I have a question down below at the bottom...

 

Like many of you my laptop for traveling is not a game laptop, has no dedicated memory.

It happens to be a Pentium but not even an i3 level Pentium.

64 bit

Windows 8.1 (the original OS of this laptop).

 

No versions of FS from the earliest thru FS2000 would even install.

FS9 (FS2004) needed more horsepower to run (like a dedicated video card).

FSX also needed MUCH better hardware.

 

FS2002 was perfect!

Despite not being a gaming laptop it ran in dense default scenery (San Francisco)

at 20-23 FPS full screen, and 25-32 windowed mode.

 

This early version boots up quicker and is more stable than FSX (very good for a quick fun flight).

There used to be some payware planes for FS2002, I know Dreamflight had a Boeing (I forget which) with lots of detail.

 

FS2002 was the first with air traffic control and real AI.

And the second (after FS2000) to have 3D scenery and virtual cockpits that worked well. Actually both of these features work much better in FS2002, than in FS2000.

 

Keyboard flying is not only possible but stable and rather easy (it was not so stable on later FS versions).

The intro to FS2002 (when newly installed) includes a short video (by the King family) of how to fly with a keyboard.

 

With a USB laptop many of your old joysticks might work. In fact some of the old Saitek HOTAS might work better then in FSX using old drivers. Some of those hardware were designed way back in that timeframe.

 

Some low priced controllers are available (USB) such as the TFlight or T-16000M (Thrustmaster),  or Extreme 3D (logitech). These all have twist rudder on the flight stick and some sort of built in throttle.

 

---

Question: the display of FS2002 is stretched on a widescreen laptop, so the gauges do not look round. Is it necessary to edit all the panels (new dimensions on the gauges etc.) to make the panel look correct (round gauges instead of oblong)?

 

Thanks for any help.

First of all you can have your system specs in your signature again!  :Applause:  Sorry for the inconvenience but the owner of AVSIM was trying to find performance problems with the website and decided to move system specs to a member's profile.  We had several members upset with this policy when told by our moderators to remove their specs (some people do not like to be told to follow our rules).  Several others put comments such as yours ("no system specs here!") in their signature for unknown reasons but I wanted to explain this to our new members who may wonder why you have those comments in your signature.  We think we have resolved performance problems and are allowing system specs in the signature area again.   However, if we suffer problems again in the future, we may have to remove system specs from the signature area again.  We appreciate your cooperation.

 

I am not sure why you are now posting a question about a really, really old flight simulator here in our forums.  Almost everyone has moved on to a more updated flight simulator.  I seriously doubt we have any using FS2000 let alone FS2002 (fs2K2).  One of the reasons why flight simulators are updated is to catch up with the latest and greatest technology. For instance, FSX has a completely different texture format and optimized for better performance than back in the FS2K2 days.  It appears your monitor exceeds the specs of your old flight simulator program.  In the FSX config, we have the option to turn on widescreen or turn it off depending on our monitor.  The fs2k2 config may have the same option or you may be able to add that parameter.  In the display section, the fsx.cfg has WideViewAspect=True or False.

 

I would also play with your display resolutions for the best fit.

The reason for the question is pretty clear to me. His laptop simply is too power poor to run anything but FS2k2.

 

Run the sim in windowed mode and drag the sides of the window inwards until the gauges are round again at 4:3 ratio.

Thanks Bill for the help!

Glad the OP was able to get FS 8 to work! I still have FS 8 loaded, with all of the BFU Scenery there was in the Libraries, and still have loads of fun with it!

 

Not as much Payware around for FS 8 anymore, but there's Erick Cantu's tubeliners, and other offerings to play around with!

 

Cheers,

 

Alan  :smile:

" I am not sure why you are now posting a question about a really, really old flight simulator here in our forums. "

 

Because I have an old laptop that won't run a more up to date flightsim. By the way I also have a water cooled desktop that will run any of the later versions flight simulator at terrific framerates, I prefer FSX on that system and have invested lots of money in it. And also own a better laptop than the one I'm asking about in this thread.

 

I do not want to take my expensive hardware with me on trips where it may become damaged. Everybody has different wants and needs and I do see great variation among the users here. I understand now some users do not understand why others with older and minority FS interests are here in your forum.

Yeah, I should have listened to you all :?/

 

I should not have been playing with FS2002 as FS9 does run on even

all my old laptops, after all. 

 

It was (KB3086255) windows update that was screwing up FS9 and made me think otherwise.

 

So I finally got the clue, removed it, and then moved on to a decent FS !

 

Salute !