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The best FS till date!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: April 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I've had MSFS2004 for the last 3 months and there's not a single day that I haven't played it. Its just that absorbing! Some reasons for this are much improved GPS navigation, more interactive ATC and ofcourse, the new airplanes.

But I'm not a huge fan of classic aircraft, and I fly my favourite plane, the 737, all the time and it is an absolute joy to fly it on MSFS2004 with the new GPS system. Its accurate to the T for precision landings. The detail paid to accuracy is mindblowing, specially runways and airport layouts. I live in a relatively smaller city of India and I was stunned to find that the airport layout is almost exactly the same as the real one here!

I do face some problems with the game, mainly with screen resolution which flickers when I have the game on high or ultra-high display settings. Also, external scenery transition isn't smooth with high display settings. Microsoft could also have done a better job with the aircraft paint jobs - the orange scheme of Soar Airlines is disgusting.

PROS:

- New additions like GPS and interactive ATC are excellent
- Airports are accurately detailed (there are almost 25,000 of them!)
- Good value for money

CONS:

- Doesn't work smoothly with high display settings. Images are not crisp
- Cockpit graphics are substandard

TIPS:

- If you're looking for some real challenge alongwith great scenery, try flying the ILS approaches into Princess Juliana Airport in St. Maarten, Madeira in Portugal, Male in the Maldives and Osaka Kansai Airport in Japan (built on an artificial island)
- Try flying the polar route and check out the Northern Lights at night! Eg: Taipei-Anchorage, Moscow-New York etc.

Also, I have a question which I hope readers can help me with. I'm unable to turn the aircraft left or right while on pushback. I've tried using the numbers 1 and 2 key as mentioned in the handbook, but it doesn't work. Can somebody help me with this? I would really appreciate the help.

Enjoy this game!

Marginally better the FS2K2

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 14 / 17
Date: September 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I resisted purchasing this latest release until I read a few months of reviews. As has been stated by a few others, if you do not own FS2K2 go ahead and purchase this. For someone who is using FS2K2 with addon aircraft, scenery, etc, this is not such a sure thing. Most improvements are in scenery and clouds, ATC is also somewhat improved. A tricked out FS2K2 does just about the same. Microsoft did not put much effort into this latest upgrade IMHO. I would expect the next version to be the big push, and it might be worth waiting for that version. After I installed Century of Flight, I found myself still using FS2K2 using my addons. So buyer beware if you already are an experienced flight simmer.

MSFS2004: a century of flight!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 15 / 19
Date: December 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Of course, after reading all these reviews, most people don't see the similarities. As I read, I noticed most of the people who ranked the game a 3(-)had either an ATI card, or a computer slower than 2.4 ghz.

Now, if you have an ATI card, you will notice bad receptions as far as scenery goes, either because one of your drives or PCI cards are too close to the video card, interfering with it's operations, or because you aren't using the full potential of your video card. And as for the Computer Speed, Microsoft recommends a minimum of a Pentium 4 2.4 GHz, a MINIMUM. If you are running less than that, you may as well spread your wings and jump off a cliff, cause you will burn your PC out. I recommend getting the highest powered nVIDIA GeFORCE card you can get for the best results. (preferably a 256 MB card from tiger direct, real low pricing) Because ATI just ain't what it needs to be to harness the real power of this simulation.

Now, onto the game. I found the enhanced ground features, such as the thuroughly adjusted airports that look a little more realistic, a plus. The runway graphics with tire tread and tire burn marks are also a plus. But most important, I appreciate the ability to choose whether I want an ILS, VOR, or Visual Approach to whatever runway can take it.

Lets start looking at the bright side people. And start thinking, are you just not that enthused about the game, or could it possibly be that the computer you use just ain't powerful enough to see the whole thing. Get the facts first.

Game is definently a 5 star!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 21 / 31
Date: June 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is one of Microsoft's best products on the line. People, such as the one above as what are called Beta TEsters for the game rated it a 99.4%! I was a beta tester and what the person above forgot to tell you was the overall rating that everyone put down. ATC is a great plus as well as weather, new aircraft, new terrain features, etc. Flight Simulator 2004: Century of Flight is something that is a must buy for all Flight Sim enthusiast. Don't let people make you think this game isn't what you think until you've played it! Remember, there's always the receipt. Have fun flight simmers, I know I will with the new flight sim! See ya online

FS2004, a new revolution in simulation on a PC.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: March 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

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.

Great Sim!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: December 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I tested the Flight Sim X demo on our computer and it ran horribly but I just recieved this and it runs beautifully on our computer with the sliders on medium high. It looks beautiful! And my setup is very basic: a Celeron D 2.0 Ghz with 512 RAM and a Intel Extreme Graphics 2 and I love it. I am about to start recieving flight lessons and am amazed at the virtual lessons on this program. They teach you almost everything you learn in the real world! I am giving this sim a 5+ rating!!

Microsoft Flight Sim 2004

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: July 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The tutorials are decent - you have to use them to have any chance of piloting even the basic plane.
The scenery is sometimes rather sketchy, sometimes very realistic, but apparently very accurate.
You have to use a good joystick to make any progress, probably a yoke would be best.
The 737 is very difficult to master! Whenever I fly now, which is often, I am amazed at how smoothly the pilots can make their approaches!

Great flying sim overall!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: June 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

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!

Only fun if...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 16
Date: November 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Okay, I have played this game and I LOVE it! I am in the Civil Air Patrol and this is very realistic... I know piolits that use this game to practice flying. I've read many reviews about bad graphics... Well duh! This game has terrible graphics, IF you have a horrible graphics card! Bottom line - you need a really good computer for this game to be any fun at all. I have a Dell XPS with a ATI Radeon card... But - above all, this game is almost %100 accurate! The instruments and everything from turbulance to airplane stress, this game has it all! If you like airplane simulators, this is the one for you.

Real World, Real Flight,Real cool

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 16
Date: May 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I don`t generaly like to start out with comparisons to other simulations however that being said, one should note this is not a "Military flight feel" . This is a hands on true to life best your gonna get for under ($400-$5995) a pop Real Deal Flying Shop Programs. You should have a Powerful processing system at your disposal. While it is possible to "Dumb Down" this product for slower systems it defeats the purpose it was created for which is creating an enjoyable True Experience that teaches you
the how to of FLIGHT. I am using a Dell 9150, w/a upgraded Raedon card (512 ram), 1 Gig on board memory and it is still not enough for this energy hungry program. It is dense beautiful and occassionaly finicky. Download real weather from the Web,Proram in equpitment failures. Fly realtime. See and land at destinations you recognize. When you have crashes it is not as Intense as a combat sim. It is however just as final..... I prefer The Drama of a more realistic Crash ( It Drives Home the Lesson for me) also disappointing was some of the hanling characteristics of the aircraft are not as fast as their real world counterparts. they are at least correct. Perhaps I need to upgrade my system to see this occure. Stay tuned to this Station for Updates thanks. This Simulation is WELL worth the Money.

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