I’ve resurrected my Flight Simulator 2004 (FS9) install!

March 16, 2022

I purchased a large collection of addons back in 2009-2015 for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 of a large variety and with much money. When FSX was released, all those addons were not compatible with it and became obsolete. Back then, FSX required very powerful computers and the poor performance made me return back to FS2004.

Later on, Lockheed-Martin picked up from where the ESP platform was left from Microsoft and released newer and improved versions as Prepar3d. The software was continuously updated breaking the addons that were purchased for the simulator.

Whenever an upgrade was released for the addons, developers often made users pay an upgrade fee. This is assuming that the addons are not abandoned by the developer.

I eventually moved on to X-Plane 11 by Laminar Research at the time where the addon market for it was starting to boom. Many simulations were very in-depth, study-level and so realistic that even pilots could use it for training. I purchased a couple addons for it. I was confident that I didn’t need my old sim anymore and deleted all my installers for FS2004 mods. My backup hard-drive failed and lost everything. I wasn’t upset because I thought I would only play X-Plane from now on.

When Flight Simulator (2020) came out, it revolutionized the way scenery was generated using photogrammetry and satellite imagery to generate a world so accurate that you could see your house in the game. However, this game is still in it’s infancy without a proper SDK. Hardly any serious addons have been release for it.

I realized that I was stuck with a bunch of addons purchased a while ago that I wasn’t using anymore. A sense of guilt ran through me because I felt that I spent money on nothing. I didn’t want to keep spending so much money (addons are getting more expensive these days) every time I upgraded. Therefore, this year, I decided to resurrect FS2004 and get all my addons back. It wasn’t that easy.

Screenshots

Finally! I’ve managed to resurrect most of my FS9 addons on Windows 10. The reason I did this was because I bought so many addons for FS9 back in 2009-2015 and I feel like I was putting them to waste if I didn’t use them at all. It took me two days to get most of my addons installed. I still have more to go. It's about 55 GB so far.

This time, I made backups for all the installers and keys on OneDrive and on an external hard drive. Despite all of this, I figure some addons are going to be eventually out of date.

Difficulty of Installation

Here’s what I discovered installing such an ancient flight simulator on a modern system:

Most FS9 products disappeared around 2016 from stores.
Addons with plain and simple installers that don’t phone home still work.
Flight1 Wrapper doesn’t always work with Windows 10. This is a known issue. Therefore, I’ve lost some addons.
Some vendors don’t provide downloads for legacy products anymore.
I had to contact some developers to get the legacy installers.
Manually generated keys are not done by the developers anymore.
Many products aren’t supported anymore (this is understandable).
Some activation servers are no longer online.

Due to the above, I had to resort to piracy to use products that I actually bought. I had to go through shady websites often in languages that I don’t understand. I sought refuse with VMWare, uBlock Origin, Sandboxie and VirusTotal to hopefully catch any malicious software. It made me reflect our reliance on online services these days. Once they’re gone we lose the software and our data.

What I miss from FS9:

2D panels which are really easy to read and navigate through. They look ugly compared to virtual cockpits but they’re so much more practical and pragmatic.
At this point, after more than 20 years of hardware evolution, frame rate is incredibly high. I can run it at 4K at 60 fps all the time in any scenario.
Excellent and busy AI traffic with the proper addons. Easy to spot with labels above them.
Probably the simulator with the most freeware addons.
The collection of payware addons is much more varied, you can essentially find scenery for any location on the planet and a huge variety of obscure planes.
You can have windows of other views and put them on a separate screen.
You can have windows of some gauges and put them on a separate screen.
No VAS issues. Still need a patch to increase it to 4GB because by default, with more demanding addons, the sim still crashes.
Flight Path view and Replay.
Planes for early history are there such as the Wright Flyer.
Flight Lesson material is in depth and well documented.
Incredibly fast load times and startup.
Meigs Field
The graphics look way more natural than modern FSX and F3D. I find that the addons for the latter tend to look more cartoony and too vibrant.

