Head-2-Head With AV8R

I know, I know. COMBATSIM.COM™ is supposed to be about combat simulations. But every so often there comes a time when the civilian sim world actually has some good stuff to offer. And we all know that there is benefit in flying the civilian stuff to learn good flight discipline.

So far this year has produced two good civilian sims: Sierra's ProPilot99 and Terminal Reality's Fly! Many of the readers of these pages hold a private pilot's license (PPL), or even a commercial license. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if many of you already have both PP99 and Fly!.

For those of you that care about civilian planes, read on. The rest of you that need something to kill other than time, simply pass over this article. The scope of this article is to lightly compare the two sims, and not to offer an in depth review. We have already done a review of PP99, and Fly! will be getting its own treatment soon. I have never owned MS Flight Simulator so I cannot compare either of these to this title (other than my MS CFS experiences). (For more of our civilian coverage see the Civil Flight Index.)

The PP99 Experience

Earlier this year I bought PP99 and was very much impressed with its full offering. It sported good looking graphics that ran well on my P2 333 with V2, had great sounds, and offered six civilian aircraft from single engine to dual engines and even a private jet.

What I had heard about PP99 that made it my choice was that it had very comprehensive flight and training manuals, instrumentation and ATC. Graphics and scenery aside, if you're going to fly a civilian sim, it better be realistic in the areas that you'll want to carry into the experience of getting a PPL. PP99 really does deliver well in all of these categories.

Update Me!

Since its release, there have been 3 update versions, mostly in the areas of graphics and some flight model issues. The best aspects of this sim are: the responsive flight model, great training features, functional landing lamps, ATC and of course - the clouds.

Clouds in PP99

PP99's nickname is Clouds99. Flying over the LA basin at dusk is probably PP99 at its most beautiful. The worst aspects are: the many little nagging bugs like wheels that go under the tarmac, overly strong braking power, a mostly flat world (exception being the Grand Canyon), and the total lack of multiplayer.

Then just recently, Fly! flew in! At first glance it looks and feels very much like PP99. But I had made a fatal flaw: I did not load the satellite scenery for the 5 major cities and surrounding areas. When I did, Fly! really bloomed to life. In fact, the clouds and ability to control their scattering and weather conditions made PP99 begin to fade in the mist.

In the clouds in FLY!

Fly! also sports the same range of plane types, but a different set. The graphics and sounds are clean, but due to the satellite imagery it will cost you more CPU power and hard disk space (up to 1.6GB vs only 400MB for PP99). When I had clouds, weather and multiple pop up windows going in FLY!, my P2 333 MHz, 128mb V2 system would begin to run a slide show.

PP99 and Fly! have many of the same features. To cover all them and the specific differences would be a major undertaking. But for the benefit of those that want an at-a-glance comparison, I have compiled the following chart.

The feature comparison could go on for pages, but I really wanted to give you the flavor of the differences. I believe the pictures included in this article will also serve to help you see what could not be communicated in words alone.

Taxiing in FLY!

To sum up I would have to say that Fly! is the definite winner in a head to head comparison. But remember Fly! is arriving on the scene six months later, and has the competitive advantage of being able to see what the competitor offered.

PP99 is a very solid flight sim, but Fly! surpasses it with the additional graphics detail and multiplayer support. When we get our hands on Pro Pilot 2000 in the next couple of weeks, the picture may shift again.

3 o'clock in FLY!

If the issue for you is to have a particular airplane, then pick the sim that has the one you want. Both of these sims do a good job of conveying a realistic experience of flight with great avionics. If ATC is a big issue for you, PP99 still is a clear winner.

Pro Pilot '99!

But if these aren't the primary issues, then I pick Fly! because it supports multiplayer (which runs smoothly even though the net server is in beta state) and has the better graphics. While PP2000 is due out this 3rd quarter, I didn't see multiplay support for PP2000. This is a big surprise since Red Baron2 has one of the best internet multiplayer codes ever written.

FLY! Multiplayer GUI

As usual, check six! Or in the case of civilian sims, check gear. You can visit the FLY! site at FLY! or the ProPilot site at ProPilot '99.