Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004

It’s time to take to the skies again, now that Microsoft has released its latest generation of the granddaddy of all flight simulators - Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight. The game is now offering historical aircraft to the mix of Cessnas and other modern age machinery.

The Flight Simulator series from Microsoft must be one of the oldest running series of computer games and it feels as if it is as old as the home PC itself. Not only has the series been running for twenty years, but the game is now celebrating another anniversary: one hundred years of flying. This time you get to try out the Wright brothers’ airplane, which doesn’t really fly as much as hop, skip and jump, as well as fly anything from that to the newest Boeing 777.

The real stars

While there’s no doubt that Microsoft has polished its flagship game a lot the real stars of this game are the classic airplanes. Those planes were part of shaping human history and still offer the right mix between aesthetics and plain old nostalgia.

1903 Wright Flyer

Wright Flyer makes a bumpy flight

The first aircraft ever made, the 1903 Wright Flyer marks the birth of aviation - although the Wright brothers’ kite-like airplane does little more than jump a few centimeters above the ground.

Built with wood and cloth and equipped with a very weak engine, you shouldn’t even dream of flying transatlantic in this one. The operational height for this technological wonder is nine meters and the max speed is about 56 Km/h. The record flight distance is 37 meters in 12 seconds.

Curtiss JN–4D

The Curtiss JN–4D trainer

The JN-4D was developed by Glen Curtiss in the dawn of aviation, because he had witnessed far too many fatalities among young aviator trainees. The plane came to life during the First World War and the RAF were among the recipients of this aircraft. Even though it was far too slow and unstable to be used as a combat plane it was an excellent platform for students to pick up the skills of flying. This would come into good use when they had to fight a war where their chances of survival were very, very slim.

When you first ignite the Curtiss JN-4D, nicknamed “Jenny”, there are a lot of things for you to check before take off. Cables, struts, flaps and what have you must be fully checked when this aircraft trainer takes off with two persons and a maximum speed of 121 km/h.

de Havilland DH–88

de Havilland DH–88

Also known as The Comet, this is an airplane born for racing. Built in 1934 with the purpose of participating in the McRobertson Race from England to Australia, which it did with astonishing success. Taking both first and fourth place the plane showed no signs of being hurried through development and production, despite being created in only nine months.

The aeroplane does have its shortcomings since it’s almost impossible to see anything over the long nose of the aircraft, which makes it very difficult during takeoff and landing. These features behave differently in mid-air where the aircraft is very manoeuvrable and fast. Only five planes where built and two of them still fly to this day. In flight its top speed is 382 km/h but regular cruising speed is slightly slower at 302 km/h.

Douglas DC–3

Douglas DC–3

The DC-3 was built in 1935 and is one of the most stable and economical aircraft in the history of aviation. Even though it’s operational speed of 298 km/h isn’t that impressive George Dwight Eisenhower still praised the aircraft for being one of the key factors in the Allies’ victory in the Second World War.

It played a major part in defining modern commercial aviation, since ticket pricing could be kept on a reasonable level for the average customer. It can hold twenty-eight passengers and the DC-3 is still in operation in some parts of the world.

Ford 4–AT–E Tri-Motor

Ford 4–AT–E Tri-Motor

If you thought that Ford only did cars, you thought wrong. The Ford 4–AT–E Tri-Motor was build by Henry Ford, who saw great potential in civil aviation. Because of that he went out and bought the Stout Metal Plane Company in 1925, and in doing so acquired the rights to the company’s triple engine design. Ford build 198 aircraft of this type and even though they hold a key role in aviation they where rather quickly replaced by more modern equipment.

The Ford 4–AT–E Tri-Motor flies at 177km/h during normal operation, it is easy to fly and you can take your twelve passengers to an altitude of 4420 meters.

Vega Model 5B og 5C

Model 5B Vega

The Vega planes of Flight Simulator 2004 have carried many celebrities, but the model 5b has been flown by the most famous woman of aviation history. Amelia Earhart flew a Vega 5B across the Atlantic in 1932 and after that she took the trip back across the US.

The Vega was an exceptionally fast plane for its time and the elegant design enabled the aircraft to muster a top speed of 338 km/h. It’s a large one engine aircraft but in spite of that it is very responsive to input from the controls. The only thing you have to worry about on your transatlantic journey is the massive 2460 litres of fuel it carries, which makes it very difficult to get into the air.

Piper J–3C–65

Piper J–3C–65

The Piper was introduced in 1938 and is very popular among its fans. This is a training aircraft and it is estimated that 75 percent of all American pilots get their education in this plane.

The prices on this yellow beauty have gone through the roof because of its fun flight characteristics. So even though it crawls at a top speed of 137 km/h you can be sure a lot of people would like to go for a ride.

