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By: - 1st April 2003 at 08:35 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I bought FS2002 recently and one bad point about it is the add-ons you need before you can play it. I bought a Microsoft joystick which I cannot use until I download DirectX. I need to buy a video card to run the game which would cost around £300 I've been told, then you may need to expand your PCs memory as the game can require up to 128MB (more for scenery add-ons) if you are using XP. I haven't been able to install the software because at the moment I cannot afford all the bloody add-ons it needs.
By: - 1st April 2003 at 10:01 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
FS2002 is a very good sim, and was a vast improvement over the 2k version.
If you have a decent spec'd machine then I would reccomend it, really depends on what sort of detail you want to run at. If you fly with realism settings way up there, then you will need a decent processor. Many people forget that the CPU is the heart of teh machine in these days of the whiz-bang Graphics cards. And on that note, if you like your sim looking pretty then you will need a decent card. Also don't forget the soundcard, many people run on an on-board chip for sound, but not only are they not that good, they leech valuable resources. Once you put a decent soundcard in your PC you will be amazed at the quality of the audio experience. Next up is a stick, you don't need anything fancy, but a throttle and rudder is a must really, if you have the cash go for Force Feedback, my stick of choice would be MS' Sidewinder 2FF.
There are some nice examples of ac's, including a 747, but have you noticed the lack of the Concorde? Microsoft said this was due to licensing issues I think, but it was also the time that the Concorde accident occured??
The weather system is supberb, allowing it to be set to globally, locally and even real time weather systems can be put in place if you have a decent net connection.
The flight modelling is upto MS usual standards, but some of the aircraft have average textures and there are limited liveries ( but thats what add-ons are for :D )
2002 also offers a pretty good ATC system, with real (American) voices, and is fairly easy to use, making requests for taxi, take-off and landing etc a friendly and more realistic affair.
The King school of flight training puts you through a virtual course where you can earn certs, and I would say is a good grouding in the physics/dynamics of flight.
If you go for the PRO version then you will be treated with a few more ac, a few electronic panels (cant remeber which, sorry) and the instructor station, which allows you to take the role of teacher or student with another FS user. Great for virtual airlines hiring new pilots!
One more thing.... MS is in the process of developing MSFS version 9 (2k was 8, I think), the official name will be Flight Sim 2004 Century of flight. Apparantly the graphics will be tweaked, there are a great deal of ac ranging over the 100 years of powered flight as well as a much improved weather system. Think its due for release in July this year, could be worth waiting for? Your choice.
By: - 1st April 2003 at 10:17 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
go for the pro version !
I'm running an Athlon 800 (equivilant to a P3 500 apparently) and its runs like the dogs dangly bits!
Shed loads of downloads available for (last count I had over 214 on my pc!) including Concorde...did you know you can download a Concorde in French Army or Navy colours for combat flight sim 2 and it has guns attached...yes I know I'm sad but hey !...
the realtime weather downloaded form Jeppeson's web and the realtime ATC make for some very realistic flight. They even show moving car headlights on the major routes at night time !!!
I think you'll find that the pro version comes with DirectX version 8 included.
Well worth the dosh if you want a serious non shooting flight sim
By: - 1st April 2003 at 10:40 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I just upgraded my PC with a Geforce 64mb graphic card and an extra 256mb ram memory (£30) and FS works like a treat. That said, it worked pretty well with my old Voodoo 16mb card as well. Naturally the better the card the better the performance.
I don't think you'll need to spend £300 on a card to get a good FS experience, my 64mb was around £60 from an off high street dealer www.infiniti.co.uk/ You could get a decent card over 100mb for well less than £300 which would work wonderfully with FS. My joystick was around £30 (Saitek Cyborg 3D Gold USB)
For extra add on's I've got GB Airports and World Airports for more realism, also going to try the new VFR photo realistic UK scenery software when the release the Scotland edition.
By: - 1st April 2003 at 18:12 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
.. in fact i'm holf way between LIME and EGNM at this moment in time!
