FLIGHT SIM 2004 CENT/FIT WIN32 EN DVD BOX CD
1 Know your hardware!
Reviews which say, "This game runs horribly" or "This game crashed my computer," help no one when you don't list you specs.
AMD 2700+ @ 2GHz
512Mb DDR
GeForceFX 5200 w/256Mb DDR
SB Audigy Platinum
7200 RPM 120 Gig HD
I cannot get this game to slow down. I put the settings on ultra-high, trilinear filtering and all that, bump the resolution up to insane levels where I can no longer read the flight lessons because they're too tiny, and I don't even get a stutter. I can freely alt-tab in and out, or play in a window. My specs are very decent, but by no means are they the bleeding edge. I see other reviews here where people seem to hint that they have similar specs and are only getting 10 to 15 Fps. That's ridiculous.
So first, know your hardware. Not all RAM is created equally and not all video cards are either. You may "have the numbers" but if you bought cheap hardware, expect cheap results. Also, SOUND! My guess is that many of the people here who have bad performance with apparently decent specs can trace it to their sound card. It's often overlooked. My sound card isn't great, but it used to be a lot worse. I noticed a marked improvement in many 3d games after I got the audigy--and that's just an audigy, not an audigy2 or anything flashy. Do you people that have performance issues even have a PCI sound card or is it built into your motherboard? If it's onboard, then it's sapping CPU time from you.
Second, know your OS integrity. When's the last time you defragged? When's the last time you scanned for addware and spyware? Are you the kind of person that has bunches of useless stuff running all the time, like screen saver programs? Some one here said that FS2004 caused the loss of all date on her C drive. No, it wasn't FS2004, your computer and OS were unstable to begin with. Don't blame some game because you can't manage your machine.
Now the game. Yeah, I meant those five stars. I love this thing. I know people don't call it a game, but I do. I'm playing "Being a pilot" and loving it. I enjoy many different kinds of computer games, but this one is quite unique in that it calms me down. Straight and level flight can be very Zen.
2 Awsome
OK, for all you aviation lovers out there, this is the game for you. There is a concern I have. The graphics in this game are so intense, that your computer might not tbe able to take it! 1 out of 3 times I try to play it, it freezes and the display driver stops responding. I have a windows XP. It should work. Anyway, I have been from the cold mountains of Antartica to the spinx (spelling) in egypt. Where will you fly?
3 The new state-of-the-art flight sim for PC
My qualifications: More than 3000 hrs of real world flight time, Commercial, Instrument, Multi-Engine and Flight Instructor certificates, and an incalculable amount of my life spent "flying" every major flight sim ever made for the PC, starting with the original MS Flight Simulator on an Apple IIe in 1983. For whatever it's worth, folks, I'm an expert on this subject.
FS-2004 Century of Flight is the new state of the art, the new gold standard. By itself, this software is worth going out and buying a new, hot PC just so you can fly it.
If this is your first flight sim experience, you'll have fun just doing loops and looking at the pretty scenery.
But here's the truth: the more aviation experience you have, the more you will appreciate this sim. Quite frankly, I can't think of a single significant element of the real-world flying experience that isn't precisely modeled and simulated in FS-2004.
Want to climb in the 172 and practice NDB approaches down to minimums in rain and a stiff crosswind? No problem, you can do that here. Want to captain the 747 from San Francisco to Honolulu by moonlight? Consider it done. Want to fly neck-straining aerobatics "in the box" over the runway at Oshkosh in Patty Wagstaff's Extra 300? Start the engine and go. Want to load up the DC-3 and fly "The Hump" to gain an appreciation of true aviation heroism? Yep, you can do that too. With or without the snowstorms and turbulence.
Quite frankly, if you can come up with a non-combat flying scenario of any kind, you can almost certainly experience something very close to it in FS-2004. This sim isn't just fun, or accurate - it's realistic training and practice for the IFR pilot.
Words simply can't express the depth, thoroughness, accuracy and variety to be found in this sim. Everything happens in real time and it's so accurate on my PC that I can get out my E6-B whizwheel and do time, fuel and distance calculations while I'm "flying" and have them work out almost exactly.
The more of a pilot you are, the more this sim will give you. And no matter how many hours you have, there is no pilot alive who won't benefit from the incredibly realistic practice and training that this sim provides. If you rent a 172 now and then, you'll be so much sharper in the real cockpit because of this sim. And if you own your own airplane, you can practice things like non-precision approaches, holding pattern entries, missed approach procedures and engine failures to landing, all without burning a drop of gas or putting your own airplane in jeopardy.
Here's what it boils down to: In general aviation today, you either train and practice with this sim, or you're behind the times and selling yourself short. Get it.
4 Very good simulator but graphics need work
I was really impressed with this product when I purchased it. The reality of the ATC and air traffic is excelent. I would have given this a 5 star but the only reason I am giving it 4 is the graphics are horrible. Microsoft needs to a do a major upgraded overhaul of the graphics on it's next flight simulator in the series. And another thing I have noticed is that in some citys I have flown over there is no river there when there should be. Example in Williamsport, PA there is a river that runs right though the City it is not found on the flight simulator. Other then that the lessons are very good and informitive. If Microsoft would upgrade the graphics and make some of the details more real this would get a 5 star.
5 2002 or 2004?
I have been using FS since version 1, when it had the crop duster, and have BOUGHT legitimate version of every single one since I remember. I do not take to MS bashing and I was really looking forward to FS9/2004.
I first started FS9 with 1.8 MHz, 640Mb RAM MSI M/B and AGP 4X NVidia. FS9 kindly advised me that I would have to forget about hardware acceleration, and decided for me what display settings I could expect (which turned out to be the absolutely lowest possible configuration Very Very Low)and started crawling along at an average of 3.5 FPS.
