boeing247 wrote on Aug 14^th, 2011 at 4:54pm:

How can I get FSDS? Is it still available?

FSDS 3.5.1 is the latest and current version. You get it from Abacus. It costs $US49. On the web page, it says FS Design Studio, New Version 3.5, but if you buy it you will get v3.5.1.

If I had known that gmax was free, there is no way I would have bought FSDS. Gmax is great, but it has a big learning curve. Gmax is the little brother of 3DS Max 4 or 5 and the models have a much better look than FSDS models do. To get FSDS models that look like very close to what gmax does, is possible, but it takes an enormous amount of work that I would call "joining the dots" (welding vertices in gmax). You already have gmax, I would recommend that you learn it and create aircraft/scenery with it.

I am not saying that you shouldn't buy FSDS, I love it. The truth is, I can't make up my mind which one I prefer. I use both. There are things that FSDS does better than gmax, but then there are things that gmax does better than FSDS. I just wish I could get the best of both in one program. I doubt that will ever happen.

One other thing. I have seen many people move from FSDS to gmax, but I can't remember any going from gmax to FSDS. I have bought both the gmax Bible and The gmax Hanbook and they are very helpful when it comes to learning gmax.

And for all that, all the aircraft I have created, and used in either FS9 or FSX, were made with FSDS. ::)

Mark