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| Land on water if you have the right plane | Boeing 737 over the clouds |
I have always had a great interest in FLIGHTSIMULATORS
Flightsimulators are in my opinion the best games you can find for your computer. Flightsimulators have been made by many different softwaremanufacturers and for many different platforms. I have flown a lot of different flightsims both on the PC and on the old, but good AMIGA !
FS 98, FS 2000, FS2002 and now FS2004 from Microsoft are probably the most wellknown simulators, and this page is about them.
FLIGHTSIM 98
FLIGHTSIM 98 from MICROSOFT is not longer the latest of their flightsims. It is a very detailed flightsimulator, where you can choose from a lot of different planes and you can start from anyplace around the globe. It has in a way many of the features of the A320 for Amiga, but it has much more of everything - landscapes, citytextures, buildings, planes, even a helicopter, and it has a lot of settings, so it can be designed to work with different computers, although - it comes to its best on a fast processor, and it needs a lot of memory and power to run smoothly. But then again, it is one of the best flightsimulators and you can find a lot of planes and extras on the internet ! Many simmers still use this version.
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| This beautiful 757 can be used in FS98, FS2000 and FS2002 |
FLIGHTSIM 2000
FLIGHTSIM 2000 is the new simulator fromMICROSOFT I used it since it came out, and the more I use it the more I like it. In the beginning I was disapointed with the framerate, which was low even on my PIII 450 with 128 Mb and Voodoo 3. But since I made some changes to the different graphics settings, it now runs well, not as smooth as FS 98, but enough to make if flyable. The landscape, the clouds, the nightscenery and the planes look very nice and very realistic. There is already a lot of addons for this simulator and you can use most of your old FS98-planes in FS2000 too, which is good, scenary-addons are also on the net, but be careful to use them if your framerate (and computer) is a little slow, much power is needed. Final words: Once you have FS2000 installed, you never go back to FS98 !!!
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| I like flying big planes with many props, like the C-133 |
FLIGHTSIM 2002 and 2004
FLIGHTSIM 2002 and 2004 are the most advanced simulators fromMICROSOFTso far. It has even more realistic scenarys with lots of details, houses, trees and many effects. But the biggest difference from the earlier versions is that it has ATC, Air Traffic Control, you have contact with towers and controlcenters along your route. You start your flight with asking the ground control for permission to taxi, then you get cleared for takeoff, in the air and all the way you have contact with controllers that give you directions. You hear and see other planes and are asked to report them in sight. Planes are taxiing, taking off and landing and flying between different airports. You are no longer alone in the air. It is a very complex and realistic simulator, but of course it needs a powerful computer. I like it very much. However, Microsoft FS2004, has even more sofisticated ATC and more details and is selling now.
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| Boeing 727 on final, RW26, Arlanda | The 727 at Arlanda, BA 777 landed behind me |
More Flightsim Links
