I’ve been wanting to buy a flight sim game for awhile now just because I haven’t really played any. I like to play a genre once or twice before I make up my mind about it.
MS Flight Sim 2002 Pro Ed. seems to be the most detailed and highly regarded program. I’ve been wanting to get it but at $70US it seemed a bit steep. Now CompUSA has a rebate and a price break bringing it down to $30US which is a heck of a lot more reasonable.
So is this sim any good? I’ve got the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feed Back 2 joystick so I am set as far as controls go but having never played a flight sim I am wary of buying this, even with the reduced price. Any of you out there played this? What’s the learning curve? Is it as simple as installing it and starting up and playing while being able to learn more advanced controls as I go on or will I have to read a one inch thick manual even before I can install it? Any reviews are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
FS2002 is a great simulation with, I think, enough of an upgrade in graphics and features to justify the jump even from FS2000.
I would say the learning curve is not too steep. If you have played flight sim based games before, you should be able to simply hop in the aircraft and go. The program has several different aircraft to fly, from a C182 to the 747, so you can choose the difficulty level you want to start with. Flight lessons (complete with MS Certificates of Completion) are packaged with the program but I didn’t use them so can’t comment on their ease of use or understandability.
MS has added some nice features to the program, including interactive air traffic control, which is fairly simple to use. You can also download real-time weather and fly in the same conditions you see outside your window. These features add another level of realism to your flight.
FS2002’s other advantage is the expansion market. Several designers and programmers offer aircraft, scenery, and other add-ons for the program. flightsim.com is a great resource that offers an index of shareware to expand your fleet. Everything from the Wright Flyer to the SR-71.
Only drawbacks:
Have a monster processor on hand. I have a Celeron 466, within the recommended range of the program, but it can just barely handle everything as long as I keep the graphics turned down. My next upgrade will be to the fastest Pentium 4 chip I can find.
For some reason, MS flight programs (spec FS2002 and Crimson Skies) don’t like my graphics card (Hercules Prophet). Don’t know if it is linked to the processor speed or what but even with the most current drivers I get hangs anytime I have the accelerated graphics functions on. Don’t know what the problem is. FS2002 has been pretty consistent in hanging up about 30 minutes into a flight, usually when ATC tries to issue a command.
MS still hasn’t splurged and added the standard arrival and departure routes to the ATC AI and flight planner. I still have to manually look these up and alter the routes accordingly.
Despite the drawbacks, I still have fun in the virtual flying world. I’ll often plan long flights for a workday so I can depart in the morning and leave the flight running on autopilot and locked to the GPS course all day. If I time it right, it is time for the approach procedures and landing just after I get home from work.
If you can pick the program up for less then $50 I’d say go for it.