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Is FS2004 the last MS FS that mattered?

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I don't think so sir!In what way? FSX has moving cars and gates. How is it so far ahead? Care to explain.Hmmm, my rig is now 4 weeks old (custom built). Now that Microsoft "canned" Flight Simulator, FS9 will be my last Flight Sim. Yes, I bought FSX the first day it came out (like all other releases). Heck, if you only knew the thousands of $$$$ I've spent on hardware to run a $50.00 piece of software.I don't think anyone has trashed FSX. If you fly GA aircraft, out in the country,, FSX works great, but please don't say "FSX may be the only FS that matters". The FS9/FSX debate will go on forever, but, that statement ("FSX may be the only FS that matters"), appears just a bit arrogant. X-Plane, may matter to you some day, so step up to the plate.RJ
Is there any reason to start this whole silly debate once again? Flight simming ain't religion and hopefully for sure it isn't politics.Fsx will be possibly the last in the fs series for some, and fs9 may be the last in the series for others.Seems we can settle it there and not let this thread degrade into another of the countless others of this ilk?I continue to shake my head in amazement why there seems to be a periodic need to either justify or convert why a particular sim may fit one's need. Considering at this point that there is only one left which is neither fsx or fs9 I would think it would be a moot point.

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RJThanks for your input. And I love the "Sir". Slow down. Your being so defensive. You would think I insulted your mother or something. It's a good thing I didn't say FSX IS the only FS. Because when I have to reinstall XP, FS9 is not going back on it.Putting down cars and gates sounds like trashing to me.Fly any plane out of KSAN and head north to KLAX. There is no comparison between ground texture quality and resolution in the two stock sims.The OP set up the question, because that is the way he and you feel. Great . But my answer to the question is NO.Is there some reason I can not answer without being called arrogant.With all respect, Bob


Bob

i5, 16 GB ram, GTX 960, FS on SSD, Windows 10 64 bit, home built works anyway.

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Is there any reason to start this whole silly debate once again?
I agree,, it is rather pointless. What works for "you", is all that matters.Some ppl claim FSX has more "realistic" flight characteristics, then X-Plane.That debate will go on forever too, which is pointless, cuz no home based PC simwill ever feel like the real thing.RJ

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And please forgive me if I said anything out of line. I don't usually let myself get roped into this type of thread. Bob


Bob

i5, 16 GB ram, GTX 960, FS on SSD, Windows 10 64 bit, home built works anyway.

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RJYou would think I insulted your mother or something.
FS9 is my mother :( Yeah,, she's old, but I still love her B)
Putting down cars and gates sounds like trashing to me.
Not at all. FSX is great, as is FS9. Even FS2002 has some qualities I prefer over FSX and FS9.You said "FS9 is so far behind FSX". Sorry, I had to :( I agree,, the textures in FSX have been improved.
The OP set up the question, because that is the way he and you feel. Great . But my answer to the question is NO.
My answer to the question is NO also, and if FSX was in the title,, it would be NO too.No hard feelings I hope Bob, like Geofa said, this type of thread is rather pointless,, and most times I don't participate in such topics.Tonight, it would appear my beer made me speak.. :( Please accept my appoligeis Bob.What is important, is having fun and learning like you mentioned.And heck,, pointless debate is sometimes fun too.RJ

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No problems.Ah, the wicked brew. Same could be said in my case.How sad am I, that I have chosen to sit here with this sim.Bob


Bob

i5, 16 GB ram, GTX 960, FS on SSD, Windows 10 64 bit, home built works anyway.

