Flight Simulator 2004

Gigi

Gigi

Gigi

Associate
Joined
24 Aug 2004
Posts
2,260
Location
Edinburgh
Hi, just bought FS2004 yesterday and spent a large part of the evening searching through forums trying to download extra aircraft, scenery etc, but didnt go to well :p

What are the best Add-ons (payware & freeware) to get?
What are the best sites to go to for downloads, i've been to fs2004.com and avsim.com and they've been quite good so far.
How do i install scenery and Aircraft? so far i've downloaded scenery & aircraft and im not 100% sure were to install the textures and effects.

I have searched through the OcUK forums, the screenshot thread was quite useful as there were a few links in there, and i noticed the fs2004 thread has gone :(

Thanks for your help :)

/Gigi
 
There's so much in the way of add-ons for FS2004 it's easy to get carried away and then overwhelmed. My advice would be to concentrate on obtaining the 'essentials' and tweaking the settings so everything's working well. The FS2004 engine is the same as FS2002 with a few graphical tweaks so it doesn't rely too much on a high end graphics card but benefits more from a decent CPU and enough RAM. The main let-downs are the terrain mesh and water textures, there are freeware products that address these but you're probably better off with payware, I have FS Global SE for terrain mesh (3 DVD's of data), and Flight1's Flight Environment pack for better skies and water.

Although it's fun using FS2004 to fly around in as many planes as you can get your hands on the real enjoyment comes from using it as a proper simulator, learning to operate a plane and navigate using your radio's and ground stations. I would reccomend buying Flight1's Cessna Skyhawk 172R and learning how to operate it, starting the aircraft from cold & dark, maintaining climb speeds, navigating using VOR, using the autopilot for ILS flights. That will take a couple of weeks to master, the next step would be something like a twin engined turboprop, followed by a small twin engined jet before hitting the bigger stuff (737 / 767 / 747). All of these are available as freeware but generally the documentation with payware madels is worth it if you want learn how to operate and fly the aircraft properly.
 
So generally, always stick with Payware, if you want decent aircraft and scenery?

Thanks :)

/Gigi
 
Gigi said:
So generally, always stick with Payware, if you want decent aircraft and scenery?

Thanks :)

/Gigi
Click to expand...
I don't have much experience of freeware but FS2004.com has some reviews of FW on their main site and in the forums section there are the reccomendations for add-on of the year which include nominations for FW. You can get some FW mesh and scenery but I doubt you'll get the 12+ Gig of data that the FS Global pack has.
 
Hiya,
Stick with it- There is some excellent freeware stuff out there :)
Funnily enough, the aircraft should be installed in the Aircraft folder in the FS2004 directory, & the effects (.fx files) should be in the Effects directory, with no subdirectories.

The one thing I would always reccomend to people is FS Passengers- See www.fspassengers.net for more details etc.

Traffic wise, you're probably best of with Traffic 2005, as while Ultimate Traffic may have the best amount of stuff & schedule updates, it uses very old plane models (PAI V1 :( )

-Leezer-
 
Yeah my FS2004 thread seems to have dissapeared :o

I mainly use UT with all of the updates for my traffic, cant be bothered to complile my own as i reinstall so many times each month. Ultimate Terrain USA and canada are amazing for lighting and overall mesh resolutions. My own personal favourites that i couldnt live without are "Flight Enviroment" for sky and cloud texutures, "Ground Enviroment 2006" for upgraded mesh and textures, as well as now aligning the autogen into a more realistic manner. Active Sky 6 is absolutely stunning though. A must to all FS simmers.

However, its all payware! :p
 
Im guessing the UT is the Ultimate Terrain you were talking about?
How much does payware scenery and aircraft seem to go for nowadays? I've seen prices between £19 to £29 just for add-ons for FS2004 :/

/Gigi
 
Oh sorry, UT is also known as Ultimate Traffic as well as Ultimate Terrain. :)

You're looking at around £20 per addon usually, sometimes more, sometimes less. However, i recommend getting those mentioned above and see if you like the upgrade of detail. If not, then FS2004 probibly isn't for you, and considering FSX is in development, you may not want to spend all that cash just learning how to fly etc.
 
Thanks for the help so far guys :)
Also, im guessing that the use of a joystick is a lot easier & gives a better gaming experience over keyboard?

/Gigi
 
http://www.flightsim.com/cgi/kds?$=main/howto/fs2004air/fs2004ai.htm


On Avsim, I recommend searching for either FS2004 - Original Aircraft or FS2004 - Scenery. I don't trust FS2002 stuff.

As for payware - rubbish. I would never ever pay for payware addons, but its a philosophical debate really.

http://www.projectai.com/packages/

Get some real airlines into your sky :) I recommend downloading and installing them ALL, then removing the Microsoft rubbish :)

And then we have:

http://www.simviation.com/fsdterrainsrtm.htm
http://walhalla.mine.nu/fs2004.php

Go nuts :D
 
i had that attitude untill a few months ago and now i've gone payware mad,

get ground environment, fsglobal, traffic 2005, not in that order.

addon planes, a certain lvl-d 767 is fantastic and very useable, also the pmdg 747.

you can buy the 767 on cd for 17.99 and its a bargain, have a play with it
 
It all comes down to what you prefered era of aviation is. Myself, I have a blend of modern fast-jets and WWII aircraft, those being my main area of interest.

However, if you like the golden age of flying i.e. the 30's - 40's then you can't go wrong downloading and installing the Golden Wings package. It's freeware and once installed gives you a new sim which heavily leans to those good old day's. Also included are a few decent aircraft too.

That said, no matter what you prefer you're guaranteed to find something due to the sheer amount of add-ons out there. Both payware and freeware.
 
Thanks for your help so far :)
Just another few questions...

1/ What is an exciting flight do do, i.e - New York to Paris or Edinburgh to Berlin etc
2/ Whats a good medium sized plane not too big but not tiny like the Cessna, as ive learned to use the cessna pretty well, but im looking for something slightly bigger and slightly faster
3/ Has anyone completed the Lessons?
and 4/ Does anyone have a good Concorde plane as i'd love to fly London to NY in it :)

Thanks.

/Gigi
 
1) Depends on what excites you, I guess maybe flying a small jet at speed through the grand canyon in a lightning storm? Flying commercial routes in a passenger jet are not going to be exciting, more challenging in terms of producing a flight plan, navigating by VOR and landing using ILS.
2) The next logcal step up from a small Cessna would be a twin engined turboprop such as the Beech King Air, you could try the default one in FS2004 or if you want to splash out then Flight1 do a pretty good one which you can get for £14.99.
3) I haven't as I've found them too buggy, there are loads of resources out there that guide you through the essentials.
4) I think there was a recent post on this over at FS2004.com in the general section.
 
Last edited:
Whats the best place or which is the best A320 to get? I want a good model which has v good instruments just like the real thing so I can practice on it? I've found a couple of models, but not installed them yet. Thanks.
 
1pudding1 said:
Whats the best place or which is the best A320 to get? I want a good model which has v good instruments just like the real thing so I can practice on it? I've found a couple of models, but not installed them yet. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Download the iFDG A320, then have a look on Avsim for some good cockpits. Get a soundpack as well. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom