Hello Everyone, This is my first post and I am already asking for your opions. lol I guess that is the way it always happens. I had fs 98 and then bought fs 2002 (never had fs2000), but I got it a month before fs 2004 was anounced to be released in June of 2003 (or there abouts) So now that I have had fs 2002 for almost 3 years I want a new simulator. I have been waiting for the new fs 2006 (fs10) to come out. I have looked all over this board and from what I have read is that no one knows when it will come out. So my question is, should I sit and wait for who knows how long, or should I buy fs 2004 and hope that I can use it for at least a year or more before the new one comes out? Is there enough things different to make the purchase worth while? I know that it is only $30 but I don't get to buy software that much during the year so I would like to make the right choice this time around, I don't want to go out tomorrow and buy fs2004 and then have them say fs 2006 is coming out in dec. Also I have done quite alot of work myself on AI trafic, can I use the same files in 04 or do I need to start over? and how hard will it be to change the AI planes over to fs 2004? And one last question is do most panels for fs2002 work in 04?Thank you in advance and sorry for all the questions.Glenn

Buy into 2004.Stuff is really now almost all for this version.2005/6 will happen, but no idea when. However, I think backward compatability better from new 2005/6 to 2004, rather than 2002.Regards,

I bought a new computer, top of the line just for FS. AMD 3400 and all the toys. If you get FS9 and want all the bells and whistles from it, get a new computer also. With 2D panel on one monitor and spot on the other, I get 15 FPS. This is with FS enviorment and some tweaks and DF B58. Would be unplayable without all the horsepower. If you have a weaker computer, you won't be able to get the most out of FS9 and all the accesories.JimCYWG

Thanks guys for your replys. The computer I have is a pentoum 4 2.8 ghz, ATI AIW 9600 128 mb, 512 mb ram, and running windows xp with service pack 2. I don't have any problems with fs 2002, the lowest I have the seen is around 12 fps with everything turned on and some high density AI traffic and senery.Is this enough to get the most out of FS9?Thanks againGlenn

Don't worry Glenn.FS9 will run quite happily on your system, as long as you keep your settings down a bit and don't try and run too many demanding programs. My old one had similar specs and I had no problems.And welcome to AVSIM world :) Ian

Hey Ian, Thanks for the reply. I think I am going to head out today and buy fs9. With my luck (the way it happened when I bought fs8) fs10 would probrably be annouced sometime soon. lol That would be good news for the rest of you. Thanks agian for all the helpGlenn

. . .while you're out loose with money in your pocket - stop off at your favourite pc store and get another 1/2 gig of ram. It's cheap nowadays - and - like the man says - you'll need all the horsepower you can get. And - yes - it will be worth it.

Glenn, your computer is more than adequate for FS2004. I have a P4 2.4 GHz machine with 512 MB of RAM and a Radeon 9700TX video card (that's a non-pro version). I have my fps locked at 20, and it rarely dips. I use 6x antialiasing and 4x anisotropic filtering so I get good image quality. I have my scenery quality sliders maxed, but I use a low setting for traffic, which really helps keep the frame rates up. I also use a frame-rate friendly cloud set.The main thing that I've noticed about FS2004 is that it displays autogen much more densely than FS2002. When I adjust the sliders to give FS2004 a similar density to FS2002, I get better frame rates in FS2004 than I did in FS2002. Visually, FS2004 is much better than FS2002, especially once you add in some good freeware water and cloud textures.In otherwords, don't wait, just do it!

One other quick question to ask about AI traffic. Am I right in thinking that there is AI Traffic at small non-tower fields? Or is it still like fs2002 where it has to have a tower and ground control? Also are there more airports that have default traffic at them then before in fs2002?Also I just use around 35% on traffic settings on fs2002 so the lower setting won't bother me a bit.Thanks agian for all the helpGlenn

Hi Glenn,If I could chip in here...one thing that hasn't been mentioned is that you should update FS9/FS2004 to version 9.1 and the best time to do that is immediately following a fresh installation of FS9.http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimul...9.1_english.aspOnce the update has completed, check that FS9 is loading and running correctly. Then make a backup of your Modules folder. You may never need it, but there have been occasions when a default FS9 *.dll files is 'modified' by a third party and this can potentially lead to problems. Having a backup of this folder with all the updated versions of the default dynamic-linked library files (9.1.0.40901) could prove to be a godsend.Cheers!MikeEdited to add my system specs - I'm always forgetting :(P4 2.4GHz (400FSB), 1Gig PC2100 DDR Crucial, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB (Omega 2.6.53 / Catalyst 5.7), SB Audigy (5.12.0001.0443), Hyundai ImageQuest Q17 17" TFT LCD 20ms Monitor (1280x1024x32), Gigabyte GA-8IRXP MoBo, Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 (160GB) + IBM Deskstar 120GXP UDMA100 (40 GB), Ultra-Quiet PSU 400W, Logitech MX1000 Laser Mouse, WinXP Home (SP2), DirectX 9.0c, AGP Aperture = 128MB

Glenn:One last point which no one mentioned. Your AI files that you had in FS2002 are worthless in FS2004. FS2004 uses a totally different AFCAD structure therefore it cannot be converted (at least I've never heard it done yet) over to 2004...essentially you will have to start from scratch.Regards,Mike T.

First, Thanks to everyone who has responded to my questions.I went out yesterday and bought it. Checked it out a little last night, it looks great, and runs great. Wish I had gotten it a year or two ago. But I was waiting for fs10.Mike, thank you for the idea of adding ver. 9.1 right away. I also made a copy of my modules folder, hopefully I will never need it.Mike T., thank you for the reponse about the AI. I was afraid that is what the answer was going to be. I guess I will look around the forums and on other sites to learn the process all over again.Thanks agian to everyone.Glenn