After watching this program i am a little disappointed in FS2002

[sanh]

I was watching a program called FlightDeck the other evening on the Discovery Channel. This program shows what happens in the cockpit for a typical flight in a particular type of aircraft. The other night it was the turn of the Boeing 737-400. I was particularly interested in this program as it allowed me to compare the real cockpit with the simulated version in FS2002.

I had always thought the cockpits in FS2002 were the same as real cockpits (with reason - obviously not all instruments etc. can be included in FS2002).

Here are some of the things i noticed that were different that really disappointed me.

1. When the pilot started up the engines, you could see the engine % going up on the gauge. It showed the value as i.e 3.4,3.5,3.6,3.7 as the engine starts and speeds up but the 737-400 in FS2002 only shows a single value, not the decimal part i.e. 1,2,3,4,5. It does not show the decimal. After several versions of FS i would have thought they could have made the gauges look the same, is it that difficult? Cockpits dont seem to be improving with each version of FS.

2. As the figures (see 1. above) go up they go to at least 9 or 10% before they go higher more quickly as the engine fully starts. But in FS2002 the figure is 1 or 2 and then it shoots up to around 90% before going back down. Please, how difficult is it to have the engines start up realistically, it will always be pretty much the same. I mean come on, we are not talking about how a plane reacts in a stall with full left rudder etc. which requires complex physics.

3. I read in the docs in FS2002 help that a 737-400 can keep pretty much going during taxi with the throttles at idle. Bull****, in FS2002 putting the throttles at idle will cause the plane to stop quite quickly.

I am not one to moan. I can understand how difficult it is to make a program like this but i dont think it would have been too time consuming or difficult to have done the above properly.

Come on Microsoft, after 8 or 9 versions of your program i would have thought you could have a plane at least act like a plane.

[FlytheSpitfire]

Would you be so kind as to tell me when this program is on during the week? I'd love to see it. Thanks

[Simon Evans]

DF737

PIC767


Simon Evans

[sanh]

Hi

Well, it came on Discovery Wings, i am not sure if you have that channel. The program is fairly regular, comes about once a week in the UK. It comes on around 7pm and 11pm. They sit in the cockpit and watch the pilots do their checks, take off, descend and land. The program is half an hour long. During the program they also provide a history of the plane. I highly recommend it. Its really quite interesting when you see them use the same knobs,dials etc. we do in FS2002.

The program with the 737-400 involved a flight from Gatwick (UK) to Malaga (Spain). As they were descending the captain was saying the route they would be taking on final approach to Malaga as well the the VOR's they would be flying.

I loaded up FS2002 and found those same VOR's etc. and did the approach myself. It was really great because during the descent the pilot said he had to go down slowly in stages because of the hills etc. on the approach. When landing in FS2002 i had to do the same thing because those hills were faithfully simulated. Maybe FS2002 is not all bad!

[sanh]

Hi

Yes i see your point, but i dont want to pay 70 pounds for the sim and then more for every plane i want to fly.

I will give it some thought though!

[KenG01]

>I had always thought the cockpits in FS2002 were the same
>as real cockpits (with reason - obviously not all instruments
>etc. can be included in FS2002).

Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!! :-lol :-lol

Ahem, thanks for the laugh. Cockpits in FS anything like the real thing? Surely you jest.

>3. I read in the docs in FS2002 help that a
>737-400 can keep pretty much going during taxi with the
>throttles at idle. Bull****, in FS2002 putting the throttles at
>idle will cause the plane to stop quite quickly.

That's a problem that only MS can explain. No one knows why they entered such a high friction coefficient for the ground. It means that you must always have some decent thrust to get going and leave some thrust in to keep going.

>Come on Microsoft, after 8 or 9 versions of your program
>i would have thought you could have a plane at
>least act like a plane.


I'm chuckling again. Seriously, they have to design the entire simulator with all the nav data, the scenery, the flight engine, etc. That's a lot of work. However, do I wish they would include planes that were more realistic both inside and out? Sure, but it ain't gonna happen.

As for questions 1 & 2, Simon told you the correct answer: DF734 and 767PIC.



-----
Ken G:-wave

[sanh]

Hi!

Glad i made you laugh, maybe i should get a job as a clown.

The point i was making thinking the cockpits looked fairly realistic was because they have hardly changed since FS98.

[KenG01]

I meant no offense. I was not laughing at YOU. I was laughing at MICROSOFT. Their perspective on "As Real As It Gets" is comical some times. The panels they produce for anything other than the basic GA planes are way off. The GA ones are sometimes close, sometimes not. The panels for the heavies leave A LOT to be desired when it comes to realism. However, I try not to be too hard on them for that as I know they have so much more to do and I don't want them wasting their time on high fidelity panels when the average person who buys FS won't either appreciate it or understand how to use it. It's best they leave it to the pro's like the folks at DF, PIC, FSD, PSS, etc.

-----
Ken G:-wave

[potbelly]

I bet everyone who moans about FS2002 will be first in the queue to buy FS2004 and then moan some more. I am laughing at you. Moaning because it dont show the decimal places on the panel is laughable. Its a frigging game. If you dont like it so much DONT BUY FS2004. My money says you will buy FS2004, Why? Because it is such an immensely enjoyable GAME. It is the only GAME in my collection that I never get bored with.
"As real as it gets" More fool you for believing the marketing men.
Potbelly.

[Barryward12345]

I have noticed that there is nobody in this forum discussing the new Dash8 which is over in the AVSIM file library.

This aircraft is NOT a game -- fly it if you can!!!!!!

Barry