What to install in FS2004 for realism.

[Guest JustanotherPilot]

I haven't used Fs2004 since FSX was released, I now use Prepar3D. I have an old laptop that I refuse to upgrade because of my work files and setup that cannot be cloned. It will NOT run FSX or P3D or X-Plane 10, but will run FS2004 flawlessly. To appease my Flightsim addiction while away from my Desktop I have decided to build up my laptop FS2004 to be as realistic as possible and to use all of the addons I bought for fs2004.

 

I would like suggestions as to what I need to get FS2004 up to scratch, and make it a world beater. I have VOZ scenery for Australia, FSNavigator and the Aeroworx B200 and the good old LevelD 767 but I've been away from it for too long to be abreast with all of the changes and addons available. What do I need for weather, scenery, mesh, aircraft, flight planning, tools and any other suggestion. My goal is to have maximum possible realism for FS2004.

 

All suggestions appreciated.

 

Steve s

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

I haven't used Fs2004 since FSX was released, I now use Prepar3D. I have an old laptop that I refuse to upgrade because of my work files and setup that cannot be cloned. It will NOT run FSX or P3D or X-Plane 10, but will run FS2004 flawlessly. To appease my Flightsim addiction while away from my Desktop I have decided to build up my laptop FS2004 to be as realistic as possible and to use all of the addons I bought for fs2004.

 

I would like suggestions as to what I need to get FS2004 up to scratch, and make it a world beater. I have VOZ scenery for Australia, FSNavigator and the Aeroworx B200 and the good old LevelD 767 but I've been away from it for too long to be abreast with all of the changes and addons available. What do I need for weather, scenery, mesh, aircraft, flight planning, tools and any other suggestion. My goal is to have maximum possible realism for FS2004.

 

All suggestions appreciated.

 

Steve s

I would contact Jon Aus either in this forum, or PM, and ask him about his view of EVO ground textures for one....he has used them for an extensive period.

[Appliance 51]

 

 

What do I need for weather, scenery, mesh, aircraft, flight planning, tools

 

Steve a quick search on this forum will reveal GOLD.

 

However as you own other sims I would suggest FS Global Real Weather (FSGRW) as it works splendidly with all sims as does MCE (see my signature) voice control for co-pilot and ATC.  For mesh FS Global is probably the easiest world mesh to install/use but plenty of freeware mesh is available.

 

Rudimentary flight planning is available within FS Navigator.  More professional programs include FS Build, Vroute (both free and payware versions) and, the daddy of them all, PFPX.  If you are really serious Topcat allows you to accurately calculate take-off and landing distances among other things.

 

FsRAAS v2 (freeware) is brilliant ... just get it.  If you find FS9's ATC limiting Radar Contact and  Pro Flight Emulator Deluxe (both payware)  can be recommended.

 

No doubt other members will chime in.

[Jim Robinson 122]

Here's what I use(d), heavy on "IMHO", obviously I didn't spend much time flying outside the US, lol. Some of this stuff might be hard to find:

 

HDE V2 (freeware sky textures and clouds - have not been surpassed to date, still using these in FSX/P3D 6 years later)

 

HDE V1 (still has the best afternoon/dusk sky textures)

 

Ultimate Terrain (roads, water bodies, streams, railways, etc. FS9 without UT is like pancakes without syrup)

 

FSGenesis US National Landclass Beta Preview (good luck finding this one, lcus_09b6.exe is the installer filename, it's free and in my view, better than the non-beta payware version)

 

Mesh (lots of freeware 38m FSGenesis mesh in the file libraries that look great in FS9 however the FSGenesis payware 19m meshes were worth the $$ IMHO. Now FSGenesis has been bought out and the new owner is reportedly screwing Justin out of his royalties so let your conscience be your guide)

 

GEPro (well, ground textures, but I think I'd go with Evo if I had it to do over again or convert FTX Global textures which is a costly PITA if you don't already own it for FSX, if you do own it it's just a PITA)

 

FlightZone Portland and Providence, Rhode Island (These guys showed airport developers how it's meant to be done. Finding the patches for UT and getting them installed correctly is a right of passage for the FS9er, possible hair-pulling required)

 

Holger's freeware Columbia River Gorge (no words needed)

 

Holger's freeware Glacier Bay (no words needed)

 

Holger's freeware North Cascades (no words needed)

 

Holger's freeware Southern British Columbia (hey, this one covers my hometown - barely!)

 

FSMetar (freeware wx generator, makes big fluffy clouds that look great in screenshots but winds aloft are a mess)

 

FSrealWX_lite (freeware wx generator, accurate, great if you like haze that perpetually obscures your scenery)

 

Active Sky Evo (payware wx generator that gives you fairly accurate winds aloft, ugly clouds)

 

FSElemental (has the best envmap.bmp out there, meh on everything else)

 

Airland 1.0 (freeware runway & taxiway textures, the best available)

 

Shockwave - 3D Lights Redux (yeah the light effects are OK but the halo.bmp supplied is the best for runway/taxiway lighting, VASIs, PAPIs, etc.)

 

"Holger's water" (see quote below for the recipe, I don't think the link works anymore)

 

Howdy,

Currently I use a combination of three packages, installed in the order listed:

1. Kevin Rangel's morewatr.zip package, which is a compilation of textures by Lynn and Bill Lyons, Ed Truthan, and others. It's available at Avsim

2. Vilk's Water (Vater.zip), available at http://portal.fsgenesis.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=UpDownload&file=index&req=viewdownloaddetails&lid=6&ttitle=Vater_(Vilk\'s_Water) or in the FSFreeware file library

3. new_waves3.zip (Avsim) by Daniel Buechter, though only the "OceanHeightField.bmp" in the \texture subfolder

In general, it's a good idea to first make a backup of all the default files involved, then add new folders inside the Scenery\World\texture with descriptive names for each author. That way you keep a copy of both the default textures and each replacement package and you can overwrite the textures in Scenery\World\texture as desired and experiment with different combinations.

Cheers, Holger

 

That about covers it I think :smile:

[JSkorna 137]

Active Sky Evolution for weather.

[Guest JustanotherPilot]

Gentlemen,

 

I thank you for your suggestions, there is more than enough to keep me occupied, I hadn't realised that FS2004 was still a platform that is up there with the others as far as available addons. One tends to forget that OOM's were never experienced, frame rates were never considered and performance was always at an optimal when using FS2004.

 

thanks again

 

steve

[Joseph29 225]

To give FS9 and FSX/P3D like feel try FE9Gv1.2. You can get it here http://calclassic.proboards.com/thread/6945/fe9g-released (v1.2 can be downloaded on page 3)

 

There is a discusion about it here in the avsim forums http://forum.avsim.net/topic/470656-ive-just-found-this-fe9gv12-fantastic/