Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
michal

Meridian's been out a little while - what do you think?

Recommended Posts

Guest cw1011

I recomend Andrew Herd's article on Flightsim.com. I like his writing - well balanced and insightful. Definitely not a stooge for the developers.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

>I recomend Andrew Herd's article on Flightsim.com. I like >his writing - well balanced and insightful. Definitely not >a stooge for the developers.He writes well, I agree, although I wonder how much time he actually spent with this product. Maybe he had access to it when still in beta because otherwise he hardly had enough time to dive deep into it. On the other hand it is possible it was meant as an 'introductory' review to offer public some first glimpse of the Meridian. I suspect Avsim is busy at the moment to test this simulator for an in-depth review that will probably take weeks to write.Michael J.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

All of the above posts are spot on, unless you are running Win98 or WinMe. I am running WinMe on a 1.4Ghz P4. The framerates are ok, and the plane is veritable artwork in and of itself. I fly it regularly although on my machine it is very troublesome. What I mean is the Meridian and the GNS530 will lock my machine up when it is trying to load. I have done all the workarounds tweaks and various sundry things that have been postulated, and still have no idea what is causing these crashes on my machine. (This is the first time I have ever had trouble with any version of flight sim. The crashes are not consistant. Sometimnes the sim will run fine, other times it locks up while loadeing. If I get it loaded everything is fine. Beautiful plane easy to fly. Realistic and a pleasure. When it won't load the only thing that I have found that is at least mostly reliable is to uninstall and then reinstall the Meridian. Sometimes I can just reinstall over the existing flies and it will work, sometimes I must do a complete uninstall, (of the Meridian and the GNS500 Trainer, not the entire FS2k2).Flight1 is working now on a version 1.1 of the Meridian and I am waiting impatiently with bated breath, if this thing works like it should,it will become my default plane and my, (so far), all time favorite. :) Some have not had any problems, I think that most of the problems have been with WinMe or 98, not sure though.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest cw1011

I'm guessing he's getting advanced copies. He had CS 727 and IK DC9 reviews up pretty quickly and I thought all were pretty insightful. In fact, he noted some visual flaws with the external model on the DC9 that are not evident in my copy of the plane (crowning of the textures at the top of the plane, for instance), indicating that perhaps he has access to both the beta and the final product.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest SoarPics

Thanks for the report, Donald. I run 98SE, and have been following the forums at Flight1 to see how things are going. I haven't bought the Meridian because I wish not to move over to WinXP until later this year.I've tried the compatibilty test, but don't know whether this system passed or failed. Not much happened... so I'm thinking it failed.Too bad the product doesn't work reliably with Win98SE/ME. It looks outstanding, but I'm reluctant to take a chance (I'm not worried about the $30... I don't want to buy it AND THEN not be able to fly it. LOL).Thanks again,

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest

Indeed, like many have said, I also can't stop flying it. I was one of the early adopters, and I don't regret it. This is one heck of a plane!If you are used to some complex avionics; well now you got the Garmin GNS 530 to play with. Finally, I know where I am flying with the new Garmin toy.I advise you to download the original manufacturer's manuals (st360POH.pdf, sys55poh.pdf, Manual gns530.pdf and EFIS-POH.pdf) to find your way with the avionics, since the manual that comes with the plane contains only very introductory material.The framerates are decent on my system (AMD 1700+ xp, 512Mb, GF3), though I have to admit that I not much of a framerate freak. Of course, when flying in sceneries of Lago or SimFlyers, the rates go down considerably (14 fps to 5 fps). This aircraft is definitely one of the best.Cheers,David

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Flight1 Meridian sets a new standard in FS2002 GA aircraft.I own the Archer, Cardinal, SF260 and like them all, a lot!But this airplane is in a category by itself.. why, because of the avionics. Not since Assignment ATP, where I first learned to fly long distance IFR flights, have I had such an immersive (is that a word?) experience. I challenge anyone to start up this aircraft, program the GPS and fly the tutorial flight from Vero Beach to Miami.. and then try to put this plane back in the drawer.. More likely, you'll end up missing dinner with your loved ones, because you just have to complete another flight! The glass cockpit is unbelievably detailed and the gauges are smoooth..The landing view brings the gauges right into your face for the ultimate in readability..And did I say that the plane handles well too?? If you have a 1 Gig+ processor and a fast video card, you'll love this plane. Even better is is a 2 Gig+ processor, but the install process allows you to select complexity levels based on your computer power.I've flown it on a 1 Gig Celeron with a GF4-4200 and it was fine.On my new 2.4 Gig P4 it is flawless..BTW, Flight1 offers a 30 day money back guarantee..


