So after almost a year sober I think I have finally grown back enough brain cells to get back into flight sim games(all though its been an uphill battle because for every 5 I grow back I lose 3 due to paint and glue fumes), I have IL2 sturmovik and have started to toy with that again but was wondering about games involving modern aircraft. I have Falcon 4.0 and its a darn good game but is limited due to the fact that it is based soley around the F-16 and seems to be a little dated as far as graphics go. Anybody else out there an armchair pilot? If so, what is your advice as far as games.
I don’t have enough spare time to model and do flight sims anymore! But, check out LOMAC if you’re interested in modern aircraft, it’s by the same people that did IL-2 I believe. Sim HQ has great forums if you’re looking for info on this stuff.
Definitely more arcade game than sim (as you don’t have to worry about all the nuances) is Ace Combat 6 for the xbox 360. It is damn fun to play and revolves around all modern aircraft. The graphics are scary realistic.
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product_id=200301 scroll down to view the screenshots
-Fred
Ya I downloaded the demo for ace combat, kindof what got my mind back on this track. The reason I ask for the PC is because I am trying to use my awesome joystick and throttle setup rather than the controller for the 360
It depends on what you enjoy flying; if it’s WWII guns-only action, get Microsoft’s Combat Flight Sim 3. They’ve got a whole range of Axis & Allied types you can fly, including some “experimental” ones, like the Do 335 and Ho 229. The best flight sim for modern types of a/c is, as luftwaffle said, probably LOMAC.
About 4 years ago I picked up a game/sim called F-22 Raptor…it was a single player/online player game…the online was super fun and had a large following…people had squadrons and would schedule combat vs others.
The online game let you choose to be attacker or defender…attackers would have to bomb or otherwise wipe out the defenders cities on some really decent maps. Of course you communicate by typing or microphone with your teammates to coordinate action.
Everyone flies Raptors though, which may turn you off but the graphics were very well done.
I still own the game though it’s in my sister’s house.
If you think you are interested and can’t seem to locate it…I can get my copy back and you can have it. I found it in a bargain bin at Wal-Mart or someplace like that for $9.99…and not expecting much I was really happy with it.
Good luck with your sobriety
Nam
Last -
If you’re looking for realism, the last interation of Falcon 4, Allied Force, is still king of the heap, IMHO. There have been a number of upgrades since F4 came out, mostly by individuals who kept it alive. Most of those upgrades have been combined in F4AF. Yes, the graphic have been improved as well, so there’s plenty of eye candy.
The old Janes sims (F/A-18, USAF etc) are still fun, and those too have been upgraded by private parties for both realism and graphics. The downloads are free but some are easier to find than others. There are a bunch of Hornet sims out there that are still a blast.
The problem with multi-A/C or survey sims is that while fun and varied, you don’t get the high fidelity A/C modelling as with the single A/C sims. I’ve used sim A/C for modeling subjects, some are that accurate.
Lastly the Microsoft Flight Sim has adds on for Mil A/C. They can’t fight, but most fly nicely for sight-seeing (eye candy).
You might want to stop by www.frugalsworld.com that’s the meca for flight sim types. A lot of good people there.
Archer out.
Are you serious about the Jane’s sims? I was going to mention them, but I was afraid people would laugh at me. I had US Navy Fighters and gave it away, but I kept Fighter’s Anthology (still my favorite flight sim of all time); easy to use, and you can load out about 50 different a/c with any combo of weapons you want. I’ve flown a B-2 bomber loaded down with about 50 AGM-84E SLAM’s and/or AIM-54 Phoenix’s; it’s kinda cheating, but it’s fun.
Where can I find the third-party downloads? I’ve already installed the patch, but upgrades would be nice. Thanks!
There is a joystick/throttle controller set you can get for the 360 for Ace Combat 6, but its pricey I believe and I am not sure how available it is.
Been a loooooong time since i did any flight simulators. But my game of choice then was Falcon 4.0 as well. Good game, i thought. And at the time, it looked as realistic as humanly possible (back in 2000, that is). I think i had learned the basics of it pretty quickly. But i had gotten frustrated over the fact that i would get the "Archer Inbound"only seconds before becoming a lawn dart. Didn’t matter what i did as far as evasive manuevers or countermeasures. I guess i had been doing something wrong…
But, i still got it with the joystick and everything. One of these days, i’m gonna break it out and see if it works with Windows Vista…
Sod -
US Navy Fighters was the first in the series, and had pretty solid graphics for it’s time. It was DOS based, remember?
