Sims comparison: physics
 

Alright, I am going nuts here in my research for the best sim for me. I have narrowed my search down to:

- AFPD
- G4
- FSOne

(Reflex is out of my price range)

In order to help me narrow this down . . . can I get some HONEST and OBJECTIVE feedback to two question only:

1) How much was required of you (adjustments) to make your sim feel "very" realistic in regards to flight and ground handling, ie physics? My focus is on electric 3-D and glow sport models. From what I can tell FSOne and AFPD users claim the best physics out of the box, though FSOne has a great review stating it has "excellent physics".

2) Of all the packages (and available add ons), which will keep my interest the longest (variety of flight sites and planes seems part of that)? I see G4 includes all 5 add-ons for free. And where will I get the best support when I hit a hurdle in the road?

Bottom line is this . . . I want to practice on a sim so I improve at the flight field. The bells and whistles are on the back burner behind improving and having a "realistic" experience.

I know there are fanatics out there for each sim, but in speaking with a couple people they have been honest with me about their sim (though they LOVE it) . . . such as G3 required some tweaking to get the models to fly with correct physics. Catch my drift? I'm not interested in knocking other sims here just in learning what to expect when I purchase mine so I can improve as a pilot and be happy with my purchase.

Jeremy

RE: Sims comparison: physics
 

I have the GT8. Some people hates it becuase of reverb defualt setting from the factory.
All you have to do is adjust the world Equalizer or change reverb types on the factory's default setting.
The thing about the GT8 is...It's has perimeters up the wazoo. I spent a month just trying to
understand how to navigate it , through all of the menu or options. I still havn't use this processor to it's full
protential becuase of the freedom. It's insane compair to the stomper boxes I had. The stomper did the job
but I had to re set it everytime manully over and over again to achive dfferent sounds I wanted.
I only wrote 5 patches for the darn thing. It's a good thing there's
patches up the wazzo avaliable for down load.:) I'm set for another couple of years for my noise making fun.
$500 to get it out the door.lol The GT10 just came out.lol

The G4 is like that.:)

You can adjust the servo speed on top of the expos. Even gyro types and gain of the gyro.
I can adjust it to simulate my own real heli closer than the defualt settings.
Since I didn't spent boo koo bucks on my tail rotor servo, the tail drifts a little bit.
In other words it's not perfectly tuned. None of models are perfectly tuned. I try to dial them in as best I can.
I want a simulator to simulate my models...not someone else's models or inturputation of what a perticular
should fly like. We use different equipment, engines ,props, servos...ect

RE: Sims comparison: physics
 

I've had 3 different flight sims. I started out with an old version from Dale Brown. It wasn't bad, but it came with a controller that wasn't the best. I then went G2, it was a big improvement. When G3 came out they didn't offer any type of upgrade for previous owners, which I didn't appreciate. I was at a hobby show and saw AFPD being demonstrated and I bought it. I've been happy with it and that's the one I still use. I've only played with G3 and G4 for a few minutes and I think that they would be good also. A friend of mine had the version of FSOne that came with his P-51 and he didn't like it. He's still "barrowing" my version of G2.

I think that any of the ones that are available will be better than no sim at all. So get the best one that you can afford.

RE: Sims comparison: physics
 

I have only tried two sims FSOne and G3.5 and G4. FSOne has the physics and G4 has the entertainment. Either one is going to improve your abilities.

FSOne can be difficult to set up correctly and has no where near the plane inventory.
G4 will never fly as true/well as FSOne can.

G4 also requires an extrodinary computer to run on all high settings with complete water effects.
FSOne just dropped their price to $99 and is marginally questionable long term.

I was lucky on FSOne setup as I fly an Ultrafly ultimate and as soon as I scaled the plane correctly (turned out to be a 66" wingspan when actual is 33" off the top of my head) it was amazingly accurate. By that I mean that I scaled the plane until it flew like my ultimate. The real fun began when I went back to the real thing and I was able to Harrier land without thinking about it in front of a group and do some pretty cool semi rolling harriers. When I switch back to G4 it is too easy to fly compared to real life.

Did I mention that G4 graphics are insane on high settings.

FSOne is marginal with helicoptors.

Your choice- great computer game with better helicoptors or great plane simulator.

I have setup G4 on a true gaming machine and playability(graphics, multiplayer, water landings and plane choice) is hard to beat. If you are into computer games, focus on helicoptors and have a current top of the line Core 2 Duo machine with ATI 3870 or better graphic card, knock yourself out with G4. Otherwise, I would save the money and get the (IMO) better simulator- FSOne.

As a side note G4 responded performance wise to the video card (GPU) while FSOne was processor (CPU) driven for given frame rates.

RE: Sims comparison: physics
 

i've tried Aerofly and currently own realflight. Love realflight for its graphics, large range of models and arifields, sounds, and handling. The two are close in my mind but realflight just has more to offer.

BTW flyx what is GT8 or GT10? never heard of it. $500 to start? nice

RE: Sims comparison: physics
 

The GT8 or GT10 is a guitar processor. It has defualt factory settings but parameters is almost limit less.
The plug and play crowd..(kids)..don't really want to spend time reseaching or put in a liitle of work in anything.
They want to plug in and play...and if it dosn't sound right or feel right out of the box . They think it sucks.lol
Sounds familar ?

There's other processor that'll blow it away...but good god, that's into the thousands of dallars.

The G4 to my knowelege have a vast parameter option more than other sims.
It's also more user freindly as far as applying the veriouse options.

example..you can switch a model's engine with a click of the mouse without spending hours going through files.

It's really hard for a manufacturer to please everyone.
Example the SIG 4* is probably one of the most popular model but realflight , hager9...ect, dosn't have copyrights to that model.
The only way that model will be available if a third party made a cad for that model. That's why you don't see a Pulse in the G4
and you don't see the GP trainer in the hanger9.:)

The same would happen if you walk into your LHS. I don't think a hobbieco sale rep would think its too cool if a LHS has
a hanger9 sim demo on display. Of course whatever product the LHS has on it's shelf , that LHS would say..it's the best.lmao

RE: Sims comparison: physics
 

I haven't seen anyone else say this on this forum but I'll start the argument:

I have only spent some time on G3/3.5 & G4. I have heard RealFlight said there are no physics differences but I would argue that point. I think some things in G4 are too easy such as; hovering planes, harriers, and flying helis.

If you want to be more realistic I would suggest the G3.5 over the G4. The G4 has more options and the addition of water and float planes is fun for a while.

Fire away :)