Because I do not have a real high-end gaming machine, I turned off the "normal" mapping, and the depth of focus feature, to achieve better performance capabilities.
The video on a rather smaller screen looks every bit as good with 4.5 as it did with 4.0. The big plus is that my frame rates have been improved by a considerable amount, like 30-40 fps in a 3D field, and well above 50 in a photofield!
The ground handling is much better, and you really DO see and hear the bumps in the grass and on hard ground, rather than just seeing the plane gliding smoothly across a surface you know SHOULD be ROUGH !
I am not into heli and float flying so I will not comment on those features, but the additional airplanes and fields are highly welcome!
I even found that the "Bulldog" now taxies correctly, where in 4.0 it used to do a terrible ground loop even after only being kicked forward for a foot or so. That was one of the problems I pointed out to the software engineers, and I do believe they LISTENED to me !
I really like the physics of the FS, and I have used it to test a couple of my designs and modifications with complete satisfaction and confidence in the simulated results, vs. the results of the actual models at the field ! That feature alone takes it far beyond just a "game". It is a real learning and design TOOL !
Merry Christmas, Jim
