2004 Tidbits

[Bray 1]

Not bashing ..Just sharing: :-)1) Did a flight in a 737 call sign Bahamasair 014 into Miami and I kept getting yelled at by ATC TWR for not answering. Turns out they were calling me Aviateca 014. Took me a while to catch on. Think Maybe Miami ATC only knows Spanish flights 2) Did a flight again 737 Orlando to Miami American call sign. Departing Orlando I taxied into a cloud on the ground at rwy 36L. Talk about shutting down frame rates. And yes my dynamic weather was set to off, just about like everything else3) Descending into Miami ATC tells me to report traffic in sight at my 6 o'clock. So I am asking MS to equip their jets with periscopes so I can up periscope and look to the rear. This was true in 2002 as well 4) On approach to Miami I get cleared for rwy 12. I test out new feature and request 9L. I get an ILS clearance to 9L with a circle to land 12. OK so no big thing. I get turned on final to intercept LOC and handed to TWR. TWR clears me for 12, nothing about 9L and I get yelled at...Well the nerve of these Miami controllers :-)5) Looks like the gauge on the 737 panel that allowed me to increase sim rate from 1 is no longer to be found. Have to use menu.Anyways I have already vented about this sim and I dont think I am going to spend $300-500 upgrading my hardware to chase after MS and 2004 with no assurance that things will improve. Maybe the 2006 patch will be better, so for now its back to 2002. In closing I am not a MS hater or basher. I love the company, but surely they can do better given all their resources and talent.Thanks for the tin box. Will be good for a piggy bank :-)Bill

[Guest RSmith]

Well, not so encouraging, for my 1st post read for the day.TWR and the requested alternate r/w mix-up - sounds like ATC is, in fact, broken. The call sign confusion adds to that opinion.Only thing I smiled at, was the cloud on r/w 36L at MCO. With our recent heavy rains, late evening & early mid-morning t-storms, I've had "clouds" obscure views to my mailbox ! May be "real" weather.I wonder, if these findings are accurate, whether MS will "offer" a patch. Recall 2k2 - MS said there were no "material" defects warranting a patch. If we can't use ATC function (alt. r/w selection), and ATC/TWR can't match call signs / names......... seems like a patch may be "warranted" this time around ?RonKORL

[Guest Ashleigh Davidson]

Hi Bill, Dont see any bashing in your post, simply reporting facts as you experience them.Whats your system spec ?RegardsAsh

[Bray 1]

Gateway 700/P4 1.9/512 RAM/Win XP/Geforce 2 MX400 64 RAMThe video card is really out dated but I have read so many other problems with systems and video cards better than mine that I dont think I should go spending any money. There are a lot of other things that I find poor about 2004 compared to 2002. The clouds look really nice in 3D but its like a slide show. Its really frustrating when you are on an ILS approach and you cant keep the plane lined up because the stuttering at 4-9 FPS makes it hard to maintain steady turns. So now I fly with the 3D slider all the way left and settle for "phantom" cloud effects. And even then the FPS is well below 10 and stutters.The point is users with modest finances keep buying this stuff only to be told slide everything left, turn this and that off, disable this...etc etc...So where is the benefit?Anyways I didnt want to rant more but I did :-)Sorry for thatBill

[Guest firehawk44]

