FSInn or SB3

[Andrew Adams 990834]

Im new to VATSIM and all of this seems a little overwelming. But MAN does it seem like a ride once you figure it out. I have been reading up on everything in the PR section and was curious. What are the major differences between FSInn and SB3? Pro's, Con's? I tried searching in the forum, but like I said im new to it all, chances are I missed it. Thanks in advance.

 

Best,

Andy

[Paul O'Donnell 969350]

I would say its like the coca-cola vs pepsi arguement, boeing vs airbus, how long is a piece of string. hehehe.

Basically its personaly preference, when I first joined VATSIM, I decided to go with Squawkbox, I've often thought of switching to FSInn as I've heard its smoother for formation flights etc, aswell as it having some other functions such as a radar scope and some other which I forget.

The only reason I haven;t made the transition is laziness, I'm currently happy with SB3, it allows me to fly online and communicate with ATC and thats all I really need.

 

I'm sure some other members could offer you some better pros and cons of the two..

 

Goodluck Andrew and Welcome to VATSIM.

[Matthew Wilson 987467]

Im pretty new myself but i just went through the install process for both these programs so heres my opinion.

 

SB3 is very easy to install and get running quickly. Aside from a few conflicts with UpnP software and Ad blockers which can be easily fixed SB3 is a very simple way to get online and get some live ATC.

 

FSInn on the other hand is a bit more complex to configure but it has alot of functions SB3 does not.

 

I personally did not have ANY problems getting FSInn to run on my computer BUT i did have a few problems installing SB3.

 

I did however install SB3 first and it is possible the tweaks i had to make to run SB3 cleared to way so to speak for FSInn.

 

SB3 is easy to use, has a simple interface, and will allow you to chat and see frequencies for any ATC in your area, it also downloads the VATSIM weather automatically for you.

 

FSInn will do all of these things, and also allow you to look up weather info in a more detailed manner (specific locations, destinations, altitude), see other planes in your area using a radar pop up screen, monitor multiple frequencies for chat including UNICOMM...

 

AND (and this was the reason i switched over to FSInn) FSInn supports precipitation in its weather patterns. If you use SB3 it could be POURING rain in the real world at a specific location and SB3's weather will just show heavy clouds. FSInn will pretty much show whatever the weather is really doing at your location (minus an hour of course).

 

I felt that SB3 is an excellent program for introducing people to the VATSIM network but after a few weeks once you begin to understand the complexities of the whole process you may want to switch to FSInn (be prepared to read the manual) and you will get a more user integrated experience.

 

Like i said, thats my opinion.

 

Good luck.

[Stephen Keskitalo 977981]

Im pretty new myself but i just went through the install process for both these programs so heres my opinion.

 

SB3 is very easy to install and get running quickly. Aside from a few conflicts with UpnP software and Ad blockers which can be easily fixed SB3 is a very simple way to get online and get some live ATC.

 

FSInn on the other hand is a bit more complex to configure but it has alot of functions SB3 does not.

 

I personally did not have ANY problems getting FSInn to run on my computer BUT i did have a few problems installing SB3.

 

I did however install SB3 first and it is possible the tweaks i had to make to run SB3 cleared to way so to speak for FSInn.

 

SB3 is easy to use, has a simple interface, and will allow you to chat and see frequencies for any ATC in your area, it also downloads the VATSIM weather automatically for you.

 

FSInn will do all of these things, and also allow you to look up weather info in a more detailed manner (specific locations, destinations, altitude), see other planes in your area using a radar pop up screen, monitor multiple frequencies for chat including UNICOMM...

 

AND (and this was the reason i switched over to FSInn) FSInn supports precipitation in its weather patterns. If you use SB3 it could be POURING rain in the real world at a specific location and SB3's weather will just show heavy clouds. FSInn will pretty much show whatever the weather is really doing at your location (minus an hour of course).

 

I felt that SB3 is an excellent program for introducing people to the VATSIM network but after a few weeks once you begin to understand the complexities of the whole process you may want to switch to FSInn (be prepared to read the manual) and you will get a more user integrated experience.

 

Like i said, thats my opinion.

 

Good luck.

 

Just this past week, I switched to FSInn 1.2 from SB3.1 for pretty much the same reasons as stated above.

 

The drawback is that I'm getting lower frame rates using FSInn than I was from using SB. But, once I figure out what's causing the frame rate decrease, this should no longer be a factor.

[Matthew Wilson 987467]

^^ You might want to check how often FSInn is updating your weather.

 

I believe it was set to 5 seconds by default which seems pretty rediculous.

 

I set it to 300 sec which is the max cuz i was having the same probs with framerates.

