Flight Sim (combat type) recommendations?

PhilipMarlowe

Hi,

Recommend a decent one if you will.... I haven't played many so as long as it's modern and decent.... realism is ok but I don't want it to lean towards the "press 32 seperate buttons to start the engine" type of thing... and of course the option of shooting up in some lan multiplayer games would be nice.... oh and running under win2k would be handy too.....
I've looked at some links, like Jane's USAF and stuff.... anyone here played that, or into this type of thing at all?

Cheers, Thanks.

OSiriS

I think Flight Sim realism peaked with Falcon 4.0, but it is one that needs you to know a hell of a lot of controls to get the full value of it. Since then publishers have gone in favour of playability rather than realism. I'm afraidI can't really give you any reccommendations because Falcon 4.o was the last one I bought:) Gunship! is also very good.

Also ... it probably isn't what you are looking for, but Crimson skies is well worth checking out. It is highly story driven, set in the 30s or 40s, with alot of aerobatics etc envolved.
I know dogfighter isn't exactly a flight sim, but it's great fun on LAN=]

amp

I find M$ Combat Simulator quite enjoyable. Nothing quite like diving from the sun into a B17 formation with an ME109.

PhilipMarlowe

I have the WWII europe series version of that, but would like to get something a bit more modern.... I had a game a while back, Top Gun something or other.... wasn't too bad....
I'll download a few demos, but I already downloaded USAF ('bout 50mb) and the damn thing won't install....

BattlingCheese

Falcon 4 & Janes F-18 (realistic games)
Eurofighter Typhoon (more action orientated)

If you liked Top Gun(you didn't really like this..did:) )you then go with Typhoon.

Dotsie~tmp

Licksey take a trip over here and download AcesHigh http://www.hitechcreations.com . The free trial lasts two weeks and the game is pure addiction, mainly because its completely multiplayer. Its flight model and realism beats any single player flight sim hands down. Your flying WWII aircraft too so the controls in-depth but simple.

Anyway tell me what you think.

Dotsie.
dotsie@dotsies.com

PhilipMarlowe

Ok... thank's for the links and recommendations...
Dotsie, I'm downloading that at the moment thanks...
I already downloaded a falcon 4.0 demo which didn't take kindly to win2k and thats along with the USAF demo which also refused to install
So I guess it looks like I should buy Falcon 4.0 anyway.. it is highly recommended, and according to amazon.co.uk is ok under windows 2000... anyone already playing this under win2k?

Thanks and stuff.

po0k

In Smyth's in Galway, prolly in justa bout every other decent place too, there's a pack of three flight games, Flacon4.0, B-17 Flying Fortres2 I think, and something ewlse which looked good.
If I didn't have Flacon 4.0 allrady I'd nearly buy it.

IR£32 afaik

For Falcon4 you *might* need the patches for it to run under Win2k, are you on modem or dol you have college access?
Huggle someone in Netshop, Nethouse or .dnc. and get them to download the patches at night or something.
www.frugalsworld.com I think.
Should have a hell of a lot of stuff on combat flght sims, with emphasis on Falcon4.0 and a few others. Well worth checking out for a bit of windows tweaking, mainly memory and page-file managemnet, but also MTU and modem settings.
Go boy, fetch!

PhilipMarlowe

Thanks Syxpak... thats the compilation I was looking at on Amazon...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005QFHM/qid%3D1003501049/202-6628970-4892649

It lists platform on that page as win95 / 98 but if you click on the system requirements link is says Windows 95, 98, 2000 or Me... so I guess that's not too bad...

I'll have a look for that one locally or at least see whats on offer here (Kilkenny) over the weekend... and if not, I guess it's amazon time (mmmm Godfather trilogy DVD and stuff...)

...or something™

OSiriS

A word of warning about F4.0. AFAIK it doesn't work on win2k out of the box, at least it doesn't for me and anyone else I have talked to. To really get the full benefits of it you need to d/l a HUGE amout of patches, fixes and realism patches. I had it running on Win2k the 1st time I tried after a bit of struggle, but all recent attempts to use it have failed. It will load and you can play etc, but it crashes after you quit missions.

PhilipMarlowe

I've seen lots of patches on sites and thought that they were just mods and add-ons and stuff.... I guess if you have to do it...

When I said above that I thought Top Gun wasn't bad I meant that afair, it was a DOS game and I ran it on a p100 with 16mb ram and looked ok... and like I'm hoping that things have improved since then

I might end up having to re-format anyway and if I do I will put on 95/98, or maybe get a wee old HD and use that for problem stuff...