Bert

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest DanWalloch

The airplane actually sets down very softly. It's moving at only 99 kts and with full flaps it's not doing any damage.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

>The airplane actually sets down very softly. It's moving at >only 99 kts and with full flaps it's not doing any damage. First I thought the correct approach speed for the Meridian is in the 85 kts range. But I know of no aircraft that would not sustain some damage if you did not flare before touchdown. Maybe the simulation is then wrong .. ;-)Michael J.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest SoarPics

Well, gee thanks Bert. ;)Flight1's return policy is certainly refreshing, and has prompted me to ALMOST buy the Meridian several times since it was released. I'm in no way concerned about losing money on the product.But if I buy and it doesn't work on my system... well, I don't know if I could handle that. Having it and not being able to fly it could be hazardous to my sanity. My family would want me to take my frustration and extreme sadness elsewhere. :-lol The folks at Flight1 and RealityXP are working on this. I'll keep an eye on things. In the meantime anybody who has the Meridian working fine on their 98SE/ME system... could you post here with your experiences? Those of us with those OS's would appreciate your input.Cheers,

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Howdy Greg,I can get the plane to fly on WinMe, its just that it is troublesome. BUT when it is loaded and flying, the troublesome's quickly disintergrate into thin air, (to coin a phrase):)In case you get the plane, and it locks your machine up, I have to do a reinstall of the Meridian and the GNS Trainer, then it will load and fly. I also don't really want to go to WinXP right now, but sooner or later, I guess I will. I was hoping to wait for FS10 and upgrade to a 4 or 5 Ghz machine then. Do I get a new operating system just to fly a single plane? Ahhh, its tempting in this case. Thinking cap is on!!!I love the Commander 115TC , ditto the Cardinal the Archer II, anything by DreamFleet, samey same'o for FSD, FlFliteMax, its wonderful. RealAir's SF Marchetti, fabulous, but if this plane starts working like it should, it WILL be my default.No way will I be asking for my money back. I will workaround the problem, and if version 1.1 will work on my machine it will become the default. :DOf course I don't know how long it will be the default. We are a fickle bunch, are we not?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest SlimDady

Had it for a while now I only have a few hours in.Didnt even have time to read the manual yet..But what ive seen its great.. very complex GA..Only problem i have is the framerate thing.. but with their util u can get some decent speed from it

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If you haven't already, download the panel optimizer. I turned off the landing view and VC instruments, and my framerate went up quite a bit. (Athlon 1700+, 512Mb, WinXP, GeForce3 Ti200) "Quite a bit" means from the 10-12 fps range to the 17-20-ish range. I have most of my gfx stuff set to mid-range levels, and I'm running 1280x1024.---Editorial: The Flight1 Meridian is an *outstanding* achievement, and I hope it gets FS Product of the Year by Avsim and the others. I also suggest this to the people that insist that paying $30 for an FS2002 airplane is too much: remove your cranium from that dark and unpleasant place and reward a) the developers for creating this work of art, and:( yourselves, with the experience of flying a high-end GA airplane that behaves the way it aorta, both in the cockpit and out.It is almost unbelievable how well the avionics work - and *work together*, and how well done the flight model is, given FS2002's inherent limitations. Since buying it on Monday, I have done two or three flights so far, with the autopilot coupled to the GNS530 for most of it, and am currently flying "back" from SEA to RHV as I type this.I hope I get to hop in a Piper Meridian someday and see how well it's modeled after the Flight1 version 8^) .My only real beefs:1) its autopilot doesn't seem to work with my PFC avionics stack hardware.2) the GNS530 is not controllable (yet) via keystrokes, which again means that I can't use my stack's controls to turn the GNS knobs and push the buttons. However, their mouse wheel/button/click zone arrangement is pretty serviceable.3) I haven't yet figured out how to control the aux panels (e.g. "eyebrow" panel) with the keyboard.I hate mousing around in an airplane - and the F1 Meridian implementation currently requires it. I sure hope they make *everything* controllable via the keyboard or PFC hardware... but I'm more than willing to put up with this (for a while) given the other outstanding qualities of this airplane.Dave BlevinsKRHV


System: Asus P8Z68 Deluxe/Gen3 mobo *** i7 2700K @ 5gHz w/ Corsair H80 cooler

NVidia GTX 570 OC *** 8 GB 1600 Corsair Vengeance DRAM *** CoolerMaster HAF X case

System overclocked and tuned for FSX by fs-gs.com

Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog stick/throttle & CH Products Pro Pedals

Various GoFlight panels *** PFC avionics stack

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

>Not much happened... so I'm >thinking it failed. >Well, the info included with the test tells you exactly what should happen .. you should be able to run the Garmin but with only Power and Enter buttons working. On my WinMe it runs fine.Michael J.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

>I hate mousing around in an airplane - and the F1 Meridian >implementation currently requires it. I sure hope they make >*everything* controllable via the keyboard or PFC >hardware... Well, it is interesting how people's perspectives vary. I prefer "mousing" since it gives me impression I am using my finger to move around the cockpit. Specially a very nice cocpkit like the Meridian's. Never used PFC device but again - I rather interact with the cockpit directly and feel its layout - will be handy when flying the real thing one day (a Meridian club in UK offers 1/4 membership for abput $450,000 !!). I generally dislike using keyboard with the exception of some very "need-fast-access" commands that I can program on my joystick - like view changes, autopilot disconnect or thrust reverser. Michael J.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Tom Allensworth,
    Founder of AVSIM Online


  • Flight Simulation's Premier Resource!

    AVSIM is a free service to the flight simulation community. AVSIM is staffed completely by volunteers and all funds donated to AVSIM go directly back to supporting the community. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. Thank you for your support!

    Click here for more information and to see all donations year to date.
×
×
  • Create New...