What I don’t miss from FS9:

Gauges refresh rate is terrible, especially compared to X-Plane’s ultra-smooth panels. It’s even worse in VC where some planes where the refresh rate is probably 2-4 FPS.
No good camera tool for moving around and effects. There’s only F1View and Active Camera but they leave a lot to be desired.
Flight Dynamics are absolutely terrible. It feels like you’re flying on rails and turbulence doesn’t do much.
The virtual cockpits look so bad. Almost everything is 2D and you can really tell.
So many separate executables for load management and other features. They’re integrated into the sim in new simulators.
Comparing to the amazing scenery from MSFS, FS2004 looks extremely dated and horrible. Autogen is utterly terrible. Terrain resolution leaves so much to be desired. I can’t believe one pixel is used for 4 meters squared. Scenery drawn further away is blurry mess and mesh looks terrible.
Mesh is so low resolution outside of the US. Addons that add extra resolution are buggy because of improper airport altitudes and flat airports.
Almost all decent scenery is payware.
Again, it’s ancient software now.
Compared to modern addons, system depth isn’t that deep.
Need an external tool for flight planning. Forget about SID and STARS with the default one. I use SimBrief as an alternative.
The incredibly invasive anti-piracy mechanisms. Some they even detect false positives and do something like delete folders in your FS9 install or delete the addon. I had to use virtual machines to test some of them. I’ll leave this detailed in another post soon.
Need to run as administrator for most addons to work.
No HDPI support. Everything is tiny.
Selecting aircraft don’t always work
Default ATC is useless. (I mean, it still is in X-Plane 11 and MSFS2020.
The game is unstable and needs constant restarting.

After being spoiled by X-Plane and even more with MSFS, the FS9 graphics are really really starting to look dated.

Conclusion

It feels like quite an achievement to get all this running and definitely worth the time. I now have access to most of the software that I purchased and learned to love in the past. Looks like this will keep me busy for a while.

I still play and enjoy X-Plane and MSFS and have a collection of addons for them too. I don’t believe that you should pick one simulator and live with it. There’s nothing wrong with having multiple ones as long as you have the disk space!

Recommended Addons

Level-D Simulations - The 767: This is a good balance between a study level and a casual simulation. Very easy to learn with nice documentation and example flights. Quite old but a classic.

iFly Jets - 737NG and 747: The old PMDG airliners have been discontinued. This is a good replacement and up-to-par with the current PMDG simulations.
Leonardo - Fly The Maddog SP2: Probably one of the most complex simulations for FS2004. It is a discontinued but if you look hard enough "online" you'll find it.
PMDG - MD-11: This is probably my favourite airliner simulation. You can find DVD of it on eBay but also "online". PMDG discontinued it because apparently, it didn't sell really well. I call bullshit on this and believe that it is due to a developer debacle. The main developer (Lefteris Kalamaras) of the plane left and they couldn't support it anymore. Here’s some help.
SSTSIM - CONCORDE: Very detailed Concorde with a very immersive feel. Simulates the majority of systems but not all of them. This is more in-depth than the PSS one.
Aerosoft - Piper Cheyenne: A really in-depth dual turboprop simulation.
RealAir: Citabria/SF-260 and Spitfire: Simple planes but very realistic flight dynamics. Plane rolls-over in stall and probably the only simulation that I've tried that simulates sideslips.
VRS - F/A-18E Superbug: If you ask the developer very nicely, you will get a copy for FS9. This is the most in-depth military aircraft even more than the DCS version.
PILOTS - FS Global Real Weather: This is a great replacement to ActiveSky Evolution. It's still supported and works with FS2004.
Matthias Neusinger - FS Recorder: A million times between than the integrated replay in FS9. Much smoother.
Pablo Diaz - HDEv2: This is freeware, you can find it on AVSIM. It enhances the sky colours and clouds dramatically. I find it to be less cartoonish and subtle than REX.
FSAddon - Glacier Bay Alaska/Canada: Another freeware that you can find on AVSIM. It replaces a good portion of Alaska and Canada with more detailed mesh, textures and landclass.
Flight One Software - Ultimate Traffic: My favourite AI traffic enhancement. I find it stable, provides good density and good performance. There are many freeware alternatives on the Internet.
Flight One Software - Ground Environment Professional: Replacement ground textures. Looks much better than the default but it won't work around the terrible ground resolution in FS9.
Flight One Software - Ultimate Terrain: Highly improved landclass, rivers, roads, etc for Alaska, Canada, USA and Europe.

