ryanbatc

Yes all airfield lighting, at a towered airport, has varying levels of intensity. At larger airports there is more control over the levels. At smaller towered airports there may only be one or two "steps" of brightness for certain lights or even as simple as ON or OFF. At uncontrolled airports indeed the CTAF frequency usually controls the lights...but the "steps" may be a lot less than a towered ones. Sometimes the papi/vasi is always on , same with taxiway lights - some newer airports only have the modern reflectors on the taxiway pegs so it's up to the aircraft to provide illumination. There is a payware app for Pilot Controlled Lighting. I bought it and tried it a few times but afaik it only works with the edge lights and approach lights. It's kinda pointless to see taxiway lighting and PAPIs (since Asobo made it way too bright by default) first before seeing edge or approach lighting. Also it didn't work well in the daytime. They may have fixed that issue now. Airfield lighting in the day is sometimes more important especially during periods of low visibility IE instrument approach weather.

Yeah I see the same. But I begin to wonder if it's a monitor issue. Cause a few others I asked said on their monitor the textures look almost pitch black. I don't have her or a very fancy monitor. OLED would probably help with the blacks though. Too dim? Oh interesting. They seem far too bright to me. They're like huge and annoying. Irl they can be huge and annoying but only if the tower sets the lighting to high.

You absolutely need avsim resident kiwikat's DarkStreets addon! There's a LOD bug (that's improved with SU5 beta) that doesn't allow it to work the best it could but it's still A LOT better than default. It essentially wipes out the stupid rural lights except for where actual small towns and lighting would be. It works worldwide! https://flightsim.to/addon/102987/msfs-darkstreets-north-america

If you owned PD in 2020 and bought standard 2024, you get the old versions for 24. They are not the new native versions.

SU5 will bring some better looking cities and night elements though. It's definitely an improvement over SU4. What I also love is finally we get obstruction lighting... the red flashing lights on towers etc... it actually looks very nice. EDIT: Oh I also bought the new airport lighting from the marketplace... I'm trying to remember which dev but the lights seem to look nicer! I looked them up the dev is FLYT and the product is Enhanced Runway Lights in the marketplace Here's what my sim looks like with the airport lighting pack, and SU5 beta - as I said, a definite improvement from SU4

This is a good point and I forgot to add it to my post! You get a 33% off forever on those aircraft.

Not that I know of. This used to be even worse. It's slightly improved in SU5 (beta) though. Apparently Asobo thinks that lights should be viewed as if they were through a camera lens. I would also recommend this addon https://flightsim.to/addon/102987/msfs-darkstreets-north-america

Set ULTRA preset and make sure frame generation is enabled. You might have to google frame gen to enable it... make sure you're on the latest nvidia drivers Otherwise it will be under the Graphics settings, like DLSS super resolution under Anti Aliasing, then check quality. If that makes things a little fuzzy (especially glass cockpits), consider using DLSS Swapper and grab the latest DLL file which imo is much better for image clarity, performance, and stops ghosting of glass cockpits (for the most part) https://github.com/beeradmoore/dlss-swapper Or you can skip dlss swapper and do it via the NVidia App: To enable DLSS 4.5, update to the latest NVIDIA driver (591.74 or later) and use the NVIDIA app to override game settings. Navigate to Graphics > Global Settings (or specific game settings), find DLSS Override Model Presets, and set it to "Recommended" or "Latest" to activate the new L/M Transformer models.

Click on the mount just to the right of the GPS - or if you don't use that its the mount on the right side top of the cockpit frame I think you can also click the power button on the EFB (on the right side)

I'd be shooting an instrument approach personally, especially if I wasn't familiar with the area. Or you could shoot a contact approach if you were. BATC's mind would melt with that LOL.

I got Premium Deluxe as well, because I really wanted the C700 Longitude (if you have 2020 you still get the 2020 version in 24, just not the full native 2024 version with cabin and upgraded cockpit/opening doors etc) I also got it for the PC-24 which initially was totally not good, but it has been improved over the last year to where it's acceptable, not nearly as good as the C700 though. I also wanted Mike Johnson's HU16 Grumman Albatross - which has proven to be one of the best defaults out there. There's some cool mods for the TDS GTNxi in it as well. Sadly the Airbus helicopters H225 has gone downhill due to the loss of the lead dev at HPG (I think he's okay but he's just not developing anymore). But that helicopter was another reason... it's not a good reason anymore though, it's unflyable. iniBuilds is apparently supposed to be "working on it." Not sure how I feel about that. You also get the analog gauge C172 Skyhawk in the PD - a lot of people like that one. Oh, and the Cirrus, yeah I almost forgot about that! Another solid addon... I've done a few paints for it! GotFriends' Savage Norden (PD) is also a superb little default aircraft - it's super agile like the real one - another fav default for me. Carenado's C90 GTX King Air - not a great default aircraft but also included in PD. EDIT: Oh yeah I did not know that we could just buy a single aircraft from the D or PD - I probably would have done that instead had we known. But I'm overall happy with the PD package.