I had read the very good review (see below, "Good Sim, But Remember the "Sim" Part!") so I ordered the 256Mb 8X AGP NVidia he uses, and discovered that my mother board was 4X and therefore there was hardly any improvement with the 8X AGP(soared to 5 FPS :( ). So, what the hell, my 3 yrs old box was due for a renewal, and I got me a 3.0 MHz, 1 Gb of RAM together with the already purchased Video card. Net expense: Over $700 (in Nicaragua) thinking my patience and wallet would be soon rewarded -All that trying to hide from my wife and, in the process, having to reinstall twice XP, but what won't we do for our favorite Simulator!). Try again! FS still informed me that I had not enough memory, but did apply the software acceleration. Thanks FS9!, and upgraded me to Low configuration and I now hop along at... what do you think? 6.5 fpm. Shall I say I was somewhat unhappy? FS9 refuses to aknowledge the card in the Hardware Display Settings, and does not offer any screen resolution menu, as FS 2002 does, and does not let me go into the full screen mode. So it is VERY far from being happy with the present muscles and I have no idea how much more would make it more enthusiastic. It is not very communicative in this respect.
Then I had the idea of reinstalling FS 2002. Well, with THAT much muscle, FS 2002 IS a beauty. To start with, you get MAXIMUM Display setting and performance, hardware acceleration enabled and you actually fly at 20 or more FPS.
Go to LFLY (BRON, France) in January at, say, 16:00 local time in your Cessna, heading 120, then go up the snow covered valleys, now partly in the crisp winter mountain shadows of the sunset. You will find hundreds of lighted houses along the way, street lamps, etc. with still enough sunlight to see the sky and the reddish sunset light on top of the surrounding mountains. You can VFR around the light-dotted valleys of Oisans with a feeling of total reality and pure bliss.
I did exactly the same with FS9 and got about 1 lighted house every 10 miles.
Conclusion, if you decide to upgrade your machine for 2004, I suggest using it for 2002 which is superb, although you do loose quite a few improvement and save yourself the $25.
Maybe the FS team will find a way to actually reach a reasonable setting and a 10 FPS in version 9.2-
As for crashing to the desktop, downloading 9.1 helps a little, but not that much, particularly while you are around airports.
Now, would not all that explain the $25 only MS charges for FS9? O maybe MS is using us to do a free world wide testing, to detect all the airports in the world that they have to upgrade to their new configuration (they have changed something in the airport properties which make FS crash to the desktop quite frequently). You decide. But I don't think it is quite fair not to be level with us. The warning SHOULD BE "Do not buy FS9 unless you have 5 GhZ turbocharged 64 bit machine, with 20 GB RAM and a 10Gb Video card".
Yves Chaix
6 FS2004, a new revolution in simulation on a PC.
Sorry to hear some customers had problems running the program. I would suggest you ask for advice on flightsim website forums which are very helpful and full of helpful fellow simmers and some real pilots who also use the program. Two top sites are: simviation.com and avsim.com
With FS2004, this may just be a new beginning in simulation approaching realism. The day may come when we wear VR goggles and find flight simulation on an everyday PC indistinguishable from the real thing.
However to get the most realistic value out of FS2004 today , addons from third party developers are required. Microsoft simply cannot add and develop all possible features unless FS became a flagship product like Windows. Some of the addon planes simulate systems and avionics up to 95% accurate in terms of completeness. Jetliner addons now have workable and flyable FMC components and flightplans(with data supplied from navdata.at). It's coming to the point where there are much fewer "dummy" cosmetic buttons on the instrument panel except for the emergency circuit breakers. Addon developers also contribute to the programmable scenery system of FS where artists can easily add new airpots , buildings and textures to the land meshes(basically grids of textures). Some of these excellent addon sites are precisionmanuals.com, flight1.com, simmarket.com, fsscene.com ; X-plane may have a more realistic basic flight model, but the massive community and developer following and addon technology(which also allows custom flight modelling development) for FS2004 have all but negated that advantage. It's almost becoming a simming "OS" for flight simulation where the possibilites are seemingly endless. Take the ActiveSky2004 addon for example which does dynamic weather using the cloud generating system of the main FS program.(which can include rain, hail , snow, even thunderstorms and lightning) Cloud layers and type are virtually there. You can see and fly through multiple cloud layers with the realistic effects on visibilty just as if you were flying in real life through the clouds. Fog and mist has never looked better. And that's just one of several fabulous features. To sum up, the value and innovative depth of this version also known as FS9 is just as revolutionary as the old days of FSII on 8-bit PCS.
7 Consider not buying this product
In typical Microsoft fashion, my computer crashed four times while using Flight Simulator 2004. I have more than enough memory and processor speed, so that can not be the problem. All of the computer minimums to run the program have been exceeded, but alas it crashes every time I try to run the program...within the first three minutes.
It has taken me all of a Friday night to try to figure this out. A night away from my family. Why does Microsoft continue to sell products that do not run on thier own platforms? This is not the first time I have had trouble trying to get a Microsoft aviation simulator to work. The last one, Air Combat, Battle for Europe, had the same shortcommings. I did not get that to work either. I guess I'm the sucker for buying into the second aviation product from Microsoft.
But what really gets me is this: after downloading the four disks onto my computer (four disks of worthless, computer crashing code that lasts a mere 240 seconds) at a cost of more than thirty dollars, Mircosoft made it a condition that I sign-up for a .net address with them. This is wrong on so many levels. For those of you reading this too young to realize it, business has not always been conducted like this. Patrons of a particular product or company did not always have to perform, other than payment, for the vendors of the product being purchased. As a patron things were not demanded of you after purchasing the product as Microsoft is demanding of its customers who purchase Flight Simulator 2004.
As a condition of use, AFTER the software was purchased, I was forced to sign-up for a .net address with Microsoft. I gave the company over $30 and was forced to perform for them by way of joining a service I do not want and answering a survey that I did not have the time to answer. All of this or my new game that I paid money for would not work.
The game did not work anyway. It crashed my computer with fatel errors four times in a row. I got less than three minutes of flight time each time I started the program.
It is important to note, again, that I have more than the minimums req. to run this program. My system is sound (or it was before I loaded this worthless program on it).
Again, Microsoft has produced a program that sounds terrific and falls horribly short. With Flight Simulator 2004 Microsoft forces one to join where there is no desire or need to do so, creates instability on otherwise stable computers and charges over $30.00 to do it.
