. Makes for a more peaceful environment.
It aint never gonna be perfect folks, but I am happy as long as they keep trying.
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It’s a game that simulates flying. And it’s a simulator that allows the user to customize the way it’s played, sounds like a game to me. Simulators that have the ability to incorporate multiplayer like GTA, MSFS, and others are games at their core. You can market it either way you want but it does fall into the category of gaming. Now, people with home cockpits similar to what airlines use, those I would call simulators. For anyone else, it’s gaming.
exactly. Folks have build such things using this software. I have used a A320 cockpit once running this software. Same product. Different expectations and perceptions.
To you it is a Game. To others it is a Simulator.
Neither is right or wrong. So compromises and allowances will have to be made.
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Yep, everyone is right. It is definitely a Flight Simulation Game targeting the widest possible audience to achieve the most revenue for the developing company… And we all just love it…Happy Flying Everyone !
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Neither is right or wrong. So compromises and allowances will have to be made <
There is more good sense in this discussion that in any other 100 put together! Full marks to he /she w\ho started it.
I’v always regarded the various versions of Flight Simulator as very good games which simulate a simulator very well.
For those in doubt, do a google on “Flight Simulators”. Last time I did it, they started in price at $US 300,000.
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Great point. Even with additions like throttle quads, peddles, and even the Buttkicker to give some movement, you’re still sitting in a chair and staring at a screen. Now the one guy who built a literal F-18 cockpit in his home, that’s a simulator. Also these guys:
Anything else just accentuates the controls for the game.
First Aviation game I had was Gunship 2000… two cassette tapes, one for the game, the other for the missions. it could take 20 minutes to load and my mum would always tell me I’d been on that computer (spectrum) for half an hour already… she didn’t get that for the first 20 minutes I was adjusting the volume, bass and treble to try and get it to load. I see people talk about long load times and I grin to myself. MSFS is really good.
Nobody said the kids have to eat. 
I can think of a parallel:
I was born just after WWII and I grew up playing with my mates in the bomb-sites that were everywhere in South London.
I remember having a really good gun simulator - a wooden stick that I’d found. I never complained that it wasn’t realistic enough, I was just glad to have it.
Now, to me that stick was a simulator; to others (mainly my mum and dad) it was just a stick. So who was right, and who was wrong? The truth is, those two views aren’t mutually exclusive.
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Ha … Love the analogy . It brings back memories of when I was 4 or 5 years old. It’s very relevant to flight sim though.
‘Imagination’ can be a very fine thing.
So … yes , all of you were right from your own different perspectives (imo). My own cockpit is a table, a gaming chair and 3 PC screens. Just as it is in Real Life 
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