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Microsoft’s Flight Simulator 2000 Professional Edition
by By Ross Thompson—March 2001 Big Blue and Cousins, the Greater Victoria PC Users’ Association http://www.bbc.org - April 17, 2001 at 15:09:24:
My current flight simulator is Microsoft Flight Simulator for Windows 95. This software came on one CD-ROM and included a 93 page Pilot’s Handbook. In comparison, the software for Microsoft’s Flight Simulator 2000 Professional Edition came on three CD-ROM disks accompanied by an impressive 321 page Pilot’s Handbook. As in previous editions of Microsoft Flight Simulator, this one was designed to run on many different personal computers and with many kinds of peripherals. It runs well on my PC:• Multimedia PC with a Celeron 433 MHz (built-in sound card)
• Windows 98 operating system
• 64 MB of RAM
• 10 GB IDE hard disk
• 160 MB permanent hard disk space for swap file
• 32X CD-ROM drive
• Super VGA 32 bit true colour 17 inch monitor
• Compatible pointing device
• Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro joystick
• ATI Expert@Work PCI 8 MB graphic accelerator
• 56kbps modem
• Stereo speakers.
Before You Fly: The handbook recommends visiting the “Manufacturer’s” web sites to download and install the latest drivers if you have a joystick and/or a 3-D graphics accelerator card. For my joystick, I visited Microsoft’s Web site and found an update was available. I downloaded the 6.6 MB file and installed the updated software. I double clicked the Game Controller Software icon in my system tray to explore what was new. This was a significant update, as I discovered that all eight buttons on the joystick were now functional. I visited the ATI Web Site to find my display driver was up-to-date.
I started the installation process where it was recommended that all other application should be closed. During Setup, I was offered three options. Minimum, Typical and Custom: I decided to select the Custom option. The Pilot’s Handbook says that installation may require one or more Flight Simulator discs, depending on the option you choose. A panel presented the options of selecting specific scenery to be installed on my hard disk. Scenery not selected would be available when required for a flight by a prompt to insert Disk 2, which contains all of the scenery files.
I chose to install all scenery, Videos and Aircraft Interiors on my hard disk. I was informed that over one GB of hard disk space was required. I exited the installation and used Partition Magic to move and resize some of my logical drives. This done, I restarted the installation process, using the same selections as before. The install progress was displayed as a percentage in both analogue and digital. Eventually I was prompted to insert Disk 2. The installation took approximately 1 hour.
Although the installation was successful, I was aware that there was an update available at the Microsoft Games web site. I connected to http://www.microsoft.com/games/fs2000, and then clicked on Download Flight Simulator Update. Update 2, Version 2, was available for downloading and could be installed over any previous updates to Flight Simulator 2000. I scrolled down to select Flight Simulator 2000 Professional Edition 2.0b. I downloaded and installed the 9.1 MB file.
I rebooted to let the system complete its configuration. I double clicked the Flight Simulator 2000 icon on the desktop, and instead of a welcome to Flight Simulator screen being displayed, the screen showed that the program was starting some post installation processes involving the scenery files. The Flight Simulator 2000 opening screen was now displayed with the following option buttons:
1 Getting Started: Watch an introductory video produced by King Schools that explains how to get into the air quickly.
2 What’s New: Learn about the new features that make Flight Simulator 2000 “As Real As It Gets.”
3 Flying Lessons: Start with an introductory flight, and then continue with lessons linked to the tutorials in Chapter 7 of the Pilot’s Handbook.
4 Fly Now: The “default flight” is flying the Cessna 182S out of Meigs Field in Chicago.
Before making a selection, I wanted to change the screen resolution. The Flight Simulator instrument panels were optimised for readability in 640 X 480 but 1024 X 768 will provide the best overall graphics quality, so I changed to this setting. I clicked the Fly Now button to try the “default flight”. After a pause for the scenery to be loaded, the screen showed the view from the cockpit of the Cessna 182S on runway 36 at Meigs Field ready for takeoff. The first thing I noticed was the excellent control panel detail on the screen.
I pressed the P key to resume the simulation, and the Period (.) key to release the brakes, and then I smoothly moved the throttle control to full power for takeoff. Once in the air, I viewed the scenery details of the buildings at Meigs Field. I noticed that instead of smooth scenery transitions, it became choppy. This usually means that the monitor frame rate was getting too low. I decided to cut my flight short so that I could review the options presented in the Pilot’s Handbook for improving both quality and performance. I inserted Flight Simulator Disc 1 to restart the Flight Simulator. Since the installation process had been completed, a different Flight Simulator 2000 screen was displayed for the first time.
This screen offered the following option buttons:
1 Start: To launch Flight Simulator
3 View Web Site: Go to Microsoft’s Flight Simulator game site
5 Extras: To see what extras are included on Flight Simulator 2000 Disc 3
7 Uninstall: Uninstall or reinstall Flight Simulator 2000
9 Exit: To exit Flight Simulator 2000.
All the options were self-explanatory except Extras. I clicked Extras. The next screen explained that the following demos are included on Disk 3:
1 Crimson Skies demo video
2 Jeppesen Simchart demo
3 Links 2000 demo
4 Sample videos from Cessna’s “Cleared for Takeoff” private pilot training course.
The option buttons on this screen were: Explore CD; Back; Exit. I clicked Explore CD, and then prompted to insert Disc 3. Explorer automatically opened the Extras Folder on this disc. This folder contains a Crimson.avi file for the Crimson Skies demo video, and four folders: Cessna; Gamedemo; Simcharts; and Sounds.
