FS9 - Give it time....

[John_Cillis 2,406]

When I saw the first shots of FS2002, I thought ughhhhhh..... Meigs was surrounded by land, and scenery looked for lack of a better word, plain.It wasn't until the beta testers were released from their NDA's that I got a hint of the "quiet upgrades." One example of what I call a "quiet upgrade"--the rendering of lakes. Anyone flying over the Great Salt Lake in FS2000 would remember, that only the lake visible within ten or so miles was displayed. Another quiet upgrade, with very little hype--twilight mountain shadows. I spend hours flying FS2002 at twilight, favoring one route in particular--up Owens Valley east of the Sierras. Another quiet upgrade--the ability to change landclasses--to add your favorite city. And photoreal scenery. Even before the 2k2 SDK came out, some of us learned how to exploit these new features.How about reflections? We all saw that eye candy, but look at the wonderful work being done with specular lighting, with almost no fps penalty. There wasn't a lot of hype about that, but it was there.My mind starts spinning when I think of all the good secrets kept with FS2002's release, that I didn't know about until I made the plunge. There were a few issues, but most of what I found were pleasant surprises. MS added many features we put on our wishlists into 2k2 with hardly a mention.It's what MS doesn't say about FS-9 that I'm looking forward to...

[Bruce Nicholson KMFR 20]

John,I agree. As more screenshots and information are released we will get a clearer idea of what the product will be like. In the meantime, let's all just look forward to some interesting surprises. For example, look at the newest shots on gamespot.com.This onehttp://gamespot.com/gamespot/filters/produ...,00.html?page=4shows how visibility is variable on the horizon. I'm guessing (since the shot is not conclusive) that we are seeing precip falling from the clouds and reducing visibility. Now there's something we don't have in FS2002!Bruce

[Guest JonP01]

John,Speaking of terrain, I hope I can re-use the landclass files I'm currently working on using your great utility. I also hope I can re-use my Australian terrain mesh, because I very much doubt the default resolution will be any better in the new version that it was in older versions.

[Tabs 2,790]

Notice too in the final shot of the Wright Flyer how the overcast continues all the way to the horizon - that's a big time improvement!

[Guest Tim13]

I agree with giving it time. The weather has always been the weak point of every civil sim that has had world coverage (ie FU excepted due to it's limited coverage). The tweaks and improvements that will be present will be enough for me to justify buying it. I'm looking forward to this release, especially if they keep the core of FS2K2 and refine it which is what it looks like they did. You can only do so much during each revision cycle in the PC gaming industry, so in my mind there is nothing wrong with a two year release that improves a standing title.Tim13

[Guest]

nice, however do you notice the shadow on the ground of the wright flyer when it is overcast? it is just like in fs2k2 and it does not feel quite right...I hope they wont forget to fix that too...

[Guest frankcubillos]

Remember, this is still Alpha code too. :-wave---Banners? We don't need no stinkin' banners!---Visualize PAI sig banner here.

[Guest]

sure I remember :) I am just kinda reminding not to forget it :)

[Donmo 6]

I hope a "quiet upgrade" is ICE! I don't want another non-freezing Great White North! LOL!Don

[Guest gooper]

I just hope that they improve on the most important part of any flight sim- the flight dynamics!!!