Product Description

Microsoft Flight Sim 2004 Century Flight Win32 English International Not to Latam CD DVD Case

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #464 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Microsoft
• Released on: 2003-08-01
• ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
• Platforms: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, .44 pounds

Features

• Flight Sim 2004, EN

Amazon.co.uk Review
Thanks to Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2004 you can now experience the real essence of flight. Billed as a retrospective look at a century of flight, it's now possible to take to the air with accurately modelled electronic copies of some of the greatest aircraft in history--from the Wright brothers' Wright Flyer to the gleaming wide-bodied 747s and medium-sized helicopters of the present.

From the word go you know this is a serious piece of kit and while the knack to flying the older aircraft revolves around not stalling it and keeping the engine revs up, the modern planes are packed to the hilt with geeky goodness. For those wishing to engage in the experience of flight there are GPS navigation systems aplenty, dozens of cockpits switches and an air traffic control system which is as lifelike as it bewildering to understand.

Understandably, not everyone is going to get to grips with this beast immediately and full marks to Microsoft for including a wealth of training information within the program in the form of tutorials and reference material--it's essential reading if you're to get a firm grip on this truly huge simulation.

To give some idea of scale, using the various game modes available it's possible to take the controls of any of the 24 planes included then take off from one of the 24,000 mapped airports and fly anywhere around the globe. And for the true aficionado you can do it all in real-time. However, for those of us with a shorter attention span it is possible to speed up time to get through the tedious bits.

Add to this truly realistic in-game weather--updated over the Internet every 10 minutes--and what you have is one of the best flight sims ever to grace a personal computer.

Flight Simulator 2004 isn't without its faults. It's graphically intensive and requires a meaty PC to get top quality visuals onscreen, the sound can become monotonous and arriving on four CDs it takes forever to install. These minor points aside, however, this is a superb piece of software and belongs firmly on the hard drive of anyone who has ever harboured fantasies of flying as a child. --Chris Russell

Manufacturer's Description
Enthusiasts around the world will experience the history of aviation with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight. As the world celebrates the 100th anniversary of powered flight in 2003, A Century of Flight allows virtual pilots to feel what it's like to take the controls of nine historic aircraft--the record-breakers, the workhorses and the innovators--such as Charles Lindbergh's Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis, the Douglas DC-3 and the world's first successful powered aircraft, the 1903 Wright Flyer.

Engaging, interactive multimedia provides a wealth of historical information on the planes that shaped aviation history and the pilots who flew them. Informed and insightful articles help players discover all that Flight Simulator and its fleet of 24 aircraft has to offer. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight also introduces an updated, dynamic weather system, enhanced automatically generated (auto-gen) scenery and detailed visual effects, as well as 15 modern aircraft, including the Robinson R-22 Beta II helicopter.

Customer Reviews

It just keeps getting better.
After a long time debating about it I have taken the plunge and upgraded from my trusty Flight Simulator 2002. I purchased, received Flight Simulator 2004 Century of Flight with excitement and worry that I am leaving my trusty old friend 2002 that runs like a dream on my PC for a more advanced computer resources eating program. My computer being a Ath 1.3, Mem 512Mb, S B Audigy and 128Mb Nvidia Geforce should according to the min, specification for FS2004 be more than adequate. As soon as the package hit my doorstep I started to load it onto my PC all four disks. This took some time loading but after the final disk loaded I finally got to run FS2004. The Main page looking the same as FS2002 but with added links to well produced flight lessons and history with a refreshed colour change was home welcoming making me feal like I had been hear before. I could not wait to get into the cockpit a take a flight so clicking on the menus that seam to have been not altered from FS2002 I found myself sitting in the cockpit in a cesna on a runway. The blue sky with fluffy clouds was a refreshing change and the detail was amazing. I went into virtual cockpit and found I could use the controls as if I was in the real thing. This has put a new perspective into the world of flight simulations with download real wether patterns and a virtual cockpit you can actually use. I can wait to find out what other innovations Microsoft has put into it. Well done to Microsoft but I do believe that to avoid disappointment you ignore the minimum specifications on the box and don't go below what I am using. If you do you will have to set all performance sliders to a minimum distorting the enjoyment of the simulation.
Happy flying,

Not a game, a simulation.
I earned a UK PPL at Stapleford airfield in 1995. Now 'real flight' costs around £100 per hour, to say nothing of the cost of buying and running an aircraft.
Let me say that this piece of software IS 'as real as it gets' and a little cheaper than the 'real thing'.
All the morse code idents are as in 'real life' and you could use the flight logs produced for 'real flight' though of course Microsoft add a disclaimer against doing this.
With realism settings on High your really close to reality...if you can land the simulated plane, you can land the real thing!
As usuall you will need a fairly high spec machine to get the full potential (but we already know that)
ATC is a slight improvement on FS 2002, but the only thing that bugs me here is as before all the ATC controllers speak with an American accent....and that need not be the case.!
Othherwise very similar to FS 2002, I think the new 'Dynamic Weather' is probably the biggest drain on resources (frame rates).
Worth it for the spectacular sunrise/sunset scenarious...don't let it distract you from flying the aircraft!!
For the aviation enthusiast its a MUST HAVE..!

A great game, but not much of an upgrade from FS2002
I am a big fan on the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, and I thought that FS2002 was great. At first, I was unsure about whether FS2004 was worth buying, but I finally bought it.

The game consists of four CD-ROMs and the installation takes a long time. I encountered a few problems during the last part of the installation (certain scenery files were unable to be installed), but I just clicked 'ignore' and haven't had any problems with playing the game.

The fourth CD-ROM has to be in the disc drive while the game is being played. The game takes quite a long time to load, compared to other games, but once the game does load you can almost get straight into the game. There are a few more modes than FS2002, some being very helpful with information on how to control all the aspects of a particular aircraft, etc. There is lots of information to help you with the whole of the game.

Perhaps the most commonly used mode is 'create a flight', where you can set all aspects (ranging from weather to conditions and time to aircraft and airport) of a flight that you want to undertake. It works in a similar way to FS2002, but with a few more little touches - for instance, more weather scenarios.

However, I think that the graphics and detail during flight look exactly the same as they do in FS2002. This is disappointing, but there are other things that make the game better

The aircraft in the game are good and represent the first century of flight. As always, the Cessna aircraft are in there, along with the Boeings. These are popular aircraft in the game but they cannot be 'flown' straight away.

Like FS2002, there is a short clip on how to take off and how to operate the basic parts of the aircraft. After watching this, it is possible to create a flight and successfully fly some of the aircraft. This is great, because it is relatively easy to get to grips with the game.

It is completely up to you whether you stay at a basic level or advance to become a skilled player (the flying lessons will definitely come in handy, even though some are very difficult).

The general good points of game include:

- Lots of information to help you out.
- More aircraft.
- Easy to get into the game.
- Reflects the reality of flying.
- A fantastic addition to your FS collection, or at least a great game to own.
- A joystick can be used, configured to your needs.

And the general bad points include:

- Very much like FS2002: same detail of graphics, some of the modes, etc.
- Some of the advanced flying lessons are very difficult.
- Can often be confusing if you are a beginner.

So in general this is a great game. If you own FS2002, then I still think that it is worth buying FS2004. It is also a good game for beginners. This is one of the best games I own, and I can't wait until the next version of Microsoft Flight Simulator.