Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight
Flight Simulator 2004: A Century Of Flight celebrates the world-altering invention of powered flight -- by taking you on a tour of great aircraft from the past and present! Complete set of historical and modern-day aircraft to fly, from the Wright Brothers' Flyer I to the Boeing 747-700
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 )
Logitech Attack 3 Joystick
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight: Official Strategies & Secrets
Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe DVD
Saitek X52 Flight Control System
Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 3: Battle for Europe
Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 2: Pacific Theater
Microsoft Flight Simulator X For Pilots Real World Training
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight Reviews
It is fun to play with, though quite basic compared to what is available nowadays. It does not require too much of system resources and provides hours of entertainment and some flight learning. I had bought this as an upgrade to an earlier version.
Microsoft has done a wonderful job with the scenery and many other functions while flying the airplane. It allows the use of keyboard flying, if you really want a challenge, or accessory flying with a joy stick or any of the many products on the market today. I find it to be a wonderful opportunity to take some time flying and get away from the every day office routine. The flight simulator is a flexible product. It is expandable by adding new aircraft.
Above all let me stress in this review: YOU NEED THE YOKE. If you can't afford a yoke the joystick is second best but the keyboard SUCKS. PS. So it's okay to use the keyboard for your first few flights but be sure to invest in a Flight Simulator yoke (or joystick) if you haven't already. You are not offering it anymore. Amazon: Where did the game go. :( only 3rd party sellers now. This is NOT a *game*- but an exciting virtual reality flight.
Great real-time simulation. ITS STILL IN DEMAND I learned that. It does include ATC but NOT the major civilian airlines like I was hoping (American, Delta, United, etc).
Most noticeable is an increase in the graphics quality of terrain and clouds/weather. So, there's a big difference in performance. My son Henry and I enjoy flight simulating together.
The realism of 2004 is certainly acceptable, and is closer to "X" than to 2002. It's almost as good as "X", and you won't be frustrated with lower frame rates. Of course, if you've got a fancy new GPU from Nvidia, go for "X"; it's really great. By comparison, "X" on the same machine, with quality set mostly "Low", barely can get 10 fps.
For us, that's a requirement for good control; lower than that and we both get frustrated. Our last version was 2002, and the 2004 version is far superior. More importantly, it runs acceptably (even nicely) on lower horsepower machines.I have it on a Sony laptop (1280x768, ~500MHz Pentium M, 512k RAM, XP SP2) with most sliders set to "high quality" (including bilinear anti-aliasing), and we get a pretty reliable 17-18 frames per second (fps). In short, if you've got a machine of limited resources (especially the 3D graphics chip), stick with 2004.
The graphics in FS2004 are vastly superior to those in my older, FS2000. Very nice, and customizable. Yet, they don't overwhelm my 2-year old WindowsXP machine, as FSX is rumored to do.
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