Made of wood and about 5′ x 2′.

ie my desk, don’t use a mat as I gave the ‘ball’ up about a year ago and gone optical. 😀

We’re baaa—-aaack!!

Niceone guys 😀

Lets hope the ‘hackers’ get some social lives and find something better to do than mess with our forum.

Thats it for me today, I’m off out to get a social life myself;)

Commonly associated with FTP.

Parameters could be wrong for that site.

Installed Raven Shield last night, the 3rd in the Rainbow series from Tom Clancy.

It required 2 Gigs, but apart from it’s thirst for hard drive space, it is supberb! I loved Rogue Spear and was eagerly awaiting the next outing of the Rainbow team.

Graphics and sound are supberb, shed loads of weapons and a great deal of strategy is needed to combat the terrorists.

Great fun!

FS2002 is a very good sim, and was a vast improvement over the 2k version.

If you have a decent spec’d machine then I would reccomend it, really depends on what sort of detail you want to run at. If you fly with realism settings way up there, then you will need a decent processor. Many people forget that the CPU is the heart of teh machine in these days of the whiz-bang Graphics cards. And on that note, if you like your sim looking pretty then you will need a decent card. Also don’t forget the soundcard, many people run on an on-board chip for sound, but not only are they not that good, they leech valuable resources. Once you put a decent soundcard in your PC you will be amazed at the quality of the audio experience. Next up is a stick, you don’t need anything fancy, but a throttle and rudder is a must really, if you have the cash go for Force Feedback, my stick of choice would be MS’ Sidewinder 2FF.

There are some nice examples of ac’s, including a 747, but have you noticed the lack of the Concorde? Microsoft said this was due to licensing issues I think, but it was also the time that the Concorde accident occured??

The weather system is supberb, allowing it to be set to globally, locally and even real time weather systems can be put in place if you have a decent net connection.

The flight modelling is upto MS usual standards, but some of the aircraft have average textures and there are limited liveries ( but thats what add-ons are for 😀 )

2002 also offers a pretty good ATC system, with real (American) voices, and is fairly easy to use, making requests for taxi, take-off and landing etc a friendly and more realistic affair.

The King school of flight training puts you through a virtual course where you can earn certs, and I would say is a good grouding in the physics/dynamics of flight.

If you go for the PRO version then you will be treated with a few more ac, a few electronic panels (cant remeber which, sorry) and the instructor station, which allows you to take the role of teacher or student with another FS user. Great for virtual airlines hiring new pilots!

One more thing…. MS is in the process of developing MSFS version 9 (2k was 8, I think), the official name will be Flight Sim 2004 Century of flight. Apparantly the graphics will be tweaked, there are a great deal of ac ranging over the 100 years of powered flight as well as a much improved weather system. Think its due for release in July this year, could be worth waiting for? Your choice.

I had my copy delivered a few dys ago, but unfortunatly due to work commitments I haven’t had a great deal of time to form an in-depth opinion.

From first glances though, I think it is less accessible than the first incarnation. To a new IL2er the sheer choice of ac and career options in the dynamic campaign, could bewilder. The graphics have been tweaked in places, notably the scenery, and the extra ac are welcome, especially the 262 😀

I have always liked dynamic campigns in flight sims, and I think the best have been, Comache v Hokum, Apache v Havoc (Same series) and Harrier Falklands (I think?) These sims gave you a better view of the overall battle/war and allowed mission creation, desegnation via a well though out interface, abling the user to set navigation and target waypoints. FB it seems just generates the mission for you (correct me if I’m wrong, I’ve only played a few missions). This doesn’t really do it for me, and comes across as a static campaign really, although every outcome of every mission plays a role in the conflict.

Over the next few days I will try a get a few more hours on it and post some pics 😉

You are meant to be my wingman Nikumba.
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Anyone want to swap wingman, I think mine is faulty 😀