Just purchased FS2002!

[angels355]

Hello everyone, and Merry Christmas!

So I do everything out of order! It's that HP calculator I always keep close, with RPN! But I think it's cool to have all of the MS Flight Simulator series from FS98 through FS2004 (FS9), and except for this FS2002 they are all up and running and can be flown simultaneously! (I use the HAL 9000 super computer to run them at the same time plus two licensed Fly!2K's, sure the HAL 9000 was a little temperamental/high-strung and will sometimes lock me out of my bedroom, but I just blow those airlock bolts then float into the CPU compartment and deactivate its' nodes one by one, reset, and I'm back to flying! --Ha ha! Just kidding, 2001 humor!) Just purchased FS2002, I intended to get FS2002 Pro, however FS2002 was in front of me, at a good price, had money in hand, it was an involuntary reflex!!

I freshly installed FS2000 on a faster computer, and it looks absolutely great, with FS2000 with many Johan Dees POSKY 747's, FS2000 is a fabulous program, I love it, and love those night skies in FS2000.

I was wondering, what do you think are the minimum computer specs to run FS2002 well? For FS9 for example, most people run FS9 with much more powerful computers than mine, but somehow my FS9 computer is put together in such a way that it runs FS9 perfectly with 20 fps, don't have any complaints. That computer is a pentium III, 700 mhz, 768 mb's of ram, and a nvidia geforce 256 video card. That computer is great, love it, I have another faster computer on the way with an unopened FS9 to put on it, need more parts.

I recently just got two pentium III's at 500 mhz, and both only have 256 mb's of ram at the immediate moment, and I think they both have ATI Rage Pro 128 (?) video cards. The first one I freshly installed FS2000 on and that runs great. I thought it was a stretch to try to put FS9 on it because 500 mhz is just a bit slow, and I haven't determined the upper limit of the ram for this computer yet. I've thoroughly gone through them to wire them correctly and jumper them the way I want, but haven't found the specs for their upper limits. Some pentium III's will go to 1.4 ghz w/o overclocking, but I don't know if these mobo's are limited, they might have been the first of the pentium III's. And I have to look up whether their ram upper limit is 384, or 768 mb's. With my computers that have 768 mb's of ram I've gotten incredible results despite slow processors, but don't know what the upper limit of these computers are yet, probably can find that at crucial.com . The manual for these is so generic that they also address the pentium II version of this model.

So to make a long story "War and Peace", what do you think is the minimum specs to run FS2002 well? Especially regarding how much ram is required?

And what is your favorite aircraft and scenery files for FS2002?

Thank you in advance!

EDIT: PS:

What do you think of these OS's for FS2002; They will all use Direct X 9.0c . Win 98SE is extremely stable, compact, and fast, but has a limit of 1 gb of ram that it can address. Win ME can have problems, it's more slick, and can address 1.5 gb's of ram. These ram limits are OK on this pentium III because I think that it will not exceed 384 or 768 mb's of ram depending on its' hardware limits. I have Win ME freshly installed on one of these running FS2000 very well, before thoroughly defragging I did an overnight flight and had a dll crash that interrupted the flight. However after thoroughly defragging I have about five hours to go on a 15/16 hour flight and so far everything is running perfectly. What do you think of Win 98SE or ME for FS2002?

I was going to use Win 2000 Pro on one of my installations, however, you can't believe what a dumb thing I did, duh! I saw a piece of gunk on the top surface of my Win 2000 Pro disk so tried to gently scratch it off. I scratched it off all right, along with an entire chunk of the top aluminum data layer! It is inert now, the optical drive doesn't even recognize it as a cd! I have to pay money for the OEM mfr to send me a replacement, however they will only replace it with whatever they will give me, they might not stock that OS any more.

I'm reluctant to use XP because, for an old computer like this, XP is a bit expensive, plus I don't like the headache of the activation process, especially for an old computer.

[Kimber]

To answer one of your questions....


We ran FS'02 on a 990mhz 128ram 64mb video card for a long time!!
At 1024X768 and high settings!!

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/1594/poolfg5.jpg

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/5797/xxbrad8xx111tz8.jpg

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/1675/0000000000000000afloat2ak5.jpg

I have a copy of the original install on an external HD and
run it on the super computer with super results!! We have
replace all the textures with Bill Lyons SilverWIngs textures!!
There are a few bugs, but overall it is great!!