As a private pilot, I could not wait to get this program loaded. I first heard about it while getting a "VFR Not Recomended" weather breifing. It was suggested that I download the latest weather, as I could not fly VFR, and fly to my destination on the Flight Simulator, 2004. I ran to buy it. What a mistake! If I added the $35.00 to the $55.00 I spent on the first flight sumulator program I purchased form Mircosoft, I would have a hour of flight time payed for in a Cessna 182.
Save your money for flight lessons. Do not but this program.
Gary Toler
8 Great Sim!
FS 2004 is the first flight simulator I've ever used, and what a great introduction to the genre!
I am not a pilot (though I do have aspirations), and the ground school and flying lessons included were more than enough information to get me off the ground. They're informative, easy, and fun! They do take some patience, though.
The amount of realism is unbelievable. While I may not be qualified to compare the "feel" of the simulated airplane to the real thing (see above), I can say that looking out the window at the scenery is incredibly satisfying. The ground textures are somewhat lacking, but the weather effects are incredible, and the modeling of major landmarks is VERY detailed. Fly over the Las Vegas strip, or buzz the Eiffel Tower, and you'll know what I'm talking about.
I bought this game shortly after it was released, and since then I've logged countless hours of enjoyable flight. I highly recommend this title.
9 Finally, as real as it gets
I have been pushing planes through the skies with MS Flight Simulator since the late 80's (which I think is a true testament to my geekness) back when the scenery was wire frame building and checker board terrain. Each release of Flight Sim has gotten progressively better yet I haven't been moved to buy the latest copy since FS 2000. That was until I saw the previews for "Century of Flight." There are many things I like and dislike about this latest release. First, I like the increased and improved scenarios, however I do wish that the older scenarios used scenery appropriate for the era. Second, while I really like the fact that air traffic control comes standard, it isn't very realistic and this can be a pain in the butt occasionally. The scenery really isn't all that much better than many of the add-on packs that have been available for years but you can see an improved effort. I will say though that weather has been improved 100%. I love the rain and snow effects inside the cockpit and the terrain effects when switching from one season to the next. Real time weather is another cool feature of the simulator that adds more bells and whistles and increases the fun. The GPS and flight computer have been enhanced as well and adds a higher level of realism and enjoyment to the game as well. While this product has its quirks and annoyances, I have still found it tremendously enjoyable and would recommend it for any Flight Sim fan. I would recommend using a joystick, I have found it simply too hard to fly with the keyboard alone, especially after increasing the realism settings.
10 BEST game of all time!!!
Microsoft flight simulator is the BEST game ever. It has no defects. It has NO violance. This game is VERY realistic. Before I got this game I was looking on the internet to see if I could find a good free flight simulator, there was NOTHING LIKE this one out there so, if you want a good flight simulator, this is the only place toget it. It's good if you want something to just play around with.
11 Good, but typical Microsoft
I'm fourteen and greatly interested in flight as a future career. So when I got FS 2004 for Christmas, I was thrilled, and hoped that it would help me study before I began taking courses. It was my first FS game, and the sleek, simple menues gave a very good first impression. The Learning Center provides a ton of information on pretty much everything to do with flight, and the Historical Flights section is very interesting. I couldn't wait to start flying. And here's where Microsoft's old problem turns-up--cool and flashy on the outside, not so good once you get to know it. To make this easier to explain, I've divided the remainder of the review into several sections, each discussing an important aspect of the game:
Flight:
I've never actually flown a real airplane before, so I can't compare FS flight to flying in real life. I was quite impressed, however, and the cockpits looked reasonably realistic. Take-off, landing and all the other manuevers associated with flying are pretty much the same in the game, and ATC is excellent and makes the entire experience feel realistic. For new-comers who don't yet know how to work with the radio, FS has an 'automated tuning' feature, which enables you to simply choose the desired frequency off a list.
Realism:
The amount of realism in the game largely depends on what options you set in the Settings menue. However, for the most realistic flying experience, I recommend setting everything to hard, so that the airplane will actually crash if it hits the ground at an inappropriate angle, instead of just bouncing off it. 'Hard' settings will also enable collisions with buildings and other aircraft, although due to the inaccuracy of object boundaries, sometimes a plane will 'crash' even though it hasn't even touched the object--one of the many flaws found in the game. However, novices can choose the 'Easy' settings which will disable all this. Now comes the downside to FS realism. Two things; First, the crashes themselves are utterly stupid and unrealistic. I mean, when an airplane collides with a mountain at 200kph, it doesn't just freeze and remain intact. I expect to see at least some signs of damage--broken windshield, severed wings, charred ground, etc. I know this isn't a combat game, but even so, no damage at all, just the words CRASH on the screen is pretty disappointing. Then there's the second problem--graphics.
Graphics:
The graphics in Microsoft Flight simulator are totally and utterly terrible! I've got a 2004 model computer, with a RADEON 7000 IGP graphics card which enables me to have the diplay at the 'High' settings option (Ultra-high is the max.). And still, the buildings and water are horrendous. The ocean looks like its been moulded, and houses and trees are blurry and inaccurate, more like a child drew them. The ground itself is just flat and boring, with a smudgy green surface that's supposed to resemble grass. Airport surfaces are ok, with individual cement tiles slightly visible, but still a far stretch from real life. From afar, mountains, valleys and cities look stunning, but the closer you get, the less so.
Weather:
Ahh, yes, what Microsoft bragged about most in this game--the weather features. Let me start off by saying that the clouds do look good. They're 3D, (as opposed to the 2D clouds present in old FS games)and actually move with time. That's about it. Snow and rain look good within the cockpit, but once you shift to the outside view, rain becomes hardly visible and more like flimsy lines, or in the case of snow, isolated flakes. I've flown through clouds before in real life (in the passengers seat), so I have a good idea of what it's like. In the game, as you move from clear sky to cloud, instead of there being a gradual progression with the cloud becoming more and more dense, the screen just goes from being clear to cloudy in one second. The same goes for fog. And if you're hoping for any of the dramatic 'flying above a sea of clouds', you'll be disappointed--what looks like a completely overcast sky from bellow turns into boring, isolated clumps of cloud the closer you get to cloud level.
