Go check out my first installment over at SimHQ. More to come soon. I apologize for the screenshots they will be better next time. The copy I am using is a press beta I recieved while at E3 this year.http://www.simhq.com/_air/air_060a.htmlHornit

I am getting more and more excited about this sim! Thanks for the link.

Nice Jim :-)Looking forward to the next instalment !!!Bill

Hi, "T-bird at 1.4 Ghz on a Windows 98SE based system with 512MB DDR and a GeForce 4 Ti4200 with 128mb RAM. This rig runs most everything I have thrown at it fairly well. I cant run some sims at super high detail levels but I can run with most of the important settings allowing nice graphics and smooth frame rates most of the time.""It goes a long way to making things like scenery and autogen appear in crisp detail. I run at about 27-30 fps in FS2002 and it does very well except with aftermarket high detail add-ons and scenery.""ACOF appears to allow even more fine tuning with cloud cover percentages and detail settings for the clouds themselves. I am very happy with barely midrange cloud detail and 3D settings at this point. So what's the bottom line?? I have my frame rate slider set to 22-25 in this sim and it will do more, but I'm seeing very close to the performance I did in FS2002 I am very surprised at this!"If only some people can be Adult and logical like you, before they post and speculate tons of S...!Cheers!ThanksChris Willis[link:fsw.simflight.com/FSWMenuFsSim.html]Clouds And Addons For MsFs

>If only some people can be Adult and logial like you, before>they post and speculate tons of S...!>>Cheers!>>>Thanks>Chris Willis:-lol :-lol Totally agree with you Chris.Regards,Carlos.

Hornit,Nice work - interesting to get another perspective. Interesting about the 4 CDs, as Microsoft state the new version requires approximately the same disk space as the old version.

Thanks for the review Hornit! Looking forward to more. One question, can you turn the lens flare off in the external view?

Carlos, You just remind me one thing, I understand now, the shcool have just finished :-lolThanksChris Willis[link:fsw.simflight.com/FSWMenuFsSim.html]Clouds And Addons For MsFs

"If only some people can be Adult and logical like you, before they post and speculate tons of S...!"However, speculation is all most of us have. Not everyone is privy towards being a beta tester, or having access to the sim. It doesn't help when people with faster system are posting shots with worse performance.There's so many unknown factors--AI levels, scenery density, that I think the best thing is to quit worrying about it until the anecdotal reports come in after first hand purchases. The only real way to measure the performance of this sim is to do it the way I did with FS2002...set up the graphics at levels approx. equal to the preceding sim, and then measure. I think the improvement I saw in FS2002 was about 30 pct. over FS2000. Still, all most of us can do is wait, watch, and grab these reports while we can. I won't fault anyone for drawing negative conclusions though, as that's the risk any software vendor makes when they allow this type of exposure to a product before it's release. Quite often, subtle observations like seeing fps reports have proven right....And I'm embarrassed to say it, but I kind of like even the 2-d clouds. I wonder if there will be an option to allow for them on the slowest systems, while still offering the higher visibility, the ability to see fronts, etc...

Hi John, "However, speculation is all most of us have. Not everyone is privy towards being a beta tester, or having access to the sim. It doesn't help when people with faster system are posting shots with worse performance."There is difference between speculating and S......(basher negative in their own life) Constructive speculation and comments, I have not problem with it.Because they probably set to full right, which is not recommended at all anyways. Remember at the release of fs2002, Nobody would like to set all slider to full right and all enabled. Why? (1.3 ghz 3d card 64meg was available at the time for the high end system). You know the Mesh, AI traffic, water reflection animation, and Autogen in fs2002 how can hurt the sim in performance..Even clouds at max density slider."The only real way to measure the performance of this sim is to do it the way I did with FS2002...set up the graphics at levels approx. equal to the preceding sim, and then measure. I think the improvement I saw in FS2002 was about 30 pct. over FS2000."Also the logical testing will have to be made with an logical market system with logical slider setting.ThanksChris Willis[link:fsw.simflight.com/FSWMenuFsSim.html]Clouds And Addons For MsFs

Great review! Well done amigo! ;-)---Banners? We don't need no stinkin' banners!---Visualize FSGateway/ProjectAI sig banner here

Excellent review Jim! Looking forward to the next installment. :-)Rob

"Also the logical testing will have to be made with an logical market system with logical slider setting."Nope--change the system, and you change the baseline for the testing.... People need to compare sims based on equal systems, equal features. Not everyone can afford replacing a system every MSFS release. And that's fair, but sometimes the program gets blamed for being too bloated, when one can still get better with less. Many people dissed FS2002, because the first thing they did was "Sliders right"... MS optimizes code all the time between releases.... I think it's a fair assumption that even an old P3/800 should be able to handle FS2004, provided the user matches FS2004 to what they were used to (and happy with) seeing in FS2002.... From that baseline, then they can start upping the sliders, to see what works and what doesn't.... I for instance can run with 100 pct. mesh, detail and vis. on a P3/800.... I give up AI for that, but I don't mind that much. When I want AI, I kill the mesh, detail, and the visibility, and I spend an hour or so flying the pattern with the AI.... I think that's the other error--people feel that they can set the sliders, and that one setting services all types of flying. They miss out alot, I feel...

>Carlos,> You just remind me one thing, I understand now, the>shcool have just finished :-lol>>:-hmmm :-hmmm Chris, did I miss something here? Seems like you didn't like something I said? Remember that I share your point of view, I hope you don't feel offended for any of my comments.Regards,Carlos.

Carlos, It is not related to your post at all, but is the part II of my own post, read them both , you will see catch :-lolThanksChris Willis[link:fsw.simflight.com/FSWMenuFsSim.html]Clouds And Addons For MsFs