Gaming FSX coming to Steam, new version later

[Urwumpe]

I also bought it now... not that I think I will have much time playing it aside of DCS, but 5 Euro is 5 Euro.... maybe there will be another time.

 

[n122vu]

After seeing on the A2A Facebook page that all of their planes are compatible, I decided to go ahead and purchase, even if I don't install it just yet. Just too good a deal to pass up. The A2A C172R Trainer is pretty much all I fly lately anyway, that and the Carenado C172N with the FSUIPC friction fix. As soon as FSUIPC makes the jump, I'll likely install FSX:SE and begin testing.

 

[Cras]

FSX for Steam is just a port, it is not an upgrade or a new version. If you want to run FSX with more bloatware going on in the background then get it for Steam.

If you want the new version of FSX, then you get this http://www.prepar3d.com/

 

[Zatnikitelman]

FSX for Steam is just a port, it is not an upgrade or a new version. If you want to run FSX with more bloatware going on in the background then get it for Steam.

If you want the new version of FSX, then you get this http://www.prepar3d.com/

I wouldn't be too sure. I'm now regularly getting 40+ fps in areas where my computer struggled to run it at 15. Others are reporting similar performance improvements.

 

[dbeachy1]

:hesaid: I've seen a big jump in performance with this build of FSX. I'm seeing significantly better multi-core usage than I was with the previous build: at 2560x1600 with all the detail settings maxed out I'm seeing 4+ cores pegged while flying over Phoenix and getting 60+ fps. :tiphat: I used to get ~40 fps despite much more moderate detail settings and only see FSX use ~2 cores in flight.

 

[IronRain]

:hesaid: I've seen a big jump in performance with this build of FSX. I'm seeing significantly better multi-core usage than I was with the previous build: at 2560x1600 with all the detail settings maxed out I'm seeing 4+ cores pegged while flying over Phoenix and getting 60+ fps. :tiphat: I used to get ~40 fps despite much more moderate detail settings and only see FSX use ~2 cores in flight.

This kind of information is not good for my free time.. I feel a reïnstallation coming up :lol:
Thanks for the info!

 

[n122vu]

After a few flights with the default C172 and seeing what I thought were better framerates, I decided to pull in both the A2A C172 w/ my repaint and my recent personal upgrades to KHNB.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm definitely getting better performance. I flew the pattern with graphics set to Ultra High, and FPS barely dropped below 30 on my wimpy GeForce GT 630.

I have never been able to fly at ANY airport in FSX Gold with the graphics at Ultra High.

 

[Screamer7]

:hesaid: I've seen a big jump in performance with this build of FSX. I'm seeing significantly better multi-core usage than I was with the previous build: at 2560x1600 with all the detail settings maxed out I'm seeing 4+ cores pegged while flying over Phoenix and getting 60+ fps. :tiphat: I used to get ~40 fps despite much more moderate detail settings and only see FSX use ~2 cores in flight.

And what about the VAS issue?
Is it better optimized?
THAT is the big question for me.

 

[Fabri91]

Hm, I missed the 5€ sale window, but if the performance improvements are that marked I might jump at the current price of 12€ anyway.

 

[n122vu]

I should probably mention, this is with an 'out-of-the-box' configuration as it were, meaning I have made none of the known performance tweaks to the config file and am seeing these gains.

 

[dbeachy1]

And what about the VAS issue?
Is it better optimized?
THAT is the big question for me.

What is this "VAS issue" of which you speak?

 

[Screamer7]

Ok, let me explain it better.

VAS is Virtual Address Space.
We all know that FSX is a 32 bit application and it is limited to 4 GB of Virtaul Address Space.
And 4 GB is the limit...no more.
If you are running a program called Process Explorer it displays it.

Everything FSX loading is put in that 4 GB VAS.
Than includes sceneries, planes etc.
Now with the new PMDG 773 and sceneries like Dubai rebooted, out of memory error crashes becomes all too frequent nowadays.

You can take off from airport at A, overflying airport B and land at airport C (all payware sceneries) and you are almost guaranteed to have a near or total OOM.

If you enter this value's in FSPIUC, the VAS available is always shown at the top bar.
Add-ons
FSUIPC
Click on the logging tab:
Log details
Enable IPC reads and IPC writes
In the specific value check boxes, enter this,

Base - Offset - Type - Hex
IPC - 024C - U32 - Leave unticked

Monitor IPC:024 (U32) = 2930004 is displayed on the top center bar if you are running FSX in windowed mode. (Remember this value is not the same you'll have and is constantly changing.)
That means I have 2.93 GB of memory left in the VAS
If you reach say 400000 or 400 MB the memory load becomes critical and an OOM is imminent.