General:
I think I've covered most of the important aspects of the game. The only other thing worth mentioning is the flying lessons. Allthough these are a fun and good way to learn, you're intructer keeps failing you if you don't do exactly as told and ends the lesson. This can get extreamly annoying, especially if you're having trouble with something, and then don't even get the chance to figure out how to correct your mistakes. Overall, though, it's a fun game and a good way to learn flying. But as I said, Microsoft looks good on the cover, but the deeper you dig, the crummier it gets. At times the game can feel totally patched together, and by God, if you don't have a fast computer, the constant freezing will drive you nuts. Buy this game if you want to learn how to fly without pouring over books, but unless you have the best computer on the market, don't expect to get mind-blowing graphics. It's this and all the minor flaws, especially the 'patched-together' feeling of the game that end-up degrading the fun and overall value of this game.
12 Horrible
I bought this for my husband for Christmas. When installed the game locked up the entire harddrive of the computer. We were not able to save anything from the C drive. I would not recommend this to anyone.
13 Missed opportunities
I usually fly military sims (Falcon 4.0, LOMAC, Forgotten Battles), and I was really looking forward to try a "peaceful" one for a change. I was a bit disappointed. I can't really judge on the flight models (although the Wright Flyer is a tad too easy to fly compared to the dedicated Wright Flyer sim, that can be purchased online), but the planes felt good engough (with the exeption of helicopters).
Cons.
Graphics. Well, that's something that should have been improved. In 2004 no sim should be having the clumsy 2D-3D cockpit views; the Il-2 came out in 2001 and it had perfect, photorealistic virtual cockpit!!! Three long years ago!!
The surroundings are the other problematic part: you actually have to buy the photorealistic USA if you want to see "real" scenery. And how about the rest of the world? Again; it's 2004. Take a look at LOMAC's (or Il-2's for that matter) terrain, cities, etc! In the Forgotten Battles, you can actually fly around in Leningrad, and find every house, every bridge in its place! In FS2004 they didn't model even New York accurately!
Traffic: you also have to buy an aftermarket-software to have "live" airports, with moving vehicles, etc.
Airplanes: true enough, you can download airplanes from the web, but it's still very frustrating to see only American-made planes given with the game. I'd like to see an Airbus shipped with the sim! The world is actually bigger than the North-American continent, you know!
How long does it take for Microsoft to get to the same level as the smaller publishers in these fields?
Pros: excellent tutorials and lessons... that's something that every sim is missing on the market.
Very flexible, many additional planes, sceneries, etc can be purchesed, downloaded or created for it.
14 Good Sim, But Remember the "Sim" Part!
I have been using flight simulators since MS Flight Simulator 4.0, and have more diverse experience than only Microsoft's offering to call upon. While any simulator can be made quite realistic with the latest hardware and enough money, it is important to note that Microsoft's offering is no different - you cannot, as they say, make a silk purse out of a pig's ear. This means that if you're running an underpowered system, you will not be able to run the simulation optimally.
Published system requirements:
* Pentium 450 or greater processor
* 64 MB RAM for 98/Me, 128 MB RAM for 2000/XP
* 8 MB/3-D with DirectX 7.0 or later videocard
* 1.8 GB hard drive space
My recommendation:
* P4 2.x GHz processor; the faster, the better
* 512MB RAM, with ideally 1GB under the hood
* 128MB / 256MB AGP video card that pushes TONS of pixels - the more, the better
* At least 5GB free hard drive space - You'll want to do a full install, and that comes in just under 3GB (2.88GB, I think)
I run on:
* P4 3.0GHz processor
* 1GB RAM
* Windows XP PRO (SP1)
* 256MB 8xAGP GeForce 5700 series NVidia video card
* Sidewinder joystick (soon to go, thanks to some pedals and a yoke I ordered!)
* On-board surround sound processor
The software itself is practically infinitely extendable, with software and hardware add-ons supported. A quick look around in the flightsim community will support my assertion that the software is CHEAP compared to what can be done to augment it. Add-on packages are available to augment FS2004's admitidedly weak "ground mesh" mapping - flying through Norway's waterways and coasts with the default scenery is nothing next to the real thing, and pales in comparison to some of the add-on packages (both for photo-texturing and mesh-building) out there. But of course, these things cost money (sometimes), as does building and maintaining a system that can fully take advantage of the software.
This is a SIMULATOR, remember - a dozen years ago something like this with a set of pedals and yoke would have been a BIG deal and far out of the reach of the home consumer. Now, as the bar of admission lowers, it is important to realize just how MANY numbers are being crunched every second (most of those in graphics routines), and spec a system appropriately. It might not be a multi-million dollar prospect to own any longer, but to adaquately run the simulator and get something "real" out of it, it is certainly not unheard of to run multi-head (throwing many monitors onto a machine) for a partial panoramic view - but, of course, realism comes at its price.
(same text as is found in my review on the "tin box" version of FS2004)
15 Wow.... wow
I am a retired pilot that has been flying for 32 years, and I can compare this game to the real thing. The first plane I flew was the Boeing 737, and I was shocked right when I saw it parked. When I took off, I forgot I was in my computer room, and not in the plane. I enjoyed the real world weather, meaning that you can take a picture from the internet, and fly in the weather that is really happening. I wouldn't recommend any other flight sim, other than another microsoft one. The Flight Simulator 2002 is very good, that has graphics quite equal to these. The only thing much differant between these games are the planes you can fly. But if your a huge flight sim fan like I am.. BUY THIS GAME!
16 Exellent flightsim - one of the best sims on the market
I am in love with avaiation, and therefore FS has become a part of my computing experience. I purchased FS 1998, and though it was a tolerable product, I in no way felt that it was a great simulation of flight. It just didn't have the look and feel of flight. However, I was blown away by the progress made in FS 2002. Though the clouds were not always realistic (modeling gave them a two-dimension look that was disconcerting to say the least), I thought that the overall experience was pretty good.
I saw FS 2004, and I thought it was probably mot much of an improvement based on reviews I had read. Let me just say that the first reviews I read were wrong. FS 2004 is a major improvement over FS 2002, and it stands as a all-time gret product for aviation buffs like me.
