FS2002 The Great Scenery Viewer FS2004 the great Flight Simulator?

[Pace]

I posted what may appear to be a small discussion point regarding the colour of the blue sky in FS2002 and added some real world pictures to show what it really looked like.

One guys response was that it really wasnt that important.
I countered this with the fact that with ground scenery the flight sim community are "very" demanding.

Imagine if the hills were covered with one tone of dull green there would be a public outcry. People create their own textures always striving for more and more ground detail whether its scenery or airport invironemnt or even aircraft outside visuals.

Sadly for me the very element of flight simming which is most important has up to date taken a back seat.

The sky invironment including challenging dynamic weather still has miles to go yet it is given very little attention.

The clouds and weather form scenery that will blow any ground scenery to shame in beauty, shear magnitude or proximity inflight to most aircraft, yet the very invironment which should be all important to flight and the challengeof flight is barely given a sisways glance.

September the 11th was a bad day for flightsimming yet Microsoft could sway the attention back to Mother Nature and the invironment its challenge and Beauty by making this a FS2004 main feature.

Flight dynamics have taken a back seat with flight dynamic specialists having to work with incomplete and a hole ridden flight dynamic engine mostly written years ago. What about trim force controls affordable for the man in the street and code written to operate it.
Again we have a long way to go with flightdynamics

What about inside the aircraft, we are still stuck with unrealistic 2D panel views which a pilot would never have real world or VC Limited in functionality and graphic detail.
The FS2002 Falcon 50 is a work of art where the designer is trying to focus attention back in the plane not only with his VC but also his Virtual interior, but how many parts of that delicious panel will work?

Sturmovic uses VC s with excellent graphics and functionality.

B17 had superb Virtual interiors which you could move around and even see animated people, why not FS2004?

Okay there are those who will shout "Its only a game, what do you expect for $70".

Would those people say the same if they had one colour dull green scenery?

Yes to a certain extent FS2004 is a Scenery Viewer FS2004 neednt be ;-)

Peter

http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/Use...1225ef234f.jpg

[budreiser]

"That pic of CB's, towering cumulus, and cirrus blow your
mind away. After having worked for NWS for 40+ years I still
have not burned out on meteorology, especially clouds. Now don't
get me wrong, I don't really cherish low, wintry, overcast days,
and I do appreciate clear, sunny days. But to look around and
see the details in clouds is just beautiful. I love it when
these designers create cloud textures which enhance what the
boys at Microsoft give us.

I don't know how long you have been flight simming, but I go
back to the days when you had the diamond-shaped, four sided
Learjet. You could set clouds but all they were was a blanket
that you flew through on your way down. They have come a long
way since those days, and for sure since the beginning of this
game. I am extremely grateful for every new issuance of the
game and always look forward to the next. No compaints, but I,
like you, would love to see a more realistic meteorological
environment. Thanks for that great shot.

[ladamson]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-05-02 AT 10:25AM (EDT)[/font][p]>The clouds and weather form scenery
>that will blow any ground
>scenery to shame in beauty,
>shear magnitude or proximity inflight
>to most aircraft, yet the
>very invironment which should be
>all important to flight and
>the challengeof flight is barely
>given a sisways glance.
>
My two cents........

While I'll agree that cloud formations are shear beauty & could be improved on, I'll never trade them for the wide open expances of the desert & mountain areas of the Western U.S. Low level "flight" over these areas is what "flight" is about to me. Everytime I fly commercially over these areas, I just have this great urge to get out & fly a GA aircraft at much lower altitudes. These areas also include the danger element that is present in the adverse weather/cloud scenario. Wind shear, thermals, downdrafts, & updrafts, are all present in mountainous areas, let alone the lack of suitable landing areas. Of course future MS versions could also incorporate these thermal wind effects as well as in the clouds.

FS2002 with high settings for scenery & auto-gen conveys the feeling of flying over this type of wide open & rugged terrain that I prefer. It's a look you must get from the "air" which involves flight & not on the ground. FS2002 does this very well!

L.Adamson

[Pace]

Larry,

We come from different parts of the world. Maybe you come from good VFR climates or only fly when you want.

I fly comercially and so have to take what I get. In my part of the world and the altitudes I fly at means that at least in nine out of ten flights I dont see the ground shortly after takeoff to shortly before touchdown.

The clouds become my scenery, the visibility increases to 100+ miles and the colours are breathtaking.

Scenery wise the only awesome scenery I see is over the Alps and this is on par with flying around and close to large CBs.

Even on the few good days above 3000-5000 feet the scenery starts to blue out, the hills to flatten into a dull monotone tapestry.

No the clouds are my scenery apart from the Alps down at 12000 - 13000 feet. In the citation in the high thirties the alps look like a row of tiny hills.

Peter

http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/Use...a0317c4609.jpg
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/Use...d1324e5cfd.jpg

[budreiser]

This to PACE.....Beautiful, Just Beautiful. I envy you.

[bobsey28]

You BEAUTY!!! Do you have a high-res version of the sunset photo (last one, above?) 1280x1024 res would be nice, if you have it!! :)

I WANT THAT AS MY DESKTOP BACKGROUND!

That'd be great if you could get it uploaded for others to Download. I keep forcing my digital camera upon my father who is also a Commercial Airline Pilot with a large European Company. So far, he hasn't got any shots as he's still not learnt how to use it in betwen his busy work roster!! :-lol

Photos like yours are great! Keep posting 'em! :)

[Noel]

level of depth and beauty. Super high res stereoscopic 3D and all. I think it is just a few more iterations away . . .

Noel

[TCorken]

I'm converted. Where do I sign. I'm off to create more disk space by deleting all my ground scenery. Give me clouds like these anyday.

These photos just prove how far msfs has to go yet. That's not really a criticism. I mean, how can any program come close to simulating the real thing.

Tony

[travisjd2001]

"I mean, how can any program come close to simulating the real thing."

Isn't this kind of the point? Hopefully further than FS98, FS2000, and now FS2002...

-T

=
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/Use...8f1131cbe5.jpg

[Pace]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-06-02 AT 03:52AM (EDT)[/font][p][font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-06-02 AT 03:48 AM (EDT)[/font]

if you like sunset shots heres another over France Europe coming back to the UK from Alicante Spain. I will also add a good texture shot of Spain showing Good VFR which lasted up to the Pyrenees

If you want to have them as desktops just right click and save as desktop

Peter


http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/Use...35295c6a54.jpg


http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/Use...1c2e869864.jpg