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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