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6568/clipboard01xxxxsl1.jpg

SilverWings textures!! This in one of the bugs??
http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/8296/howfatfh8.jpg

[angels355]

Thanks Kimber,

It was sure nice of you to go to so much trouble. After the thrills from FS9 it seems kind of different to go backwards to FS2002, however, I've flown FS2000 at the same time for a long time, and really like it, especially that now it is on a faster computer, so I just keep that in mind. I like Johan Dees' 747's (and a couple of 767's), plus the beautiful blue night skies, that FS2000 is very significant to me, so I tell myself that FS2002 is also going to be awesome. I can't wait to install it, but I'm still thinking of how I'm going to do that. I have one mobo and chip that I haven't used yet, it's an excellent 600 mhz AMD slot A, that maxes at 512 mb's of ram. It can go up to around 1 ghz or so, I had thought about putting FS9 on that, but that's cutting the margins too close, perhaps I should put FS2002 on that computer build, and perhaps I should put something else on that 500 mhz, if it only maxes at 384 mb's of ram. Haven't determined that yet, have to check out what crucial.com says, if it maxes at 768 mb's of ram that would be a lot better. The 600 mhz AMD is nice, given the same video card and monitor it gives nicer color rendition.

Before I forget, I used your FS9 tip on my FS2000 where you adjust the visibility, then adjust the bottom of the ceiling down near the surface and top to 28,000 feet (table fog post from FS9?), it really made my FS2000 look fantastic. Not sure if I'm describing that clearly, but I'm sure you know what I mean. Makes it look much newer and modern, excellent!

I now have six flight sim installations, and can fly five at a time. When I install FS2002 that will make seven total installed, and six that I can fly at the same time. I guess you could say that this is a hobby I like. I think we flight simmers on this forum are lucky to have a GIRRRRL enthusiast also!

I've been a bit bummed about FSX. I waited for it for a long time, but I was really disappointed that it shuts down when you upgrade hardware, it comes deactivated, deactivates frequently due to hardware upgrades, and if Microsoft should go out of biz or decides to quit supporting FSX with activations in the future, it will shut down permanently. I don't think that's cool after paying $70 for the DLX version. I held a stack of five of them in my hands, and I wanted to get them either all at once or gradually, but I decided to put them back on the shelf and wait and think about it. Obviously upgrading, and reconfiguring my hardware constantly, is something that is always on my mind, I don't want to have to go through MS every single time I upgrade. I want to get it but I'm put off by what a big unfriendly business MS seems to be now.

KDEN is closed due to snow. My airline coach was once based out of Denver, then got back to KSEA. He's retired now. We might persuade him to start doing flight sim, that might be difficult, he only likes the real thing 767/757's and many previous jets. It must be hard to fly out of KDEN with the higher altitude and bad winter weather.

Your Silver Wings textures make the entire world look like it did in the 1920's is that correct? That sounds like an interesting idea, nice. My uncle's farm has been in biz since 1911 and you can walk through his collection of ancient tractors and combines, and Model A (or T can't remember), it's like stepping back in time. I don't know, perhaps I like modern times better maybe, like I was looking forward to flying through the Los Angeles smog in FSX. I guess I'll wait and see on that.

[Kimber]

SilverWings makes it look like the 60s, GoldenWings makes it look like
the 30s!!

I have 4 installs of FS9 with three config's of each install!!

One install of FS'02 and one of CFS2!!

[angels355]

Hi Kimber,

Interesting.

I learned some more about this computer. It does max at 768 mb's of pc133 ram which is very good. Apparently however, the A10 bios revision limits the processor speed to 600 mhz or less, whereas the A07 revision apparently doesn't limit processor speed. I've never flashed the bios, it's supposed to be extremely risky. Maximum PC mag was saying that there's a special piece of equipment to flash the bios with safely, if you get it wrong then you can keep trying until you get it right. The old fashioned do it yourself at home method can leave you with a kaput mobo.

I completed my 15 hour FS2000 flight with Win ME w/ no problems, still watching ME to see if it is stable enough. I've used it for 3 years and have seemed to have a handle on it, but no one else likes it. One person actually had a few Win ME's and ME certs of auth, however ME crashed so many times on him w/ blue screens, that he angrily--out of control--threw all this Win ME's in the garbage! I told him if he has any more he wants to throw away to throw them toward me.

