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The link to the third section of the FS2004 review is not working. It gives me a lost file error.


Loren

Loren,

If you would refer back to the opening page, its stated there that the second installment (section 3) will not be posted until tomorrow (Friday).

Steve (Bear) Cartwright

when you click on the page 3 link, the page it looks for is htmx...just change it to html..voila :)

cheers
gav

My fellow flight-sim enthusiasts,

I am by no means an expert on flight simulation or aviation, merely an avid hobbyist who enjoys accuracy and realism in my simulators. I started out many years ago flying B-17 Flying Fortress and Falcon 3.0. Then after a few years of hiatus, in 1999, I bought a new computer, Falcon 4.0, and Jane's F/A-18. I was glued to them to say the least. I was a combat simmer.
Then one day I bought FS2000, I wasn't all that impressed with it at first, but I gave it a chance. Then I found 767 Pilot in Command … I instantly found my self in front of the computer until the wee hours of the morning. This was truly amazing! I never knew there was so much more involved with civil aircraft, controlling the pressurization, the start-up procedures, and all of the bells and whistles. Most of all I enjoyed the navigation aspect; the FMC was fun to learn about and was modeled quite well. Plus there were real airlines! Delta, United, the late TWA were included in the package. Combat simulators were taking a back seat.
Well, it has been a few years, and I have a few other ad-ons for FS2002, and like a 6 year old on Christmas Eve, I found it hard to sleep the night before release of FS2004. I eagerly awaited arrival of what I was sure would be the pinnacle of flight simulation to date.
When the package came, I loaded it on to my brand new computer… the wait was finally over. I must say, the weather was more than impressive, and it stays up to date. The graphics were bumped up to make the experience more life like, and the GPS was a great addition. However, overall I was quite disappointed with the "Century of Flight."
I was expecting this completely revamped package; instead, I got a small upgrade to FS2002.
What was this all about I asked my-self? The ATC is still the same. Okay, there was some additions, but it is still the same S-L-O-W voice, and I am still get interrupted by other air traffic while I'm trying to acknowledge the commands given to me. I want something more realistic, something that sounds more like the radio communications that you hear in the sky.
Next is my really big rant… the aircraft. The addition of the older aircraft was a great idea. They are modeled well and are fun to fly. Their skins are well painted, and the controls and instruments seem to be in order. But the jet aircraft are the same junk that was in the past two MS Flight Simulators. What is with those cockpits, and the navigation systems?
The cockpits are not even close to being "As Real As It Gets." Why can't Microsoft get their act together, and model a real modern jetliner. I am sure many of you have World Airliners, and although they are not 100% accurate they at least model the FMC, more buttons and switches, and moreover they look REAL!
In addition to that who is World Travel Airlines? Emerald Harbor Air? Can't the all mighty and rich Microsoft Corporation afford to get the licensing for real world airlines? If the smaller add-on companies can get real airline names and paint schemes, why not the biggest software corporation in the world? They got the rights to use the Boeing name (even if Microsoft made their own aircraft cockpits that are not even close to the real ones.)
I am writing this only 48 hours after the release of MS2004, and as of right now my favorite add-ons do not work. The only one that does work is "Ready for Push back". Maybe I am being a little rough, but I know I am not the only one who feels this way. I do like the features in FS2004; I just wish that they would design it to be "As Real As It Gets." I really agree with Ian Rattray's rant in the April 2003 issue [Volume 7, Issue 4], "…waiting for something so long that when it arrives it doesn't really matter how good it is, you have built it up in your head to be so good it can never meet expectations." I guess I have to wait until the patches come out for my FS2002 add-ons and until some FS2004 add-ons come out. For now I'm going back to FS2002, at least I can fly some realistic add-on models in that one.


Sincerely disappointed,
Eric Hatton
Havertown, PA

Since MSFS and the online environment are the founding basis for Avsim, I hope that the Review will continue into the area of online flying. Your preview suggests that you will not.

There are some serious issues here. FS2004 doesn not work with Squawkbox and we have just been informed that CSL will not work with it either.

Since there are around 100,000 users (VATSIM + IVAO) of these two free add-ons, this is not a good look.

We begged MS to be involved in the Beta so that people would not have to wait until we could catch up, they ignored us. Since I personally do this for free, I'm finding it hard to get motivated.

Brett
(co-creator of CSL)

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