FS2004 wish lists..........

[Guest]

Hi mate,The VC IS the way forward. The only reason we turn our noses up at them is because we are, for the most part, confronted with cartoonish renditions of our cockpits. This, of course, very quickly kills any realism and, regardless of the painstaking effort required to code that cockpit, the product sooner or later (if you're like me) ends up in the bin.Dreamfleet have of late produced some very photographic VC pans which reproduce the 2D panels very nicely. The downside however, for me, was the need for the rest of the aircraft interior to be of much lower resolution. Look forward and you're conned and happy... Look behind you, or to one side, and you're back to earth with a bump... The need for 2D bitmaps IMO was obvious...Up until this point I was a staunch supporter of 2D panels like you. I don't know whether you have any interest in GA, but I would ask you if you have purchased, or intend to purchase, RealAir Simulations Siai Marchetti SF260 (Yes,I'm sorry to bring it up again)? If you haven't, and you don't, then please at least take the time to observe it action (someone you know might have it). Not only is the VC in it hyper realistic, an almost perfect double for the 2D, but the same detail on the forward pan is applied to the rest of the ship's interior making for an incredibly realistic experience. This has been done to some degree before, but the difference here is that the SF260 (I'm sure others will agree) has had zero effect on my PC's overall framerate and performance - And that's a definate first !As soon as a workable and user friendly interface with cockpits of this calibre has been engineered or implemented I'm sure you will be converted like I was. I can't believe, in your own personal quest for realism, that you would prefer to 'fly' your aircraft with your head locked in utterly unrealistic 45 degree incremental movements ?AFOX The Converted :-wave

[Guest Richard_H]

Add to this - this thread on the same subject.http://ftp.avsim.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboa...orum=DCForumID8Me... still think better and more visual reference points would be goodRichard

[LAdamson 240]

Yes...... the SF260 is a good example of nearly never touching the 2D because the VC is so good! Even going through startup proceedure works well in the VC thanks to the supplemental "drop down" gauge and switch window provided for the virtual cockpit.One thing for sure-------------- you'll never "sense" the feel of a slip in 2D panel mode! This SF260 does it well and then some, but it certainly requires a 3D evnviroment.L.Adamson

[Guest]

Absolutely, mate !AFOX :-)

[Guest]

Here is my list:I hope the FS2004 developers see all of our comments. Some of the items are features MS is long overdue to add. Games several years old such as Flight Unlimited III, Falcon 4 and FLY have had several features listed below. AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS EGPWS/TAWSAt the very least add basic GPWS functions such as the following:

[Guest Twister]

Hi,I sure hope the MS folks are monitoring this forum - I've read loads of extremely relevant suggestions in this thread !Here are my own suggestions for FS 2004:1. Flight Dynamics are the essence of a flight simulator that tries be "as real as it gets". There's a lot to improve in that domain. Forward and side slips, realistic stall and spin characteristics, realistic induced and parasitic drag are not properly designed. Slow flight aircraft behaviour (flying behind the power curve)is far from being perfect.2. Weather (it's been already elaborated and explained in this thread).3. Frame rate - fluidity is an ABSOLUTE MUST !4. Realistic Force Feedback. Real world pilots would love to feel "out of trim" situations on the yoke. Even on real "Fly-by- Wire" aircraft, a force feeback system is implemented. I've tried the Force Feedback system in FS2K2 - not very convincing.5. I used to hate the cartoonish VC's. NOT ANYMORE ! Dreamfleet did an absolutely amazing job with their ARCHER's Virtual Cockpit (I don't like the Cardinal as much...). The FSD's Commander and Real Air Simulations Siai Marchetti have implemented marvellous Virtual Cockpits as well. I am now convinced that this is the only way to go.6. Scenery. Autogen is nice if you like eye-candy. Try flying VFR (dead reckoning and pilotage ) with Autogen...you're wasting your time. I loved the satellite pictures' based scenery in Fly! I don't care if such scenery takes 100 Gigabytes ! Find a way to compress it already !7. The flight Planner sucks. I want to be able to plan a realistic route. Let us set the waypoints by providing LAT & LONG data.8. ATC has to be improved - the idea is great but MS needs to refine it.9. We need a simple and practical way to set AI traffic to reflect realistic routes and schedules.That's about it. I hope MS doesn't think I'm an ungrateful #####.The opposite is true: I admire the FS series and its designers. I only hope that the software will improve to answer the expectations of the simmer community.Twister

[Donmo 6]

Frozen lakes in winter. More snow in winter. When weather, when set to overcast, should show NO blue sky or bright reflections on the plane. Driving rain and snow to almost obscure forward vision. Ability to use backdated scenery/aircraft. SDK's for scenery and aircraft released immediatly.Don

[Guest Claudius]

Guys two of your wishes can allready come true:1.) Use of multiple runways.There

[badderjet 181]

> Even on real >"Fly-by- > Wire" aircraft, a force feeback system is implemented. Ah?? Well maybe on some mil a/c but not on the Airbus, I think...