For USA ATC, 10 miles is where I start to ask if a pilot has the field in sight. 10 miles isn't too far out at all. If it's a new airport then yeah you'll have to get a bit closer especially if it's a hazy day or something. I like to get people over to CTAF as soon as possible so they can talk to others in the pattern if is anyone else. For jets and faster turbines I usually point out the field 15-20 miles away.

He's working on some refinements and added a second 650 near the AP so it will crossfill a flight plan.

I mean...we had the same with fs9 and fsx.... Plenty of wilcopub or abacus or even carenado back then We just have way more developers now in msfs. So yes, naturally there is a bell curve of quality in addons. MSFS has vastly more flight related variables to tinker with - and when done properly, I much prefer the physics in MSFS than previous ESP sims.

I think the FSDT is really outdated now? So while I don't prefer ini, I would buy a KORD from someone

You run a vanilla sim? I'd say most have addons... Anyway my point is that dynamic settings do change the TLOD and I recommend people avoid using it if they want sharper imagery.

Reducing TLOD = more blurries. A lower TLOD makes ground textures not load as far away, or from a higher viewpoint. There's other factors for blurry imagery like texture resolution, but TLOD is the main reason why people see blurries. Sadly the TLOD in 2024 is very different from 20. I've found you really need to get to at least 300 in 24 to see similar results of 200 in 2020. Honestly maybe more like 400 in 2024.

Well, ZachB has made my Civilian Mustang dreams come true! I'm hoping he will publish his mod. It does require the C172 analog gauge from the Premium Deluxe pack, the (free) Carenado Piper Dakota as well Works with the TDS GTN 650Xi, and also includes a basic KFC225 for longer trips. I've got an RNAV approach loaded here with LPV minimums, and all is working well both on the GTNxi with accurate course guidance on the VOR instrument. On the second pic I'm heading to KEAU, but the weather requires an instrument approach... no problem now! @Claudius_ there may be an issue on landing cause with a crosswind I tend to ground loop. It's probably a pebkac issue though hehe. I need to use the pedals less or very evenly and gently apply them. Also the tail wheel can lock and unlock. EDIT: I'd say it's a skill issue on my part. I tried another crosswind and it was challenging but I got my tailwheel on ground and locked it and with gentle rudder input was able to maintain runway centerline till stopping.

Not really sure. Is this a new system? Do you have an on screen displays enabled? What's the motherboard? What brand?

I've found it the other way around. But did you have a crosswind? I only had light winds when I was flying before.

EXACTLY. Dynamic Settings just kills off quality for performance. It's not rocket surgery to understand this but I guess Asobo didn't really explain the feature very well.

This is true however it's likely for XP13 - quite a ways off. As for airliners I've heard the new Embraer stuff is really good for XP12.

It was a disaster before 1.5 - I mean he did a nice job with what he had, but the new CFD flight model is a huge positive. Of course there's more than just the flight model. I'm looking into some instrument changes if possible to give it a little more capability. I'd love to get a GTN 650xi in place of the GNS430 (easier to manipulate in the sim with touch). And I'd like to see an HSI for some approach capability. Ehhh... throw in a GFC500 AP for those longer flights as well - but that's really pushing it hehe.

Just checked. You have to RMB/LMB at the same time to get it work if you're using Legacy mouse operation (which I am) Be sure to click exactly on the center of these knobs otherwise it doesn't seem to work very well.

Agree. I think everyone forgot how many years it took 2020 to be amazing (and the addons we all thought we wouldn't need - like sky colors and saturation in 2020 - all wrong). I will admit though, in the tech alpha, the clouds were the best. Sadly they had to prioritize performance though and cut the voxels way down for RTM. Does anyone remember the default "glass" cockpits before WorkingTitle came along eeeeeek!?!? I don't really know why we even have these threads. There's a similar one in the XP subforum... Some guy left 2024 to XP12. Congratulations lol! I've had great flights with FSX, P3D, XP11, MSFS 2020, XP12, MSFS 2024, DCS et al! I've also had flights with super annoying bugs and game breaking issues in ALL of those. Welcome to consumer flight simulation - no sim is perfect at everything.