What is the best WWII airwar game and is it reasonable to play or do you have to have extensive knowledge of flying. I want to go up in a corsair or avenger and shoot down enemy planes. I would like to have some kind of scenerio or missions built in. Anything out there?
From experience, I think IL-2 Sturmovik is the best WWII sim although I have not yet tried Microsoft’s Combat Flight SIm 3. IL-2 is for Eastern Front aircraft (Messeschmitts and Yaks, etc…) and CFS3 is Europe.
I have Flight Combat Sim 2 and have been very happy with it. It was quicker to learn than IL-2 and it’s Pacific Theater oriented so there are your corsairs as well as Zeros and Georges. Many other ‘Simmers’ were not pleased with the enemy aircraft AI but there are plenty of free downloads for enhancements and additional aircraft for CFS2. If you are new to WWII simming I would recommend CFS2 because it’ll be cheaper now and is less of a strain on your PC.
Another decent CS is European Air War. It’s a bit older, but the selection of aircraft is quite extensive, and fairly easy to learn. I still get a thrill running in a Bf-109G and shooting down squadrons of B-17’s.
I have heard good things about FCS2, as well, but haven’t gotten the chance to try it out yet.
demono69
All of the above, nsc. My fave is the IL-2 series, but the CFS series still rocks. As to knowledge of flying, if you grab a copy of any of these games with a manual included, it’ll tell you all you need to know. (If there’s no paper manual included, many games include it on the disc) And don’t be discouraged in the beginning, you’re going to crash alot on your own, and get waxed by the enemy even more often! LOL
As to your specific interest in the Corsair or Avenger; the Corsair is represented in CFS2 WWII PTO (Microsoft’s Combat Flight Simulator 2 - WWII Pacific Theater). The Avenger isn’t represented in the standard game, I don’t believe. But there are plenty of websites where you can download extra files for just about any game you can imagine, and there’s a ton of them out there for all the Flight Sims, and several for the CFS series. I do recall seeing a file for an Avenger, somewhere…
Fade to Black…
Also, consider trying an oline sim like aces high or fighterace or warbirds. Of the 3 I’d go with aces high, followed closely by fighterace. Playing against the computer is all well and good, and an excellent way to learn the basics, but nothing compares to actually bouncing a real live human.
The absolute best is when you get into it with someone and realize that they’re as good or better than you, then it becomes an energy management game, with each pilot trying to make the other make a mistake. It’s like a chess game, one mistake can kill you. Fights like that are intense, your heart will pound, and your adreneline will be pumping. Some of my favorite gaming moments have happened as a result of playing real live people head to head in a game like that. There is not much else like it, except the real thing of course.
madda
I’ve been dying to get online with IL-2, IT WON’T LET ME!!! LOL
Fade to Black…
If you wanna head to head sometime, I have cfs2. I could re-install it. It wouldn’t take me more than a couple of hours to set up my flight rig again and remap the game keys to where I want them. Just gimme the word.
madda
nc - No matter which game you choose, you can learn to fly quite easily. One of the most important items to invest in is a really good flight stick. The better (and more expensive) ones feel better in the hand, have fire buttons and other functions such as trim switches (“coolie hats”) and buttons for other functions located more ergonomically than the cheaper ones. Also, the cheap ones definitely have a “cheap” feel to them with a lot of looseness around the center point, or “null” region. I fly with a Saitek X36, which has a seperate throttle control for the left hand, and oh my god, more buttons, modes, and settings than I can even use. Check it out on www.saitek.com .This particular HOTAS (hands on throttle and stick) will allow you to program any of the buttons to suit your particular settings, and there are downloads available for most of the popular sims. Get one at Best Buy, try it out, and return it if you don’t like it (just remember what their return policy is).
Speaking of settings, one of the better ways to learn without frustration is to customize your settings within the game to allow continued flight after a crash. There is usually also a “cheat mode” that will give you unlimited fuel and ammo, and a “no kill” mode for shots against your own aircraft.
I know that some you really skilled simmers will load up on weapons and fuel to come after me for suggesting this, but right now that’s my current skill level, as I don’t have much time to sit and play. Besides, right now, I’m still learning my aircraft.
One more thing. Don’t know what kind of system you’re running, but some of them will really tax your system, resulting in jumpy screens and poor graphics. Make sure your system is capable of handling the sim. The minimum requirements are printed somewhere on the box, so you can check that before you buy it. And if you buy a sim whose minimum requirements are the max that your system has, you will be running the program at it’s most primitive level, which never much fun
A magazine called Flight Journal does a review of sims and controllers every month, so you might try to find a few back issues to scope out what’s out there. Pretty good rag otherwise also.
Simming is awesome, and though I don’t get into online combat with others (I’m still on a dial-up connection), I can’t wait to upgrade my computer and get in on the “action”.
Hope this helps. Stinger
One that’s been out for a while that I still enjoy is Jane’s WW2 Fighters. Also for just pure flying enjoyment I like an even older one - Flight Unlimited - you get a choice of 5 different aerobatic airplanes to fly - love that Pitts !
Jim
I have pretty much all of them…except for the pay-to-plays… the IL-2 is the best series by far, but CFS2 is up your alley if you are into the Pacific…there are files that convert the AI planes (Dauntless, Avenger, Devastator, Val, and Kate)- to flyable…but you have to find cockpit panels elsewhere.
One that has aged as well as EAW is Fighter Squadron: Screamin’ Demons Over Europe…it can be gotten for free (except shipping) from some sites and while the default game is lacking, the add-on community is active with hundreds of planes to download. There is even a separate WWI group that have pretty impressive WWI aircraft…as well as tanks, trucks, etc…you get the drift 
Head here to see the various sims out there now-- each has it’s own forum:
I still fly EAW
some nuts still produce free add ons which improve the graplics and add more and more realism to the game.
I also have IL2 and CFS 1 and 2 but still love EAW - which only costs 5Euro BTW!
If you like jets I reccomend Falcon 4, MiG Alley and Strike fighters.
Avoid all Janes games
Depends on hard hard core you are…
Boxed sims would be Il-2FB
soon to be relashed lock-on “its a jet sim”
I myself play Warbirds and target rabaul which has one of the hardest Flight models of any WW2 online simIt is in open beta now!
But whatever you play have fun and enjoy!
Dean
IL2 - Forgotten Battles. It is the current apex of WW2 flight sims.
What kind of computer do you need to run to play target rabaul? That’s a new one to me, if my puter will run it, I’d sure like to check it out. If you like warbirds, give aces high a shot. You know that HiTech created it. Did you play any sims before warbirds?
madda
For a really good rundown on all flight sims, go to the forums on www.simhq.com
BTW, I think the natural PC game for this group would be Airfix dogfighter:
http://www.gamesdomain.com/demos/demo/1215.html
Check this game out! If I remember, there are over 100 different aircraft to fly!
Heehee yes I know AH and ww2ol…Know Hi-tech well…
for target rabaul go to www.targetware.com
Should get away with a low end PC of around 1gig CPU
and a good Vid card.
Cheers
Kiwi
Hmm, crapp. I’m running a 650 here. I need to upgrade in a bad way. Maybe this will put me over the edge. Did you ever play any Airwarrior back in the day? How come you stick with warbirds over AH?
madda
Airwarrior, especially AW3MV, was great! It had one of my favorite light bombers, the A-26. It was awesome flying the Invader under 200 feet for a low level bombing run on an airfield.
I fly IL-2 and its sequel, EAW and Mig Alley. All great sims and a heck of a lot of fun.