Sim of Choice

Forum dedicated to Microsoft FS2004 - "A Century of Flight".

Sim of Choice

Postby akoyeh » Thu Oct 18, 2018 4:04 pm

Having flown FSX for years it was overall a fine experience after finally getting it to run smoothly. Now it's back to FS2004 ACOF for my flight simulator, shelving FSX for now. Am especially grateful to Simviation for helping me gain needed files to allow FS9 to operate in W10, to help dress out the scenery, and catching up with some planes that were long lost friends. Thank you. The faster downloads of mesh files alone makes my premium membership here more than worth it, it helps to round out my several buffer meshes.

Have got a half-way decent modern computer, not a top-shelf one but it's no slouch either. It's running FS2004 @ 60 frames per second all sliders right except for ground shadows and traffic @ 60%, then throttling things back with half V-sync rate on the nVidia card and my 60 hz monitor for a buttery-smooth 30 frames/second. Never stutters, never crashes, looks acceptably good once configured well, and it performs all I personally want in a flight sim. Most of the files are freeware, only payware for some terrain (systematic buffer meshes and textures) and environment enhancements.

Truthfully, I'd likely be continuing to fly FSX were it not for 2 of my 3 favorite payware planes no longer being available, a hard row to hoe for me. Liked to broke my heart. Hence, FS2004 has soothed sorrows over having spent a small fortune literally on FSX over the years. Have also tried out several other of the more recent flight sims, and if ever to jump in to one then it would no doubt be X-Plane. Their ATC still leaves a lot to be desired but graphically and flight dynamics-wise it's a really good, enjoyable flight simulator. A bit more affordable as well, so far as can be seen thus far.

Ahhh... feels good to have written all of that. Let's see how it goes here now.
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Re: Sim of Choice

Postby pete » Thu Oct 18, 2018 4:51 pm

What a nice story!

& a classic example of why people love FS2004 8-)
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. – Leonardo da Vinci
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Re: Sim of Choice

Postby hertzie » Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:25 am

Don't forget Howards Natural World! Makes the sim even more enjoyable!

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Re: Sim of Choice

Postby garymbuska » Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:12 pm

Good for you I also still use FS2004 and love it. The last payware aircraft I bought works with both FSX and FS2004
I plan to continue using FS2004 as log as it will run on windows 10
But sadly the day will come that it will not run anymore that is one day I am not looking forward to :pray:
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Re: Sim of Choice

Postby akoyeh » Fri Oct 19, 2018 3:46 pm

pete wrote:What a nice story!

& a classic example of why people love FS2004 8-)


Indeed. Thanks for the response Pete. Good to be here now. Apology for it having taken me over 16 years of online participation to do so.


hertzie wrote:Don't forget Howards Natural World! Makes the sim even more enjoyable!


Thank you, hertzie. Howard's "The Natural World" is all new to me, surprised I've not as of yet had the pleasure. After spending just half a dozen minutes at the website am greatly impressed with what is being seen, natural Earth as is is a strong interest of mine. That was 2 "is"s. Will get to 3 "is"s directly in the Screenshot Forum. Have a hunch that my payware that's presently amping up my FS2004 may soon be going bye-bye. Greatly appreciated, your making me aware of this. No worries, I won't forget (what has been seen cannot be unseen).


garymbuska wrote:Good for you I also still use FS2004 and love it. The last payware aircraft I bought works with both FSX and FS2004
I plan to continue using FS2004 as log as it will run on windows 10
But sadly the day will come that it will not run anymore that is one day I am not looking forward to :pray:


Thanks to you as well, Gary. Have similarly been pondering the same FS2004/W10 thinking as you for some time now. My solution is not the easiest, though easy things present no challenges. My FS rig is kept offline, transferring secure files via thumbdrive. Have previously been unsuccessful in keeping W10 from updating no matter what is configured. Hence- it's totally offline after repeatedly removing every bles-sed update that kept appearing and subsequently breaking the sim again. One update remains un-removable, unable to delete. Same with their browser "Edge". It makes me edgy, steadily refusing deletion, turning it completely off, and more. Frustrating, though only when I allow it to be. Had decided "No more" some time ago. If FS2004 is to survive for a decent period of time on my system then it appears to be no choice, as Microsoft seems to think they know better. As an ACOF flyer I'm disputing that premise.


