NZFF

Round about now if I have the calendar right, FS9 became 10 years old.
It was the first sim (Starting from FS5) that really lit up for me.
Combined with the social experience that the internet offered, it also blossomed way beyond what MS could have thought.

This thread is about a decade of FS9 simming, feel free to add if you still have it and care.

The oldest screenshot I could find goes back to 2006 and Wanaka.
Two important things had happened:
1. I went to the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow there
2. Robin Corn released the FS9 photoreal scenery.
It just blew my socks off, the whole thing.
And how grand to be able to play there in the sim!



I loaded it up again today, yep good as ever!

Well Jimmy Jillickers there Charl , a whole 10 years gone past at a blink of an eye .. what the ell did i do between that !

Thanks for the little back story and the heads up Charl When I started out seriously simming, FS2002 was what everyone used, and FS2004 was not well liked when it first came out. I was simming as a newbie for my first virtual airline back then. I delayed getting FS2004 for about 3-6 months, until someone finally had a timezone fix out. But wow THOSE CLOUDS! That was the number one reason for me changing to FS2004. The weather was such a nice improvement. There was no way I could hold out for long with such realistic weather on offer. Things took off from there really. I've had three computers since then, and FS2004 is the first thing I would have installed on all of them.

10 years on, FS2004 is still my most frequently used program on my PC.

Charl how's this for a trip back in time? I flew a round the world tour for with virtual air nz in 2004, which started in January 2004. I keep a webpage (with mostly pictures). Some nice flashbacks to Posky planes, ifdg, FFX 737, SGA MD80, etc! Don't laugh too hard though, I've come a long way since then lol
http://www.angelfire.com/ultra/fsworld/rtwindex.html

Ian it is just a blink eh? Why, I can remember... wait a bit - I remember my grandfather starting off like that

Alister! what a superb record to have kept.
True grit, over 2 months of dedicated flying. Excellent format too, wasn't that B744 in Pacific Wave just beautiful?

And yes, the clouds (and ATC but I think that was FS2002 already) were the thing.
Folk have never stopped meddling with the clouds, there are new texture packs even today.
And the addons, an avalanche of addons.
I wonder what the tally might be over that 10-year period?

Happy Birthday: FS 2004!

I still have my FS '98, FS 2000, FS 2002, FS 2004, and FSX. All purchased when first released...

...and my every-day favourite is still my trusty copy of FS 2004!

100% reliable and problem-free from day one!

..and with my favourite add-ons, equals FSX in appearance... ...!

I never cease to be amazed at just how well it performs!

I'll give it 10/10 for everything.... ...!

Paul.... ...!

The King is dead...Long live the King!

I have been re-installing FS9 - still a good tool , strange how much you have to retreat a decade .. true time travel

I've always been surprised, and somewhat disappointed that the NZ Forums never did have a "FS 2004 Century of Flight" Forum.... ..!

Many other Forums still list the various MS Flight Sims going back many years!

Although FSX was/is the new-kid-on-the-block, I feel sure that there are still many dedicated FS 2004 (and FS 2002?) Pilots amongst us, eager to fly the flag!

Paul... ...!

Fozzer wrote:

QUOTE (Fozzer @ Jul 23 2013,11:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've always been surprised, and somewhat disappointed that the NZ Forums never did have a "FS 2004 Century of Flight" Forum.... ..!

Paul , I personal think it is the best idea keeping the both together , rather divide the two Sims you get the best off both worlds , you do loose a little in some respect BUT for the best example is Charl's FS9/2004 Screens .. many people go FSX but his quality and productions cannot be bettered by many FSX screens .

YES , there are good points and bad in both sim's .. SPLIT the two and you will loose the interest .. WE at NZFF keep all parties together ! and don't follow the standard of the other International forums it keeps everything alive ..

Well see, what happened was:
It was FS9 by definition!
Christian Stock's mesh and topo came along and that was the foundation for the most amazing ongoing collaboration.
Windowlight/Godzone/RealNZ sceneries just boggled the mind!

Many other bits were added to make the NZ sim experience second to none.
NZ had airports everywhere, and AI covering commercial, GA, and military.
The "Postcards from NZ" thread (egads: 30,000+ views!) was a tribute to that.
Dozens of people did things, it was a time of amazement and purpose.

When FSX came along, most things had already been done in NZ.
In fact there was an FSX subforum because it was the new kid on the block.

