Commuter Express 2......

Have it and uninstalled it. This is an old addon and it shows. The modells are on par with the freeware from PAD. I did have some fun with it but nowadays there are way better choises, both freeware and payware.

So, in my opinion: No, it is now worth the money.
 
Never, ever buy anything labeled abacus with the exception of FSDS and EZ-Scenery. I bought a load of their stuff when I first got FS9 and all of it was awful. They just can't build aircraft. The civilian aircraft look like cartoon versions, The military aircraft look the part on the outside but every single other aspect of both of them is criminal. Stay away from First class simulations as well
because they distribute abacus products as well as their own rubbish. You can easily find better freeware alternatives.

View attachment 7475
 
I too have purchased my last Abacus product. Made the mistake of purchasing Carrier Ops and upgrade Flight Deck 6. Wasted money; first time I have ever felt that way about an add-on. I whole heartedly agree with Clarke123.
 
You guys are not the target audience for Abacus products like Commuter Xpress, it's for beginners.
Hard core simmers think nothing of paying $100 for a single model, and rightly expect the very best, but comparing that with the quality of a boxed set of 6 planes at $5 each, and a (quite good) airline management game thrown in, is comparing apples with pears. For someone dipping their toe into the payware pond for the first time that £30 is a fair start.
 
bobmay said:
You guys are not the target audience for Abacus products like Commuter Xpress, it's for beginners.
Hard core simmers think nothing of paying $100 for a single model, and rightly expect the very best, but comparing that with the quality of a boxed set of 6 planes at $5 each, and a (quite good) airline management game thrown in, is comparing apples with pears. For someone dipping their toe into the payware pond for the first time that £30 is a fair start.
Click to expand...
A shoddy product is a shoddy product no matter the taget demographic. The flight dynamics are not just unrealistic they're awful, not even arcade quality. One plane had most off the autopilot systems backwards so it was unusable and an F-15 with the right main gear contact point missing so it was cockeyed on the ground. An A380 that at cruising altitude and normal cruising speed had a downward pitch angle of 15 degress just to maintain level flight. Not to mention most of them look like crap throwbacks from FS98. For beginners there is too much wrong with them straight out of the box that needs sorting and for medium level to hardcore simmers it just isn't worth the hassle. Abacus don't have a target demographic just suckers who don't know any better, like me when I first got FS9. There are far superior free versions of most all their products so there is no way hell you can justify that amount of money for a botched job.
 
Wing_Z said:
FSRepaint ain't half bad ... saves hours of hassle
Click to expand...
Their utility programs are fine, I use EZ-Scenery all the time but they just can't make a decent aircraft. The only exception to that rule is the military helicopters pack.
 
Last Abacus product I bought was the Pearl Harbor add on pack for CFS 1 way back in the day. That broke me of 'em.
 
Guys, keep in mind that there are a couple of members here that have had some of their aircraft distributed through Abacus. I'm not defending Abacus, I'm just saying there could be a more diplomatic way of putting it, and maybe avoid some stepped on toes and bruised feelings....

No, I'm not one of them, but I do know who a couple of them are, and I'd hate to see some more good members of this forum go bye-bye.......
 
Yeah,

I agree, you get what you pay for, cheap as chips as David Dickinson would say. I have a good few Abacus products, and their utilities are great, FSDS, EZScenery, Panel studio, VASS (a bit redundant IMHO, but fun to mess with), sound studio, etc. I am more than happy with them and got pretty much all of them on specials. Past customers get deals, buy 3 save x%, and that is how I ended up with some of their aircraft packages. Some are, to be kind, dated, others are okay, but I haven't complained, I got what I paid for, lots of planes for little money, the ones that were past it have been put out to AI pasture, so they have their use. One pack I bought I only wanted the P61, so the rest were just gravy (granted, luke warm with a wrinkled skin, lol).

Lucky dog, If you really must have them, I think SimMarket has/had a special on that and a few more, under Halycon media or something. Also if you search Amazon or other vendors, you'll find box sets, including that and a couple of others bundled for a cheaper price than 30 smackers.

Jamie
 
Astoroth said:
Guys, keep in mind that there are a couple of members here that have had some of their aircraft distributed through Abacus. I'm not defending Abacus, I'm just saying there could be a more diplomatic way of putting it, and maybe avoid some stepped on toes and bruised feelings....

No, I'm not one of them, but I do know who a couple of them are, and I'd hate to see some more good members of this forum go bye-bye.......
Click to expand...

I'm one of the members Astoroth is talking about. A few other known names behind the Abacus aircraft are Dave Eckert and Massimo Taccoli.

Abacus kept me in groceries and kept the lights on for me a five years ago when I was out of work and had NO Income except for the planes I was making for them.

That said. On the Commuter Express package. I did the Saab 340. I was limited in the panels due to needing to use only existing Abacus gauges and defaults. And for the flight dynamics. I'm not an expert and Herb Morse graciously helped me out with the Saab (for no money I might add) I also made the Diamond Twinstar (not bad considering I was using FSDS 2.5 without boolean cuts) That plane gave me gray hair. As did the Maverick. Another compound curve plane.

Also, the Planes I made for Abacus were built over five years ago. A lot has changed in the FS world in that time.

I burned myself out making enough aircraft to pay the light bill and be able to afford the luxury of food during that time. That's why in the last five years, I've released Two freeware airplanes and one of those was a reworked version of a Plane I did for Abacus.

All I ask is that some decorum be maintained.



Brian
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top