There are significant upgrades for both USAF (mostly eye candy) and F/A-18 (eye candy + avionics/modeling). They are available from several sites, but http://www.frugalsworld.com/ would be the best jumping off point.
For F/A-18, TSH http://tsh.war-fighters.net/index.php will have all the patches, be warned, these considerably change the sim, and can be a long process if you’re not familar with it.
Archer out.
If you are looking for a modern aircraft sim, look no further than Lock On: Modern Air Combat (LOMAC). Here is a link to some pics from addons you can put into it. There are some expansions to it, namely LOMAC: Flaming Cliffs and LOMAC: Black Shark.
http://352ndfg.com/smf/index.php?topic=1145.0
For WWII sims, the IL2 Sturmovik series is still the king. The most recent version, IL2 1946, includes all previous releases so it’s all you need to buy. IMO, it beats Microsoft’s CFS 3 by a long shot. Many, many, many more aircraft to fly, something like 230 flyable and 300 total. In addition, it has by far the largest online community if you are interested in joining an online squadron.
Hopefully soon, the makers of IL2 will release Battle of Britain: Storm of War which will be the next benchmark for WWII sims.
My vote would be with the Forgotten Battles series of IL2 from Maddox games. I think the big difference between Microsoft’s CFS 3 and that series is the control of the addition of any new aircraft into the system. From the Fan sites you can get some wonderful skins for the aircraft.
Mike T.
Just to help clarify for anyone interested in IL2, because it can be quite confusing with all the different versions and you don’t want to have to waste money for no reason:
All you need to buy is IL2 Sturmovik: 1946. It has all the previous versions and patches in one nice neat package.
The game was originally IL2 Sturmovik. Then came IL2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles. With Forgotten Battles, you didn’t need to buy the original game because Forgotten Battles had everything the original had plus the additional planes. However, the next version, Aces Expansion Pack, was just a paid-for addon and merged it with Forgotten Battles because the Aces Expansion Pack only had the added planes and not the ones contained in Forgotten Battles. The next version, Pacific Fighters could be played by itself but you only had the new planes. If you wanted all of them, you had to merge it with Forgotten Battles and Aces Expansion Pack.
There were also numerous free patches with lots of new planes. In fact, it had become quite a hassle to reinstall because of the three seperate games you had to install and the numerous patches you had to apply. (Still way worth it though.)
However, they came to their senses when they release the latest version, IL2: 1946. It not only had the new planes, but all the previous ones also plus the patches. I think there is currently a new patch, 4.08m, but at least it’s one game and one patch to worry about.
As Mike T. said, there is a huge online community with skins, missions and other fun stuff.
I agree with the LOMAC series. I play it with CH products joystick, throttle and rudder pedals. It is so much easier than looking at a keyboard.
Another sim is Wings over Viet Nam. I havent had the time to play it much but what little I have done is fun and hard all at the same time. With this game you can choose all the aircraft used during the war.
I have the IL 2 1946 pack, but I guess my being sick about WWII aircraft extends from modeling all the way to video games because after playing falcon for a little bit(when I say playing I mean crashing and getting shot down) I put in IL2 and was not even interested. I am gonna look into Lock on modern combat.
namrednef ~ I may be interested in that F-22 game, cus boy do I love that jet. Send me a PM if you were serious. I would very much appreciate it. Seeing as how im broke, getting any new anything is pretty close to a miracle. Let alone buying a new video game, that is a good way to get me shot by my loving wife
holy crap! I just looked on amazon and you can pick up Lock on modern combat brand new for $0.48 maybe I do have the budget for a new game
I also liked the Falcon 4.0 but my favorite was the B-17 simulator. I can’t remember the publisher at the moment.
TheLastPriest - I understand what you mean. When it comes to flight sims, to each his own. Some like the commercial aircraft sims like Microsofts Flight Simulator series, some like modern jet sims and some like WWII sims. Jet sims like LOMAC are cool, but have a very steep learning curve that sometimes deters people. I think the biggest advantage of WWII sims is the dogfights and the importance of air combat manuevering. Also, you can jump into any WWII aircraft and understand the instruments and basic flight characteristics if you have any knowledge of real flying. Jet sims are just a lot more complicated. Not that it’s a bad thing, it’s just different.
If any of you guys like flying IL2 and are looking for an online experience, check out our site at http://www.352ndfg.com/IL2/ or email me at 352ndDuck@gmail.com. We have a lot of fun shooting each other down or flying missions together.
BTW, if any of you are serious about flight sims, a must have is TrackIR. http://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/ It puts flight sims in a whole different realm.