Flight Simulator 4.0
Released: Late 1989
Published by: Microsoft
Developed by: subLogic, Inc.
Author(s): Bruce A. Artwick
Introduction
The fourth version of Flight Simulator arrived in 1989, soon after FS3 due to a large number of complaints about its poor flight model. Not only did FS4 fix the buggy flight model; Microsoft had been hard at work on other aspects of the flight sim, including a dynamic weather system, approach lighting, and dynamic scenery such as other planes taking off and landing, boats on the water and vehicles moving around airports and roads!
An additional sailplane and experimental aircraft were included to supplement the three other planes from FS3: Cessna Skylane, Gates Learjet, and Sopwith Camel. If you bought the new add-on Aircraft & Scenery Designer, you could use it to create your own aircraft and fly it. Microsoft also released the Western Europe Scenery Tour as an add-on expansion.
The "world" included in FS4 was the same as in FS3, measuring more than 10,000 x 10,000 miles square, with a resolution of about one one-hundredth inch. It encompassed the entire continental United States and extended into Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The "populated world" covered 5 areas (New York/Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco Bay) and 118 airports. Outside of these areas FS4 came with no airports or other detail beyond basic ground textures.
Mallard Software was probably the most prominent in creating enhancement software for FS4 to enrich the game world with more airports, cities and new adventures. Some of the more popular ones included the Aircraft & Adventure Factory, Scenery Enhancement Editor, Sound, Graphics & Aircraft Upgrade, and various scenery disks. Check out the FS4 Add-Ons page for more details.
FS4 supported 640 x 350 in 16 colours plus a new 320 x 200 graphics mode in 256 colours [though this didn't make use of the extended palette much], but with the Microsoft Sound, Graphics & Aircraft (SGA) Upgrade that arrived in 1991 the graphics resolution was raised to up to 800 x 600 with special drivers for popular graphics cards and chipsets.
The weather effects were much enhanced in FS4 - clouds were now more 'cloud-like' rather than white painted circles, and you could have weather set to worsen over time with wind changes and turbulence layers forming. You could also set the game to run at the same time of day as your PC's system clock.
For some, this was the pinnacle of the series, with simple but elegant graphics and the flexibility to create your own aircraft and scenery. For such Flight Sim enthusiasts the move to FS5 in 1993 was a major backward step, primarily because of the horrible use of textures - bigger didn't always mean better.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 4.01 (1989)
System Requirements
| System Requirements | Intel 8088/8086 CPU, 384 KB of RAM, DOS 2.0 Graphics support: Hercules, CGA, CGA Composite, Tandy/PCjr, Hercules InColor (720 x 348 in 16 colours), MCGA, EGA, VGA (640 x 350 max. in 256 colours). Audio support: PC speaker only. Peripheral support: Mouse, analogue joystick, ThrustMaster FCS/WCS. |
|---|---|
| Original Media | Two 5.25" 360 KB (DS/DD) floppy diskettes |
| Installed Size (MB) | 634 KB (Main program + US scenery only) |
From where can it be run?
Like FS3, FS4 could be installed to your hard disk manually by copying all the files from the floppy disks, or alternatively run directly from floppy disk. The default hard disk installation directory it recommends is C:\FLTSIM4.
Copy Protection
FS4 has no copy protection.
How to Setup
There is no installation routine or setup utility for FS4. If you wish to go through the startup questions, e.g. to run the game in a different graphics option, run FS.BAT instead of FS4.EXE. Alternatively, run FS4 x and it will take you through the following steps:
Your choices are saved in a file called AUTOEXEC.FS4 in the game directory.
Problems
Symptom: The game fails to start correctly, or I get garbled characters all over my screen.
Cause: Your setup configuration may be incorrect.
Resolution: Delete the file AUTOEXEC.FS4 and re-run the game with 'fs4 x', choosing the options that match your hardware.
Keys
There are far too many controls in FS4 to list them all here, but here are the basic ones to get you up and running:
| Flight Controls F1 = Cut throttle F2 = Decrease throttle 2 notches F3 = Increase throttle 2 notch F4 = Full throttle F5 = Flaps Up F6 = Flaps 15 deg. F7 = Flaps 30 deg. F8 = Flaps 40% . (period key) = Wheelbrake G = Landing gear up/down Keypad bottom-left (0) & bottom-right (Enter) = Rudder left/right NumPad 7 and 1 = Elevator trim |
View Controls Scroll Lock + Numeric Keypad 1-9 = Look in that direction [ = 3D window one ] = 3D window two NumLock = Map window S = Cycle through Cockpit, Tower, Track, and Spot view modes [ + or - = Zoom in/out 3D window one ] + or - = Zoom in/out 3D window two NumLock + or - = Zoom in/out map window |
| Ancillary Flight Controls L = Lights on/off O = Strobe on/off A = Altimeter calibrate D = Directional gyro calibrate Radio Controls Press the Nav key (N) followed by the radio number. The use + and - to increase/decrease the frequency. Press N key twice in rapid succession, then + or - again to set the fractional frequency. ATC Transponder reponse: Press T, TT, TTT, and TTTT followed by + and - to set the squawk frequency. |
General Controls ESC = display menu / hide menu P = Pause simulation Q = Sound on/off |
To Quit the Game
When in-flight (not in a demo mode), press Ctrl-C to exit the game. You will be prompted to confirm with '1' for Yes, or '2' for No.
Supporting Documents
- User Manual (22 MB PDF document)
- Quick Reference Card
- Charts: New York and Boston Area, Central and Northern Illinois Area, Seattle Area, Los Angeles Area, San Francisco and Oakland Area
Additional Files, Drivers & Utilities
Official scenery for FS4 was created by subLogic - the USA Scenery Collection East and USA Scenery Collection West added thousands of airports, nav aids, and a large number of new scenery details.
FS4 was also where we saw third-party planes and 'modes' (scenery) being created for the first time, thanks to Mallard's Aircraft & Adventure Factory. Custom scenery files have a .SC1 file extension, whereas official third-party ones have the standard .SCN file extension.
See my dedicated article that goes through some of the FS4 add-ons in more detail.
Save Games
Like FS3 and earlier, FS4 doesn't have the concept of a 'save game'.
Versions of the game known to exist
Note this page is only for Microsoft Flight Simulator 4.0 - other pages exist for other versions.
| Version | Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | Sep 1989? | Initial public release - known to have a few bugs. |
| 4.0A | 9th Oct 1989 | Bug-fix release |
| 4.0B | 30th Jan 1990 | Bug-fix release. The final version of FS4, and the best. |
Original Floppy Disk Contents
The floppy disks have a defined volume label. Here are each disk's contents:
Disk 1 of 2 (5.25" DS/DD floppy diskette)
Directory of A:\ |
|
Disk 2 of 2 (5.25" DS/DD floppy diskette)
Directory of A:\ |
 |
Microsoft Aircraft & Scenery Designer (5.25" DS/DD floppy diskette (both formats provided in the box), Vol: FS A&SD V40): Directory of A:\ |
 |
Microsoft Sound, Graphics & Aircraft Update (3.5" DS/DD floppy diskette, no vol label): Directory of A:\ |
 |
Installed Directory Contents
Once installed, the following directory structure exists in the game directory:
Directory of C:\FLTSIM |