Improvements:
1. Weather: for the first time, flying on FS2004 simulates almost perfectly the experience of actually flying. Clouds have the mist look when you fly through them. The weather systems seem to generate randomly, just as in the non-virtual world. Also, I like the weather themes that can generate snow conditions, thunderstorms, and fair weather with high altitude stratocumulus clouds. In short, the weather is a fantastic approximation of reality. FS 2004 truly represents a quantum leap in simulations. (although IL-2 still has the best clouds).
2. ATC: FS2002 had the feel of real ATC but with some stupid problems. For example, if you fly using IFR (insturment flight rules), and you failed to reach your assigned altitude, the ATC would terminate their services (what the heck is that about?). If you wanted to fly at a different altitude you couldn't. Also, you couldn't change you IFR route, or change from VFR (visual) to IFR in flight. FS2004 makes those changes. For the first time you can change your altitude, you can change your route, and you can switch between IFR and VFR. Yea!.
Another big improvement is the ATC feel itself. For the first time, I actually feel as though I am flying in a populated world. Lots of traffic at big airports, just like in reality. Fly into San Francisco International, and you may just see airplanes lined up to land. This is a big improvement.
3. GPS: In FS2002, the GPS was very basic and frustratingly difficult to use. It was based on a second generation handheld, and consequently, there were few features. The GPS in FS2004 ahs lots of features, is far easier to use because of a new interface window that you can access in flight (see above), and you can switch to terrain features and in-flight messages. It is a more realistic approximation of a GPS device you would use in flight.
4. The World: FS2004 adds signs at airport runways so you can see where your going! It also adds more features to the world around you, such as construction cranes, and different buildings not seen in previous models of FS. Although I have noticed a new "Chick-fil-a" looking restaurant, I can state definitively that no such place exists in San Diego, CA next to the Lindbergh field runway. However, the scenery looks a lot better than FS2002. Little details really add up and make flying in FS2004 much better. The airports really look great. Denver Int'l looks very realistic now, as does Seattle-Tacoma. ( I would rate more but I just havent had the chance to fly all over to world yet!)
5. Computer: For some reason, FS2004 sees to run better on my machine than did FS2002. No "slide shows" (bad framerate) that I have found yet, and the computer seems to run better with FS2002. I like this very much. I haven't added to many third-party add-ons with FS2004 yet, but it just seems to function better than does FS2002, so perhaps FS2002 had some unresolved framerate problems.
6. Open architecture: In general, MSFS has open architecture which allows aviation geeks like me to add-on scenery, and hundreds of planes, general, military and specific airlines as well. Most of the products and downloads I have found are excellent and work well with FS2004.
Complaints:
Given how I feel about this product, I have very few complaints.
I wish the ground textures were better. However, you can either download or purchase products that have photo-realistic scenery, so you can really fly though England of Southern California and really recognize the ground.
Also, I wish the aiports had more realistic aircraft in them. Sometimes flying through LAX, I realize that Cessna would probably not be at that airport. I have even taken off from major airports with DC-3's lined up for takeoff - what is this the 1940's?
However, these are minor problems, and overall Microsoft FS2004 is an excellent product and is well worth a purchase.
17 Awesome game!
This flight sim is THE best ever, with more than 26000 airports, comprehensive aerodynamics, really really amazing tutorials, and perfect graphics. It does come at a price though, as its actual sys reqs are higher than that of Doom 3.
Dont see the official sys reqs on the game, as with that you'll get 1995 graphics; for a decent graphics output you'll need >384Mb RAM and a 64Mb graphics card.
An awesome game overall, I cant wait for FS06 to come out!
18 Flight Simulator
I would really recommend this game, BUT I would buy Flight simulator 2002 because it has way more addons... take this from a 678 hour commercial airline pilot and an 8 year flightsim fan...
19 Learn to fly any class of plane for about $20.00
But you should spend another $20 on a good joystick also. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 will teach you how to fly a number of real planes. Let me put it to you this way - if you are on a plane and the airhostess asks suddenly over the intercom "Can anyone fly a plane?" and if the answer is - "No one here can", then your next best bet is to go with whoever has the most flight time with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004... and its all thanks to John and Martha King of King's Air school and Rod Machado, your flight instructor who feature in a couple of hours worth of scripted tutorial videos that play in the games menu and describe everything that could ever possibly want to learn about flying a plane. When you are done with that then you can start reading the couple of thousand pages of documentation that range anywhere from using digital GPS tracking systems to flying with damaged equipment. Let us be clear here for a moment - if you get into it, then you are in it for the long term and will almost certainly save yourself tens of thousands of dollars in real flight lessons because when you go up for real you will know nearly all of it except for actually doing it.
For $20 you are on your way to joining the best and cheapest flight school there is and really the tutorials are the Gem of the box, not to mention the fact that a round the world trip is possible with this simulator, including real-time weather events. I have the latest 256mb Radeon Graphics card and even it has trouble rendering everything on full detail so this game will certainly last a very long time. The 512mb card generation should be able to cope with everything.
As a note there are classic trips you can take like missions - for example the Wright Brothers first flight. There are also plenty of mods and addons for it if you search the internet.
This is a great and educational Simulator. If you like flying then what are you waiting for? It is massive improvement on previous versions of this sim (it has a couple of thousand airports to choose from). There is nothing else even remotely like it.
20 Probably the best game EVER made for Windows!!
When I first bought this game, I wasn't all that impressed because I didn't really get how to do anything. But now I am hooked on this awesome game. The graphics are so real, a lot of the time I feel like I am a real pilot!!! You can soar over San Francisco in a Boeng 747, or take a small Cessna Skylane from a small Municipal Airport. It has basicly every airport or landing strip in the world. Even if you live in a small town with a small grass landing strip, this game has your airport. The vintage aircraft on this game are awesome as well. You can take to the skies in your town with the original WRIGHT FLYER!!
Most definetely my favorite game EVER.
Note: Buy a joystick for use with this game.
BUY IT!!