OSiriS

I found this on a site a few months ago, so things probably have changed a little bit. But it is just to let you know what u are letting yourself in for:)

Patching Falcon4 where to startPatching Falcon4 where to start?
By Ripper. Updated by Widowmaker for F4patch 3.1 / RP4
First off, you need 108us.exe from www.falcon4.com (or from another download
site). The file is approx. 18 MB. And the 108i2.exe from ibeta.
2nd, you need F4Patch V3.1 (f4patch_standard_31.zip) 3.3MB
(To use skins or cockpits you will also need :
f4patch_skin_31.zip 2.3MB
f4patch_cockpit_31.zip 21.2MB
Download the F4patch modules from:
http://www.bierling.net/joel/pages/falcon4/falcon4.htm
If you are updating, save all of your personal files (logs, missions, pilot
data, skins etc), then delete all traces of Falcon 4: run the uninstaller, and
delete the folder. Reboot.
To install, Install Falcon 4. Open the Falcon 4 folder after installation and
delete the MSVCRT.dll file. Run the 108us.exe patch, then reboot. Drop the
108i2.exe into your falcon folder and then run f4patch_standard_31.exe, this
will start f4patch. You will want to EXPAND f4patch, so click on file, and from
the menu select EXPAND. This will create an F4patch directory and create and
F4patch.exe file. If you are going to use extra skins or the 214th skins, run
f4patch_skin_31.exe and expand it as you did f4patch_standard_31.exe. You can
then delete or put your f4patch_standard/skin_31.exe files into a storage folder
as they are no longer needed. To operate F4patch, use the f4patch.exe. You can
now run f4patch.exe and then put check marks in the boxes for the patches you
want to apply, then click "apply patches".
To run your game, create a shortcut on your desktop pointing to the 108i2 exe
file with the –pf100 switch and whatever others you use. Here is mine for
example :
F:\Falcon4\Falcon4_108i2.exe -pf100 -hires -g2 -screen
Use this new shortcut to run your game.
SQUADRON TENTATIVE STANDARD PATCH SETTINGS

(108i2) "RP Group" Realism Patch v4.0
(108i2rp) "RP Group" Realism Patch v4.0 Bubble Settings
(108i2rp) "RP Group" Realism Patch v4.0 Comm Menus
(108i2rp) "RP Group" Realism Patch v4.0 HotFix #01
(108i2rp) "RP Group" Realism Patch v4.0 Sounds
(108i2rp) Helicopters fire ATGMs
(108i2rp) New AA-11 3D Model v1.0
(108i2rp) New AA-12 3D Model v1.0
(108i2rp) RP v4.0 AAA Patch
(108i2rp) RP v4.0 AI Patch
(108i2rp) RP v4.0 Avionics Patch
(108i2) ABORT Mission reduction for TE/Campaign v2.0
(108i2) Bounce Landing Fix
(108i2) Bubble resizer while flying patch
(108i2) Bubble slider fix
(108i2) Bullseye Vector Fixes v1.1
(108i2) Campaign refuelling V1.3
(108i2) Cluster bomb damage at airports
(108i2) Comm Patch v1.1
(108i2) Fly/task any plane in TE and Campaign v1.3
(108i2) Fuel plug for external tanks
(108i2) Heading displayed with 3 digits V1.2
(108i2) Landing at relocated airbase MIA Fix
(108i2) Memory Leak sealed
(108i2) New Wheel brake routine v1.1
(108i2) Nike RWR symbol fix
(108i2) No far labels
(108i2) Pylon Fix v1.1
(108i2) Recon window fix
(108i2) Yellow DED Display
(108i2) devCreateSurface/CTD fix
(108|+) Logbook fix
(108i2) Barcap Patch 30 miles
(108i2) GLoc Patch V1.1
(108i2) Gear sink rate tolerance 15 ft/s (Default)
Training mission #29 fix


PATCHING OPTIONS :
Force feedback - If you got a force feedback stick, go for it.
Yellow DED display – If you like it use it.
DirectX Proxies – Depends on your problems and hardware
Missile Trails – Use what ya want.
Padlock – Again pick what ya like
Radar blips – Adjust to what works best for ya.
Skins & Cockpits – Use what ya like. Also note there is a MiG29 pit in the skins
pack you can use.
Sky and Explosion packs – Use what ya want.

BattlingCheese

I have a CD with all the patches for the two versions(efalcon & RP) of Falcon 4 aswell as utilities, skins etc if anyone wants a copy let me know and I'll slap it in the post.

Furez

Id have to agree with Dotsie. Aces High is an excellent sim with between 70-250 people, flying flying around in an ever increasing planeset. The Graphics are nice the realism fairly accurate and is fairly simple after a day or two's school of hard knocks .

Ive been a follower of Aces for about a year now after a few years in Airwarrior and Warbirds. The latter 2 dont compare, ok they have The planes and the teamwork and stratagy.

But No where else for example could you Blast an airfields shore-batteries from 20k out to sea from a destroyer's massive 3 barrelled turret. Then take off from an aircraft carrier in say an heavy fighter to knock out an airfilds defences. Then drive an amphibios vehicle from sea and over land to capture said airfield. All the while players from all around the word are trying to thwart/help you .

With 2 wekk free trial and only 20 meg d/l you cant go wrong .

Furez <PS Dotsie still play AH?, if so anyone I know?>