Wow, 4 FS9's! I have one FS9 installed, one unused sealed FS9. Want to get many more. FS9 is a masterpiece.

On this p3 a max capacity of 768 mb's of ram really improves the picture, so to speak. If I made a small sacrifice I think I could install up to 512 of pc133 ram at the immediate moment. This combo might be OK for FS2002 maybe.

[bruno]

>
>Before I forget, I used your FS9 tip on my FS2000 where you
>adjust the visibility, then adjust the bottom of the ceiling
>down near the surface and top to 28,000 feet (table fog post
>from FS9?), it really made my FS2000 look fantastic.

Hey Kimber,
Is this tip useful on FS2002?
I'd like to improve the horizon on FS2002, make it bit more, ermm, blurry, any tips?

[Gimli Glider]

Yes, it is.

Ben
http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/Attachments/up1/101732.jpg

[angels355]

Bruno,

Kimber will have to give you the last word on that, but if it is helpful here is her original tip for FS2004. I didn't modify the FS2000 cfg, haven't gotten that far (and haven't installed FS2002 yet, debating on how I'm going to do the installation), just adjusted the visibility and the top and bottom, that looks much nicer for my FS2000, before it was very stark and unrealistic. Any way, Kimber is the last word on this, and if there is a cfg modification for FS2002 she would know. Here is her original tip (she is really good):

http://www.flightsim.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=6&topic_id=158216&mesg_id=&page=&mode=full

[bruno]

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction, I'll give it a try anyway. :)

[angels355]

Bruno,

You're welcome. If Kimber responds with specifics about modifying the FS2002 cfg then try that out, but in the meantime it won't hurt anything to do a simple modification of the visibility and the top and bottom layers.

I'm looking forward to installing FS2002, but still deciding how I should do it, so my only experience thus far is with FS2000 and FS2004, plus FS98 and Fly!2K.

Good luck, and enjoy your flight!

[bruno]

Hey, that seemed to work a treat! :)

Top tip, Kimber, thanks :)

And thanks to you Farley for pointing out the thread. :)

I've been cruising 'round Alaska in Milton Shupe's D18, and it's looki' good :)

[angels355]

Bruno,

You're welcome, I know exactly how you feel. If you spend real hours on these flight sims, you really appreciate such improvements. Thank you Kimber again! :+

[Kimber]

>>
>>Before I forget, I used your FS9 tip on my FS2000 where you
>>adjust the visibility, then adjust the bottom of the ceiling
>>down near the surface and top to 28,000 feet (table fog post
>>from FS9?), it really made my FS2000 look fantastic.
>
>Hey Kimber,
> Is this tip useful on FS2002?
> I'd like to improve the horizon on FS2002, make it bit more,
>ermm, blurry, any tips?
>

I never saw a need to do anything in FS'02, it looks great
like it is!! This is set at 20 miles!!

http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/1355/clipboard01ct9.jpg

[angels355]

Hi Kimber,

Nice to hear from you. I hope you had a nice New Year's! I celebrated by flying five simultaneous flights around the world in four 747's, and one 777, finished on 1-3-07. I really love this flight sim stuff! On a clear night I can see airliners line up one after another in the pattern for final approach at the local int'l airport. I can really see myself doing that for a living. I hope I have a chance, it seems like a very good career. Of course I leave my options open, but it seems like it would be a very enjoyable career.

I'm tempted to buy another copy of FS2002, they are selling now for only $10 for the standard version, new. I wonder what I'm missing by not having the pro version. I also want a stack of FS9's, they are only $18-19 now.

I tried out the latest edition of the top Saitek joystick, the spring is extremely light, and the stick is very smooth. A bit expensive for my budget however.

I hope you have a really terrific 2007. I realy appreciate your tips and insights.

[angels355]

Kimber!

PS: I forgot to mention. Nice Corsair pic! I'm friends with one of the grandsons of a former Corsair pilot, Pappy Boyngton (RIP).

[Kimber]

The problem is, the pro has some gauges that a lot of the addons
use that are not in the standard version!!

[angels355]

Gaudgez? We don't need no stinking gaudgez!

[bruno]

Hi Kimber,

"I never saw a need to do anything in FS'02, it looks great
like it is!! This is set at 20 miles!!"

