Really, really simple controls...?

[BionicDance]

Is there a way to dumb this down to really, just super-duper simple, like Grand Theft Auto level controls, just to get me started?

[Maki Nishikino]

Not that I'm aware of.

[BionicDance]

Dammit, I just want to explore a detailed map in first person view (so not the Google Earth experience, not even in VR) at a specific real-world location, but this simulator is overkill.

I need something that looks this good, but simple.

[AtomicPrimate]

Originally posted by BionicDance:

Is there a way to dumb this down to really, just super-duper simple, like Grand Theft Auto level controls, just to get me started?

Yes there is!

Under options, go to assistance and turn all assistance on. Then under key bindings, bind primary flight controls. Up, down, left, right, thrust+ thrust- to whatever controls you want to use for those, and free flight should work fine without doing anything else. You can learn the rest as you go.

[BionicDance]

Originally posted by AtomicPrimate:

Originally posted by BionicDance:

Is there a way to dumb this down to really, just super-duper simple, like Grand Theft Auto level controls, just to get me started?

Yes there is!

Under options, go to assistance and turn all assistance on.

Did that.
Didn't help.

Then under key bindings, bind primary flight controls. Up, down, left, right, thrust+ thrust- to whatever controls you want to use for those, and free flight should work fine without doing anything else. You can learn the rest as you go.

No, that was still way too much. Those menus are densely-packed and not all on one screen, plus a thousand controls that all use the same words as each other.

I couldn't get anything to work; "Throttle up" didn't seem to do squat.

When I say "simple" I mean simple, where all you want to to is point your plane and go, without all the bells and whistles, and know that the terrain you're seeing will be quality.

I mean an actual mode. A Casual mode that doesn't make any assumptions about the experience of the user.
Cuz I can't find that and get maps like these. And that's the experience I'm after.

[Maki Nishikino]

If you plug in an Xbox controller I think the basics you need will be bound.

[BionicDance]

Originally posted by Maki Nishikino:

If you plug in an Xbox controller I think the basics you need will be bound.

Don't have one.

Keyboard + Mouse, over here.

[aseinsha]

Originally posted by BionicDance:

Originally posted by Maki Nishikino:

If you plug in an Xbox controller I think the basics you need will be bound.

Don't have one.

Keyboard + Mouse, over here.

Just get in a 172 and use f2 and f3 for throttle up and down, you dont have to mess with mixture and prop controls much or you can use your mouse. flying the 172 is as simple as it gets one you learn the AP just use it to have it fly anywhere you want and just give it a decent throttle so you dont fall out of the sky and that it, takes very little to learn to fly the 172, its pretty much a simple car that flies.

[Twelvefield]

The balloon has up and down. It doesn't get much simpler than that, although I've crashed the balloon more than a few times anyways. Even so, setting up the balloon for KB/M is a bit of a chore. This Paul Gatcomb video will help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K25_0Ejn9ck

[BionicDance]

Nah, this just isn't the experience I want, and trying to shoehorn my way into it... it's just not gonna work.

Ah, well. I tried.

I'll figure something out.

[Twelvefield]

I enjoy GTA with a controller, seeing as you mention GTA-level controls. FS24 flies well with a controller. I bought a perfectly good XBOX controller from Goodwill for ten smackers. The planes in FS24 will control like a GTA car, except that they fly and there's no prostitutes. Mind you, there are airplanes in GTA. They fly something like they do in MSFS except no rudders, which really hurts.

Which planes are you interested in?

[BionicDance]

Originally posted by Twelvefield:

Which planes are you interested in?

What I wanted was helicopters.
Well, anything that could hover, really.

Look... okay... this is gonna sound kinda weird (or maybe it won't), but my purpose in wanting MSFS was that I'm working on an indie game that will be using real-world maps, and I kinda wanted to do some location scouting.
Google Earth VR can only do so much in giving you an idea of what terrain might look like in a first-person view; if you've used it, you know how mushy everything looks. I wanted to see whether that particular part of Chittenden County will work as well as I think.

The last time I used Microsoft Flight Simulator, it was in 256-color VGA, and it has changed a great deal. (Boy, has it.) So, when I say this isn't the experience I was after, well... maybe I'll just import the topo maps into Farcry 5 or something, but it's not the same...

[Eva]

Given your use case, you really don't need to fly. You can actually walk in the game now. It doesn't get much simpler. Warning - things don't look as great from the ground. Some people have good luck turning off the photogrametry options under online settings. It didn't help where I tried it, but I have seen it make a big positive difference in walking around in youtube videos.

[BionicDance]

Originally posted by Eva:

Given your use case, you really don't need to fly. You can actually walk in the game now. It doesn't get much simpler. Warning - things don't look as great from the ground. Some people have good luck turning off the photogrametry options under online settings. It didn't help where I tried it, but I have seen it make a big positive difference in walking around in youtube videos.

Walking sounds great and all...but slow. And some of the places I want to go definitely don't have roads.

I've been playing a lot of Farcry 5 lately, and I found that helicopters were the best compromise for my purposes...though an Imperial speederbike would be ideal. Heh.
Thus my MSFS attempt.

[Eva]

Have you tried the jetson?

[BionicDance]

Originally posted by Eva:

Have you tried the jetson?

Is that a vehicle inside MSFS, cuz the only Jetson I know is George.