Flight Simulator Guide / Guides / What is FS2004?

Not a game
Flight Simulator 2004 : A Century Of Flight is not a game. There are no levels and there is no objective. It is one of the most advanced flight simulation software available for Windows PC's.

The package comes with 9 historical and 15 modern aircrafts, approximately 24,000 airports and an advanced dynamic weather system.

Even better is the possibility to improve the simulation with third party addons.

Please check the addon guide pages for installation information of addons.

Learn the basics
In the learning center you can find a lot of information about using flight simulator. Click on 'Just Get Me Flying' if you want to start flying in no time.

If you want to fly more seriously, there are various lessons available in the 'Flying Lessons' section. It is also possible to 'Select a flight'. Select 'Create a flight' if you want to choose a start location, aircraft type, weather and time by yourself.

The best you can do if you are new to FS2004 is to take the Cessna flying lessons. It is important to learn the basics of flying first. Check the quick guide for the 737-400 if you can't wait to fly a jet.

Settings & realism
In the settings section, you can change the settings for performance, realism and other settings. If you want maxium realism, choose 'hard' in the realism settings. By default, the crash detection is off. Check the box if you want the crash detection on, that way your plane crashes when you hit the runway too fast or when you fly in a tree. Another way to improve the realism is to use a joystick. It is possible to control the plane with the keyboard, but it's a lot harder and not realistic at all.

Freeware vs. payware
For even more realism there are various addons available for FS2004, freeware and payware. Most of the addon aircrafts are more detailed and have more accurate flight dynamics than the standard aircraft. There is some difference between the payware addons and the freeware addons. Most of the payware addons come with maximum realism and details, but freeware addons are not always less detailed or realistic. It is worth some research before you buy anything, there are a few payware developers that want to make easy money, so don't get ripped off!

Check the links page for links to addon developer and download library websites. If you have any questions about installing addons, please check out the other guide pages.