Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight
FLIGHT SIM 2004 CENT/FIT WIN32 EN DVD BOX CD
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight Accessories
 Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Joystick (963290-0403)
CH Products Flight Sim Yoke USB ( 200-615 )
CH Products Pro Pedals USB Flight Simulator Pedals ( 300-111 )
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight
Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe DVD
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight: Official Strategies & Secrets
Saitek Pro Flight Yoke with Three-Lever Throttle (PZ44)
Microsoft Flight Simulator X For Pilots Real World Training
Logitech Attack 3 Joystick
Saitek Pro Flight Rudder Pedals
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight Reviews
I found the product to be very skillfuly rendered and fairly easy to play however I found the add-on, "Dogfight" very difficult to set up.as a matter of fact I have yet to be able to get it up and running.
I SUGGEST GETTING A JOYSTICK WHICH THEY HAVE PLENTY OF AT BEST BUY. THEN I STARTED TO BE DISSAPOINTED WITH THE LIMITS OF JET LINERS AND THE FACT THAT THERE ARE NO REAL AIRLINES. I STARTED OUT ON THE RUNWAY BUT I COULDEN'T MOVE FROM THERE. ANYWAY, THIS GAME IS AWESOME.
SO I WENT TO GETING STARTED AND THE TOP OPTION WITH THE ASSISTED FLIGHT. SO I GOT AN ADD ON FROM GLIDE-SLOPE. BUY IT. I WORKED MY WAY UP FROM A CESSNA TO A BOEING.
WHEN I FIRST GOT THIS GAME I WENT STRAIT TO CREATE A FLIGHT AND FLEW A 747 AT NIGHT. THERE ARE A SERIES OF VIDEOS THAT TEACH YOU TO FLY AND A BEGINER'S FLIGHT TO GET YOU STARTED. I LOVE THIS GAME.
While it's still not quite the wonder sim I thought it would be, FS2004 is a dependable performer. While I was quite happy with 2002, 2004 adds more integrated Air Traffic Control, more realistic looking GPS and pre-flight navigation. THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS FREE IN-FLIGHT LUNCH: All that performance comes at a price, and despite a systems requirement for a CPU in the conservative 450mhz range, I experienced only better than marginal performance on a PC with 6 times that horsepower. The likely critical factor is a video card - my Dell system lacks an AGP or PCI-e bus, so I've been slow to get past Intel's ridiculously underpowered and misnamed Extreme graphics chipset. Being no stranger to Flight Simulator, I found it was slightly trickier to install add-on aircraft to FS2004 than on the older incarnations of the game - installing some aircraft had the result of missing working gauges; some planes wouldn't install at all. After swearing that I'd stick with "Flight Simulator 2002" and forego upgrading it with FS2004, I had a second opportunity to fly this ship. In two ways, the new game outshines the ancestors: first is its weather generator - with the most believable clouds of the series - atmospheric effects are much more fluid than on previous incarnations; secondly, the game's engine more appropriately models both the physical and aerodynamic aspects of each plane - rather than just flight performance, we have a better feel for each plane's dimensions, weight and mechanisms, with obvious improvements in the modeling of control surfaces, retracting landing gear, doors and vapor trails. NOTAM: If you've got a better than decent graphics card (a Radeon 9XXX or GeForce FX) and missed the last few editions of MSFS, then FS2004 is great fodder for your inner armchair aviator; If you've spent less on your system's graphics card than on getting every copy of MSFS made since the days of "Flight Simulator for Windows `95", then maybe you should stick with FS2002.
(A great example is the Piper Cub, in which the control cables are a visible part of the flight panel and respond to aileron inputs, but I digress.).
The physics of hovering aircraft like Harriers or helicopters seems little changed from the days when people were able to add those planes in FS4 (late 80's early 1990's). I still get great looking weather, but AI traffic is painfully sparse.
NO WILDLIFE WAS ABUSED IN THE REVIEW OF THIS PRODUCT EXCEPT: My PC, a Dell Pentium 4 (3.2 Ghz) with 512mb RAM, and no graphics acceleration (yet). Water effects seemed better in FS2002, with dynamic waves and such of that game missing here.
Performance on comparable notebook computers will likely suffer even more. You get more aircraft with this game than older versions - but then again, older versions were always able to accept 3rd party aircraft.
Frame-rate is smooth, but that's with the options turned down. Scenery is improved over 2002 - living in the NYC area, I had fun sim-flying along Long Island's south shore.
The MSFS folks need to get a clue. This is the only piece of software I've seen that requires loading a specific CD *each* time you run the program. Program CDs are normally kept in a safe place to avoid being damaged as well as the more serious problem of cluttering up my computer station. That is a serious defect-all the worse because it is clearly done with malice aforethought. I may well send this product back for a refund.
I truly enjoy what Microsoft has done with their Flight Simulator series. With weather settings you can easily bring visibility down to 0 until 10 feet off the runway. Although nothing can replace the experience you get in a real aircraft, flying on MSFS can certainly help you with familiarizing with various approaches. Rivers are in the right place, and most highways are running the right way as well. In my mind that is impressive for software that costs under $50.
I prefer the true to life clouds as opposed to just a white or gray screen that some professional simulators use. I also have been able to download many of the aircraft I have flown as a pilot. Although they do handle differently on a simulator (as should be expected) I still enjoy the detail that has been put into each and every one of them to make me feel as if I am right in the cockpit, without paying the fuel prices. I am a private pilot and granted no simulator (under a million dollars) will truly simulate flying, Microsoft at least gives good practice on various skills on REAL WORLD airports. The scenery is close enough that I can manage to use pilotage and dead reckoning to find places and airports without the use of a map or GPS. The variety of aircraft is impressive, from GA aircraft all the way up to Airliners and everything in-between, whatever your pleasure is, you can be quite sure that you'll find it.
I am impressed on the details at even the smallest airports, generally speaking, even the hangars are in close proximity to where they truly are.
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