Good combat flight sims?

[lukedamac]

Hey guys, Im in the market for a good flight sim, be it jet fighter or combat helicopter, but nothing like mickey$oft flight sim, thats just too complicated, heh heh. I looked at reviews on gamespot but I really dont trust them, since when they say a game is a 10 and I download the demo and it suxx @ss. Mayby I will try my wings on insted of being blasted everytime I turn around in UT and Q3A .

Thanks for any suggestions, thoughts.

Luke DaMac

[Tiretool]

Novalogic makes a really good F-22 sim and the learning curve is a cinch! It's called F-22 Lightning III.

[lukedamac]

Thnx Tire! I checked it out, it looks pretty good.. I think I had the first one's demo an that was descent. What about helicopters? I heard Longbow was good...

[Prader Willi]

The Longbow II game is a bit old now but was highly rated-- I never liked it much- too realistic for me- in the same way the other Jane's flight simulators are. I like to see what I'm shooting and bombing and really don't care if the flight models and controls are 'realistic'. With realistic simulators, you often shoot a target, such as a tank or another plane, from a mile or so away using guided missles and other smart bombs- this is the way Longbow is-- you really don't see very well what you are shooting- you just get a report that the target was eliminated. Not much fun in that (although my son really liked the Jane's Navy planes game). I guess these type of simulators are the way to go if you intend to spend the time to learn how to really fly a Longbow, Apache or an F-15 (but then that would take alot of time-- topguns aren't trained in an hour or two)-- although these games do have an arcade mode. Its a matter of taste.

If you are looking for a shorter learner curve and more close up fighting you mightlook at flight games such as Freespace 2- this is a really good game where you fly spaceships and fight other starfighters in an up close and personal way. Short learning curve and loads of fun.

You might also check out the new Crimson Skies from Microsoft. Short learning curve (you don't have to learn to take off and land) and you fight the other airplanes close up. I played the demo and its not bad at all. Pretty good graphics, very good sound.

[Edited by Prader Willi on 12-15-2000 at 05:07 PM]

[lukedamac]

Wow thanks for the info Willi, I agree with you that learning how to fly these things is a HUGE undertaking. I have always been interested in these flight sims, but I guess im just too lazy to take the time to get them down pat. I had this one awesome jet fighter sim but I forget the name, its almost 7yrs old. It was very primitive but was VERY engrossing, trying to learn to land a F-18 on a carrier was tedious but once I learnd the right way it was terribly engrossing, although I think my computer is too fast for such a game now The use of "fire and forget" weapons in military now is commonplace, but for a game its not too fun, as you suggested. Well I think F22 Lightning III and Longbow II are high on my list, but I will do some further research into your other suggestions Willi. Any more reccomendatons will be appreciated.

Thanks
Luke

[lukedamac]

Well Ive been playin the demos for Longbow2 and F22 Lightning III today, Longbow suxx big time, and as for F22, all I can say is WOW! Its very easy to get the hang of, flight wise. Learning all the little other things like target switching and wingman commands will take a little more memor flexing I will deffinately be purchasing F22! As for helicopter sims.. I dunno.. I have been playing Apache Havok from Razorware, its only so-so graphics are lame so is sound. Well im still looking for a good copter sim. Later, im gonna go drop that nuke on some russin scum hehheh. As for you UT'rs and Quakers you can pump up yer frag ego on me later ;P

Luke

[padawan]

Jane's USAF is a great entry-level sim, with like 15 flyable planes, multiplayer, and cool missions.

[Jenni]

I picked up Jane's Fighters Anthology (contains 4 different Jane's games, I think) for $9.95 at WallyWorld not too long ago. I bought it for my 3 year old. It has cheats right on the menu bar, so it is easy in that respect. I tried it in the "non-cheat" mode and quickly said "ok, that's enough of this!" and went back to cheating.

[alan]

The first multiplayer game I ever played was a game called Top Gun. Of course this was based after the Tom Cruise movie. It is a relatively simple game to play but does incorporate a number of basic realistic features such as strengths and weakness of opposing aircraft vs. your F14 with regards to turn radious, airspeed, G-forces and weapons range. Single player vs. the PC becomes boring and automatic after a few hours but playing 3 players on a LAN is a blast. I believe it goes up to 4 but at that time I did not have 4 PCs. The beauty of this game is that you can concentrate on the ACM (Air Combat Manouevers)instead of hunting and pecking for buttons on the keyboard. If you have a good 4 button with hat switch joystick you can easily configure weapons select, counter measures, and views right off the joystick. This may be difficult to find as it is a few years old. I believe there is a newer version called Hornets Nest where you fly an F18 Hornet instead of the F14 Tomcat. Once in a while my buddies and I still turn and burn this game on the LAN when we're tired of Duke Nuk'em or Quake marathons!!!!