Review by:   Mark Arnott

Game:        Microsoft Flight Simulator for Windows95
Publisher:   Microsoft Entertainment
Format:      CD-ROM
Available:   Out now

Requires:
 
O/S:         Win95
Processor:   486DX2/66+
RAM:         8Mb+
Graphics:    SVGA 1Mb
CD-Rom:      X2
Soundcard:   All major cards supported

Tested on:

O/S:         DOS 6.2 - Windows 95
Processor:   Pentium 100
RAM:         24Mb
Graphics:    SVGA 1Mb
CD-ROM:      Quad speed
Soundcard:   Soundblaster AWE 32
Controls:    Keyboard & Joystick

Microsoft Flight Simulator for Windows95

So, the thinking man's Flight Simulator gets another facelift. No 50 function flight sticks, surround sound or motion seats are required for this one, just a good set of commercial air navigation maps.

I had some problems getting FS6 to run properly at first, this was due to the fact that illegal functions were being carried out, investigation revealed that FS6 did not like the Intel Triton Bus Mastering drivers that were being used for hard-drive access. Never before had such a problem been encountered using these drivers, and even with these disabled there were still glitches. I found that by altering the PIO access speed for the drives I could get FS to remain stable, but this is not satisfactory and I will be contacting Microsoft in due course.

The manual is quite sparse when compared to previous offerings, mainly consisting of reference data for all of the available aircraft, and navigation maps for the enhanced scenery areas. But the online help that comes on the CD covers everything from your first take off to in depth radio navigation. But I personally prefer to have hard copy to refer to when using the program rather than navigating through help menus each time a bit of assistance is needed.

The scenery areas are much improved, consisting of Chicago, New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Tokyo, Munich and Paris. These areas have enhanced detail, to a standard that is much the same as FS 5.1 and any add-on scenery packs that were purchased for 5.1 will work with this version. The install options allow scenery to be placed on the HDD or read from the CD as required, as you fly from one area into another the scenery is automatically updated. This enables you to fly from Heathrow to Paris without interruption.

The Learjet, Cessna, Glider and Sopwith Camel are still with us, along with two new additions - the Boeing 737 and the fully aerobatic Extra 300. The 737 is the most interesting and demanding to fly, approaches have to be set up 10 miles out to ensure a smooth and professional landing. The flight model is very accurate and it feels as if you are in control of a large aircraft, even when sat on the runway the cockpit appears to be 40 or so feet in the air and this must be remembered when on the final part of an approach or you could be touching down before reaching the runway threshold. The instrument panel that accompanies the 737 is detailed and has a different look to it. No longer are there two needles to centre for ILS approaches, but there is a moving bar on a glass screen to indicate centreline position, and a pipper to its left that shows above or below glideslope. This arrangement takes some getting used to after the older style of gauge. Another instrument has two needles for VOR and ADF direction and a digital range indicator.

At the other end of the spectrum is the Extra 300 which is a spritely little thing that can be thrown all over the place. It is a tail dragger, to the less informed this means that instead of a nosewheel there is a small wheel at the tail end. Aircraft that use this configuration have different handling characteristics for take-off and landing. There are lessons that will teach you how to do this and an instructor will talk you through and let you know if you go wrong and praise you when correct. There are many lessons to choose from, including some for the 300 where a top female aerobatic pilot will guide you through some aero's.

There are adventure flights to choose from also, these can be anything from a stormy landing in IFR conditions, to trying to land the Learjet on an aircraft carrier. The flights vary in levels of difficulty and you just choose one that suits your level of airmanship. If you want it really adventurous there is the option of "Surprise flight" which will dump you into a totally random scenario, as it says - surprise!.

I was hoping to see in this most recent offering of things flying from the big MS, some form of radio chatter from air traffic controllers, other programming teams have managed it, and in other Flt sim's it adds greatly to atmosphere and realism. Fair enough, there is speech in the lessons from the instructor, but it would have been nice to take it one step further.

Another moan is about the nav' aids that don't work in the UK scenery. For instance there are two NDB's either side of Gatwick that would be helpful for intercepting the centre-lines, but they don't work using the frequencies on the map. There are probably non-functioning aids in the other scenery areas also. This all means that for someone who wants to do some serious IFR flying will find it frustrating with so many U/S nav' aids.

To sum it all up then

Two well modelled new aircraft to mess with. More lessons and adventures. Lots more scenery available, which will save having to go and purchase loads of add-on packs. The scenery is much the same in detail as the last version, I couldn't really see any improvement when comparing.

There were some frequent pauses when flying around, this was caused by the scenery updating itself, I had installed all the scenery to the hard-drive but it appeared to have no effect upon scenery loading time.

This new version should appeal to newcomers and veterans alike.

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Rating: 7/10 (Good!)
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