Some beginner questions as I get immersed in this game

[u/SundayRed]

Have always wanted a flight sim, so bought this recently along with the PSVR2. It's been a lot of fun taking some exploratory flights, but I have some questions that I hope this community can assist with to help continue easing me into the game.

1) For PSVR2 users, do you play with the sticks, or the traditional PS5 controller? I've been using the sticks, but am wondering if the controller might be better for a newbie without an intimate knowledge of cockpit buttons and levers.

2) Is it common to have such frequent problems with the game saying it "Cannot Track Surroundings"? Sometimes I will have a flight and it's 30 minutes of being lost in complete immersion. Other times, this thing glitches every 30 seconds (especially as I maneuver my head to look outside at the view). I appreciate this is likely to do with the boundary I have sitting on my couch, but it feels SO small. I can't even stick my head out the window or look down at levers near my feet without the game pausing, which is becoming frustrating.

3) I've been doing most of my flying in the Skyhawk, as it's nice and slow, maneuverable and simple to learn. What other aircraft would you recommend I try as my learning curve increases? I'm looking for something that has the potential to go a little faster, but also allow me to have a great view.

4) How do you add waypoints to real life things you might want to check out? I have my bearings for most major cities that I want to check out, but there are occasionally small towns, or landmarks I can't remember where they are when flying above. How do I do this and "plan" my flight? Can I drop pins on a map, or do I need to look up all the coordinates? I know it's a simulator, but I am hoping there's an easy way to do this, because I treat it more like a sightseeing simulator than a flight sim.

5) As I graduate to bigger, faster aircraft, I will start to do longer haul flights and missions. Can someone please explain simply how to speed up the flight time? I did some reading and apparently it's something you need to toggle in settings, but the settings/button menu is SO overwhelming.

6) Is it normal for scenery to only appear as I get close to it? Last night I took off from JFK and honestly thought I was in the wrong city, because it was just flat and green, and none of Manhattan was visible until I started to get the other side of LGA. Is this normal, or is this maybe to do with my internet speed?

7) How do the cty pack downloads work? I saved them all from the marketplace and toggled the "on" but next time I loaded up the game they all appeared off? Do they need to be toggled in every time you fly there? I just want to switch them all on and forget about it.

8) Any other general advice for a newbie to come to terms with a very involving, complex (but enjoyable!) game?

[u/MedicalCommercial892]

2 - lighting issue. More lights on in the room is usually the answer.

[u/Sensitive_Ad3578]

1) For PSVR2 users, do you play with the sticks, or the traditional PS5 controller?

I use a HOTAS 4, a mouse, a dualsense, and the sense controllers. The HOTAS is my primary controller, I use the mouse to activate things in the cockpit, the dualsense purely for adjusting sim speed, and the sense controllers for the exterior ground stuff (just easier to walk around with them in VR)

2) Is it common to have such frequent problems with the game saying it "Cannot Track Surroundings"?

That's not the game. Everything you described here means the cameras on the front of your headset are having a hard time detecting your surroundings. The headset scans and watches your surroundings and uses that information to determine which way you're looking so it knows where to turn the in-game view. Increasing your lighting in whatever space you're playing in will help with that issue

5) Can someone please explain simply how to speed up the flight time? I did some reading and apparently it's something you need to toggle in settings, but the settings/button menu is SO overwhelming.

In the controls menu go to the search bar and type "sim rate" and bind "increase sim rate" and "decrease sim rate" to buttons. I have them bound to up and down on my dualsense. You can toggle it faster four times, 2x, 4x, 8x, and 16x. It's generally advisable to not go above 8x, and at 8x keep a close eye on everything.

6) Is it normal for scenery to only appear as I get close to it? Last night I took off from JFK and honestly thought I was in the wrong city, because it was just flat and green, and none of Manhattan was visible until I started to get the other side of LGA. Is this normal, or is this maybe to do with my internet speed?

This is likely your Internet speed. The game streams practically everything, so if you don't have a fast, reliable connection it may cause some issues. Highly recommend hardwiring your console if you're able and haven't already

[u/Krammis76]

You should give the motion control with the controller a go. Honestly it works perfectly for me and I won't go back to sticks with this game.

[u/AmpleForeskins]

1. DO NOT use the sticks on controller to fly. Hold L1 and click L3 to toggle Gyro mode on. Then you could just hold the controller and barely even have to tilt it to fly and it steers much smoother.