I've been flying this sim for about two weeks now, and the first thing that hit me was this: where are the big European monuments and buildings in FS 2002?  Admittedly, Paris is well stocked, but Carcassonne, which boasts a really huge mediaeval city in real life, has no mediaeval city in the game.  Similarly, Salzburg's Hohensalzburg castle (which should be visible from the airport) is missing.  These are landmarks that are the size of a small town!  The Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona isn't there either.  Many of the world's larger type landmarks seem to be missing unless they happen to be situated in national capitals, and I think it destroys some sense of realism for those of us who like to fly VFR outside of the major world capitals.  One can't fly around Carcassonne, Barcelona, or Salzburg and just ignore the fact that these huge structures aren't there - it completely destroys any suspension of disbelief.  Microsoft seems to have basically forgotten to include many of the larger landmarks in Europe and the rest of the world.  I've looked on the web for 3rd party buildings and scenery for Europe and the rest of the world, but no luck so far.  I don't know if the commercial Austrian scenery add-on includes Hohensalzburg - I hope so.  Does anyone know if it does?

I think it would be nice if Microsoft could even out the focus on structures for each region for their next release of the game.  I'm not expecting more landmarks - that would eat up hard drive space and increase the cost.  But what I think they could do is make a list of the world's largest structures and most important landmarks (not just those in the world's capitals) and at least include them.  It seems that their choice for FS2002 was to bias the sim towards US landmarks - many minor US sports stadiums seem to have been included.  I realise that the sim is marketed towards a US audience, but surely American flight sim enthusiasts want to travel elsewhere when given the chance - I know I do.

Can anyone tell me what major structures outside of capital cities ARE included?

Also, does anyone happen to know if Microsoft will be addressing this apparent imbalance in FS2003?

The following is my list of the 20 essential (but apparently missing from FS2002) buildings I know of that should (in my opinion) be included in future releases:

Alcazar, Segovia
The Alhambra, Granada
Burg Eltz
Carcassonne
Chartres Cathedral
Edinburgh Castle
Great Mosque, Damascus
Haga Sophia, Istanbul
Himeji Castle, Japan
Hohensalzburg Castle
Karnak Temple
Köln (Cologne) Cathedral
Mont St. Michel
Neuschwanstein
Palace of the Popes, Avignon
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Sagrada Familia Church, Barcelona
Suleyman Mosque, Istanbul
Taj Mahal
Windsor Castle

I agree Beery, this is a huge oversight by MS. Of course there's a limit to what can be included, but if they can included "minor sports stadiums" you would think they could have made some effort with the more  recognisable landmarks around the world. I couldn't even find Ayers Rock in Australia the other day, maybe that was just me. I thought I saw Windsor Castle while flying around Heathrow once, but could be wrong. There seems to be a definate bias towards the US.

I am amazed how much add on scenery is available though, it takes a fair while to go through it all, but I think you'll find what your looking for eventually.

I think Taj Mahal is included in FS2K2.

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Yes.  I figured it might be.  I just haven't seen it yet.  The vast majority of the buildings I mention are not available though.

Can't wait to see Neuschwanstein. That has to be the most beautiful castle set in some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere. I was there a couple of years ago I'd love to go back.

This has been a very informative series of well-researched postings -- a culturally enlightening read about famous world landmarks. I'm constantly amazed about the breadth of knowledge exhibited here! Thanks, everyone. Hope Microsoft takes note.

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Agreed.

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I just took a quick trip up the Congo last night from Brazzaville to Mbandaka.  I did notice that the falls near to Brazzaville were missing any white water/splash effects, but I guess that's to be expected in the middle of nowhere.  With an entire world to model, I guess some things can slip through the cracks.  I'll have to check out Victoria falls.  The largest waterfall on Earth should, in my opinion, get some attention.  I'm not gonna get my hopes up too much though.   

Unfortunately it appears that some of our American cousins (particularly at M$) are somewhat cartographically challenged. If it isn't within their State then they don't know about it.
One obvious exception are the guys here, who jet all over the world and so know a lot of geography! Ah well Beery, don't let it spoil your fun, and if you're that upset, well have a crack at making the offending scenery (I've got a Nessie project under way at the moment, but on hold recently).

Ozzy