I want to get a good computer game for my son and I for Christmas. What we are interested in is a good flight program, possibly something in the military "fly and shoot-em-down genre. But I am also looking for good graphics and pretty good “realism”/“simulation” (where you can read the instrumentation or heads-up display, and can also take off and land, etc.)
So:
What are some really good games that provide pretty good simulation?
Since I’m going to have to buy a joystick to support the program, what would y’all recommend?
I’m not a big computer gamer, so I can’t give you recommendations on the stick or anything, but I have a buddy back home who’s addicted to a Korean War based flight sim game called “MiG Alley” I’m not sure who makes it though.
I tried it once, definitely challenging, but also some good fun.
Microsoft flight Sim would be a good game to start with. With the sim, you can learn basic flight. It also has add ons such as Air War Europe, Pacific, Korea and Vietnam. The add ons are a little more advanced than the basic flight sim.
Another good sim is Strike Fighter. It requires much more experience in playing flight sims. More advanced sims require much greater experience. If you want that, try to get a copy of Falcon 4. The learning curve on this game is very low. Even in the instant action.
Microsoft also makes a very good joy stick. It has force feed back and is easy to use. More advanced joy sticks, such as Thrustmaster HOTAS are fully programable and also cost around $300.00, US.
As for me,let me suggust the Flanker 2.5 and the IL 2 both are combat simulators type games.I use a saltex joy stick which is reasonible and is easy to get a hold of,also can be made to fit left or right handers.This is a plus for me since I am left handed.Digger
Thanks Bernie, Upnorth, and Digger for all the help so far. It’s truly appreciated.
I just realized this thread is in the wrong forum. Should be in Odds & Ends. For all of you out there thinking this thread is in the wrong place, and the guy who put it there either can’t read, or must be stupid, you are right on all counts. Sorry about that…
Anyway, further comments/opinions/suggestions are appreciated.
There are a plethora of flying sims available. As mentioned, the Microsoft Combat flight sim is a good one, and truthfullly, probably the most ‘non-arcadey’ of them all.
IL-2 is good, and features a very common graphics and physics engine that is used in a variety of sims by that same company.
Another notable mention is Secret Weapons Over Normandy.
The Il-2 series is the king of WW2 flight sims, imho. I don’t have the first one, but I do have the three others (Forgotten Battles, Ace Expansion Pack, and Pacific Fighters). You can set the difficulty level to match your ability. I don’t know if the makers still support the original Il-2 anymore. The games do demand a decent computer. To make it run well, you probably need 512Mb of ram and a 128Mb video card, although there are people who seem to be able to make it work with less. I have 768Mb of ram and a 128Mb video card,and there are missions and scenarios that I cannot make work with Pacific Fighters. Hope this helps.
I’m also a huge IL-2 fan. I think it’s the best in its combination or realism and gameplay. I was overjoyed when I cam across this user guide site. I think it’ll give you a good overview how the game is layed out and played.
Also, I’ve been hearing good things about their new game ‘Pacific Fighters’.
I’ve done WWI, WWII, Korean, Viet Name and contemporary flight sims. Over all, the contemporaries have a steeper learning curve because of the complexities of learning radar systems and fire controls of modern jets. WWII sims are generally ones whre you can get in the air quicker and just start shooting. If you like the speed of jets, I would recommend Mig Alley.
buff,
out of curiosity, what make video card due you have and what graphic settings are you running at.
Not a particularly good one!. I have an Fx 5200 PCI card. When I bought my computer 2 years ago, I didn’t know about AGP slots (or much else about computers), so I never looked. I don’t have a particularly good gaming machine. It’s an HP Pavilion 515n. It has a 2.3Ghz Celeron processor, which was never made for flight-simming. It had Intel onboard graphics, but I’ve replaced that. My video options are mostly medium or lower, my set up is in safe mode for OpenGL. I’ve also turned down water, trees, and effects in the conf.ini. I’m still experimenting with set-ups. I’ve tried most of the recommended options for lower end machines, but I’m still not getting the results others are getting, There may not be any getting around my cpu. I definitely need more ram, but buying anything for a HP is expensive. They seem to have made them so the user can’t upgrade. It’s a shame because Pac Fighters is an amazing game, esp. if you install it over FB and the AEP. Landing on carriers is a real challenge, and a ton of fun. Makes you appreciate how much skill the real pilots had.
Pretty much any ‘manufactured’ PC you get is designed in a way that is not entirely friendly to upgrade.
If you’re in a market for a new PC, and you know your way somewhat around computer hardware, may I suggest buying your computer in component form. You’ll save money, and get much better hardware than you would otherwise.
US Navy Fighters Gold used to be my favorite. Although I have swithced over to PS games I miss this one on the computer. I couldn’t tell you what the newest version is or if it has been replaced with something else.
In addition to some very nice graphics, (that you could customize) you had to contend with weight restrictions, ammo limitations, fuel consumption, mission specs, flight physics ( you could black out or throw it into a flat spin if you tried to beat the laws of flight physics), it learned so you never played it the same way twice and your AI opponents started to second guess you if you got into a pattern.
It had all the defense hardware, chaffe, flares etc and you could go off course till you ran out of fuel and crashed. I think I spent the first couple of days just learning how to take off and land smoothly and to fly without crashing. Once you got the hang of it though it played nice and I never played all the way through.
Now if they could only do a tank sim worth it weight…