Thanks for the input, I was wondering what your visibility/ weather settings are to get the the "haze" on the horizon. I try to get that, but I can't seem to make it happen. :(
I was wondering whether it's to do with the settings on FSUIPC.(I have the free one installed, 2.97, I think) Maybe I need to tinker with that a little :)

[angels355]

Unfortunately for me, I've never actually purposely used the FSUIPC. I just used the advanced weather options. Haven't tried it yet in FS2002 yet however. Still deciding on an OS for that computer.

[napamule2]

Hey Farley,
Just to let you know I read your articles (books? heehee). I'm redoing my hardrives, and got to flying FS2k2, and got stuck. I get 70 fps with sliders maxed. The heck with FS9 and FSX (for awhile).

It's neat to 'go back'. Didn't know I was missing out. Even hanging around 2k2 forum. Imagine that! FSX 'hype' did it for me, anyway. I don't like SW that is rude, and it is (you're right). Just wanted to say Hi. CUL8R.
Chuck B
napamule
(Doing 16 hr flights, eh? I don't know about you, piss ant. Heehee.)

[angels355]

Chuck Chuck Chuck!

FSX hype? You're kidding!?? OK maybe there is a little bit of hype now and then... I've gotten over all of the MS gripes I've had over activation and Vista's Digital Rights Management (DRM) programming. Activation is a pain in the neck, but it appears that a Dudley Dooright guy like me can't avoid it (because I'm honest); then I figured out finally, duh, that the DRM programming in Vista and the DRM hardware that goes along with it, are the price we have to pay to satisfy Hollywood's licensing demands that will allow us users/fans to be able to play Hollywood hi def on our computers. Once I figured that out, duh, then I didn't have a problem with it because you might not know I'm a big time movie goer (or at least videophile as I've been saving my money for important stuff--more hardware!!). I watch regular dvd movies on my pc all the time with Windows, because Windows and Macs for many years have been licensed to play regular dvd's; plain vanilla Linux however I've learned is not licensed, except that I think there are some individual distro's who do have Hollwood licensing.

Now that I think that I've gotten over all my gripes about MS products, now I can relax and enjoy my computing. I've purchased a SECOND unit of FS2K2! And I have two computers which I think will run it OK. Just this second I have finally finished installing Windows on the first one (I purchased more Winders), and have installed all my utilities on it. I have a second computer/pile of parts that is slightly faster and maybe better (+/-) that I can install the 2nd unit of FS2K2 on, but I'm having a hard time debating whether to take out the old grundgey pentium II board out of that box, because it runs pretty darn nice. If I got the hacksaw out and made some small adjustments to an emty 486 case I have plus some other mods perhaps I could put that pentium II into the old 486 box and keep that going, then install a really nice pentium III class 600 mhz AMD into the old pentium II box (it's funny, retro, it sits horizontally on the desk, but may put it on top of two tower computers). That AMD is nice, for the same video card and monitor, it delivers deeper and richer colors. I recently purchased a few more Win 98SE's, so installed one on the previously mentioned 'puter, and I'm thinking I'll do the same on the AMD that needs to be put together, that one only maxes out at 512 mb's of ram which I'll have to max. I have an ATI rage pro 128 I think card for the first 'puter, and just purchased a couple of (bag 'o) video cards with a couple of nVidia Riva 128 AGP cards that I can use one for the AMD. I also have a 1.4 ghz AMD athlon (maxes at 2.2 ghz I think) and gigabyte board that I'd like to use for a second licensed installation of FS9; that one is really nice, maxes at 3 gb's of ram (hee haw!), but need a lot of parts :( . Also, I only have one slave HD marginally big enough for the first installation of FS2K2, so the second installation will have to wait. I'm trying debate which computer to install FS2K2 on. The first one does max at 768 mb's of ram which is awesome because that puts it in FS9 capability, however the bios is strange, the newest bios limits the processor to only 600 mhz (it has a 500 mhz processor now). In order to take that limit off, I heard that I have to get an older bios that allows any pentium III which is up to 1.0 to 1.4 ghz. I guess I'll figure it out. It runs very nicely though.

I'm having a good time, but even though I have two unopened FS2K2's and one (at this time) unopened FS9, I haven't installed any of them yet!!! Their packaging looks very nice!!! Small possibility that I might get another unit of XP Pro for the FS9 installation, I can only cross my fingers and ram sticks for luck.

If I could make more megabucks I could really buy a lot of hardware, there's a huge Cecil B. Demille inspired mega discount computer store not too far away.

