Flight Simulator 2004 Update v9.1

The Microsoft Flight Simulator Team is pleased to announce a product update for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight. In response to customer feedback and Product Support information, the Update will address a series of enhancements and content updates.

Editorial

This simple little add-on update for FS2004 was something that I never actually bothered installing until it as way too late. It was a silly move to make as it helps to make a lot of changes and additions to FS2004 that, if I had used them in the past, would have really enhanced my user experience.

Whether you still use FS2004 regularly or it’s just something that you like to mess around with, you’ll find that this FS2004 update – version 9.1 – is well worth taking into account. It will really help to stabilize performance, but it brings a wealth of new features to the table and makes things stand out in that regard, as well.

This was released in response to customer feedback and I have to say they seem to have done a pretty comprehensive job in patching up a lot of the problems that we used to face. For example, you should notice that v9.1 corrects issues such as;

• A lack of support for 19m digital elevation data which was supported in FS2002 but was since removed. This add its back in, which is a more than timely addition that many flight simulation fans will be delighted to see return
• Much better overall performance levels and stability that have been included due to a raft of changes – in particular with regards to how airports manage themselves. Now, you should notice a far more stable level of performance when you head into an airport regardless of the scenery and/or the season
• Addressed various config file problems that makes sure all option changes are picked up prior to launching the software again
• Ensuring that general consistency and performance was improved, with better stability when using various new FS2004 features that were, at the time of release, extremely raw
• FPS improvements to ensure that you get a more consistent level of performance as you fly, making sure that autogen no longer eats up your memory quite so much

However, it also brings in various additions to the table which I was very impressed by. By installing this, you get;

• More than 160 missing bridge models are finally added, ensuring that the world has much greater variety to it than it had previously. This makes the whole place feel far more realistic than it once did, bringing the entire location to life
• The Kennedy Airport comes with new autogen objects included to make sure the whole place looks the way that it should, with detail scenery and terrain across the airport and the nearby areas
• Any pilots can now receive their Solo Certification’s when taking on Virtual Student pilot courses, which was something that was sorely lacking from the original release

This is a very simple update and only take a matter of seconds to install, but it changes so many little things it would be madness not to install it. If you still use FS2004 and enjoy the service, I really do recommend that you check this out as soon as you can.