21 fun and educational
My name is Pat, I have 3 kids. I bought the game for them, and they came to me one day and said "Mom did you know that the wright brothers flight lasted 15 seconds." That made me realize that the game was fun but also educational. Now I play the game and i take all the leasons. It is very fun so I give it a 5.
22 buy a joystick first
The game is really great. But I had to buy a joystick, because it is totally impossible to control the planes with the keyboard.
23 Not at all what I expected.
Having never played a sim that wasn't based on space combat or battle mechs I thought this game would be kind of boring. After waiting until after forever I took another look at it when the price went down and decided to give it a shot and I'm glad I did.
Flight Simulator managed to captivate, facinate, and challenge me without combat or competitions.
24 The one we have been waiting for
I got this game a year ago, and last year I hade a very crapy Compaq with integrated graphics and 256Mb RAM. I Ran this game. It was a Huge step from 2002. It was so good, I built a computer with almost the best Hardware in it, including the ATI X800 Pro Which came out not to long ago. When I take screen shots I keep them in the My pictures folder aswell as the real pictures I take with cameras. Sometime I cant tell the difference between what the sim produces and what the Real world produces. The aircraft are the same exact models as they were in Fs2002 with the exception of the vintage ones. That is no worry as you can easily download more aircraft on websites. The weather is great the clouds look real. FYI it will be hard to controll the aircraft with out a joystick or a yoke. Also it will be confusing to the new people at first. There are some good forums out there too. I like um one especially (too bad I can't include URL's). Well that is my breif opinion on the game. It is well worth what ever your paying in fact if it were 100 bucks i would still get it!
25 Great Game
This is an awesome game. I don't want to be a pilot and I still love this game. It's compexed (like flying a real plane) and amazingly fun. There are something like 23,000 airports you can fly too and I don't think anything is sped up (Like if it really takes 1 hour to fly to chicago it will take an hour) I'm not sure though. You can act like a real pilot or go insane. One time I was trying to land at an airport, I missed it, tried to brake and my plane stopped like a mile from it. You can fly all over the world. There are also very very very informative lessons that teach you how to fly. Worth the money! Pilot or not, you'll love this game.
26 Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight
This thing is GREAT!!! They give you like a million different airports to choose from, and tons of aircrafts. You can even select the weather, the date, and the season!! All airplane lovers must get this!!!!!!
27 Not a review - a warning
A friend lent me his copy of this game - aCoF to evaluate on my machine, just to save me from the possibility of paying full price for a game that won't work well on my machine. I had by then become a devotee of the next newer version - FS2002. While aCoF obviously surpasses FS-2002 on a frame-by-frame basis, comparitive frame-rate more than evened things out for the older game. I knew that the minimum system requirements were conservative, but nothing prepared me for how conservative they were. Despite only "requiring" a 450mhz-class CPU & 128mb of RAM, aCoF ran like a slide-show on my 2.2 Ghz Pentium 4, w 512 MB of RAM, with GeForce graphics acceleration - and that was with options sliders set to 0 or near it. Apparently, software manufacturers like MS believe that they're past the days of having to set the minimum sys-req at half the optimum - now we have to multiply by five to get an honest idea of what's really needed. Though a better graphics accelerator and more RAM, would improve things, personally I'm happy enough with FS2002, and that program looks to have a more permanent place on my PC.
28 Great game, room for improvements
My first expierence with one of the Microsoft Flight Simulater games was with the 2002 version. I was able to play this game with both a yoke and a rudder pedal, but when I bought the 2004 version I had neither of these. Since I had to use my keyboard, I was at first concerned that my controls would be very shacky. It was at first but soon I was able to get used to it. This game has great realism. It has great graphics and although I am not a real time pilot, I'm sure the plane arobatics are very acurate. As a casual player, I bought this game purely based on my joy of simulated flying. At playing for a while, I soon started to worry that I would get bored of it quickly, but this was not the case. This game has great replay value. One of the most amazing things about this game is that you can create a custom flight, and you can litterly fly anywhere in the world. At the time I bought this game I was taking a WWII history class, so for fun I wanted to see where these battles to place. I was able to fly over the English Channel and over the Pacific islands.
Overall, this is a great game for a pilot-in-training or just the casual gamer like me. Deffinatly buy it if your interested in this genre.
29 best flight sim ever!!
MS Flight Sim 2004 is the best sim...ever made. The graphics are great (on my 2.4 ghz 512mb ram 64 mb geforce 4 mx card i can run it at 800x600 resulution with medium graphics). Its the most realistic sim ever made also. The only bad thing about this game is that it takes around 1 1/2 hours to install, and it takes up around 5 gigs of your hard drive. A joystick is reccomended so you dont have to mess around with the keyboard too much...the planes are almost impossible to fly with just a keyboard. It has over 20 flyable aircraft, including the Wright Brothers first plane. It also has more modern planes like cessnas and the 737,747,and 777. The learjet and 2 helicopters are also included. There are over 20,000 airports to fly to, anywhere in the world.
*WARNING* You should have at least double the minimum requirements to run this game. Just to see how it worked, I tried to run it on a computer that had the minimum requirements. It could load the game, but when i tried to fly i was getting about 3 framespersecond on average....on my machine (specs listed above) i can usally get 25 frames per second on a clear day...about 15 when the weather is cloudy.
This is a great game, and if you like flying, or want to become a pilot, get it!
30 best flight sim ever!!
MS Flight Sim 2004 is the best sim...ever made. The graphics are great (on my 2.4 ghz 512mb ram 64 mb geforce 4 mx card i can run it at 800x600 resulution with medium graphics). Its the most realistic sim ever made also. The only bad thing about this game is that it takes around 1 1/2 hours to install, and it takes up around 5 gigs of your hard drive. A joystick is reccomended so you dont have to mess around with the keyboard too much...the planes are almost impossible to fly with just a keyboard. It has over 20 flyable aircraft, including the Wright Brothers first plane. It also has more modern planes like cessnas and the 737,747,and 777. The learjet and 2 helicopters are also included. There are over 20,000 airports to fly to, anywhere in the world.