Any way, I'm glad to hear that you're flying FS2002. I nearly passed over it completely in favor of FS9. But happened to see them in a store with a good price, and couldn't pass it by. I really like fS2000, so FS2002 must be very good also, and has ATC the packaging says.

Now that I'm over my gripes about the pain in the neck aspects of MS products, I'll probably get FSX DLX, but will probably have to wait for the hardware for it. If I have the chance I'll probably get Vista retail when I can, now that I understand the DRM programming and see where it's coming from, I'm not that upset, and being adventurous I think I'll get it. I think our favorite flightsimmer Kimber should get it also, as long as she's OK with the initial bugs, and that you have to wait for new video drivers from the video mfrs, and that it is sensitive to hardware upgrades but that's OK as long as it is retail Vista which has unlimited activations. I heard a rumor that OEM Vista has unlimited activations now, however that might be totally mistaken, I haven't heard any official word on that subject. The last time I heard the official word was that OEM Vista only has 5 activations, after that you have to buy a new license for Vista. The way I bang on my hardware like the apes in the film "2001: A Space Odyssey", I'd probably use those activations in one day! Any way I think Kimber has a lot to think about w/ regards to her possible upgrade or not to Vista. I wish her luck that she makes the right decision (don't forget, if you use the Vista upgrade version, your XP product key becomes deactivated by MS and is no longe usable).

I have really neglected my flight schedule, I have to get back to flying a bit more. Nice hearing from you Chuck! Have you got any screen shots from your monster computer running FS2002?

[napamule2]

Hey Farley,
You're funny. You know your stuff, and can afford killer rig, but you putter around with 486 and FS98. I understand, though. I gave that up because it's hard to find hardware for those old rigs. They recycle them now, I guess. I bought my last 486 for $5 back in 1980's. There was a Adult school computer repair course offered on Army base, and they had tons of stuff. You would salivate to see their storage room. Then is when I gave it up. One guy had 'worked' there 10 years, and had a disk drive taken apart for us. (He was GOOD! heehee). That and $8 could get me a cup of java. Didn't learn nothing.

I enjoy 2k2. My hobby is to tweak files so as to move 'old' AC's into FS9 and now FSX. Keeps me busy. I have 8 gig (3,000+ folders) in FS9 aircraft folder. Right now I'm into amphibs. Got Stone's Goose ('Private') working in FS9 and soon in FSX. When I log out I will re-install FSX as I redid slave HD.

Activation is not big deal. I even do it online. But, as with Vista, it will work for 30 days without, (so, until it is working good). No need to register same time you do installs of XP -OR- Vista. Not sure about Vista deactivating/disable of XP, UNLESS you choose to do an upgrade, over XP. No bueno. Do a dual boot and save yourself grief. Or put Vista on seperate primary partition. Use my head.

You watch those sharp edges on them 'parts', ok. And DO touch metal (twice!) to discharge all that 'static' you got on you (heehee). CUL8R.
Chuck B
napamule
Oh, no pics right now. But I get 60 fps with slider maxed, and tons of clouds, so it does FEEL good. I have definitely being traumatized by FSX (should I sue?). Let's not disgusted.

[angels355]

"Traumatized1" By FSX? My GWWAHD young man! Don't sue, buy another unit--hee hee haa haa!!

That would be cool to see that storehouse of parts. One of my buddies who gave me this latest pentium II used to work on computers and other electronics for the Navy before he retired, he has talent, can diagnose down to the resistor capacitor etc. I used to be able to do that, but then that portion of my memory was wiped clean by the ravages of chemistry, biochemistry, mathematics, astronomy/physics, and pre-med stuff. Now I'm just a wandering zhombie....mmmm...mmmmmm....mindless...ready for Vista eventually! A game store mgr told me that Vista sales have gone through the roof because there are so many games that maniacs demand that now feature DX10 capability.