Bill,Thanks for "sharing". Looks like MS "bashing" to me. Like Dan Rather once said, "if it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, it's a duck" (or words to that effect). Here's my humble thoughts to your "sharing"...1) Awesome! You can have your own ATC call sign and ATC yells at you if you don't answer instead of cancelling your flight. Sounds pretty real to me. I would get upset too if I were a controller.2) Holy cow! Clouds and fog on the ground. FS2K2 never simulated that very well! Sorry your system couldn't handle the weather. Perhaps you should have cancelled the flight because of the adverse weather conditions just like in real time.3) Okay, I have to agree with you on this one. ATC should never ask you to look for traffic in your rear. Sounds like the controller messed up just like in FS2K2. He's probably new and he thought you were flying the other way. Did you tell the controller "traffic NOT in sight?" like in real life... How do you respond when you're at FL260 in thick clouds and ATC tells you to report traffic in sight at your one o'clock? 4) The ILS clearance feature looks great. It looks like you can request another runway and ATC turns you on final to intercept the localizer. Wow! Neat! Bet it works most of the time. Way to go MS!! I'd declare a missed approach and go around and try again.5) I can speed up my sim rate by pressing a gauge button on my panel? Awesome concept! That means most of the time I don't even have to go into the menu and speed up the sim rate. What a great idea! But wait a minute, that's not like in real life is it? Oh, I keep forgeting... it's only a game. I can't wait to get my copy of the game sometime this week from AVSIM. DISCLAIMER: I own stock in MSFT.Jim Young

[Bray 1]

You obviously did not understand a thing I said. I too own MS stock and am pleased to say have made quite a tidy sum over the years.So to everyone out there please go out and buy at least two copies of FS2004...Bill

[Geofa 108]

#1- sounds like a bug--it seems pretty minor in the scope of things, but should be reported.#2-Sounds like from an above post this was right on#3- I have been issued traffic warnings at 6 o'clock behind me in real life. I think when you use ms atc more you will find more annoying having traffic called in imc-and the other pilot stating that he sees you visually. The atc isn't yet 100% perfect-actually neither is the sim-if it was we wouldn't need any future versions :-)#4) I haven't seen that-it could have been a bug-or perhaps not. I'd try the same flight again, and see if it happens again.#5) Seems like nit picking to meI would try the same flight again with the same parameters and see if you get exactly the same results.Keep a list of legitimate bugs and report them-just as the beta testers did. Some -#1 and #4-might not ever happen again even when repeating the flight-I found that to be the case. As far as MS doing better-look at the number of persons on the credits. As beta testers we came to know many of them virtually-I assure you they worked very hard for two years, care, put in absurdly long days, and are in search as we all are of the perfect sim. I am satisfied what they done is an incredible accomplishment, and feat. Keep reporting flaws-we have been doing that for quite a while, and the complexity of the program means even with hundreds of beta testers every nook and cranny could not be explored.I would suggest though-like looking at a beautiful women-while noticing she has a wart on her left leg-that is equally valuable to appreciate and enjoy the rest. :-)http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/Geofdog2.jpg

[Guest]

Hi Bill,5) just to let you know, you can hold the R key and hit + or - to increase/decrease simulation rate. No need to go to menu. Hope you can get the other problems sorted out.John M.

[Guest padds]

>4) On approach to Miami I get cleared for rwy 12. I test out new >feature and request 9L. I get an ILS clearance to 9L with a circle >to land 12. OK so no big thing. I get turned on final to intercept >LOC and handed to TWR. TWR clears me for 12, nothing about 9L and I >get yelled at...Well the nerve of these Miami controllers :-)Thats happened to me a couple of times now just flying around Ohio, ask for a different assignment and tower has no idea...Similar thing happened at port Columbus the other day with 28L and 28R runways, was cleared to 28L and the lights on 28R came on.... 28L stayed nice and dark (wasnt difficult to find anyway). ILS beacon made its way over to 28R too. Double checked freq on Map and GPS and I was 100% right, runways switched somehow.... Ground didnt seem to care once I landed though.-Jonathan

[Guest]

Well I've tried a couple flight with the new ATC in FS2004 and have to say I'm pretty pleased with the results.I did a flight from KDEN to KSLC to see about vectoring in Mountainious area and was brought in perfectly in very very low visibility for an ILS landing.Granted its no radar contact but I've done a couple flights without any issues that I know of. AI Traffic is not much of a concern I only run at 20% to help my system run my simulation not a bunch fake traffic.Just my 2 cents.Sean