1 Cessna Folder: contains four sample video demos from Cessna’s “Cleared for Takeoff” private pilots training course
2 Gamedemo Folder: contains six trial versions of Microsoft games: Links 2000, Pandora’s Box, Midtown Madness, Baseball 2000, NBA Inside Drive, NFL Fever 2000
3 Simchart Folder: contains a Setup application and related files to set-up the Jeppesen Simchart demo
4 Sounds Folder: contains aircraft applications and a readme file. The purpose of the aircraft sound applications is for users who have high quality sound systems on their PC. The default installed aircraft sound files are four times smaller.
I closed the Explorer application, then clicked the Back button to return to the Flight Simulator and was prompted to reinsert Disk 1. I clicked Start to start Flight Simulator 2000, then Fly Now to return to the default flight at Meigs Field.
The Pilot’s Handbook suggested many options to achieve maximum quality and performance. These included both hardware and software changes. I changed the setting that was set on the highest level (default) to a middle of the road setting. Another option to improve performance is to change the screen resolution. I changed this from 1024 X 768, back to 640 X 480. The last option I chose to improve performance is Full Screen mode to make Flight Simulator window fill the entire screen (no menu bar or taskbar).
Before proceeding with the default flight at Meigs Field in the Cessna 182S, I decided to change the aircraft slightly to a Cessna 182RG. To do this I pressed the ALT key to get a menu bar since I was in Full Screen mode. Click Aircraft, click Select Aircraft, click the down arrow to right of the aircraft box, click Cessna 183R RG, and click the Green Check Mark. This shows how easy it is to change aircraft. The main difference between the two Cessna aircraft is the RG has a retractable landing gear, the other model doesn’t. This also will give me the opportunity to test Button 7 on my Sidewinder 3D Pro joystick, to raise or lower the landing gear.
Before taking off, I cycled through all the views from the cockpit. First of all, it is a good idea to look around you before starting and during a flight, and by doing this now, the scenery for each view is loaded and eliminates the short pauses during the flight when one of the views is selected. I took off from Meigs Field, then pressed Button 7 on my joystick to raise the landing gear. I pressed SHIFT+Z twice and the frame rate confirmed the smoother scenery transitions over Meigs Field. Before ending this flight, I did a fly-by of the Microsoft Blimp. Since I was reasonably satisfied with quality and performance achieved, I decided to switch to a different airport.
To change airport, click World, and click Go to Airport. On the Select Airport panel, click the down arrow on State, scroll to Washington and click the down arrow on City, scroll to Seattle and click, select Sea-Tac International Airport, click the Green Check Mark. I dropped myself into the open-air cockpit of the Sopwith F.1 Camel by changing aircraft as described earlier.
I took off from runway 13R, and headed for downtown Seattle area for a little sightseeing. The scenery transitions seemed to go fairly smoothly and before ending this flight I buzzed the Seattle Space Needle. Fortunately, this was a virtual flight. If it had been real, the FAA would have grounded me. The foregoing demonstrates the program making a tradeoff between quality and performance. Most PC’s that meet the Systems Requirements for Flight Simulator 2000 will be able to achieve a satisfactory performance level. Experiment by tweaking some of the settings, then see if things look or feel any different.
Flight Simulator can be described as a game, a simulation and a training aid all rolled into one. When I visited the Microsoft Flight Simulator web site, I clicked on a link that stated that the US Navy was going to test the use of Flight Simulator 2000 as a training aid for new pilots. Flight Simulator is a very complex program, with many features, and will provide both novice and veteran flight simulation enthusiasts hundreds of hours of entertainment and education. A complete review of Flight Simulator 2000 features would be impossible.
Here are some highlights of features available in Flight Simulator 2000 Professional Edition:
1 Scenery: Worldwide 3D terrain in 16 bit colour. Over 50 detailed cities. 12 high-resolution cities; New York, Los Angels, San Francisco, Chicago, Paris, London, Boston, Washington D.C., Seattle, Berlin, Rome, Tokyo.
2 Airports: Over 20,000 airports available worldwide.
3 Aircraft: 12 aircraft are available. Each is described in detail in Chapter 8 of the Pilot’s Handbook. The aircraft are: Sopwith F.1 Camel, Schweizer 2-32 (sail plane), Cessna 182S, Cessna 182R RG, Extra 300s, Mooney Bravo, Beech King Air 350, Learjet 45, Boeing 737-400, Boeing 777-300, Concorde, Bell 206B JetRanger III (Helicopter).
4 Navigation: Jeppesen NavData Worldwide Database.
5 Avionics: Global Positioning System (GPS), Graphical Flight Planner, and Real-Time Moving Map.
6 Weather: Real Weather updates downloadable from the Internet.
7 Flight Training: Interactive Lessons by Rod Machado, with tutorials for each lesson in Chapter 7 of the Pilot’s Handbook.
8 Multiplayer Sessions: Join other Flight Simulator pilots on the Internet. Try MSN Gaming Zone (http://zone.msn.com).
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