There was no need to have an FS9 subforum, it was the forum, and would eventually sort of wither and die as necessary.
Not quite yet, though...

Charl is right, the FSX sub-forum was created before FSX was released, just to separate out the conjecture and 'rubbish' which goes along with anything new. It would have made more sense to call it 'the next simulator' or similar. The existing sub-forums were 'agnostic' so that there wasn't any obvious division between FS9 and FSX users. The FSX sub-forum kind of wrecked that, but by the time we figured that out it was too late to fix it.

Charl, you can certainly bring a sim to life! I try not to think of that time as 'the good old days', but it can't really be helped.

toprob wrote:

QUOTE (toprob @ Jul 24 2013,10:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Charl, you can certainly bring a sim to life! I try not to think of that time as 'the good old days', but it can't really be helped.

That's it , nailed directly on the head .. you have the little icons to point out what sim it is , i have tried long ago were both sims work in multiplay for the aircraft that run in both but the biggest thing already mentioned is the quality of screens taken , realistic some should step back in time.

It's only the good old days for those who have left FS2004 behind for FSX. For those of us still flying FS2004 it's current affairs Just a couple of weeks ago I installed a brand new release 787 into FS2004. It's no different to when an ifdg was a brand new plane for FS2004. At the time the ifdg was just the next new release for FS9, and this month, it's the 787. Life goes on for FS2004 as it always has. For the most part.. we FS9 fliers are starting to become rarer and rarer. As are releases of planes and scenery etc.. But we're still hanging on in many respects.

FS2004 must seem ancient history for those who are perhaps newer to flight simming, and have started out with FSX that you can still buy on the shelf at the computer store.
Or, guys like yourself Robin, the good old days it certainly is when for you FS2004 is just a fond memory

Charl I can barely believe the ANZ 747s are nearly all retired. Seemed an eternity away in Jan 2004

Yes! And consider this: the "New" A380's first flight was nearly as long ago as FS2004! April 27 2005.

Thinking a bit more about the development of the sim:
Out of the box, the water textures really needed a little help.
Today, in an "FS9.5" install it looks like this, a long way from 2003:
(You do need to go 1080 Fullscreen to see it, sorry)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_frcdGX63o...eature=youtu.be

That does look nice!

The never-ending search for fractional improvements in performance and appearance...half the fun of flightsimming - at any rate the other half!

These are 2 shots from completely different FS2004 sim installs, on approach to NZAA.
This one is a REX sky/weather version:



And this one is Active Sky. While not as dramatic as REX, its weather is actually more realistic:



Both are a very long way from what we unpacked from the box in 2003.

Charl wrote:

QUOTE (Charl @ Jul 25 2013,9:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The never-ending search for fractional improvements in performance and appearance...half the fun of flightsimming - at any rate the other half!

These are 2 shots from completely different FS2004 sim installs, on approach to NZAA.
This one is a REX sky/weather version:

Both are a very long way from what we unpacked from the box in 2003.

Yes, that's for sure. One thing which I think FS2004 handles better is the camera views -- somehow the views look more natural, not so distorted. You'd think you could match FS2004 in FSX, but it just doesn't work for some reason.

10 Years is a long time and to think i recall FS98 like it was only yesterday course 1997 and all the previous version , FS2000 the first cloud changer and away from blocks and becoming the real cloud dancer guess the biggest thing was building airports and develop photo real and scale models to which even today many cannot grasp the concept or get there head around ..... that is a good compare but weather accuracy has always been as fickle as the true stuff .

So judging by this thread there are only a handful of us left simming on FS2004? Great pics Charl. I will post some of my recent FS2004 pics soon. Not in NZ though (as I actually only rarely fly in NZ)

Alister I'd guess a couple of dozen might be interested in this discussion.
It would be great to see some other experiences over the decade...

Ian Warren wrote:

QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Jul 25 2013,11:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...weather accuracy has always been as fickle as the true stuff.

I'm happy enough with ASE, when I see some interesting weather around here, I can load the sim and see it, pretty much.

We had some hefty sou'wester weather the other day, and there it was in the sim - watch the cloud drift
(HD Full Screen mandatory!)



Very little from original FS9 in that clip.
But the platform turned out to be very robust:

Weather engine
Sky textures
Cloud textures
Mesh
Ground textures (PR)
Aircraft
FRAPS