Flight Simulator 2020

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Achtung Englander
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Re: Flight Simulator 2020

Post by Achtung Englander » Mon Jan 10, 2022 7:33 pm



=D>
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Snowy
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Re: Flight Simulator 2020

Post by Snowy » Tue Jan 11, 2022 4:33 pm

I totally get how impressive that is, and how much detail there is, but that would not do it for me as a gaming pastime.
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Re: Flight Simulator 2020

Post by Wrathbone » Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:20 pm

For the last 6+ months (I’d have to check my flight logs to see how long) I’ve been circumnavigating the world in a series of flights of about an hour per leg, in a variety of aircraft. I’m taking a scenic route to see lots of interesting places, but mainly I’m doing it to add some sort of structure to the game, and hopefully at the end I’ll feel like I’ve achieved something.

I’ll try and put a map of my route together. At the moment I’m in Tallahassee and the plan is to go southeast over the Caribbean and down the east coast of Brazil, hopping across to Africa at the shortest route across the Atlantic, then north back up to where I started at Manchester airport.

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Mantis
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Re: Flight Simulator 2020

Post by Mantis » Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:38 pm

I've been eyeing up this title for a long while now, particularly since it hit Gamepass, but I get the feeling that it might not be the most fulfilling to play on a mouse and keyboard. Are the default controls good enough to properly experience it or is it recommended to just jump straight in with some basic periphery gear?

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Re: Flight Simulator 2020

Post by Snowy » Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:45 pm

Was that your vid then Wrath?
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Wrathbone
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Re: Flight Simulator 2020

Post by Wrathbone » Tue Jan 11, 2022 7:02 pm

Snowy wrote:
Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:45 pm
Was that your vid then Wrath?
Ha, I wish. :)
Mantis wrote:
Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:38 pm
I've been eyeing up this title for a long while now, particularly since it hit Gamepass, but I get the feeling that it might not be the most fulfilling to play on a mouse and keyboard. Are the default controls good enough to properly experience it or is it recommended to just jump straight in with some basic periphery gear?
Supposedly it works well with a controller, so you might want to try that first alongside a mouse and keyboard, but even a basic joystick should make a big difference. Ironically, despite having an unholy amount of peripherals, my most used one in FS2020 is a mouse as it's invaluable for looking around the cockpit and directly adjusting certain controls. The mouse wheel in particular is very useful for quickly turning dials.

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Mantis
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Re: Flight Simulator 2020

Post by Mantis » Tue Jan 11, 2022 8:33 pm

Ah excellent, I'll have to make a mental note to install it next time I make some room.

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Wrathbone
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Re: Flight Simulator 2020

Post by Wrathbone » Tue Jan 11, 2022 8:49 pm

Here's a map of my route. The red line is where I've gone so far (heading east) and the green line is my proposed remaining route.

Image

Details of each leg:
Spoiler
Image
Just over 56 hours in total, and I started 6 months ago on Friday. :)

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Achtung Englander
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Re: Flight Simulator 2020

Post by Achtung Englander » Wed Jan 12, 2022 8:23 am

very good
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Raid
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Re: Flight Simulator 2020

Post by Raid » Wed Jan 12, 2022 8:56 am

That's going to be a hell of an achievement when it's done, and I suppose I can see the appeal.

Can I ask though, what do you... do, when you get to cruising altitude in one of the big commercial aircraft? That's the bit that always puzzles me, because when I play a military sim, I've got tons of ordnance setup, target finding, navigation, threat evasion, formation flying and whatnot once I'm up in the air and en route. I suppose with short hops like you're doing you're going to have less time to fill, but all I can ever imagine is sticking the autopilot on and waiting. Is it just a relaxation thing?

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Re: Flight Simulator 2020

Post by Wrathbone » Wed Jan 12, 2022 9:09 am

I look out of the window. :lol: Seriously, a big part of the appeal of this to me is being able to see corners of the world I'd never expect to in real life. Sometimes there's a big load of nothing (Dallas and New Orleans were just flat and featureless), but flying through the Himalayas was legitimately breathtaking.

I also tend to have youtube or similar on as well. It depends on the flight - sometimes if there's bad weather or busy air traffic then frequent adjustments and ATC dealings need to be done. Other times I try to learn the more advanced systems on an aircraft. I don't tend to get bored, put it that way.

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Raid
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Re: Flight Simulator 2020

Post by Raid » Wed Jan 12, 2022 9:25 am

That's why I specified commercial airliners. I can imagine doing that in a Cessna, but in a 737 cruising at 30-odd thousand feet, a lot of terrain is going to look the same, and there'll often be clouds in the way. Clouds in DCS look almost as good as in MSFS, so I've had plenty of experience gazing at them, but there's only so much of it I can do before I start to hope a SAM takes a shot at me. :lol:

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Re: Flight Simulator 2020

Post by Wrathbone » Wed Jan 12, 2022 9:37 am

If I'm in an airliner and I'm expecting interesting scenery then I'll dial down the clouds so I can see. Generally on a picturesque flight I'll go with a lighter aircraft like a turboprop, flying at under 20,000ft. The last two flights were really dull in terms of scenery though, so I took an A320, kept an eye on things and watched Critical Role for most of the duration.

Worth mentioning I always do a full startup from cold and dark, then taxi to parking or the gates upon landing. I don't just start each flight on the runway, so there's usually a good 10-15 minutes of startup time before each flight, which I find enjoyable.

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Re: Flight Simulator 2020

Post by Raid » Wed Jan 12, 2022 11:12 am

That's something I'd like to be able to do, but sadly DCS doesn't offer half of the assistance that I remember MSFS giving (there aren't any interactive checklists for example). I did once learn to start up a 90s Mirage 2000C, because it only had about 6 or 7 steps, but in a 2000s-era A-10C Warthog, I just can't remember the 40-odd steps you have to go through. It also frequently involves just sitting waiting for 5-10 minutes while the inertial navigation system aligns itself, which is too long to spend doing nothing when you're sat in a hanger with nothing to look at.

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