My 2 cents on 2K4 COF so far.

[Guest bernse]

Well, I picked up Century of flight yesterday PM and have about 2 hours stick time so far. Here are my thoughts.Framerates are fantastic. I will absolutely back up everyone that says FPS are the same, if not better than 2K2 even with more details. I have mine set at 25 with almost *everything* on full (except clouds, which I think I have at 50% - I can't say for sure as I am at work, going from memory) but everything else is either maxed or close to it... visibility, cloud distance, yadda, scenery complexity, yadda.. Very impressed.The Lear is a great aircraft to fly now. I think it could become my favorite.I really like the options for changing aircraft load and fuel. Nice and friendly, easy to do.The ATC alone makes this a worthwhile upgrade. Being able to request different approaches and the like is a welcome addition. Much more realistic and friendly. I cannot over emphasize how much nicer it is.The GPS is going to take some getting used to! While I actually liked the "old" version (ala 2000-2002) I think it was just because it was simple, although not realistic. I think I am going to enjoy learning the ins-outs of the Garmin.I *think* the flight planner takes terrain into account now. I planed a quick flight from Kelowna BC to Penticton BC... a distance of something like 30 miles. It gave me an altitude of over 11000FT. I believe it is because there are some high hills in the area. I planned longer flights and it gave me a lower altitude as default, so I am optomistic that it takes terrain into account. ALTHOUGH I wish it would give me a more realistic altitude to begin with. A 200 mile hop in a 737 gave me a default altitude of 7000FT on an IFR flight. Come on. I know you should change it (and of course do) but why not give a decent altitude to begin with.I like the "feel" of the flightmodels. Did I mention I like the Lear now? :)I like the taxiway signs and taxiways. Much more realistic and a welcome addition.The airport light is an improvement. I didn't do much night flying, but from what I saw I liked the revolving beacon and runway lights very much.The Robinson is a neat little chopper to #### around with.What I don't like:The "low speed" flight model (for the 737 at least) is not very good. I had the 737 pitched up at about 80degrees with full flaps and gear and I stayed airborne almost indefinetly. No real stall tendancy in such a bizzare scenario. Of course, during the course of a "regular" flight, you would never come across this scenario so it is almost a moot point.The weather can still change all of a sudden. For example. While descending to an airport, I could see 30+ miles just fine. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, BAM - the visibility was cut down to less than 2 miles. 1 second, no clouds ahead of you and then I am virtually in the middle of a fog bank. I was hoping that with the new weather engine I would *see* the fogbank coming up.Some of the "smaller" airports, the taxi lines go "off" of the taxiway/apron and onto the grass. My home airport (CYQU) is no actually modeled "less" acurately than in 2002. But, as it is using a more or less generic scenery set, I can live with it. At least it has the taxiway. :)That is about all I can say for now. My tentative recomendation is without question to pick it up. It is a very worthy upgrade from my first impressions.Now, I am downloading 1-1/2GB of FSGENESIS scenery to compliment it!Eric

[TonyB 1]

Nice balanced review. I appreciate your postive attitude regarding the visibility change and the 737 flight model. I am a glass half-full kind of person myself.Tony

[Guest bernse]

Forgot to mention, RE the performance of the sim. I will admit, I don't exactly have a "low end" system, but I am still very happy with the performance.P4-2.8C1GB PC3200 RAMATI 9500 ProP4P800 Asus Mobo utilizing the onboard soundRunning at 1600x1200x16I am *not* using AA or AF, but at that resolution I don't think it is very necessary. Personal preferance more than anything.

[Guest bernse]

I did my first "major" hop last night, CYYC to KSFO. What a joy it was. I have the FSGenesis Canada base mesh and the 38M Rocky Mtn and West Coast mesh. I spent 1/2 the flight outside the cockpit looking around at the ground!Framerates are still fantastic for me, even with the 38M Mesh and heavy air traffic with heavy clouds around KSFO.This sim is definetly a keeper. If MS could get the weather gen sorted out (IE - Not appears inside fog/0 vis when there was nothing a moment earlier) the sim would be almost perfect for me.One other nitpick - I miss the time rate increase on the clock. I know you can use it from the R and +/- keys, but I prefered it clickable.

[Guest progrmr]

Regarding the 737 not stalling out - what are your realism settings set at? If they are at realistic this is unforgivable.

[Guest bernse]

It was full realism. Let me explain. I would get the stall warning and such, but the airplane would just hang there. As long as I kept full thrust, it would more or less sit there and would not wing over or anything. I probably let it do it for about 30 seconds before I manhandled it down.