And, as I suspect some here have already deduced, am not big on secrets nor crawling around spying from a dark place. "There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. Nothing whispered in closets that won't be shouted from the rooftops." Was known as "boxcar" elsewhere. boxcar is no more... and this is all I have to say about it.
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Re: Sim of Choice

Postby akoyeh » Fri Oct 19, 2018 8:05 pm

akoyeh wrote:Thank you, hertzie. Howard's "The Natural World" is all new to me, surprised I've not as of yet had the pleasure. After spending just half a dozen minutes at the website am greatly impressed with what is being seen, natural Earth as is is a strong interest of mine. ... Greatly appreciated, your making me aware of this.


Apparently it's too late to edit my response above. After having spent an hour at "The Natural World" website I'm far from jumping right on in. A lot of the given fs9.cfg settings are making little or no sense to me, and I've tried dozens and dozens and dozens of different settings over the years. Have been sticking with what is working and working well for quite a while now and will share all of this with you in the near future. My sim is already displaying out into the distance acceptably well in my estimation and my present textures and more I can live with, though there are many at TNW I like, especially the "arid" textures. Will likely tinker around a bit with some of the settings listed at TNW website just for kicks and giggles though I'll be amazed if anything improves graphically in my displaying. Am no less appreciating your suggestion though, hertzie, thanks again.
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Re: Sim of Choice

Postby Hoorf » Tue Dec 04, 2018 11:38 pm

"Attention all players of the Solar Federation: We will assume control. We will assume control. We will assume control..." 8-)
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Re: Sim of Choice

Postby akoyeh » Wed Dec 05, 2018 8:53 am

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Image

"Captain, sensors are picking up a disturbance. Confidence is high that its source is Borg."


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Re: Sim of Choice

Postby garymbuska » Wed Dec 05, 2018 9:25 am

Like yourself I dread every time I get an update for windows 10 but turning off updates is not wise it could lead to major and or serious problems down the road. Unless you know exactly what a particular update is for i strongly suggest you install it.
But who knows I have a train simulator that is older than FS9 and it will still run but I uninstalled it some time ago as it was just to old compared to the train simulators I now have
The biggest problem is the fact that both FS9 and FSX are 32 bit programs and we are running them on a 64 bit windows platform.
Every single 32 bit program will install on your C drive inside the Program Files (86) folder by default which is a protected folder by Windows 10
Unless your operating system is installed on a different drive like B. And yes I know you can turn down the User control to prevent this but I still think that will create a problem down the line sooner or later
as I reasonably certain Microsoft had a good reason to do this.
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Re: Sim of Choice

Postby akoyeh » Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:31 am

garymbuska wrote:Like yourself I dread every time I get an update for windows 10 but turning off updates is not wise it could lead to major and or serious problems down the road. Unless you know exactly what a particular update is for i strongly suggest you install it. ... The biggest problem is the fact that both FS9 and FSX are 32 bit programs and we are running them on a 64 bit windows platform.
Every single 32 bit program will install on your C drive inside the Program Files (86) folder by default which is a protected folder by Windows 10
Unless your operating system is installed on a different drive like B. And yes I know you can turn down the User control to prevent this but I still think that will create a problem down the line sooner or later as I reasonably certain Microsoft had a good reason to do this.


My OS is on one drive and FS9 on another. And, as said back on October 19:

akoyeh wrote:... My FS rig is kept offline, transferring secure files via thumbdrive [i.e.- files that are thoroughly checked to be clean before transfering them to my PC]. ...it's totally offline [and will remain so] ... If FS2004 is to survive for a decent period of time on my system then it appears to be no choice, as Microsoft seem to think they know better. ...
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...and as you aptly shared, Gary, Microsoft have good reasons... though my flight rig is safe by keeping it offline. Have thought it through for months before committing so, it's worth it to me. In the meantime, my ACOF is running beautifully and should stay that way under my discipline engaged. My laptop suffices for all else that is needed here.

So thank you for your expressed concerns, Gary, much appreciated, respected, and received in the light intended, thanks.

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