User Guide

Flight Simulator
20002000
20002000
2000
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Microsoft
windows. Increasing the size of windows and
displaying multiple windows simultaneously
decreases performance, so use as few windows
as possible and keep them as small as you can
(with the exception of Full Screen mode, de-
scribed below).
Change the resolution
Depending on the type of video card and monitor
you have, you can run Flight Simulator 2000 at a
variety of screen resolutions. The instrument
panels were optimized for readability in 640 x 480
and 1024 x 768 screen resolutions. A screen
resolution of 1024 x 768 will provide the best
overall graphics quality. Note though that as you
increase resolution to see more detail, you may
notice a decrease in performance. Experiment
with different resolutions to find the best combi-
nation of detail and performance for your system.
For more information about adjusting the screen
resolution on your computer, on the Windows
Start menu, click Help, and look up “resolution.”
Use Full Screen mode
Full Screen mode makes the Flight Simulator
window fill the entire screen (no menu bar or
taskbar) and will likely improve performance. To
toggle between Full Screen and Normal modes,
press ALT+ENTER, or on the Views menu select
or deselect Full Screen. To bring up the menu bar
while in Full Screen mode, press ALT. To set the
resolution used in Full Screen mode, click the
Options menu, point to Settings, and click
Display.
Change display options
One way to improve performance is to change the
display options in Flight Simulator. Each option
has a different effect, and changes you make
apply to all flights. Turning an option on or off is
noticeable only when you see an effect related to
that option on the screen. For example, reducing
the scenery complexity won’t have much effect if
you’re flying in the clouds.
To change display options, click the Options
menu, point to Settings, and click Display.
Change sound preferences
Depending on your machine, changing sound
preferences (or turning sound off) may improve
performance. To change sound options, on the
Options menu, point to Settings, and click
Sound.
Change visibility and other weather
settings
Generally speaking, the less scenery you see out
of the window, the better the performance will be.
Reducing visibility is a simple way to improve
performance. On the World menu, click Weather.
Monitor the frame rate
Monitoring the frame rate (the number of times
the screen is redrawn each second) is an easy
way to assess Flight Simulator’s performance.
Press SHIFT+Z twice to display the frame rate
counter. When you try the options listed above,
check the frame rate to see whether it has
improved. Remember though: it’s how the
simulation looks and feels to you that matters
most.
Experiment
The best way to make Flight Simulator really fly on
your machine is to experiment. Change some-
thing, then see if things look or feel any different.
Read the Readme file in the Flight Simulator
directory on your hard drive for additional tips.