Which sim is which?

The newer the Sim the more powerful the computer has to be to run it full out.
It will run and look good on a good machine now and better and better as you buy or build a more powerful computer.
Something like FSX gold (amazon, ebay) or FSX Steam will look good and be a starter for you as you go along.
Steam will be cheaper than buying disks.

https://www.simshack.net/products/microsoft-flight-simulator-x-steam-edition-74

Well thank you for your quick responce RadarMan but I think I should have made myself clearer in my first post, you see I've been playing FSX since it was considered new and "revolutionary" and I have both Gold and Acceleration on disk along with dozens of add ons and FSX SE which I bought because it was a 64 bit architecture. I now wan't to upgrade again to one of the newer sims such as P3D or X Plane etc. but I'm getting more confused by the hour as I continue to scour Youtube for more and better videos.

By the way, I also have FSW which I really enjoy flying in as the scenery out of the box is such an upgrade on the default FSX package. To be honest I would probably stick with FSW if it were still being worked on, what is driving me to find an alternative is the lack of aircraft in the default game and the obvious zero new stuff ever coming out. I honestly think the developers dropped the ball there somewhere, whatever the final reason was for discontinuing it's developement it was a big loss to the simming world.

As for my PC, well I've owned it for about 10 years and it was second hand when I got it but that doesn't mean I haven't improved on it in those ten years and in fact it's only had a complete rebuild with new mobo, cpu and graphics card two years ago. I fall well into the specs for both P3D and X Plane but only just skimming the recommended settings (I need to upgrade my gpu again to completely satisfy those standards). I'm sure I'm like a lot of older men in that I started out with very little but slowly and surely over the years my "toys" got better and better. I now own a 1982 Bently Turbo but it was a basket case (a right off which should have been crushed) when I got it and I totally rebuilt it over about five years. My Honda Goldwing was a similar story but that took much longer as I only worked on it during the summer months and I "restored" that to original factory finish and it now wins shows when I take it out. I became an engineer by accident when I was younger, I wanted to be a lorry driver (trucker) but the only way I could do that was by signing up to the army and the only "department" that included teaching me to drive lorries was the R.E.M.E. (engineers) so that's what I did!

Well I've waffled on for way to long again so I'll finish by just repeating my thanks for your quick response and your excellent advice.

Stay S&L,

Ian.

I used to work on cars quite a while back, loved it.
P3D is a lot like FSX and X-plane is a completely different Sim.
https://www.prepar3d.com/SDKv4/LearningCenter.php
Read the X-Plane forum and some of the instructions, it's not as easy as FSX.
https://www.x-plane.com/kb/configuring-the-rendering-options/

Thank you again for the links RadarMan, I've already worked my way through the X Plane one (I have the demo version) but the P3D link looks very interesting. One thing I am struggling with is the fact that so much from FSX works in P3D but they are different architectures? Does this mean the dozen or so add ons I bought years ago will work as well?

RadarMan I must apologise for my previous waffle, I have this annoying habit of giving my life story to anyone who will listen Lol. I'm very proud of my "toys" and get a lot of enjoyment out of showing my bike off at shows. I must admit to not being able to ride it any more but I could never part with it now and it will sit in it's garage until I'm no longer here to oversee it's care. It comes out once a week or so to be started and warmed through before being wiped down and stowed away again.

Look at me doing it again,

Thank you once more for the links RadarMan.

Keep S&L

Ian.

I will always read and enjoy anything about restoring cars, I wish that I could do something with one but I live in a condominium and they have rules against it.

P3D is based on FSX, they just took it to another level.
Will all add-ons work, good question.
Some will and some won't, you have to try one at a time so you can delete all of that one add-on if there is a problem.
Too many members add a few at a time, have problems and don't know which add-on caused it.

Well I can put a full stop (period) to the end of this question.
Yesterday turned out to be a rather unusual day, after spending some time here and trying to solve the riddle of the sims "Which sim is which" I was called by an engineer friend of mine who designs for a large company (can't give any more details than that) and helped him with some designs for a new developement he's working on. I spent around 4 hours in a video confrence call with him and his managers working through their plans etc. They are trying to switch from their usual working practices to making ventilators for the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Anyway, when I was finished I went to lie down for an hour or so (I need to now and again) but when I woke up the managers of my friend had been back in touch with an offer of a gift for my services and help. Carol (my ever suffering wife) took the call and explained about me being torn between these two sims so they did no more than buy them both for me!!!!

So now I'm the rather proud owner of both X Plane 11 and P3D and it didn't cost me a penny!

I honestly believe that if you cast your nets upon the waters they will come back full of fish, I willing offered to help my friend and I got an amazing (to me) gift in return.

So in conclusion, if you don't mind I'm going to leave this here, I've got some serious flying to do Lol.

Stay s&l.

Ian.

😁 Karma, have fun!