Of course I am running the game at the lowest settings possible. They looked the same as FS9 - nothing improved. I examined the "new" graphics and I was very let down. This includes several third party add-on packs that are installed to enhance weather, add very realistic cockpits and real world AI planes. Please note: FS9 runs on the highest settings on my PC with no frame rate issues. The game reloaded and the frame rate was somewhat improved yet it was still dramatically lower than FS9. Oh, no! The frame rate crapped out again! I stopped the plane and changed to a lower graphics setting. I started up my little plane and received clearance from ATC (Air Traffic Control) to taxi to the active runway. Needless to say it also chugged pretty badly. I activated the chase plane view by pressing the S key - just to see what the outside of the plane looked like and the surrounding area. Maybe it was something I did while loading the game? I checked my display options and sure enough my "optimal" settings are medium-low. I looked to the left and right and the frame rate was rough. The controls looked good however I encountered my first problem with Flight Simulator X: the framerate. Flight Simulator X places you in virtual cockpit mode automatically but you can still choose the 2D instrument panel view. After taking a much longer time to load than FS9, I finally saw the cockpit. I checked out the 24 planes that are included in the Deluxe Edition and settled on the Beechcraft Baron 58 as I wanted to take a simple flight around Los Angeles to examine Flight Simulator X's graphics and dynamic scenery. As a bonus there's also a sweeping music score straight out of an Indiana Jones movie. When the main screen comes up you're greeted with a menu that will look very familiar to those who have Flight Simulator 9: A Century of Flight. Apparently Microsoft has programmed code to optimize Flight Simulator X's settings to your PC (graphics, scenery, etc.). Flight Simulator X comes on 2 DVDs and is huge! It took a solid 30 minutes to install and, once finished, I waited and waited for the menu to come up. "Why?" you ask? You'll understand as you read below however it does meet the recommended system specs spelled out in Microsoft's reviewer's guide. Before I go any further I want to spell out the specs for my PC: Pentium 3.0 GHz processor, 2GB RAM, and an ATI Raedeon X850 with 256MB RAM.
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