How to Drift a Bus

September 3, 2018

This is another satire...

I traveled to Japan last year and got a chance to meet the Drift King himself. I was doing a track day and drifting culture is hot in Tokyo. I got a chance to speak to Mr. Tsuchiya and he told me a funny story about drifting something you wouldn't expect:

Hi, my name is Keiichi Tsuchiya, and I am the Drift King. I call this maneuver the "Omenibussu Duriftu" and it cost me my job and sent me into abject poverty.

I started doing this on rainy days tired from my 8 hour shift of hauling passengers around, I needed to relax and have a bit of fun. I would move the bus side to side and then turn hard and the bus would drift. Passengers screamed and complained as I counter-steered the slide. The complaints lead to me being fired ending my career as a bus driver.

If you want to try this yourself and risk your losing your wage, just do the following mods and follow these instructions.

Make sure you inflate the rear tires of the bus as much as you can and deflate the front ones. This will make the bus prone to oversteer. I convinced the maintenance workers to install nitrous on the bus telling them that the bosses ordered us to test out this new ethanol reduction system. I even convinced them to weld the rear differential as it would help getting out of sticky situations in snow.

I recommend you do this with 40 footer bus as an accordion bus may lead to fish-tailing. Use a track with plenty of run of area to prevent accidents or the rapid-transit road if you're brave enough. You'll need a rear-engined, rear-wheel drive bus for this technique (a bit like the Porsche 911).

First, accelerate to 60 kph, and then swing the bus left and right until you reach the corner. While you swing, keep accelerating until 100 kph. Then once it reaches the turn, accelerate hard and let the bus slide without adding steering input. Half-way through the slide, counter steer and reduce throttle. It will work every time, at least for someone skilled like me.

The simulation was possible thanks to BeamNG.drive

Automatic Transmission Simulation in Games

April 9, 2018

I know automotive enthusiasts will hate me for saying this, but automatic transmissions are an incredibly fascinating technology. Manual transmissions these days are reserved for the track, while most of the developing world is moving to a fleet majoritarily composed of automatics.

These days, even enthusiasts will admit that automatics are more efficient, shift faster and easier to drive than a stick shift. However, no one will disagree that a standard is much more fun and engaging.

How Automatics Work

To over-simplify things a little, transmissions exist due to the limitations in a combustion engine. It has a several narrow RPM ranges where it either produces the most power, the most torque or is the most efficient. The different gears in a transmission allow the engine to operate at the speed ideal for the driving condition while staying within those narrow RPM ranges. For a more complete and accurate explanation, please see this section on Wikipedia.

The part that I always found the most interesting about automatic transmissions was the shifting schedule. In other words, at what car speed to shift the gear up or down. The algorithm didn't seem simply arbitrary or simple and before I could drive, I did not have a way to experiment in computer games to figure out this logic.

Most driving games don't actually implement a true automatic. Rather, cars are all equipped with a manual transmission and the 'automatic' mode is actually a driver assist. The logic behind is simple, when the engine is near redline, it shifts up. When slowing down, downshifts occur at the maximum possible engine speed without exceeding the redline on the previous gear. However, this logic does not resemble at all what happens in a true automatic in real life.

After getting my license, I was excited to finally experience this shifting logic for myself. I was very surprised at how intelligently designed the system was, and how it adapted to driving conditions.

How Automatics Behave

The main concept of an automatic revolves around this: the harder you press the throttle, the later it shifts up. When driving slowly in a city for example, you need little power from the engine to accelerate. Therefore, it does not make sense to use the engine's entire RPM range in the first few gears to get up to speed, as running an engine faster is less fuel efficient. Rather, shifting early in the RPM range will maximize efficiency.

Automatic cars attempt to run at the highest gear to allow the engine to run in the most efficient range. However, higher gears provide poor acceleration when in a low RPM.

If the throttle is fully depressed, the car will shift in a way to make use of the entire RPM range of the engine up to the redline, this is the maximize performance and prevent lugging that would occur in a higher gear.