Ryan NYP - Spirit of St Louis

Spirit of St Louis

The Spirit of St Louis and Charles Lindberg must be some of the most important names in aviation. Now the plane hangs at The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, where many millions of guests have the chance to study this amazing piece of machinery.

The aircraft is a monster to manoeuvre and you have to watch all the axis of the airplane. The ailerons are heavy and to take off with the tank filled you need nerves of steel. And then there’s the little matter of the missing front window, which makes it kind of hard to concentrate on what’s ahead of you.

Vickers F.B.27A Vimy

Vickers F.B.27A Vimy

The Vimy feels like a gigantic aircraft to fly and you will notice that your control input takes time to be carried out by the aircraft. This means you have to plan ahead if you want to turn, dive or climb. The operative word here is patience, since the plane is as slow as it is big with its cruising speed of only 98 km/h.

Even though it doesn’t quite share the same celebrity status as some of the other classic aircraft it still accounts for some remarkable accomplishments. In 1920 Colonel Pierre Van Ryneveld and Captain Christopher Quinton Brand flew from South Africa to England, which was no small feat in those days. With open cockpits and exposed to wind and weather I’m pretty sure it was a cold experience at times.

Learning to fly

All these classic aircraft are all well and good, but how do they fly and how do they feel when they do it, you might ask. Well, before you take to the virtual skies, it might be a good idea to brush up on your flying skills. So you reach inside the box to search for the manual and find out there’s none there. You just paid something like £45 for this game and Microsoft don’t even think you need a decent printed manual. Instead you’re treated to a leaflet and if you want to read the manual you can print out the .PDF file yourself. This is a trend not exclusively followed by Microsoft but by most game publishers and is in my view part of devaluating the gaming experience when playing serious simulations and complicated games.

Instead of a manual Microsoft has created a learning center, which can be accessed from within the game. These HTML documents contain all there is to know about the simulation. From the very basics of flying to the finer points of navigation everything is laid out for you to read here. This documentation has been present in some form in previous versions of Flight Simulator, but is much better executed this time around. In the long run these pages might be better than the printed manual, but for me there’s great enjoyment in catching up on my knowledge of a given game as bedtime reading.

Sights from the sky

Flight simulations have always struggled with the dilemma of delivering satisfying landscapes without frying the frame rate. Microsoft Flight Simulator in particular has often seemed like the personification of that very problem. On the one hand it doesn’t have to worry about complicated calculations for the AI, but on the other you’re dealing with a game that depicts the whole planet. This has always revealed the compromises between detailed textures and large areas in need of rendering. The previous version of the game introduced a feature called Autogen. This feature auto generates elements like buildings and trees and this new game does this very well and credibly. This creates an environment that’s aesthetically pleasant to the eye when flowing at low altitudes in the older and slower airplanes.

2d vs 3d cockpit

To really appreciate what this game does so beautifully you need to take it to the higher altitudes, where the graphics engine really shines. The clouds are so perfectly fluffy and look like candyfloss in the sky and on the horizon mountains show their sugary white peaks. This is pure eye candy.

In Flight Simulator 2002 these images came at a very steep price, but it seems Microsoft have optimized their graphics code because now it flows quite acceptably on maximum settings on my modest mid-range gaming rig. Well done.

The cockpits also look superb with an abundance of buttons, dials and levers, which will keep you occupied for years to come. The cockpits are primarily done in 2D because of the high density of important information they give you during flight, but you do have the option of a 3D cockpit. This only gives you the very basic view of the flight instruments though and is probably not quite on par with what you would like in a 3D cockpit.

Boing 747 taking off from Kennedy International

Coming in for the landing

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight is the reigning champion among civilian flight simulations. Not necessarily because it’s the simulator that offers the most advanced flight model. X-Plane offers probably the finest physics but it seriously requires you to have the real flight manual from the actual plane you’re about to fly. That doesn’t make it very accessible for the less dedicated flight simulation enthusiasts. But you do have to be an enthusiast to pick up this newest version of Flight Simulator. I know it ships with cheap aviator sunglasses to up the cool factor of the game and justify the steep asking price, but if you’re not into flying for hours at a time, from one airport to another, this is not for you.

DC3 ready for taxi

I really miss the missile launch button when flying around in my Cessna, but I am afraid that says more about me than the game. Flight Simulator is a very thorough game, which features realistic downloadable weather, real airports, new and classical aircraft and beautiful scenery from all over the world. And don’t get me started on the possibilities of enhancing, upgrading and adding to the flying experience through the endless amount of both commercial and free add-ons for the Flight Simulator series.

If you have tried the earlier games in the series, have a thing for aircrafts or just want to try one of the oldest running game series you should try Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight since it’s the best civilian flight simulation you can get. But it demands patience and dedication to yield its full potential.