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Much improved

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 24 / 28
Date: June 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

FS2004 is really FS2002 SP1. The scenery is all the same, but the environmental engine is completely changed.

The new cloud generator is awesome, clouds will actually build up, and frontal systems will look like frontal systems. ATC will now let your select alternate airports, and change altitude enroute.

Major improvements:
Frame Rates
Cloud generator
ATC

Bottom line, is this release really fixes stuff that should've been in FS 2002, but it's still a must buy if you're serious about flight sim.

No Concorde!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 23 / 27
Date: September 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Having found FS2002 to be quite a novelty despite its rather poor landscapes I bought FS2004 for my son. I have found some of the graphics improved on, runways, airport installations, planes ... but others just as horrible as previously.
As far as choice of planes goes, it is unbelievable that "100 years of flight" omits the Concorde! A lot of the stuff is repeated from FS2002, including the sailplane (glider) that just sits stupidly on the ground with no explanation as to how to get it towed. Some more interesting models are visible as figuration ; ATR42, Dash8, though they are not controlable by the user. We quite enjoy the DC3-cargo as they still fly around our part of the world.
Lack of "real world" liveries is also a disappointment.
Representation of monuments is fine but if they are surrounded by washed-out computer generated emptiness it's not really worth having them (you cannot land a Cessna or anything else next to the Eiffel tower - on a wide open prairy flecked with an occasional building!)
Displacement of planes seems odd at times, you can fly out 5 or 10nm from an airport at an acceptable speed but returning can take ridiculously long.
The computer also occasionally freezes or turns itself off during FS2004 for no apparent reason, problem we never have with FS2002. The problem is difficult to identify as it does not always happen even though we sometimes run FS2004 for 2 or 3 hours, other times it can occur every 20 minutes or so.
We will be purchasing regional-commuter and Concorde add-ons. Would like to find a repainting add-on that recreates real-life airline liveries.

Know your hardware!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 19
Date: April 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

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.

Awesome Simulator

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 19
Date: October 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

One of my dreams is to be a pilot, and unfortunately this may be as close as I'll ever get, but this is an incredible simulator. If you don't watch it, the hours just slip away as you fly across the great spynx, or the niagra falls, or the rocky mountains, or the mississippi river!! And it's soo much fun to take off the runway without radioing for clearance and hearing the control tower yelling at you!! :-) Its awesome!! And I love it!!

Alright boys and girls, we have lift off!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 18
Date: March 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

A while back I gave Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2004 one star (see review from 23 November) where in I took issue with MS's listed minimal system requirements ...Windows 98/2000/XP/Me, 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... I ran it at those specs (on a Windows 98 machine) and as I noted in my review... "I couldn't leave the ground at more than 4-8 frames per second (fps) or cruise at more than 11 or 12 fps with settings a rock bottom! The world outside my cockpit was jagged and twisted as my 777 chugged painfully through the not so friendly skies like a wounded wildebeest trying in vain to outrun a charging cheetah!"... well although I still stand by my disgust for misleading minimum requirements stickered to the side of software boxes (Microsoft not being the only offender) something wonderful happened on the way to my virtual airport the other day, I slapped down the cash for a new system...
Presario 8000T, Pentium 4 - 3.20E GHz processor, XP Home Edition, 256MB DDR ATI Radeon 9600 (Direct X 9) video card, 1 GB DDR / PC3200 Ram, 160GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive... and what a wondrous world I discovered at ground level and 35,000 feet! With all settings to high including "Building Storms" selected in weather and AI aircraft set to 100 percent my performance has jumped to the stunningly beautiful and silky smooth new heights of 25 to 35 fps on the ground at large busy airports (Chicago O'Hare or Miami International) and 40+ at smaller strips like say Rapid City, SD or Madison, WI! "Volumetric" clouds build in the distance, spraying twisted flashes of lightning across the sky as you would see in real life and as I climb through these true to life cotton balls, I'm seemingly enveloped by a fine mist, breaking in and out of the dense cover and able to spy specks of light from towns and highways far below. Gone are the 2D "sprite" clouds from previous incarnations of MSFS, this truly is as real as it gets! And did I mention my frame rates remain at a rock solid 24-30+ fps as I slice through the weather just beyond the safety of my cockpit?! (Note: the images you see on your NTSC TV only run at 30 fps with PAL and film running at 24 fps) ...to top it off my frame rates frequently soar to 45-50+ fps and beyond when the atmosphere opens up! On a personal note may I recommend flying at dusk? Brilliant! The terrain fading smoothly into a hazy horizon and the setting sun, wow! MSFS 2004 is truly a world to behold with too many extra's technically and visually to list here, just know however that there's a realism and flight model setting for every level of experience (or lack there of) and the graphics (if you can take advantage of them) are nothing short of stunning! You can ran run it on a lesser machine to be sure but for best results a P4 2ghz + machine with a bare minimum of 512 DDR ram and a 128 Mb (Direct X 9 compatible) video card is recommended. And oh yes don't forget (at the very least) a good joy stick, say a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro (5 stars) with twist handle (for rudder) to make your day of flying complete.