[Guest]

And taxiway plackards too!-pb4ugo

[Guest Kurt]

".. weather, when set to overcast, should show NO blue sky .."something similar to this ?http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3d934b3155dca02d.jpgKurt M

[Guest]

-An option to automatically place yourself on long or short final for any airport or over specific navaids ala X-Plane.-More unique atmospheric effects simulated. Dust storms for example. Under this catagory I would place more eye candy stuff like heat shimmers, dust swirls on takeoff/landing, etc...-SMOOTHER INSTRUMENT UPDATE. Serious IFR practice is still a dream. FS is great at the VFR stuff, but I often find myself starting up X-Plane for serious IFR work.-IF MS can make a good VC that matches the clarity of a 2D cockpit, then by all means go for it. If not, then keep the 2D cockpits in. A VC must also be clickable because...-...I want to see systems modeling approaching that of the Fly! series. I want photoreal cockpits, I want control over every button, switch, and knob, I want to be able to go through startup sequences using a real checklist.-Improved damage and failure modeling. Once again I think X-Plane comes closest to what I'd like to see for system failures in FS. Being able to fail a system when some predetermined condition is met is something I'd like to be able to do, not a simple fail a system randomly or after a period of time has passed. And wouldn't bird strikes be a neat thing?-Revamped sound engine. Sounds unique to EACH aircraft, and at a much higher quality too. Better positional effects too. Basically, just increase the level of aural awareness. I want to be able to pick up cues about my aircraft performance just by listening to the pitch of the engine, the wind noise, etc.. Computer audio has made great strides in performance in quality in recent years, so enough of these low quality sound samples too.-And last, but not least, an improved FM. I want my aircraft performance determined using a real 'on the fly' FM and not by some set of predetermined tables.All I can think of right off the top of my head.-Robert

[Guest]

Being a VFR flyer, mine are simple...LOL!bring back the "moving headlights" on the roads at night...and improve the roads!Scatter,more "ground lights" around between cities at night Only few places in the US where it is truly "DARK" on the ground at night!As I have flown (or been flown) all my life, and I have not ever seen an airport that you couldnt see the runway lights, at night, from 5 to 10 nm out from any direction from 5000 feet and up!!! BRIGHTEN EM UP!! AND OMNIDIRECTIOINALLY (is that a word?)!!bring back the multiplayer ATIS (or AWOS or ASOS or TWEB or something we can get weather and active runways when flying real weather!thanks!Scott

[PeterR 9]

My top 10 list. Many of these things already exist in other sims.#1: Better flight models for planes and helicopters including support for dual counter-rotating props/rotors and multi-engine helos.#2: Realistic weather with volumetric clouds, fronts, various sources of lift, etc. The lift stuff is essential for gliders!#3: Systems and failure modeling with optional persistence per aircraft. This and the previous two items are the core of flight simulation.#4: Model more than one engine type on an aircraft (e.g. JATO on turboprop) ala X-Plane.#5: Realistic ATC and taxiway placards.#6: Hi-res satellite photo-terrain textures. If needed, sell them separately. Hard disk space is always getting cheaper!#7: Solid scenery. At least make the tops of everything (bridges, buildings, etc.) solid so we can land on them especially since FS includes a helicopter.#8: Seasonal terrain changes. For example, in the proper regions, lakes and even seas freeze such that you can land on them.#9: Get rid of the framerate lock. The computer should figure out the proper balance of all the things going on in the sim. If a rate is needed for reference, ask the user for a desired/target framerate. It's easier to understand than the lock.#10: An option to prevent automatically reloading the flight after crashing. That way, the user has the option to change the flight without waiting for everything to reload first.Peter http://bfu.avsim.net/sigpics/PeterR.gifBFU Forums Moderator[table border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=1][tr][td][table border=0 cellpadding=8 cellspacing=0][tr][td bgcolor=#540000]http://bfu.avsim.net/sigpics/logo75t.gif[/td][td align="center" bgcolor=#FFFFF6]Bush Flying Unlimited"At home in the wild"Looking for adventure? Come join us! * [link:bfu.avsim.net|Web Site] * [link:www.cafepress.com/bfu,bfu2,bfu3,bfu4|BFU Store] * [link:bfu.avsim.net/join.htm]Join!][/td][/tr][/table][/td][/tr][/table

[Guest abent]

ATC all the way, as mentioned in a few threads - holding patterns, altitude changes, vectors for traffic, speed changes for approach. Oh yeah, and use of multiple runways. That would make me happy!Roads could be improved. I think the water could be improved a bit too - less blotchy - a bit more like the Fly series. And finally a cure, if possible, for the blurries! AdamJust thinking about all this makes me :-jumpy