Getting started
Flying in single player mode can become boring after some time, so why not fly together with other people? While the old FS2004 came already with a basic multiplayer feature, FSX is even more dedicated to online flying. The completely intergrated gamespy feature makes it easy to get started.
If you're new to FSX, or at least new to the multiplayer function, you need to create a free account at GameSpy. Click on "Multiplayer" at the menubar on the left and click on "Create New Account..." Now you need to fill in a small form and click "Create GameSpy Account". Make sure you remember or write down your password, because no welcome email with your username/password will be sent. If however you forget your password, then you can enter your email address and click on the "Forgot My Password..." button. Your password will be sent to your email address (so make sure your email address is valid).
These errors may occur when you try to create an account:
error message |
solution |
| Invalid player name format. Player names must be at least 3 characters in alphanumeric format. |
You either entered a player name which is less than 3 characters long or you have entered spaces or other forbidden characters. Remember that alphanumeric means that you can use characters from a to z and numbers 0 to 9 only. Just choose a player name between 3 and 20 characters with no forbidden characters. |
| This player name is already in use. Try another player name. |
No comment here, try another player name. |
| Your password must be less than 16 characters in alphanumeric format. |
Possible cause:
1. You entered a password with forbidden characters 2. You entered a password with more than 16 characters
3. The email address you've entered is already in use by another player or perhaps you already created an account before with that email address. |
After you've succesfully created your account, click on "Network Settings..." and check if the voice compression setting says 3.600 Kbps. Any setting higher will not make any difference, any setting lower will not make any difference either, so leave it on 3.600.
Also check if the voice communication is enabled. If you don't have a mic/headset or you don't want to use your voice to communicate with other players, you may disable it. Click "OK" and now you can use your GameSpy user ID (which is your player name) and password to login.
Sometimes, you get the error message "You have been disconnected from GameSpy. You may have logged in on another computer." while you try to login, exit a session or close your own session. This is a default message that doesn't mean what it says most of the time.
For 99% of the time, this happens because the lobby is full. Since FSX will drop you in the Free Flight lobby by default, you might have trouble logging in at busy times of the day. But there is a trick: When you're logged in, select another lobby than the Free Flight lobby and then disconnect. Next time you login, FSX will drop you in that lobby and not in the Free Flight lobby. Since there aren't that many players in the other lobbies, it is unlikely that GameSpy will disconnect you. Make sure you logout in a non-Free Flight lobby.
Remember that this trick is only valid if you don't care about the Free Flight lobby, cause when you select the Free Flight lobby after you logged in via another lobby, you will be disconnected anyway if the Free Flight lobby is full.
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After you logged in succesfully, a list of sessions will be displayed. Click (single click) on a session to view the session information.
Here follows a list of table titles of the session listing with their meaning:
table title |
meaning |
| L |
In this table you can see if a session is locked, which means you need a password to login to that session. Locked session have a little lock icon. |
| Session Name |
The name of the session given by the host. Sometimes this includes the airport where the host is located. |
| Players |
Number of players in the session is listed before the "/" sign and the number of maximum players is listed behind the "/" sign. If the host has reserved any slots for friends, that number is shown between the "()" signs. |
| Connection |
The quality of the host connection is shown here. This information is gathered by continues pings to the host computer. These ping times are response times in miliseconds. The smaller the number, the faster the connection. Good connections are listed in the green color, while not so good connections are shown in yellow. The red -1 ping means that either the connection is very bad or it could not be determined by FSX/gamespy. So this doesn't always mean that you can't connect to that session. However, since it is listed in red -1, many players choose not to join those sessions, which results in sessions with only a small number of players or no players at all.
NOTE: If a host is located in a country far away from you, the ping may be in yellow or red. Players who live in the same country as the session host may have a better ping than players from another part of the world. A bad ping does not neccecairly mean that the connection is too slow to fly, but the chance that you get disconnected from the host is considerably higher. |
| Nearest Airfield |
The nearest airfield to the host. In ATC sessions, this is usually the ATC controlled airport. |
| Voice |
In this table you can see if the host has voice communication enabled. If it shows a red speaker icon, the voice communication will not work, regardless of your configuration. Some hosts use Teamspeak for voice communication. Sometimes it is just called "TS". In that case the host has disabled the voice communication in FSX, but is using the program Teamspeak instead. Read more about Teamspeak here: Teamspeak website |
...and the session information screen:
title |
meaning |
| Status: |
The status says whether the session is already in progress or not. If not, you have to wait until the host starts the session. |
| Description: |
The description written by the host of the session. Sometimes, important information like tower frequencies or special rules are announced here. If there is a bad connection to the host, you will not be able to see this information. If so, ask for rules or frequencies in the chat window. |
| Weather: |
The weather theme used. Only the host can choose a weather theme, you can not override it. If the host has Real World Weather with updates turned on, there may be some differences in weather between various players, due to the fact that the online updates occur on different times for each player. |
| Host ID: |
The gamespy id/player name of the host. |
| Host aircraft: |
The host's aircraft. This can be either any aircraft the host has installed in his FSX or the ATC control tower. |
| Shared aircraft: |
The number of aircraft that are shared or open for sharing. |
Voice speed
(kbps): |
The voice compression setting of the host. Irrelevant information for most players. |
FSX Acceleration Session Listing
By default, you start in the "Free Flight" lobby. If you want to go to another lobby, go to the upper right corner where it says "Lobby:" and use the dropdown menu to select another lobby. Since FSX drops you in the Free Flight lobby by default, you will find much more sessions there than in other lobbies.
Note that the checkbox "Only show sessions in my country/region" doesn't work for most people. So don't be alarmed if you get the message "We cannot detect your country code on GameSpy at this time.". To connect directly to a server, click the "Connect Directly..." button and enter the IP address. And yes...unlike FS2004, in FSX you need to be logged in at gamespy to be able to connect directly to a server.
More information here:
>> Join a session
>> Host a session
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