Just Think...

[c85airman]

... After the patches are sorted out, MS will be working on Flight Simulator 2004! What could the next version possibly have in store for us? I love FS2002, I especially like the slow flight handling characteristics of the smaller planes, as well as the reflections on the chrome.

One thing I would love to see with FS2004 would be scenery settings that change automatically based on a virtual pilot's position in the sim. What do I mean by this? With all new versions of FS, tradeoffs between overall scenery complexity and framerates simply have to be made, but are ussually not what the user wants them to be all over the FS world. For example: Someone might want the absolute highest display settings in the sparsity of the middle of some desert, but if that same person flies into a more populated area, the framerates will significantly decrease. My idea would allow the computer to change the settings as you fly based on your location (lower quality in dense scenery areas and higher quality in empty areas). Obviously, only the settings would be changed that the user would specify ahead of time, and only to the extents that that user indicates. In this way, a computer's performence could remain somewhat constant when always getting the best "eye candy" his/her PC can muster never falling below a target framerate. Comments?

-Justin

[dil52]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Nov-01-01 AT 08:05AM (EDT)[/font][p]MS spent mega $s on a satellite imaging company this past spring. I wouldn't be surprised if, in the 2004 version, you really will be able to see your own house.:-)
I can't recall the name of the company which they bought or bought into.
:-wave
Fred
PS I can't wait to fly over area 51! :-lol
http://www.flight-sim.net

[fspaan]

Imagine yourself you don't see any pictures and drawings anymore but see real pictures and real buildings. I hope for some day that you can use virtual reality. Putting on a helmet and fly!

Also I hope their will be made some hardware developments for having cockpits with FF in your own house for example.........great!

[munnst]

Isn't that kind of what happens with FS2002.
You set a minimum FPS and FS2002 tries to match it, down-grading where necessary, upgrading when it can?

What I would like to see is proper engine management. If you run your engine at high power settings and stress it your looking for problems. Give a warm engine a rich-cut and hear bangs and puffs as the engine falters.
At the moment you can run your engine to the wall and it's fine.
Also realistic engine start up sounds for piston engines with cold/warm/hot engine sound differences.

[pgt250]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Nov-01-01 AT 11:22AM (EDT)[/font][p]>... After the patches are sorted out, MS will be working on >Flight Simulator 2004! What could the next version possibly
>have in store for us?

Hmm. It's difficult to imagine much more in the way of "features" (like a much more intelligent ATC for example, or even better scenery and texturing than they've got now, more high-density areas like NYC or Chicago etc) without quantum increases in processing power and storage.

As it is, the software package on full-install requires 2-gigs of disk space. With additional scenery, additional WAV files, aircraft etc, it'll just become even more morbidly obese than it already is.

As well, probably the very best video processor out there right now - the GeForce3 - is seemingly near it's limit with this game when everything is maxed. Expecting more on the graphics front will require something more substantial than a '3. Ditto processing power: a 2GHz P4 still doesn't deliver glass-smooth performance under all conditions. More stuff to compute will simply slow one of the fastest PC processors down even more.

Unless there are 4GHz CPU processors and orders-of-magnitude improvements to the GeForce3 line coming down the pipe, what I'd like to see is some sort of multi-processor support. A move away from the requirement for a single gigahertz processor to a couple of hudreds-of-megahertz units would probably give more bang for the buck. Something like this may even allow for more bells & whistles without turning it into a slide show.

[Joe_Alferio]

If MSoft keeps to its regular 2 years between major upgrades, I believe that we can expect a considerable increase in computing power between now and FS2004. CPU speed is just about doubling every 18 months for the last 6 or 7 years, if you look at the history. Ditto graphics processing power.

I think that we can expect great things from FS2004.

I also am looking forward to seeing what becomes of the FS2K2 platform. I'm waiting for someone to crack the ATC and AI code, to give us all access to the best part of FS2K2.

See my post in the FS2002 forum on this topic.

Joe A.

[JarJarBlinks]

You guys have forgotten somthing. FS2k2 is on the same engine as FS98. With 2k4, we will be seeing a new engine, and the possibilities are unthinkable!
--------------------
Steve

"Ladies and Gentelmen, we just discovered an exception to the rule that what goes up must come down, the landing gear"

[c85airman]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Nov-01-01 AT 08:52PM (EDT)[/font][p]Great points everyone!

Munnst, the target framerate slider won't touch any of the other display settings - it just focuses more or less processing power on the static settings the user has set. This helps manage things like loading time for progressively advanced textures with decrease in altitude versus framerates you consider acceptable. Perhaps this could be considered a first step in the right direction, allthough it was also present in Combat Flight Sim 2. I dont want to get ahead of myself though, FS2002 has introduced some amazing new features and it will take me awhile to soak them all in.

P.S. I plan on getting an extra 512Mb of RAM in a few days just to further enhance my FS'02 experience.

-Justin

[b_bonnett]

>You guys have forgotten somthing. FS2k2
>is on the same engine
>as FS98. With 2k4, we
>will be seeing a new
>engine, and the possibilities are
>unthinkable!

I thought FS2K had a new engine?

So far as I have heard, every time FS has come out with a new engine it has sucked! FS2K for instance. Maybe they can change it this time! :-lol

Blair.

[balram]

>... After the patches are sorted
>out, MS will be working
>on Flight Simulator 2004! What
>could the next version possibly
>have in store for us?
>I love FS2002, I especially
>like the slow flight handling
>characteristics of the smaller planes,
>as well as the reflections
>on the chrome.

I expect to see the "chrome" effect any more places in FS2004. Before FS2002, all materials showed the same reflective properties. In FS2002, only planes reflect other things.

Microsoft was obviously experimenting; in future versions, water will reflect, big steel and glass skyscrapers will reflect, other things will behave differently with light. Clouds will cast big shadows, especially fantastic in hilly terrain. You'll see fancier weather effects. Sitting on the on the ground somewhere, you'll see big grey clouds blowing in, bringing rain. Dust storms! The possibilities are endless...

::balram