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Yes.
No. Well all I can say is the resolution of the textures has greatly been increased. The mesh is also very good and the real world weather is awesome. The feeling of inertia in FSX compares to no other commercial simulator on the market, its just that good. Even though on many youtube videos on the 747 for FS2004 you can "feel" the weight, it is more refined in FSX and even better. The inertia and simulation of weight and size in FSX is what makes it very real and it what distinguishes a small C172 from an A320, B737, etc. In a C172 when I accelerate the screen moves back into the seat a bit, but try that with a big heavy plane with lots of inertia and powerful turbofan engines and it makes you feel like you are there. Take off with a B747 and it will move a good distance back in the seat, then when you turn onto your legs you move in the seat and your head pans a bit due to the g-force. That is what I call attention to detail! :(. The visual features are also majorly improved. Shader Model 2.0 also plays a big part of the visuals of FSX. Lemme tell you this, visuals does not mean less simulation as some think (cough... Speedbird ..cough....). More visuals means more simulation as it is closer to life, and a better representation of what you will see in the real world. One example of SM 2.0 in FSX is plane models. Look at many planes released for FS9 and FSX. Take screenshots of the PMDG MD-11 for instance. The PMDG MD-11 in FS9 does not have bump mapping which makes the parts of the plane such as the tail and the fuselage look less real. When you look at screenshots of the PMDG MD-11 in FSX you can see the bump mapping clearly. You can see where the surfaces reflect and diffuse light, you can see where the plane reflects light well, etc. Also SM 2.0 really makes the water a lot closer to real life. For example in FS9 even though the animated water was OK in FSX it looks magnificent. You can see the crest of the waves and you see it reflect in the sun. You also see the water animating a lot better, and sometimes it even changes with the weather. The water in FSX also reflects many objects now because it does not use just a reflection map. When you fly over the water in FSX with settings high enough, you'll see the reflection of clouds, the reflection of planes, the reflection of SCENERY, the reflection of runway lights (depending on the airfield location) and many more. SM 2.0 helps improve precipitation effects as well because when it rains or snows you see those really nice reflections on the taxiways, ramps, runways, etc. and the world reflects on it. One more thing, which is not even the last of the many features of SM 2.0 is the smoke effects. When a plane lands in FSX the smoke is a more soft and real, also when you fly in industrial areas such as New York and see factories with smoke rising it looks like a real life representation. I know I'm saying a lot but I want to elaborate and show just a small amount of features added by SM 2.0. In FSX reflections on ground scenery objects such as autogen and airfield buildings is a lot nicer then FS2004, specifically because of the amount of reflection features you can do with SM 2.0. Remember all this is just only on SM 2.0, lots of cards such as most Geforce 7 series and ATi X series have Shader Model 3.0 and cards above that (Geforce 8 series, Radeon HD 2 series) have Shader Model 4.0 depending on if they are certified for DX10. If FSX was programmed using SM 3.0 or 4.0 we could have had a simulator looking like Crysis! Seriously, but sadly, when FSX was being developed we were still in the SM 2.0 era.FSX did look good and still does today, and I can always fool some people into thinking that some shots are real world shots (as long as they are not 1 inch away from the screen :().I will try and find some screenshots on the forum here and compare the FSX model with the FS2004 model.FSX:Here is the FSX PMDG MD-11. Look at the bump mapping and specular mapping on the body of the aircraft, specifically the belly, and look at the bump mapping on the vertical stabilizer (the tail) which is awesome:http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtop...;hl=PMDG+MD-11Xhttp://forum.ivao.aero/index.php?topic=89039.0FS9: Notice the lack of bump mapping on the planes.http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtop...;hl=PMDG+MD-11Xhttp://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?s=&...t&p=1536042

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FSX has moving cars and gates. How is it so far ahead? Care to explain.
Cars and moving gates, that's all you have noticed? No, it is superior, high resolution ground textures, water effects, plus better aircraft texturing/lightning techniques. By the way thanks for reminding me about cars and gates - but I actually never need it for my kind of flying ...

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Cars and moving gates, that's all you have noticed? No, it is superior, high resolution ground textures, water effects, plus better aircraft texturing/lightning techniques. By the way thanks for reminding me about cars and gates - but I actually never need it for my kind of flying ...
Micahl 1 - 3Green 0! :( :(. Just kidding, just kidding.What Micahl said is very true, and I do not get what it is with the procrastinating FS04 users. How could you resist all those new features? You have enough money to type on the internet and your messages right now, so save up and buy a new PC later on. One thing that FS04 users must not forget is that hardware advances on an average of 6 months, so you have to be ready to upgrade your computer after a while. One way I do this is fix computers(and I'm only 15 so I do not have a job), which I'm sure many of the people on this forum can do. Family members spread around how good you are with PCs at work, and then you can get some extra $$$. Just the other day I was fixing some nasty viruses on someones PC. All it took was taking off crappy Norton Anti-virus and installing AVG and avast! antivirus (2 is better than one, no anti-virus has 100% detection rates), then I ran a couple of virus scans and did an online scan to make sure everything was gone and voila! An instant 40 dollars closer to that new processor, graphics card, etc.