As for my new pentium II, MUUUHAHAHA MUUUHAHAHA...I took out the pentium II mobo and installed the 600 mhz pent III class AMD Athlon slot A. (I'm wondering if I could shoehorn in my AMD Athlon Socket A 1.4 ghz processor, I'll have to do some more research and see if the voltages are acceptible, then get a 2.2 ghz processor for the socket A gigabyte board). It runs great, but had to do as much cleaning as possible as that old equipment had tons of dust on it and kinda stunk! Now that 200 watt power supply kinda stinks, I might have to take it apart and clean it from the inside out. It's a lot faster now. Lost a second night in a row of sleep, installing two Winders on two machines. Just this second finished Win 98SE on the 600 mhz 'puter, now have to install my utilities. I have to look to see if there is a new video driver for the nvidia riva 128 zx video card, right now it is stuck on clear 800 x 640 resolution and won't increase, I hope that's not a permanent condition. At least it is clear and functional at that level, on some Win ME installations without a new video driver it will only work in fuzzy mode at the lowest resolution in safe mode (I learned that what's really needed is a careful reinstall of ME, ME is really tricky in how you apply the updates for it, if done wrong it will take out the video driver a few times).

Hopefully I'll get this video card working OK, it says it's a 128 3d so I'm hoping that it will be OK. I also have a Matrox video card from 1998 which appears to have less memory, but is physically larger, and actually has a brighter picture, and I think it is only a 2d, plus it is harder to track down the video driver for it. Those old Matrox video cards were really nice back then, I have two, and they deliver beautiful brilliance on those weak machines, although I think the ones I have are only 2d.

If I get the video card operating ok with a new driver, and it gives me 1024 x, then I think I'll install FS2002 on one of these machines with the only spare slave I have, then try out each 500 mhz pentium III w/ max 768 mb's of ram, or the 600 mhz AMD (w/ potential to go to 1 to 1.4 ghz) with a max 512 mb's of ram, and compare fps etc.

If I get an acceptible flight sim on one of these old computers going, then that's OK by me, my FS2000 installation on the other 500 mhz pentium II w/ 256 mb's of ram (maxes at 768) is really great although I worked so hard on that reinstallation of fs2000 I don't want to look at it for a while!

If one of these is not good enough for a flight sim, then I use it as an internet computer. This computer I'm writing on is only a pentium II w/ 300 mhz and 160 mb's of p66 ram. It works great. The mobo and power supply are immaculately clean that's a significant bonus, the pentium II that I replaced w/ the 600 mhz board/chip is very dirty, and may be forced to take apart the power supply to get rid of the residual stink--eewww!! I have a 250 watt power supply laying around that still seems to work, only problem is that when I plug it in there's a big spark from the socket! Not a good sign!! I'll probably have to throw that one out.

When I make more progress I'll let you know how these FS2002 installations go. Possibly, I could put FS2002 on the 500 mhz 'puter if I keep the bigger slave drive there, then the 600 mhz 'puter has a 6 gb master hd, with 98 SE as skinny as it is, possibly I could fit a purely stock installation of fS2002 on it with only a few vital addon aicraft (posky 747's), then when I get another slave hd for the 600 mhz, I could simply uninstall fs2002 and start from scratch on the new slave hd.

One thing I'm worried about is how well those posky's will do with Win 98SE. There are some aircraft that won't function unless you have XP, even with FS2000. Out of all my addons for FS2000 there are a few that won't work on Win ME. I had thought I might get one or two more Win ME's but that hasn't happened as yet, so in the meantime I came across a few more 98SE's so bought them. 98SE is very nice, stable, reliable, although a little tiring to look at as there's not much eye candy.

I was telling my retired Navy friend how I had gotten a bag 'o video cards for only a few bucks (nvidia 128's and the Matrox), and he said he used to throw those out by the hundreds! I guess that's one nice thing about the military, there's no shortage of hardware!! He said though that while he was in he was trying to talk them into buying the lightweight LCD panel monitors, but they kept buying the big huge crt's like I have a collection of, so he had to constantly lug those up and down steep stairs in all the ships he was on. I guess it's not always hardware heaven in the Navy!

Good luck with your FSX reinstall. It amazes me how excellent your installation is, 60 fps! Wow! I myself, I'd settle for fair fps and worry less about the scenery as I mainly want to learn the planes and flying. But that is not always possible. I used to have FS2000 on a pentium II (333 mhz) and the frame rates were so bad it was miserable, really unacceptible. So while the FSX guys might find it hard to believe, I really sympathize for their situation w/ low frame rates, especailly because their machines were so expensive. So far, my total investment for this 600 mhz machine is, board/chip $0; case, power supply, hd, zip drive, floppy drive $0; 512 mb's of ram $3; video card $2; dialup modem $2. Total investment not including Windows, is 7 LARGE! 7 BIG ONES! 7 Washingtons! 7 smackeroonies/dollaroonies!!