*WARNING* You should have at least double the minimum requirements to run this game. Just to see how it worked, I tried to run it on a computer that had the minimum requirements. It could load the game, but when i tried to fly i was getting about 3 framespersecond on average....on my machine (specs listed above) i can usally get 25 frames per second on a clear day...about 15 when the weather is cloudy.
This is a great game, and if you like flying, or want to become a pilot, get it!
31 best flight sim ever!!
MS Flight Sim 2004 is the best sim...ever made. The graphics are great (on my 2.4 ghz 512mb ram 64 mb geforce 4 mx card i can run it at 800x600 resulution with medium graphics). Its the most realistic sim ever made also. The only bad thing about this game is that it takes around 1 1/2 hours to install, and it takes up around 5 gigs of your hard drive. A joystick is reccomended so you dont have to mess around with the keyboard too much...the planes are almost impossible to fly with just a keyboard. It has over 20 flyable aircraft, including the Wright Brothers first plane. It also has more modern planes like cessnas and the 737,747,and 777. The learjet and 2 helicopters are also included. There are over 20,000 airports to fly to, anywhere in the world.
*WARNING* You should have at least double the minimum requirements to run this game. Just to see how it worked, I tried to run it on a computer that had the minimum requirements. It could load the game, but when i tried to fly i was getting about 3 framespersecond on average....on my machine (specs listed above) i can usally get 25 frames per second on a clear day...about 15 when the weather is cloudy.
This is a great game, and if you like flying, or want to become a pilot, get it!
32 best flight sim ever!!
MS Flight Sim 2004 is the best sim...ever made. The graphics are great (on my 2.4 ghz 512mb ram 64 mb geforce 4 mx card i can run it at 800x600 resulution with medium graphics). Its the most realistic sim ever made also. The only bad thing about this game is that it takes around 1 1/2 hours to install, and it takes up around 5 gigs of your hard drive. A joystick is reccomended so you dont have to mess around with the keyboard too much...the planes are almost impossible to fly with just a keyboard. It has over 20 flyable aircraft, including the Wright Brothers first plane. It also has more modern planes like cessnas and the 737,747,and 777. The learjet and 2 helicopters are also included. There are over 20,000 airports to fly to, anywhere in the world.
*WARNING* You should have at least double the minimum requirements to run this game. Just to see how it worked, I tried to run it on a computer that had the minimum requirements. It could load the game, but when i tried to fly i was getting about 3 framespersecond on average....on my machine (specs listed above) i can usally get 25 frames per second on a clear day...about 15 when the weather is cloudy.
This is a great game, and if you like flying, or want to become a pilot, get it!
33 Single Minded
Although the number of airports and aircraft have increased I started with Flight Simulator 3 on floppy disk. In typical Microsoft fashion many features which were available then have since been dropped or changed. No opportunity for instance to design your own aircraft and in a version that sports the Wright Brothers machine! Its typical of Microsoft which dropped the capability in its BASIC interpreter to input variables and equations instead of only constants. A built-in combat theater and aircraft as was in verions 3 and 4 - GONE! Other neat features - GONE as well!
The use of dials and switches superimposed upon a photo of an instrument panel, however is still there. Flipping photos of toggle switches, knobs, etc. - still there. But you do get streaming video flight instruction and this is what saves the day. Except for excessive humor (they want flying to be fun) the instructors are top notch. If you can't relate to their style then tuff luck. Microsoft provides no alternative as it does with Clipit, MS Word's Help Assistant.
Forget the details, squint and pretend like you're in a real simulator... err... plane. Scenery is not the object here but rather learning about flight and what it can do for you. Its well worth the price for beginners and novices alike if they want to learn to fly in the context of a game. Perhaps a stepping stone to the real thing.
Still I miss all of the features Microsoft dropped or changed over the years and failed to replace. Maybe Abacus add ons will help ease the pain.
34 IT'S A BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!
This game rules!!!!! The reasons why:
1. The graphics are super and detailed
2. Since Microsoft is a very giant company and FS 2004 has its own website (www.FS2004.com), it is convienient to download or buy upgrades, especially maps and planes.
3. The realtime weather is really cool... I live in a Suburban area of Northern NJ, and I can see the snow when it is snowing, and the same thing with rain!!!
4. The planes are cool, and the cockpits are SUPER cool-cuz there are the exact same instruments U will see when U get into a real cockpit (even thou this game's cockpit is the closiest U will ever get to in a sim).
Well, that's about it for the pros even thou I can go for many pages more, and here are the cons.
1. The system requirements R high, (as in all sims) and do not think the game will work if U hav a computer right at the requirements... U need at least 1 Ghz of prossesor, 32 (64 or 128 is better) MB of video ram, 512 MB of physical RAM, and a lot of free HDD space, and a good computer overall. But DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT BUY X-PLANE IS U HAVE A BAD COMPUTER!! IT HAS EVEN MORE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS!!
2. The real instruments take a lot of time to learn...
3. Plan to buy a yoke or joystik with this game if possible. That way, it is more real and easier.
Hmm... That's about all the things I need to say 'bout this great game. DON'T miss this masterpiece if U R a sim lover or a plane lover.
35 IT'S A BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!
This game rules!!!!! The reasons why:
1. The graphics are super and detailed
2. Since Microsoft is a very giant company and FS 2004 has its own website (www.FS2004.com), it is convienient to download or buy upgrades, especially maps and planes.
3. The realtime weather is really cool... I live in a Suburban area of Northern NJ, and I can see the snow when it is snowing, and the same thing with rain!!!
4. The planes are cool, and the cockpits are SUPER cool-cuz there are the exact same instruments U will see when U get into a real cockpit (even thou this game's cockpit is the closiest U will ever get to in a sim).
Well, that's about it for the pros even thou I can go for many pages more, and here are the cons.
1. The system requirements R high, (as in all sims) and do not think the game will work if U hav a computer right at the requirements... U need at least 1 Ghz of prossesor, 32 (64 or 128 is better) MB of video ram, 512 MB of physical RAM, and a lot of free HDD space, and a good computer overall. But DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT BUY X-PLANE IS U HAVE A BAD COMPUTER!! IT HAS EVEN MORE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS!!