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Guest lgvpilot1

I dont understand FS9 users bashing attacking or in any way diminishing FSX Lets be honest, as an FS9 user I have a new sim to look forward to with my next upgrade !!As the number of people who upgrade to FSX increase , so will the number of addons ,both free and payware, and from what I have seen recently there are some great changes ahead for us .Even now people are only just beginning to see what FSX can do on PC's that dont cost an arm and a leg so for me the future is still bright !!If FSX is not superior to FS9 then to be honest the aces studio should have been shut down two years ago.Mark

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You have enough money to type on the internet and your messages right now, so save up and buy a new PC later on.
Ah, the old hardware argument. Sure, some people are being held back by their hardware, but others have good stuff and still won't upgrade. (E8400, 2GB 800Mhz RAM, 9600GT.) Apart from the hardware argument, another popular one is "the same thing happened with previous transitions". Years after FSX's release, that too is getting old...I'm not saying that FSX is inferior or that FS9 is superior. Both have their strong points and their weaknesses. But for me personally, keeping in mind my focal points, such as AI management, airport management, ATC, which have all been labelled "legacy", there's nothing in FSX that interests me. And there probably never will be. No amount of eye candy or sale talk will change that. Unless a very talented third party developer comes along with an ATC app that controls both user and AI traffic, in part fed by Afcads that would allow for more control than has ever been the case...
If FSX is not superior to FS9 then to be honest the aces studio should have been shut down two years ago.
Or, if FSX was that much of an improvement over FS9, sold that well, with many areas still improvable (everyone will agree on that one), why did they have to shut ACES down? No matter what kind of spin they try to put on it, FSX must have something to do with the demise of ACES. If it has absolutely nothing to do with FSX, then they have truly lost it. And well, reading about where the money will go, R&D, and what they will do with it, hardly anything that will benefit me behind my PC at home, that, that they have truly lost it, is of course a serious possibility.:(Oh well.:(

Mike...

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Ah, the old hardware argument. Sure, some people are being held back by their hardware, but others have good stuff and still won't upgrade. (E8400, 2GB 800Mhz RAM, 9600GT.) Apart from the hardware argument, another popular one is "the same thing happened with previous transitions". Years after FSX's release, that too is getting old...I'm not saying that FSX is inferior or that FS9 is superior. Both have their strong points and their weaknesses. But for me personally, keeping in mind my focal points, such as AI management, airport management, ATC, which have all been labelled "legacy", there's nothing in FSX that interests me. And there probably never will be. No amount of eye candy or sale talk will change that. Unless a very talented third party developer comes along with an ATC app that controls both user and AI traffic, in part fed by Afcads that would allow for more control than has ever been the case...Or, if FSX was that much of an improvement over FS9, sold that well, with many areas still improvable (everyone will agree on that one), why did they have to shut ACES down? No matter what kind of spin they try to put on it, FSX must have something to do with the demise of ACES. If it has absolutely nothing to do with FSX, then they have truly lost it. And well, reading about where the money will go, R&D, and what they will do with it, hardly anything that will benefit me behind my PC at home, that, that they have truly lost it, is of course a serious possibility.:(Oh well.:(
ACES is not gone, Although they were fired before, there is a new team making some kind of flight simulator, and people from the old team are being hired.

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That one sentence demonstrates the insanity of it all quite nicely, thank you. :(


Mike...

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Hello everyone."Is FS2004 the last MS FS that mattered?"In my opinion, Yes. I bought 2 FSX packages, I always get 2 because I typically end up installing in more than one system, and there always seems to be a CD / DVD that fails over the years.This is the first time that I did not have the desire to install it on my second system, or even open the one of the boxes. A number of reasons for this:1-When I first installed and turned it on, at my home airport, looking down the runway it did not look like anywhere close to what the real view is.2-Started a Dusk flight, the time I do all / most of my VFR flying, and the FSX looks terrible from an hour before Sunset or after Sunrise, just a muddy mess.3-Having to spend over an hour on the phone to get the Basic FS to Activate then when I tried to install the Acceleration SPs I get all kind of Errors and now I had to go through the Activation again?4-Compared the scenery in my area with the FS9, and with some of my added mesh / land class, FSX was not better than FS9. That's when it ended. I will not subject myself to this kind of abuse. I still use it from time to time, just to convince myself that I am not missing anything, but it's a dead horse.I cannot see a single reason why some one would want to get FSX instead of FS9, and I do not recommend FSX.Get X-Plane, at least ver. 9, FS9, or Fly!II, or all 3 for about the same price of FSX, and you are done. I hope MS continues to develop a FS, but it may be better if they do not, and allow a new start up. I can't help thinking that if MS would have stopped after FS9, we would have had others, like FLY!, which I think had a great platform, still developingThere is nothing that FSX does that that FS9, X-Plane, Fly! do not do, in using them as a TOOLS. TV

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