I know what you're thinking, "but that's OK for me...because...I'm a willlld and crraaazy guy!!" (Steve Martin old school)

[angels355]

Hi guys,

Just thought I would let you know, installed FS2002 on my first computer, the 500 mhz w/ 512 mb's of ram. I got OK frame rates, around 10 fps Windowed, around 11 to 15 fps in full screen mode with the Learjet, 8 to 15 fps w/ the 747, I'll have to make some adjustments. Before installing I used a graphics performance program on both 'puters, the 500 did 5-6 fps on the toughest test 10 fps on the easier test, the 600 mhz 'puter with only 256 mb's of ram at this moment (am going to max it to 512 as soon as I can get to it), gave me 10 fps on the toughest test, 14 fps on the easier test (my monster 700 mhz FS9 'puter w/ nvid geoforce 256 and 768 mb's ram gave me really high figures around 60 fps or so). I still have a lot of work to do, have to update the data files for my utilities on the 600 mhz, and right now am installing the MS and Saitek joystick drivers for 98SE. Wow, these sims are a great deal of hard work to put together. But I guess that's a lot of the fun of the whole experience. If it weren't for MS FS's I would not have learned nearly as much about hardware. My sound card isn't working, have to look up the driver for it and see if I can get that going.

Thus far I really like FS2002. I think it may be one of the very most friendly programs MS has ever produced, no 3rd disk required in the optical drive, and no product key, not activation, I'm totally in shock, what the heck happened to that crew??? And where are they now??? I wish they'd come back! I guess my verdict is two thumbs up! FS2002 is awesome!!

I think I have enough room to install my second licensed unit of FS2002 on what remains of the free space on the 6 gb hd on the 600 mhz 'puter, I'll just have to limit my addons to a few POSKY's, until I get a big slave drive for it.

[angels355]

I thought I would make an update on my progress. Good news and bad news, my 500 mhz pentium III is running FS2002 acceptibly, although with 512 mb's of ram I'm getting thin terrain rips. I'm going to add 128 mb's of ram bringing it up to 640 mb's and see how well that works.

Unfortunately the video card on my 600 mhz AMD slot A hasn't worked out as well, although a graphics testing program predicts it should have higher frame rates than the 500 mhz 'puter. The FS2002 graphics just totally overwhelmed the nvidia riva 128 zx video card. I tried a riva 128, and it seemed to have more potential, however the driver I have for it doesn't work at all, so just have to wait for a better video card.

I didn't get all the adjustments done on this, I normally lock the fps at 20 fps, but you'll notice that it was accidently locked at 15 fps. I'm flying over Mt. Rainier on this. Haven't gotten the sound card going yet. Have to check the wiring for the onboard sound card, or might have to reinstall a pci sound card. I was very surprised how well it came out. And FS2002 is I think the friendliest program I've come across from MS! No activation, no product key, no 3rd disk in the optical drive, I really couldn't believe it! As friendly as Fly!2K!

I'm flying in full screen mode here set at a lower resolution like 800 x in order to get better frame rates. At 1024 x , I get 8 to 11 fps, but in lower resolution full screen mode I get very good frame rates.
http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/Attachments/up1/124188.jpg

[angels355]

Well,

It's back to the drawing board. I was flying around today with 640 mb's of ram on the 500 mhz computer, in Windowed mode although I wasn't getting terrific fps, w/ 640 mb's of ram the terrain rips nearly went away, and also there was a big big improvement in how the sim ran. So decided to plug in 768 mb's of ram total plus plugged in the sound card again, then it just wouldn't run. Reduced down to 640 mb's of ram, and it would just get stuck on the splash screen and would become unresponsive. I had also reinstalled the sound card as I couldn't get the onboard sound card working. Perhaps the demand for sound was just too much for it. Can't do without sound! Nothing beats five 747's jet exhuasts all blasting away at the same time.

I uninstalled FS2002, and reinstalled it, same results, no go. Probably the sound card was too much for it.

I flew around a little in Fly!2K on another computer, and after this note I'll fly FS9, just to remind myself that I do have other flight sims that are working. FS2000 should work on both of these 'puters, the 500 and 600 mhz 'puters the way they are, but I've flown FS2000 so much that I'm getting a bit tired of it. I mean, I like it very much, but would like something new. I have to get back to the drawing board, and see what hardware I can get and try again later. Now I'll take a break and fly the Jaguar livery Learjet 45 from FS9 around a little.

