FS 2004 -- Questions on Terrain/Trees/Clouds

[Al2003]

Hi.

One thing that killed 2002 for me was going to the bahamas and having the terrain and foliage look just like long island.

Please tell me it looks like the bahamas now?

In general, I just hope the terrain + trees that shows up in the game looks like the actual type found in the real world. I was unsatisfied in that regard to FS 2002.

Another question:
I'm reading the reviews on clouds and they seem great! But can we now be on the ground, see a cloud, fly up to it and do circles around it and enter it and exit it? Now that's flying! IMHO

[Al2003]

Well as long as I'm asking things, I have another issue/question:

In fs2002, you could be at a "high" altitude, such as 10-30k or so and look down and see clear skies everywhere. You knew that any people on the ground could look up and see you as a spot in the clear sky.

However, if you descended to some magical cutoff number you found yourself awash in haze (or even rain!), if those ground conditions were different than the conditions at your original altitude.

Does fs2004 do away with this? I would expect that if the ground is hazy, you'd see that haze from far above, even if your weather at your alt is clear.

Even though I've spent way too much money recently and have a radeon 9700 pro with all the bugs that entails, I am muy temptado to rush out and buy this anyway. Please tempt me some more and tell me that this issue, and the ones in my post above, are improved!

Al

[Al2003]

Got my answers:

Bought it last night on the way home.

1. Bahamas still look like long island. Big round decidious trees all over the place.

2. I'm not sure about cloud acrobats. It may be possible. they are not quite exactly what i hoped for, in that when you go through them you do it pretty quickly. At least they don't slide out of your way anymore. There are a lot of cloud options to be explored a bit, so I have much to discover. I am, anyway, completely happy with the clouds and they are massive and beautiful.

3. Best of all. Haze at ground levels is visible from above even if you are higher than the haze. I Didn't really expect this to be the case, but am so happy that it is.


Can't wait to get my joystick 15pin to USB converter...playing with the keyboard only right now! Landing aint easy.


SPECS: P4 2.53 256Ram, ATI Radeon 9700 pro.
FRame rates locked to 20, sliders set to 3/4. Very smooth and fine. Tested in Kansas, Maryland, and Utah so far. Not hard places, but most places aren't.