Please bear in mind that we have had little time so far to assess every aspect of the Steam Edition of Flight Simulator X, so the information below is provided in good faith with the information currently available to us. We will be updating these FAQs when we have more information.
Q: Is FSX Steam Edition a new version of FSX?
A: No - it's an updated version with the Multiplayer capability re-instated, but otherwise the Steam Edition is effectively the existing version of FSX available via Steam rather than as a Boxed edition. (According to the Steam website: "Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition (FSX: Steam Edition) is functionally similar to the boxed version of Microsoft Flight Simulator X (MSFSX Gold Edition).")
Q: If I do buy the Steam Edition, do I need to uninstall my current version of FSX and install the FSX Steam Edition?
A: No. However a message does appear at the end of the FSX SE installation process advising that it may be a good idea to remove the old version. Our advice at Just Flight is to remove the boxed version of FSX prior to installing as this will give you the maximum amount of backwards compatibility with add-ons that either pre-date FSX Steam Edition, or have not been released with specific Steam Edition compatibility.
If you need more information about this, please contact Dovetail Games support directly.
Q: Can I install the Steam Edition of FSX and still run my current version of FSX without conflicts between them?
A: The FSX Steam Edition page on the Steam website includes the following comment: "If you already have MSFSX Gold Edition installed on your PC and are concerned about running the two games alongside each other, you may wish to consider installing FSX: Steam Edition on a separate PC." If you have the original boxed version of FSX installed at the time you install FSX Steam Edition then FSX:SE will create its own separate versions of important files such as FSX.cfg, Dll.cfg etc which can cause installers problems when you are adding third party products. NOTE – uninstalling the boxed version after installing the Steam version will not reset these paths back to the original Microsoft version. Nor will reinstalling the Steam version after removing the boxed version if the boxed version was originally present when first installing Steam.
Q: Will my Just Flight add-ons work in FSX Steam Edition?
A: In most cases we think at this stage that many of our add-ons will work in the Steam Edition, but we are only able to provide technical support for add-ons which have been sold specifically as being compatible with FSX Steam Edition.
To the best of our knowledge, if you did not have the original boxed version of FSX currently installed at the time you installed FSX Steam Edition then all of our add-ons should work (assuming you have the up to date version of FSUIPC installed for FSX:SE, see below for details) without any problems. If you did have the original boxed version of FSX installed then certain add-ons that need to write information to files such as FSX.cfg, DLL.cfg and Scenery.cfg (common examples are scenery titles, AI traffic titles, amongst others) then these will not work without manual intervention.
If you need to obtain the latest version of FSUIPC, please see our dedicated "Where can I download FSUIPC for Microsoft Flight Simulator X Steam Edition?" FAQ.
If you are finding aircraft are appearing invisible, please see our dedicated "Aircraft not appearing correctly in FSX:SE - Install legacy SimConnect" FAQ for details of how to install the original (legacy) SimConnect in to FSX:SE.
Q: Will Just Flight be releasing add-ons for FSX Steam Edition?
A: Yes - we do plan to release add-ons for the Steam Edition that can be bought via the Steam download store. Please keep an eye on our website News and subscribe to our e-shots and newsletters for information on these releases.
Q: Where can I buy add-ons that are compatible with Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition?
A: Please see the full selection of add-ons for Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition on our website - please note that add-ons listed as FSX:SE compatible have been updated/confirmed to work in the Steam Edition of Flight Simulator X. This list is regularly being added to as more add-ons become compatible with FSX:SE.
Q: Where do I get technical support for FSX Steam edition?
A: If you have an issue with the installation of FSX Steam Edition or difficulty in purchasing the software, contact Valve.
If you have an issue specific to FSX Steam Edition, contact Support at Dovetail Games.
Q: Where do I get technical support for Just Flight add-ons installed into FSX Steam Edition?
A: Please contact Just Flight Support if you have a query about an add-on which has been sold as being compatible with FSX Steam Edition. Issues with other FSX add-ons should be taken up with the publisher or developer of that specific add-on.