[angels355]

Success at last! At least so far. I reinstalled Win 98SE, my first installation was really messed up, even though it had been a fresh install, something or other went wrong. I was intending to keep the second reinstall of FS2002 on my D drive, however, it appears that I accidently fdisked it, and formatted the D drive wiping the drive completely clean. Good thing I back up all the time. So with a second reinstallation of Win 98SE, and the third installation of FS2002, finally I got everything working well. I really couldn't believe it when at last I got everything just right, the second/third installs took me 24 hours.

On the 500 mhz pentium III I have 640 mb's of ram installed, it still has terrain rips, but I'm done with it for now, have to take a break. In Windowed mode (see photo) I get 15 to 18 fps, in full screen mode where I have the resultion set lower, with the fps locked at 20 fps I get a solid easy 20 fps, I'd get more if I increased the fps lock. Right now, I have the graphics set at Minimal, and the aircraft graphics at low, for the time being until I have some time to experiment.

The windows installation on my 600 mhz 'puter is working very well (fresh install also), but that video card simply can't take it when attempting to run FS2002 with 512 mb's of ram. So I'm going to wait on that computer, perhaps by chance I'll come across a couple larger video cards.

I did run into one problem this time around on the 500 mhz FS2002 effort, my FS9 Saitek joystick broke, no more aileron control! My sidewinder and Logitech joysticks didn't want to load up drivers on this computer, so out of four total joysticks, only two are working 100% right now, but the two that are working wouldn't load up on my 98 SE 'puter so far, the only one that would work was my other broken Saitek joystick! With no rudder! No rudder is better than no ailerons, so calibrated that and did some flying around PHNL.

This photo is me departing PHNL in the default FS2002 Lear 45 in Windowed mode. I tried out the default Corsair, without any rudder, forget it, couldn't fly it. Tried out the 737-400. It must be all the hours I have in simulated big iron, I feel totally at home in big jets.

Thanks for everyone's help and comments! It's a miracle I got this submission written, I kept falling totally asleep while writing it. If I mentioned anything rambling about being a 747 Captain for Fedex, never mind that, I might have been typing while asleep and dreaming!

http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/Attachments/up1/124674.jpg

[angels355]

FS2002 has exceeded all of my expectations. I was really worried about whether my favorite aircraft would work in FS2002, with Win 98SE. My favorites are the POSKY's and Meljets. I thought I would have to search through the FS2002 files to find FS2002 versions of POSKY and Meljets, but I just tried out installing my FS2004 POSKY and Meljets, and they have all worked!! The only thing that hasn't worked are the new Learjets, such as the FS9 Learjet 45XR :( . My new POSKY's and Meljets work just fine, I couldn't believe it. I'm getting very liveable framerates, 10 to 20 fps. Thus far I have the graphics set at minimal, and the aircraft set at low, I'll increase these later. My main interest is improving my flight skills, so I don't mind. I'm amazed at how good FS2002 is. I have two now, might buy more. But I especially love FS9, I have two of those also, and want to buy perhaps four more.

Being a frugal shopper, not including the cost of Windows or FS2002, I think I have only spent about $3 on this rig ($8 for the other one that I haven't gotten FS2002 running on yet). I might buy upgrades for the processors and video cards, so might wind up spending a little money. It's not cutting edge, however it is very usable, and looks great compared to FS2000. Plus I can run many of my favorite aircraft in it. I got my MS joystick going on this computer (had to find the driver on the Win 98SE disk--duh!), and I'm sure I'll be able to get the Logitech joystick going on it also with a download from Logitech. I'm discouraged though about my Saitek joysticks, they were kinda nice, but now they're both kinda broken! One has no rudder, I can still fly with that one (learning bad habits in not using the rudder), and the other one, which had been working flawlessly before and was my FS9 joystick, all of a sudden poof! No ailerons! What a bummer!

Check out this screen shot, this is the POSKY 737-800 w/ winglets. The 737 Next Gen POSKY panel worked OK in FS2002, but I think possibly I didn't have enough computer horsepower to run the two main gauges. They show up if I press W, but otherwise I think my video card renders them as a sloppy mess when the full panel is displayed, so just installed the default panel, no big deal.

Happy flying!

http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/Attachments/up1/124905.jpg