2. The real instruments take a lot of time to learn...
3. Plan to buy a yoke or joystik with this game if possible. That way, it is more real and easier.
Hmm... That's about all the things I need to say 'bout this great game. DON'T miss this masterpiece if U R a sim lover or a plane lover.
36 Good Game, Not As Good As Expected
Kid Review
This game was great! It was given 4 stars for how much fun I had. This was because it was not as fun as Microsoft promoted it to be. Still, the airplane selection is great, and the weather is very good. I havn't yet got the training in it yet though. A must buy for Flight Sim entheists!
37 Buldings are not 3D!!!!
I bought this game because I love simulation games and I thought that this game could be realistic but most of the buildings are not 3D so if you care how the earth looks like less than 500 feet don't buy this game.. I could recommend the IL2 because it has much more planes and the buildings are all 3D and it's as real as this game ... Although the places you can fly is very much in this game and the planes are looking great...so if you love flying low and want some action in the simulation don't buy this game..
38 Think twice!
While the game is very detailed and realistic, the controls are VERY difficult for even an FPS-RTS player like myself to try. For example, when you press the left arrow key to turn left no matter how sensitively you press right or left again you can NEVER fly at level or straight again, there's little excitement in it, and the constant roar of the engine is an atrocious assault on your senses. If you think this game is like soaring through the great blue sky as free as a bird you are sadly mistaken. Even on the highest graphics settings, you're still just flying over a basically pixellated landscape with little variety. All the realism that goes into the physics and the controls and the geographical accuracy cannot make up for the fact that for a lot of people, this game will simply not be fun.
39 Great...... only a few glitches
When i first got this game i couldn't wait to install it.So i ran to the computer to install it.However make shure you havea lot of room on your hard drive.Cuz it takes up like 20% of it.You may see that some people don't like this game that's because they bought flight sim. 2002.I've rated it 5 stars because i own a classic flight sim 1998. It well er..... STINKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!On this the map makes it so much more fun and easier.You just don't take off and fly into no where you can actually fly to different airports.I stink at fs 1998 but i can easily fly a 747 from london to wherever the plane is when i wake up in the morning.If you decide to purchase this don't use the 777 it always slips on the runway.Great grafics if you have a 3d accelerator.Also the control tower and radios are awesome.Flight school realy helped me.Also on the main menu you can program an engine failure to happen a certain time after take-off.This game truly is AS REAL AS IT GETS!
40 Great Clean Fun
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight by Microsoft is a great product. I added this to my collection right away after trying out over my friend's house. I really enjoyed this one.
41 Absolutly Marvelous!
When I started to play, I got hooked. I also downloaded my favorite plane in the world:The SR-71 Lockheed Blackbird. If you are into flying and defying gravity, then buy this game and take to the skies!
42 A Masterpiece!
Nobody can beat the team at Microsoft at this game. Absolutely nobody. They have, after all, been at work on this software since 1983. When you consider how much development time, modeling, research, testing, filming, recording, and writing have gone into this truly exceptional product, calling it a "game" is a bit silly. What you have here, for a mere $30, is all of general and commercial aviation refined into a neat, fun, and incredibly instructive package. It's so complete that it's hard to imagine how it could possibly be improved. Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace is hardly as well done.
Better have a computer with LOTS of horsepower to run it well though. And a BIG monitor is a must.
Another thing. Fans of this sort of game know that it's all about realism and spending a lazy Saturday flying around the world in real time. There's no appeal here for fans of "arcade" style games. ADD sufferers beware.
43 X-Plane's Better
You buy this to waste money!!!!!
Buy X-Plane at X-Plane.com for the same price.
Get upgradees for FREE, 100's of free add ons.
It comes with 40 aircraft and scenery for the whole world.
You can download hundreds of free aircraft from the internet.
You can even download a plugin wich alows you to fly with REAL GLOBAL AIR TRAFFIC.
Do not buy MSFS 2004, get X-Plane. The latest version is 7.41.
44 Get it if you are a pilot or aspiring pilot!
As an aspiring pilot I find Flight Simulator 2004 to be a great way to chill out after a hard day at work. The scenery is incredible, and it's hard to beat the realism. This isn't really a game, so if you're thinking about getting Flight Simulator 2004 and trying to beat the top score or save the princess, forget it. Sure, there is a learning curve just as there is with flying a real plane, but it's worth it if you're at all interested in flying. Tip - start with the Lear Jet, it is one of the easier planes to get the hang of. When you get tired of the planes and scenery that come with the simulator you can pick up more at sites like fs2004.com and avsim.com. All in all this "game" is highly worth the time and money if you're into flying, or would like to get into flying!
45 Great flying sim overall!
If you like reality when it comes to flying buy this game. The weather effects are great! From T-storms to blinding snow to clear blue skys. You can even download real-time weather off the internet weather sites for any start location! The clouds look real not like artificial white graphics in past FS's but real and when you fly through them it you feels as if your just floating up there like the real thing. There is of course no combat in this sim but just learning how to keep a Leer Jet steady against a strong prevailing wind is a challege! My favorite feature is being able to set your fly time, location, weather type and even game speed. I have recently read another review where one guy said the ground textures are not so hot but if you zoom in using the "+" you can see the textures much clearer and the cloads! In all I think flight sims have come along way since the 90's and with each new release like this one it gets more relatisic!
46 Fun at first
At first glance, this game looks and is really fun. But after so long of playing it, it really gets a little boring. Sure the features and graphics are really nice, but the game starts to seem a bit pointless when you fly your mission (which can be hours long), and absolutely nothing happens when you finish! You take off, fly, land, and hit escape to end the mission. There is no reward for the efforts of playing this game, and gets boring somewhat quickly.
47 Great Game, Ok Version
Well it's clear that they have lowered the price of the game because the imporvements over 2002 are small. However, the weather and ATC imporvments are GREAT!! Much better than 2002. The historical planes are semi-cool but who really wants to flyu a wright bros plane that goes 20 mph?? The planes are a bit disapointing because there is no reason they can't put a larger variety of jets on there. And where is the Concorde?
At $52.50 it is a bad buy, at the new price $29.00 it is a must have.