The other component is kickdown when depressing the throttle. At first, the car is at cruising certain speed and a higher gear will be engaged for fuel economy. However, if the throttle is depressed harder, the transmission will command a down shift, or several, to hit an RPM range suited for better performance.

Current automatics have become very advanced and take a multitude of factors into consideration to decide when to shift. Grade shift logic for example will adjust gear selection based on hill grade to help with acceleration on a steep incline or provide engine braking when going downhill.

Each manufacturer implements their own unique algorithms and systems though the above concepts generally remain the same.

Automatics in Games

I had great difficulty finding games that simulated automatics correctly. In fact, out of the hundreds of driving games I've tried, only three simulated them in road cars.

Admittedly, this is not an important aspect in racing, as most track cars use manual transmissions for better control. However, many of these games include road cars available to the general public and I found it odd that this kind of detail was missing.

I will analyse each game and demonstrate how it handles and simulates this kind of transmission. We'll be comparing them to the most common type of automatic transmission, the torque converter-based one.

The Test

A test was devised that will demonstrate each game's capability at simulating the behaviour of an automatic transmission. It only aims to show the basic behaviours of the shifting schedule of an automatic.

- First, the car will be driven slowly at city driving speeds. We expect the transmission to perform early shifts for fuel economy.
- Once reaching 70 km/h, the throttle will be fully depressed. This should initiate a kickdown, where the transmission selects the lowest possible gear for maximum acceleration.
- While accelerating, the car should only upshift at maximum RPM to maximize acceleration
- At 120km/h, the throttle will be fully released. At this point, the car will upshift to the highest possible gear for fuel economy. This is the cruising stage.

Other behaviours will be noted which are typical of torque converter-based automatic transmissions:

Slipping on acceleration due to torque converter and resulting torque multiplication.
Creeping forward when in drive with brake released.
Smooth and sluggish shifting between gears with no jerking movements between shifts.

Each test will be shown in a short video demonstrating the capabilities of each games.

Live for Speed

Live for Speed is racing simulation with physics accuracy that can be most admired by a perfectionist. Car handling feels so right and the feel for reaching the car's limit of grip is spectacular. Despite showing it's age now, few racing simulations come close to having the accurate driving feel of Live for Speed.

As a sim for purist racing fans, Live for Speed does not simulate automatic transmissions at all. Rather, the 'automatic' mode is a driving aid, that shifts for you in a way ideal for maximum performance rather than fuel efficiency. I'm including this game to show what a failing test would look like.

Let's cruise along with the Hatchback XF GTI on the track and drive it through our test:

Notice how shifting only occurs upon reaching the redline. While slowing down, downshifts happen as soon as possible to make use of engine braking. This kind of shifting is great for racing as it is very predictable but not for saving fuel in a city car.

An LFS forum user by the pseudonym 'tigerboyz' created a mod that simulates the shifting schedule of an automatic though it still feels like a driving aid. The slushy feeling of a torque converter or forward creeping are not simulated. Instead, this mod simply uses the manual transmission and shifts at points where an automatic would.

Enthusia

Enthusia is likely to be the first game of it's kind to simulate automatic transmissions correctly. I noted this while skimming a Wikipedia article about the game describing this kind of accurate modeling.

I eventually got my hands on the game through emulation. The game was a commercial failure, likely in part due to it's difficulty stemming from it's accurate driving dynamics and competition from the much more popular counterpart, Gran Turismo 4. Therefore, securing a physical copy is prohibitively expensive.

Let's take a look at how Enthusia portrays an automatic transmission.

As seen in the video, Enthusia pretty much nails automatic transmission shifting behaviour. However, the shifts do appear like they come for a torque converter, albeit an aggressive one.

The shifts don't happen that early and gears are held for a bit too long. It is almost as if the game is simulates a 'Sport' or 'Second Range' mode which is seen in some cars for sportier driving. This kind of mode shifts at higher RPMs for more responsive throttle feel and allows more use of engine braking for peppier driving.

Interestingly, when slowing down, the transmission down shifts in a way that favours performance driving. In other words, as the car slows down, downshifts occur to make use of engine braking to help the car slow down. In the average car, this does not happen, rather, shifting down only happens when the car has slowed down considerably or during kickdown.

