g3 review from an average pilot
 

i had g2, just got g3.. i want to learn 3d. As stated i'm an average pilot of about 1 years experience, trying to learn 3d.. heres a little backround- I fly a great planes at6 with a magnum 46, and a hot knife with a magnum 52 about twice a month, i've been practicing on sim about 3 times a week.
i loaded g3 on my computer (1.5g pentuim, nividia 4 mx440-se 64 mb, 512 ddr ram). I was getting error messages upon trying to play the sim, wasn't loading scenery. I then went to nividias websight and downloaded the latest driver, which was a huge download, now the sim works fine. I thought my computer would be marginal, but the sim works fine on midlevel settings.
What i think of the sim? I've only been on it for about 3 hours now, and thought a first impression review would be good. The graphics are amazing and the break apart is nice. I can now do elevators that i couldn't get g2 to do very well. A simple manuever which i had a problem with on g2. I havent gotten the yak to hover as good as the cap 232 on g2 but i know with some tweaking and practice, ill get it.. (Im still learning what adjustments effect the airplane and how). I fly the at6 for real, and in g2 it seems very realistic. I always had a hard time landing without bouncing on hte sim and for real.. NOw on g3 i can stick the landing everytime, and i don't know what to think about that, maybe theres a realism adjustment somewhere, but i've been all thru it and i havent seen it. After this post im going to read the manual cover to cover. The airplanes seem to fly faster in g3. And one simple annoyance i don't like, is that you cant tell when the airplane is actually on he ground. No shadow or anything.
Anyway, i hope that this long winded review helped somewhere decide whether to buy it or not, and whether thier computer can handle it. All in all i like the sim, and im sure itll get better when i learn how to use all the features.
brandon

RE: g3 review from an average pilot
 

Brandon:

Sounds good. Are you sure about the Shadow thing? G2 had shadows. Are you sure G3 doesn't have them, or is this something you turned off to make it run on your hardware?

Regards,
Lee

RE: g3 review from an average pilot
 

Shadows cast by the plane on the runway are removed when shadows are on, and shadow detail is set to low. Shadows are cast when plane is on runway with shadows on, and any setting above low is selected, at least @ 1280X1024 res @ 75Hz. refresh.

Charles

RE: g3 review from an average pilot
 

I've got the shadows turned all way to highest. But to compensate i had to turn down the terain percentages.. i still don't have a shadow on the ground.. i wonder if there is another setting im missing. my sun is at 90 degrees...
thanks for hte help.
brandon

RE: g3 review from an average pilot
 

r1derbike,
I've got the resolution set at 1280 32 bit. but im not about to set 75 mhz refresh..my only option is 60mhz

brandon

RE: g3 review from an average pilot
 

Brandon ,

First try on the Menu.....

Click:
-VIEW
-SHOW
then ALL Or check SHADOWS

OR

Go to Simulation on the Menu...
Click:
-SETTINGS
-GRAPHICS
-QUALITY
then look to the right of screen, make sure SHADOWS says YES

I have Shadows up the YinYag!:)

Hope this Helps..
-Jeff

RE: g3 review from an average pilot
 

jeff,
ya, i dunno whats going on.. graphics- shadows on.. view - shadows checked.. i have no shadows on the ground at all.. the plane itself goes bright and dark depending on position in the sky, but no shadows on the ground.
I can't register online either, comes up with an error, wrong websight or something. So im going to call them tomorow and ask about both problems..
thanks.

brandon

RE: g3 review from an average pilot
 

Brandon,

The G3 Server has been down for a week now.. there working on it..
I called them last Friday... Let me know what you come up with on the shadow stuff
All I can think of now is your Video Card might not be strong enough, 64 megs if pretty
low for G3 I think.. I am running a 128 meg on a G-Force 8X and I am even thinking of
Going to a 256.. Dunno yet.. But man oh man.. the Graphics are incredible! hope you get
this figured out soon.. This new G3 stuff and Graphics is like fixing the bugs , Just like we
ALL went through when we all got G2. As you keep turning everything UP AND UP to the
Highest Settings in G3 the more REAL it gets. Very Awesome..... BUT you need the Power
for it all to work right. un-less you turn stuff off. then it will look like the Old G2 does now.
Its kinda strange how when first turning on the G3 for the first time is that it looks so much
like G2.. I thought what the Heck? until you get everything maxed out its great.
Good luck.
-Jeff

RE: g3 review from an average pilot
 

you really need a high end video card to get the g3 to run right. there are 3 of us that got the g3 and not one of like it as much as the g2. hope this helps. toby:(

RE: g3 review from an average pilot
 

ok guys, i got it fixed.. just like half of the other people that bought g3, i had a weak video card... i upgraded to an fx 5600 (i would have bought an even better one, but im already on my wife's @#$% list for buying the sim..lol)
Shadows are there now.. detail is great... just for reference.. i've got most specs set to "high:" ("highest" being the best).. then i set terrain and tree to 50%. This still yields a decent frame rate. While there is still room to improve with a better video card, im happy with these settings.
As for not being able to register, this is a known problem that'll hopefully be straightend out soon... i still havent been able to find the "make custom color scheme button" tho,...
must be there somewhere.. anyway , thanks for the help.

brandon

RE: g3 review from an average pilot
 

Good on ya' elky66!

I just ordered the geforce 6800 GT, as I couldn't find an x800 pro or platinum in stock, worth the money (discounted).

Charles

RE: g3 review from an average pilot
 

good to hear r1der.. the sim is amazing with the upgrade..i've been following other forums and everyone is having problems with inferior video cards.. i can't wait for the rest of the updates..

brandon

RE: g3 review from an average pilot
 

Server is back on-line for Registering G3 ....TRY IT....;)
Also the G3 Multi-Player is now working..
Jeff

RE: g3 review from an average pilot
 

r1derbike, I also am looking at the geforce 6800 OR the Rad 9800 not sure what
on yet.. let me know what you think of the 6800 .
thanks
Jeff

RE: g3 review from an average pilot
 

Will do, Coug! Hopefully, it will be in by the end of the week.

Charles