 

It got a little better after that.

 

Also i noticed if your running FSNav and you turn off the 'show multiplayer aircraft' option it gets a little better also.

 

Dont turn off multiplayer in FSInn, just FSNav and you can always click it back on real quick if you need to check your airspace.

[Stephen Keskitalo 977981]

^^ You might want to check how often FSInn is updating your weather.

 

I believe it was set to 5 seconds by default which seems pretty rediculous.

 

I set it to 300 sec which is the max cuz i was having the same probs with framerates.

 

It got a little better after that.

 

Also i noticed if your running FSNav and you turn off the 'show multiplayer aircraft' option it gets a little better also.

 

Dont turn off multiplayer in FSInn, just FSNav and you can always click it back on real quick if you need to check your airspace.

 

Thanks for the tips, I had decreased my weather update rate (like once per 30 seconds or something), but not all the way down to once per 300 seconds. I'll try it and see how it turns out.

 

Also, I don't use FSNav. My free trial for it ran out last year. The only things I have running in the background with FS9 are FSCopilot, FWInn, AIBridge, in other words, only those things that allow FSInn to run.

 

 

Anyway, back on topic. I found FSInn much more complicated to set up and figure out. But in the end, more rewarding because of its extra features. So, my vote is for FSInn.

[Benjamin Fels 871459]

I believe it was set to 5 seconds by default which seems pretty rediculous.

 

5 secs isnt that ridculous,

Weather isnt fetched every 5 secs, but winds, precip, vis range, pressure, temp is recaculated every 5 secs, allowing to smooth variations.

5 secs looked a nice setting when i did it because it was avoiding having a stepping effect in weather variation, especially when cruising at hi alt, but i agree this can cause a lot of FPS lost on some users.

the FPS lost is can be due to CPU perf, weather details settings in FS, textures of clouds (missing some VRAM on some Video card),

weather isnt a science in FS, there tons of factors that can act on FPS.

 

FSInn is volontary complex to get in, and very confusing for new comers to our community. I am happy SB3 ( cant wait about SB4) exist because its a different policies and the 2 software answers to different needs. SB is simple,fast and easy, FSInn is more powerful (?), slower (?) and not so simple.

Its almost impossible to provide a software with a lot features answering to every kind of flight. My nitemare is the FSInn Control Panel, there is too much stuff in it, but i have no current solutions to make it simplier, mostly because all this stuff cn be changed live, without having to restart software, allowing customisation on the fly. The FSFDT Control Panel doesnt help neither.

I did choose modularity over standalone architecture. Very few people know they can run FSInn suite on 4 different PCs : 1 PC for FS, 1 PC for FWInn, 1 PC for FSInn , 1 PC for Voice. Noone would do that anyway, but you can choose where you want to run your stuff, my favorite is : PC 1 for FS and FSInn inside FS on a multiscreen PC, PC 2 for FWInn and Voice.

FSInn and FSCopilot is free, and we dont have a marketing team to make monkey testing on it, so the little price users have to pay is to read the docomeentation and help themself. Unfortunatly some users think they know the software better than me what the software does or should do, and some other think we are a subsidary from MSFS and they earn to get support on every stupid questions they can ask without having to read anything.

 

In m opinion, new comers should stick to SB, and if they really want more, they can consider FSInn. Unfortunatly our civilization generated keyboard kiddies that want everything now because they worth it, thats what i hate the most when doing free support, i wish i could make them pay for support one way or another, thoses guys are killing my willing to do stuff for FS.

[Wycliffe Barrett]

Ok here goes,

 

I was on SQB3 until FSX came out a few weeks back, if I want to fly online the only way to do that is with FSinn.

 

So I migrated over to FSinn. I had no problems setting up, the voice protocol seems littl ebetter there are better framefrates and the PnP protocols are excellent.

 

The real weather (rain) was a surpise as I nave always had no rain with SQB3.

 

It is complex, but no more complex than any other software package on your PC. Take your time and you will be happy.

 

I have a two monitor setup so can place all my FSinn windows on my second monitor out of the way. That said if I really want to I can have just a little remote control panel on which I can hide on my main screen if I so wish.

 

I wont be going back to SQB3, as FSinn works in both FSX and FS9.

 

Thats my two cents worth.

[Stephen Keskitalo 977981]

I believe it was set to 5 seconds by default which seems pretty rediculous.

 

5 secs isnt that ridculous,

Weather isnt fetched every 5 secs, but winds, precip, vis range, pressure, temp is recaculated every 5 secs, allowing to smooth variations.