For starters you can get a load of freeware downloads for the sim off the net. For more realism get yourself onto www.vatsim.net - a proper ATC network instead of the corny crap that comes with it.
As said above there is a lot of products available as add-ons, but to start off with buy the programme, see whether you get hooked or not THEN consider the extras.
btw it might be worth hanging on a bit - FS2K4 will be out in the US in about September so prices prob will b dropping soon
Hope it helps - any more q's and drop us an e-mail
By: - 2nd April 2003 at 11:21 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Here's a link to the new Century of Flight sim lot's of info and nice screen shots. I'm looking forward to flying that DC-3 and Comet already.
By: - 2nd April 2003 at 12:28 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Ren are you on MSN Messenger? - if so e-mail me your addy and we'll arang to have a flight together if you want - VATSIM or Multiplay?
By: - 2nd April 2003 at 17:50 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I'm doing LAX-GLA at the moment, just 4 hours in and over Montreal in a 747. About to reach the Atlantic. Haven't tried multi player before but since I just got broadband it's worth a go if you don't mind my atrocious piloting skills.
Will be in touch when I bring this crate down safely.
By: - 2nd April 2003 at 23:00 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
yeah n/p just mail me when you want - anyone else wanna join?
By: - 3rd April 2003 at 10:57 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Hmmm.... most annoying, I was just starting to make my descent from 50,000 feet east of Iceland when the programme threw a wobbly and took me back to Nova Scotia !
Drat drat and double drat ! Shame really as there was a really nice sunset at the time and lot's of twinkly stars to the east.
By: - 3rd April 2003 at 11:05 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I never till now got a hang of FS!:p
By: - 3rd April 2003 at 12:09 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Renfrew - use the " ; " (semi-colon) key regularly to save the flight - say ever half hour or an hour - it takes 10 secs at the most to do, but every so often when you have finished the sector deleate these saved files as they can be fairly large!
By: - 3rd April 2003 at 13:26 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
AutoSave
U dont need to save! A program called AutoSave (freeware from flighsim.com) saves it every minute for you so no hassle! Works really well and if u use addons like PSS A320 Pro or Dreamfleet 737-400 it saves their data so u dont have to reprogram MCDU or FMC respectively.
By: - 3rd April 2003 at 18:41 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
yea i used to have autosave, but it doesn't seem to like busy areas of airspace on VATSIM and locks up - its something to do with the large amount if infomation input//output and high ATC frequency which has to run via the M/P mode
By: - 3rd April 2003 at 18:50 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
mmm
Never known that to happen. A addon called FS Assist is very good and it is known not to lock up on VATSIM. I think its around £20 but it does also have good otrher features including a German Accent push back assistant!
By: - 4th April 2003 at 00:10 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
yea - i'd love to be able to afford all these and have a PC good enough to run it all - VFR scenery as well!
By: - 4th April 2003 at 10:02 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Good to see I'm not alone in my hobby then!
I have been with BA Virtual, flying routes out of the UK for over a year now, and have about 320 hours notched up.
I also fly on VATSIM, and have an excellent PC (2.5ghz P4, 512mb RAM 80gb hard drive etc.!) and can run some superb addons, pretty much problem free. I would recomend, if you are going to buy it, the VFR photograhpic scenery, the PSS A320, and www.avsim.com , a superb website with everything you could possibly need on it.
As has been said earlier you can pick FS2002 up for quite good prices at the moment, but try www.ebay.co.uk I bought my copy for £25 last summer, so the prices there now should be superb.
By: - 4th April 2003 at 11:02 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Hi mark whats your sirname and Pilot number for BAV?
By: - 4th April 2003 at 13:08 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Mark Lewis
BAW215
By: - 4th April 2003 at 15:20 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
i'll keep my eye out for you - i'm usually under a WRI callsign or G-SKYL on my tour of Europe in a C182
Posts: 6,072
By: A330Crazy - 31st March 2003 at 23:06
I am now seroiusly thinking about purchasing this flight sim. But as a person who knows very little about flight sims, I would be most thankful if you guys could tell me the good and bad points with this particular piece of kit.
Many thanks. :)