Overview
Microsoft Flight Simulator (FS) 2002 is the latest version of Microsoft's realistic aviation simulationsoftware. FS 2002 introduces many exciting features, including interactive air traffic control (ATC) and auto-generated scenery, plus challenging new aircraft and stunning visual enhancements.

Learning To Fly
Being new to flight simulators, I spend a lot of time with the Learn to Fly scenarios in FS 2002. These lessons are interactive, with experienced flight instructors providing instructions while you fly a Cessna airplane. The lessons were quite informative, from learning the basics of flying, to more in-depth experience with navigation and the instrument panels. For a novice, this was an excellent way to break into the world of flying. The flight instructions, however, were not without their problems and annoyances. First of all, the flight instructors voice was difficult to understand at times. This is because, in their endeavor to make "everything" realistic, Microsoft made the voice lessons muffled and choppy, as it might be if you were actually in a lesson, I suppose. The problem is that I am taking a lesson, so making the speech hard to understand is an unnecessary aspect to make realistic. In real life, I'm sure the instructor would strive to make every assurance that you could hear them clearly. The simulator can and should go the extra distance to do the same; make the lessons clear so that I can worry about the flying and not about whether I can hear the guy or not.

The lessons were interactive, so that you would be asked to do something, and that would be expected to perform those actions. While I think this approach is a good one, FS 2002 was a bit buggy in terms of execution. Several different times I had either made a mistake without being instructed that I had done so, or I had reached a goal (such as a specific altitude), but the lesson didn't continue as I would have expected. There was also conflicts with instructions. Sometimes the software did inform me when I was doing something wrong, such as ascending or descending too fast, and these instructions would often interrupt the lesson in progress. The problem is that the lesson didn't continue after the interruption.

Other problems I found with the lessons is that instrument panels (specifically, the attitude indicator) didn't always function properly, the software would fall out of sync with the joystick when the instructor took over the plane, and the "trim" lesson was difficult to understand. While I thought the lessons were a fun way to be introduced to the world of flying, I didn't feel at all confident that it was a serious way to learn to fly.

The Simulator
FS 2002 offers a lot of variety, from all different kinds of aircrafts, to all different places to fly. It includes maps and scenarios from all over the world, allowing you to take off and land at just about any airport. Communicating with the airports and air traffic control during the flights was a nice feature (although I didn't always understand what they were talking about, so that would have been a good thing to include in the lessons). The graphics were good, as long as you had enough video memory (8MB minimum). I tried at first on a machine with 4MB of video RAM and the game went into "safe mode", creating very ugly scenery and extremely unstable instrument panel displays. On my Dell P4 with a 64MB Nvidia GeForce4 MX card, the graphics were much better. In comparison to other 3D action games on the market, however, the graphics in FS 2002 fell short. There was elaborate attention paid to maps and landscaping, including trees and building structures, but the details of the landscaping are a year or two behind today's hottest graphics capabilities.

I tried various trips and various airplanes, including an interesting fly by of the Eiffel Tower. I spent the most time flying over Hawaii, making take offs and landings at all the airports, and even a few landings elsewhere (such as a field or the beach). Overall, I really enjoyed flying in this game. There were some limitations and problems, the buggy attitude display panel the most annoying of them, but I walked away feeling satisfied and even exuberated with the flying experience. It was so realistic, in fact, that playing right before bed made getting to sleep a bit difficult, as I kept feeling like I was ascending and descending. Causing motion sickness after the game is shut down is a strong mark of good realism. I should also add that the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 joystick I used added a lot to that realism. Although FS 2002 supports keyboard control, with the joystick reacting to air resistance, turbulence, and other simulated factors, I don't think the experience would have been nearly as realistic or enjoyable with anything less.

Summary
FS 2002 is a nifty piece of software for getting the feel of flying without actually being in an airplane. Some of the interface features are a bit buggy or clunky, and while the graphics are good, they aren't really up to today's standards. One grudge I have against the software is that there is no Mac version, and I think that FS 2002 and the Mac are a perfect match. Regardless, spending time flying in FS 2002 is a rewarding and realistic experience, one that I enjoyed and that I recommend to others.

Pros

• Realistic experience
• Includes introductory lessons
• Vast variety of maps and aircrafts
• Interactive with air traffic control

Cons

• Attitude display buggy
• Joystick falls out of sync with simulator during lesson
• Speech during lessons could be more clear and handle interruptions better
• Cries for being on the Mac platform, but is currently not

Overall Rating:

3 out of 5 Mice