I hope this explains the VAS issue I'm talking about.
You'll never get this OOM crash in X-Plane 10 64 bits, only because it does not have that VAS limitation FSX have.
Running FSX in DX 10 preview mode with Steve's DX 10 Fixer somehow help a bit, because some of the texture load is now put into the graphics card memory, which FSX does not do in DX9 mode.

 

[n122vu]

More noticed performance gains. Took the A2A C172 over downtown Chicago with the same scenery settings and target framerate set to unlimited. FPS remained near 30 with no stutters while flying, turning, or looking around the VC the entire flight.

 

[orb]

If anyone missed the -80% off deal 2 weeks ago, it's again up until the end of the Steam winter sale.

 

[N_Molson]

Tried a quick flight with a NASA F-18, with very little idea about the keys, the cockpit layout, or the performances of the aircraft, all that with snowy weather and of course max. realism settings. It was fun, I inspected the cockpit, searching for the pitot probe heating because my airspeed indicator turned to 0 quickly. Took me 10 good minutes while trying not to hit the ground or deplete the fuel tanks. Then I scouted for a landing strip, following an highway to a decent town proved to be a winning strategy. :thumbup:

I had not the key for the airbrakes, so I did severe S-turns right in front of the runway. I had not the ATC key either, which was fatal, as I ran into some Cessna while I was landed but blazing at 150 kts or so. I let them little chance see it coming lol... :facepalm:

 

[Scav]

Okay, so the PC I'm currently running on is hampered severely by the CPU (dual-core that only clocks in at 1.6 GHz). Nevertheless I was able to snap this up AND get it to run somewhat reliably.



Left is a pic I took of the real thing: the Grand Teton mountain range. To the right is the same thing rendered (though in winter, not summer). Must say I'm very happy with the terrain meshing; the last iteration (FS9) looked like someone threw up green all over northwestern Wyoming in comparison.

 

[Fabri91]

Yay, managed to snag it for 5 Eurobucks a couple of days ago!

Workaround to make TrackIR work.

 

[orb]

1st post release update of the Steam Edition is coming (not yet in the public branch).

 

[IronRain]

Update!

We are pleased to announce that we released a new update this afternoon (Monday 12th January 2015).

Full details of this update can be found here

This update resolves several issues reported to us by the community and will be automatically applied to your software via the Steam platform. If the update does not start automatically please restart your Steam client.

The FSX:SE splash screen with show 62608 for the new version and the official version number is v10.0.62608.0.

Below is the full list of changes and fixes made in this update:

• Networking: Resolved - potential crash bug when decoding Steam host tag data.
• Error Reporting: Resolved - error message if the software failed to load the language.dll so that it shows the name of the actual dll it is trying to load.
• Learning Centre: Resolved - when selecting a mission from the Learning Centre, you would be told that the mission script failed to load and would be disabled.
• Learning Centre: Changed - the Learning Centre still referenced a GameSpy logo - now replaced with Steam logo.
• Graphics: Improved vertex and index buffer handling defaults and a few other things to give up to 10% framerate improvement (as long as vsync is not enabled/forced).
• Graphics: Change - Enable trilinear mipmap filtering by default.
• Graphics: Resolved - If the Special Effects setting was set to HIGH, some special effects like external lights, landing/water effects would not work.
• Graphics: Changed default value for max per-frame texture uploads to decrease time for high quality terrain textures to appear.
• Settings: Resolved - HIGHMEMFIX was enabled by default but could very rarely be disabled at load time.
• For new installs, we now provide default versions of dll.xml and exe.xml files to improve compatibility with existing add-ons.

Please note: Existing owners of FSX:SE will not get the dll.xml and exe.xml files automatically. We did not want to change them because we know that a lot of players have already modified them. If you would like the new versions of these files all you have to do is verify your files through Steam. You can do this by following these steps:

1. Load the Steam platform and log into your account
2. Click the Library tab in the menu at the top of the screen
3. Click the List View from the view options on the top right of the screen
4. Right click on Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition to bring up a popup menu
5. Click on Properties from the popup menu to bring up another popup box
6. Click on Local files from the popup box menu
7. Click on Verify integrity of game cache from the Local file options
8. Wait for the progress bar to finish verifying your files. Additional files may download
9. Restart Steam
10. Restart Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition

We are continuing to monitor your feedback on FSX: Steam Edition and would like to thank the community for taking the time to report these and other issues. We know that we have not fixed all of the reported issues, but we continue to work to improve the product in the coming weeks.

The Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition Team
Dovetail Games

 

[IronRain]

For those interested, I'm hosting a session right now.
Just some touch and go practices. Everyone is welcome to join, the server is called Orbiter-Forum.com with password OF123.

This is hosted for FSX:SE.