Great Game, Ok Version

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 15 / 16
Date: June 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

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.

A century to learn. . .

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 13
Date: November 25, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Loading FS2004 into Windows ME, using a 1 gig, 256 MHz, system takes a little longer than the 2002 version and you'll need to load disc #4 every time you fly. But many of the new aircraft and the improved scenery were worth the wait and bother. I'm sorry to say; I found the Wright flyer a disappointment. You'll overcome the "challenge" of keeping it in the air for over 12 seconds, in no time, and then you'll find yourself flying from the Kill Devil Hills, out over Manteo Island and Albermarle Sound or maybe touring Mann's Harbor. The new Garmin GPS system is wild, and great, if you want to sit in the left seat like the real flyboys. Believe me, at the minimum, most of us will want to print the 41-page guide for this NAV aid, from the fabulous library of manuals in the Learning Center. I know I will also have to go back and do Mr. Machado's ground school for real to make use of most of the GPS's features. I do miss the dynamic map coordinates available in the FS2002 Pro.'s GPS. Remember the frustrating 1983 Kilauea eruption flight and the useless update to it in the 2002 "read me" file? I found that by looking up Kilauea's map coordinates in an atlas, then plotting a course using the appropriate radial from the Hilo VOR (212 degrees), I could check my track against the updated longitude and latitude as I flew to where I hoped the volcano would be. I have to pause the flight every time I want an update, now. The Kilauea eruption flight is no longer listed but you can still enjoy the eruption by clicking the "World" tab and using the calendar feature as a Wayback Machine, before you head out to find it. The biggest challenge in FS-2004 will be learning to use all of the features of the new Garmin GPS 500 or GPSMAP 295. Once you do, then a lot of flying is done for you. That's why pilots can doze at the stick in modern aircraft. I didn't buy the FS2004 as a sleeping aid. Another reviewer panned the panel lighting. I agree, but, I imagine the DC-3 just had a bright dome light, anyway. If you fly that machine in the dark, you'll need it, too. Positive vs. negative, would I still buy it. Yup!!!! Oh. I think you'll have even more fun if you get an M.S. Force Feedback 2 Joystick. Try getting "funny" with the DC-3 using that stick. It kicks . . ..

What a great improvement !

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 12
Date: June 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I've must have played flight simulator 1998 for a few thousand of hours since I got it. I always dreamed of working as a pilot across the world. FS 1998 was so great for me. Now that I have a more powerful CPU, I use FS 2004 and my dream is coming more and more real. For those who, like me, love realistic geography in this kind of game, you will fall off your chair.

It's like flying in the real world from L.A., CA to Paris France or from Sydney, Australia to Rio, Brazil. You're 7 hour flight across the atlantic will take you 7 hours as in real life. Also, what a great improvement in this new version. Weather options are awesome including a real-time update with internet.

I just forget to mention the GPS, thousands of new airports, dozen of new aircrafts, awesome flight school (equivalent to a few hundred pages of information about flying) for hours of fun. Come on, take the pilot's seat and dream for a while.

Better than 2002 but I must agree with other reviewer

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 15 / 17
Date: December 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

When I first sat down to write this, I planned to be ecstatic. After all, the weather is more "dynamic" as some have said. When I'm flying, the plan even jerks around a little, like it would in wind, for example.

Then there's the new planes. The DC3 is my favorite. But the Ford Trimotor is a trip, as well as the Piper Cub. And the Wright Bros. plane--flown first 100 years ago today--is a challenge, very interesting.

And, while the program may be large, I don't have some of the problems I do with Combat Flight Simulator 3, e.g., the program running too slowly, and the plane stopping here and there in the middle of a dogfight. (!)

But I must agree with another reviewer that it should have been an addition or supplement to 2002. It's still pretty much the same program with a few additions.

Mind you, I'm enthused about the flight simulators, have gotten each one. They fulfill my desire to fly, which I cannot afford to learn to do. So I'm inherently enthused about the simulators. But, again, this may have been better a little cheaper as a supplement to the earlier simulator.

If you have or get it, though, enjoy it. Note that I'm comparing it to perfection, not saying it's a bad program.

Will be completely awesome

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 77 / 152
Date: June 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This flight simulator release will be the best yet. The weather effects are greatly enhanced, and you can now fly in real-time weather. (say it's raining in Seattle, and when you start your game there, it's raining). There's also major improvements to overall graphics, improved ATC (Air traffic control), and 24 planes to fly (9 old ones, such as the Wright Brothers plane). FS2004 also includes 2000 more airports, bringing it up to 24,000 worldwide.

I can't put URLs here, but do yourself a favor and search for some screenshots of this game.

In short, get this game!

The system requirements are:
Windows PC
2000/XP - 128 MB Ram
98/Me - 64 MB Ram
Processor:450 MHz minimum
Available hard drive space:1.8 GB
DirectX 9 or later (included with Microsoft Flight Simulator: A Century of Flight)
Video card: 8 MB/3D with DirectX 7.0 or later drivers
Other: mouse, joystick/yoke, sound card, speakers/headphones
Online/multiplayer: 56.6 kbps modem or LAN

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