However, one big part is missing: the characteristic creep when releasing the brake. The car stays immobile even with the handbrake released.

The game further emphases the stock transmission normally equipped with the car when selecting 'manual' or 'automatic' before a race. In cars with an automatic transmission, the choices are 'automatic' or 'semi-automatic' emphasizing that the car does not actually include a true manual with clutch and gear selector. For manual cars, 'gear assist' and 'manual' are displayed which indicates that the car won't be equipped with an automatic, rather an AI will assist the driver in shifting.

The selections for a Toyota Corolla, a car normally equipped with a torque converter-based automatic.

The selections for a Honda Accord Type-R, a car normally equipped with a clutch-based manual.

The game also simulate CVTs which shows just show niche-focused this game really is.

One last thing I'd like to mention about this game is how quirky it is. The presentation is really artistic for a racing game with a very cinematic intro and lively menu music. The car selection is really something to talk about with not only the stereotypical selection of road and racing cars, but also minivans, hybrids and SUVs. Enthusia really lets even the most niche of enthusiasts drive their favourites. Here's a few of them:

City Car Driving

Russian-based Forward Development seemed to have a very different take on a driving game: one that actually portrays everyday driving. Instead of testing the limits of your cars in a tight racing track, you'll be stuck in traffic in rain, merging on highways while checking your blind spot and of course, wearing your seat belt.

While the driving dynamics are not the most accurate or engaging, they're suitable for the leisurely pace known to most city drivers. Oversteer might not feel convincing, but the traffic patterns seem to mimic reality with impatient drivers, those who change lanes without signals and so on.

Let's get behind the wheel of an average car equipped with an automatic. We got rid of the traffic so we could speed at our leisure.

Clearly, the simulation of the automatic transmission is very impressive. The slushy shifts, the shifting schedule and the lurch of torque multiplication are all there. Everything feels right. There's even the characteristic automatic transmission creep when releasing the brake when in drive.

This game doesn't have much quirks, it's just a good education tool to get new drivers acquainted with the feel of driving, or perhaps those who enjoy driving so much they want to do it at home.

BeamNG.drive

Renowned for it's incredibly realistic crash physics, BeamNG.drive shows how well driving dynamics can be simulated even without any pre-canned behaviours. In BeamNG.drive, cars behave based on the sum of their parts such as drivetrain, tires, aerodynamics and so on. While not the most accurate driving simulator, the mechanics are incredibly convincing.

BeamNG.drive vehicle roaster focuses on daily road cars rather than performance vehicles. As a result, stock vehicles can be equipped with torque converter automatics, CVTs and of course manual transmissions.

Out of all the games tested so far, BeamNG.drive is a clear winner in terms of simulating torque converter-based automatics. From the sluggish acceleration due to torque multiplication to the smooth shifting and accurate shifting schedule, the game provides the most realistic feeling automatic driving experience.

Let's get straight to the test with this game.

What's obvious is how much it feels like you're driving a normal car in the city. The initial lunge from the torque converter to the sluggish shifts. Even the delayed kickdown is portrayed after flooring the accelerator. It's very impressive. Of course, it creeps forward as soon as you put it into drive.

The amount of options simulating different kind of transmissions is staggering:
- High stall torque converters
- CVTs
- Transbrakes
- Dual-Clutch Automatic Transmissions
- Sport Mode Selection
- Manual Mode in an Automatic Transmission

Each one of the features above is simulated in a very convincing way. If you're interested in tinkering with car behaviour, I highly recommend this game.

Final Thoughts

This kind of endavour was more of satisfying an obsession than anything else. This is probably one of the most niche things I've ever written about. Most racing fans simply floor the accelerator when the count down reaches zero, however I like to test the limits of games and see how much attention to detail they really put in. Even when it's not intended, games tend to become a sandbox for me.

Attention to detail is something I really appreciate. Few games go the extra mile to mimic intricate details of reality and it's really admirable. Now, for noticing that a game simulates automatic transmission logic, that is a personal problem of obsessiveness that I may have!

It's hard for me to believe that the games above are the only ones in existence that simulate such concept of the automotive world. If you know any other games that simulate this behaviour, let me know by submitting a comment.