Visual upgrades?

[Talha Muftee]

I am really new to FSX, got it during the recent sale so I am still getting started. The visuals seem slighlty dated and I know my computer can push a bit more. What are some immersive mods out there? Freeware is my priority.
Side question: What makes the game more immersive to you, besides the visual aspect.

[mikeytwc]

well, jordan posted a video here with freeware enhancements that will make your fsx look great for free, I have installed the trees,mesh and rock formations, and re-run my flight thru the grand-canyon, all i can say is wow...Its definately worth the download and instal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUDrRR-VW-U

[kpmoore53]

I tried to follow this, but I guess you have to be an expert to understand. I listened to about five minutes of this about ten times and still haven't figured out what he's talking about or what website it is. Not his fault, but it would be very helpful if he could slow down a bit, or I'll have to speed up my hearing, which at my age will NEVER happen. Guess I'll head back to FSX for Dummies! I'm apparently not quite ready for prime time!

[David]

I am a recent FSX player myself and modded it using the video that was posted above. Am about to go to bed, but if you can wait another 12 to 18 hours (depending on how busy I get tomorrow) I'll be happy to give you all the links and an abridged version of his instructions here.

[kpmoore53]

Originally posted by pat4742:

I am a recent FSX player myself and modded it using the video that was posted above. Am about to go to bed, but if you can wait another 12 to 18 hours (depending on how busy I get tomorrow) I'll be happy to give you all the links and an abridged version of his instructions here.

I appreciate the offer very much, but I am finding at this point that I will probably learn a lot more about FSX if I take it much slower. Never got into flight sims until recently, so I'm at the stage of still learning to fly many of the included models. . Doing the programs' technical stuff, as described above, may have to wait a bit longer. Will probably be back here before too long, so I'll be looking for ya. Thanks again.

[Talha Muftee]

Originally posted by pat4742:

I am a recent FSX player myself and modded it using the video that was posted above. Am about to go to bed, but if you can wait another 12 to 18 hours (depending on how busy I get tomorrow) I'll be happy to give you all the links and an abridged version of his instructions here.

Please do! I am sure there are more people who'd benefit, including me.

[David]

kpmoore53, I understand what you're saying. This part of modding doesn't teach you anything about the flying part, it just makes things look prettier. A lot prettier. I got FSX during the same sale and am at the same stage you are at, learning to fly. When you decide to give it a go after all, just pop back in here.

Talha Muftee, working on it right now :)

[David]

Okay, here we go. One small piece of advice; to make things easier on yourself, create a separate folder in which you download all these files. That makes it a lot easier to locate them when it comes to installation.

1. On your PC, install the Legacy SDK. You find this by going into your Program Files. In my case that's on the hard drive at C:\Program Files(x86), but it can differ depending on your setup.
Open the steam folder. Go to steamapps - common - FSX - SDK - Core Utilities - Simconnect SDK - Legacy Interfaces - FSX-XPACK. Then click the simconnect.msi file and let it run.

2. Go to https://sites.google.com/site/aimecreations/ALCreations/download
Download all 4 files from 30cm Project Forest (Tropical, Seasonal, Conifer + Missing)
Download all 4 files from 30cm Project Rock
Download all 5 files from 50cm Project Interzon, ignore the update v1 to v2 file
Download FSX Road Textures
Download FSX River Texture
Download FSX Railway Texture Replacement
Download FSX Oscar Clouds v4
Download FSX Spring Textures Part 1 and 2
Download FSX Summer Textures Part 1 and 2
Download FSX Fall Textures Part 1 and 2
Download FSX Winter Textures Part 1 and 2
Download PATCH Winter & fall

3. Go to http://library.avsim.net/download.php?DLID=179660 and download the file, should start automatically.

4. Go to http://library.avsim.net/download.php?DLID=182622 and download the file, should start automatically.

5. Go to http://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/1407/fsx-airport-ground-texture-upgrade/ and download.

Time to make the first changes. I'll explain how to do so, but most of these downloads contain a readme file with installation information as well. Some of them also contain instructions for which files to backup in case you want to revert to the old situation. Whethet you do so or not is entirely up to you.
My advice however is to always read the readme and follow the instructions as I may have missed out on something while typing up these instructions.

6. Go to the FSX folder. Follow the same path as in step 1, except this time you stop at FSX. Open up a second window with the folder in which you downloaded all of the files from step 2 through 5.

7. The following download files contain a folder 'scenery' Copy this folder and paste it into the FSX folder you opened in your first window. (The one in the Steam folder)
When asked if you want to merge the folders, choose yes. When it tells you there is already a file with the same name in the folder, choose to overwrite the original.
Note: You need to do this for every separate file you downloaded, so for example you first copy and paste the 'scenery' folder from the Tropical file, then the scenery folder from the Seasonal file and so on.
- all 4 files from 30cm Project Forest (Tropical, Seasonal, Conifer + Missing)
- all 4 files from 30cm Project Rock
- all 5 files from 50cm Project Interzon
- FSX Spring Textures Part 1 and 2
- FSX Summer Textures Part 1 and 2
- FSX Fall Textures Part 1 and 2
- FSX Winter Textures Part 1 and 2
- PATCH Winter & fall
- FSX Road Textures*
- FSX River Texture*
- FSX Railway Texture Replacement*

For these last three you will need to choose the 7 cm folder which contains the Scenery folder.

8. The following download files contain a folder 'texture'. You will need to copy/paste these into the FSX folder as well. This process is the same as what you've done previously, only this time using the 'texture' folder instead of 'scenery'.
- FSX Oscar Clouds v4 download.
- Sky Textures (download from step 3)
- Simple Sun Mod (download from step 4)

9. Open the folder with the Airport Ground Texture, downloaded in step 5. Copy the files except the read me. In your FSX folder, go to scenery - world - texture. Paste the files, overwrite if already present in the folder.

10. Go to http://www.strikingsoftware.com/downloads.shtml and download the FS Water Configurator. Also download SHD Wave Animation for DX9

11. Open the installer for FS Water Configurator. When installing for FSX Steam Edition you don't need to change anything in the settings, just click next and let it install.

12. Open the Gizmos 4096 dx9 water normals largeswell folder and copy the texture folder. Paste this into the FSX folder. Again, same as step 8, really.
For full effect a change in the FSX.CFG file is recommended by the person who created this. Instructions are in the readme file.

13. Go to http://www.plane-pics.de/fsxwx/instructions.htm for the weather engine. This link has step by step instructions that you need to follow. Note; for FSUIPIC you don't need a registered version.

That's it for downloads and installation. If you use a NVIDIA graphics product Jordan has created a preset that you can also download from the link at the video, but since I don't have NVIDIA I didn't get to try that.
Now all we need to do is make a few changes in the FSX settings. This part is at about 24:30 in Jordan's video so you can see it for yourself.

14. Open FSX. Go to Settings. Go to Customize. In the Graphics tab, set filtering to Anisotropic.

15. Go to the Scenery tab. Set Texture Resolution to 7 cm. Set Water to 'High' for example 'high 2x'

16. Go to the Weather tab. Set cloud distance to more than 70 miles. Set Thermal visualization to Natural and Detailed Clouds to cloud coverage density Maximum.

17. Go to Traffic and set road vehicles to 0 if you installed Road Textures with cars on step 7.

That's it. Enjoy!