5 secs looked a nice setting when i did it because it was avoiding having a stepping effect in weather variation, especially when cruising at hi alt, but i agree this can cause a lot of FPS lost on some users.

the FPS lost is can be due to CPU perf, weather details settings in FS, textures of clouds (missing some VRAM on some Video card),

weather isnt a science in FS, there tons of factors that can act on FPS.

 

FSInn is volontary complex to get in, and very confusing for new comers to our community. I am happy SB3 ( cant wait about SB4) exist because its a different policies and the 2 software answers to different needs. SB is simple,fast and easy, FSInn is more powerful (?), slower (?) and not so simple.

Its almost impossible to provide a software with a lot features answering to every kind of flight. My nitemare is the FSInn Control Panel, there is too much stuff in it, but i have no current solutions to make it simplier, mostly because all this stuff cn be changed live, without having to restart software, allowing customisation on the fly. The FSFDT Control Panel doesnt help neither.

I did choose modularity over standalone architecture. Very few people know they can run FSInn suite on 4 different PCs : 1 PC for FS, 1 PC for FWInn, 1 PC for FSInn , 1 PC for Voice. Noone would do that anyway, but you can choose where you want to run your stuff, my favorite is : PC 1 for FS and FSInn inside FS on a multiscreen PC, PC 2 for FWInn and Voice.

FSInn and FSCopilot is free, and we dont have a marketing team to make monkey testing on it, so the little price users have to pay is to read the docomeentation and help themself. Unfortunatly some users think they know the software better than me what the software does or should do, and some other think we are a subsidary from MSFS and they earn to get support on every stupid questions they can ask without having to read anything.

 

In m opinion, new comers should stick to SB, and if they really want more, they can consider FSInn. Unfortunatly our civilization generated keyboard kiddies that want everything now because they worth it, thats what i hate the most when doing free support, i wish i could make them pay for support one way or another, thoses guys are killing my willing to do stuff for FS.

 

Let's not start a flame war here. I don't think any of us are claiming that we know the software better than you.

[Andrew Adams 990834]

I am having an issue connecting mulitple computers to VATSIM via FSinn or SB3. The message i get from FSINN is; "Multiple computers running FS with FSCOpolit were detected on network. You are currently configured as autodetection of FSCopilot, this may cause software to randomly connect to a PC or another! We strongly suggest you to switch to specific mode and select a FS/FSCopilot server"

 

I can't connect if my roomie is connected on FSInn. If I try to connect with SB3 while he is on FSInn I can connect but I will not see ANY aircraft models. Surely FSInn can connect two fellas on the same network to VATSIM? any ideas?

[Andrew Adams 990834]

Its not a mulitple computer for display puposes. My roomie and I are on the same network, but we cant both seems to connect with FSinn. If we both get on with SB3, we cant use deafult tectures for our aircraft and we have to settle for the polygonal ones. Not that they are bad. Just seems like FSInn wont let us both connect at the same time. Any ideas?

[Matt Chase 974571]

The problem might be that the two computers are sharing an IP adress.

[Matthew Wilson 987467]

Weather isnt fetched every 5 secs, but winds, precip, vis range, pressure, temp is recaculated every 5 secs, allowing to smooth variations.

 

I did not know this.

 

I have noticed that weather 'jumps' every once in a while and ill go from being dead center in a cloud to clear skies.

 

I thought this setting was similiar to the SB3 weather update setting. It seems not.

 

So how often does FSInn update the METAR? I notice a destination notification about every 5 minutes or so.

 

I am gonna mess around with that recalculation setting and see if i can find a nice mix between FPS and weather transitions.

 

Thanks for the info.

[Benjamin Fels 871459]

the weather is fetched every 5 mins,

the rane of weather stations used to make weather depends on the aircraft speed and a minimum of 10 weather stations

[Larry James 901346]

I am having an issue connecting mulitple computers to VATSIM via FSinn or SB3. The message i get from FSINN is; "Multiple computers running FS with FSCOpolit were detected on network. You are currently configured as autodetection of FSCopilot, this may cause software to randomly connect to a PC or another! We strongly suggest you to switch to specific mode and select a FS/FSCopilot server"

 

I can't connect if my roomie is connected on FSInn. If I try to connect with SB3 while he is on FSInn I can connect but I will not see ANY aircraft models. Surely FSInn can connect two fellas on the same network to VATSIM? any ideas?

 

Bring up the FSFDT Control Panel and goto the FWInn menu. Select the "Connect Framework on local computer only" radio.

 

You and your roommate shouldn't have any problems flying together on VATSIM.

 

-- L. James

 

------------

L. D. James

[email protected]

www.apollo3.com/~ljames