5 Years

[column5 63]

If I am not mistaken, SF turned 5 years old somewhere around the beginning of this month. I remember hounding the local game shops about it, and finally getting a copy at Best Buy. I went in every night looking for it and finally one night they had it along with a bunch of other games sitting in a shopping cart, waiting to be put on the shelves after the store closed. Snagged it and the rest is history.

 

I had played an illicit copy of the Wal-Mart version and after seeing that VF-111 skinned Phantom in the air there was no doubt.

 

So, anyone care to share their thoughts or reminiscences?

 

Edited November 16, 2007 by column5

[DWCAce 19]

I remember reading a review about it in some mag... it got a low rating. So I decided to hold off on it awhile. Finally I saw it on the self somewhere, all by itself, so I took it home. I found C5's site, my hard drive hasn't been the same since! It's also enabled me to meet some great (and 'interesting' ) people!

[column5 63]

It's also enabled me to meet some great (and 'interesting' ) people!

 

I could go into so much depth on this, but in the spirit of the anneversiary I will not.

 

Suffice to say that I have met soooo many characters on the various forums, and developed my own bizarre internet personality.

Edited November 16, 2007 by column5

[sparkomatic 7]

for me, I played the non-Walmart game and was not impressed...then found the community on line and the game really opened up...heck, I even made some friends playing this game and that is always cool

 

the game is not spectacular, but the modders have kept it on the hard drive for 4 years now

 

so cheers to the mod community, and 3d wire!

[+Dave 2,322]

I got introduced to it in Dec of 2002. That is where I met Crab_02. He is the one that showed me how to decal. A couple days later I met C5 and AD. I released my first repaint/decal job on the 28th of Dec 2002. It was the 388th TFW Wing Commnader's F-4. Then the rest is they say is history. I have been nodding it ever since.

 

Here is who I remember from the original mod crew.

 

Crab_02

C5

LVP

Volks

Tiwaz

Bunyap

Streakeagle

Sundowner

Stormer

wpnssgt

Sony Tuckson

Zur

DanW

Deuces

Maj Lee

 

A lot of those people have moved some but some are still hanging around. C5 and Crab_02 taught me everything I know today about decaling. Without them most of my projects wouldn't be here. Sundowner joined up later but has taught me along with Sony T a lot about skinning. And to think, they said this series wasn't going any where. Who is laughing now jackasses (where ever you are)

[Aintry 0]

Because of the SF game series, I got brave enough to do game modding; I could take stuff apart to see what made everything tick.

[column5 63]

the game is not spectacular, but the modders have kept it on the hard drive for 4 years now

 

Its not...but then somehow it is. I've never enjoyed dogfighting so much in any other sim.

[column5 63]

Here is who I remember from the original mod crew.

 

Crab_02

C5

LVP

Volks

Tiwaz

Bunyap

Streakeagle

Sundowner

Stormer

wpnssgt

Zur

DanW

 

Don't forget MajorLee! Hell he worked on the game...

[+streakeagle 867]

I hung out at SimHQ working with McFly and friends on modding Jane's USAF, which was the latest sim to support F-4 Phantoms.

I stumbled upon the SimHQ Project 1 forum via the USAF community.

The screenshots looked awesome, I couldn't wait for TK to find a publisher and release the game.

I went to Walmart to get a computer cable for a friend and guess what I saw on the shelf: the infamous Walmart release.

It was buggy and incomplete, but I knew the instant I flew the F-4 in Strike Fighters that I would never play Jane's USAF ever again.

I had found my holy grail.

 

Here I am 5 or 6 years later, still playing the same game.

This game series has come so far since the Wally World version, but I still have the disk that first gave me TK's version of the Phantom and 60s jet combat.

Of course, TK is still working hard to make it better.

I think it is his dedication that has kept this sim going.

Without him and his willingness to open up his code for mods, we would have nothing even close to what we have now.

[+Jimbib 741]

I found this sim by total accident back in 2003. I went into my local gamestation with a fiver in my pocket and saw SFP1 on the shelf for 3 pound. I grabbed it there and then, rushed home and booted it up. It was my first real flight sim and I've never really played any others. I flew the sim for about a year un-modded and then in 2004 started to get into the 3rd party mods that were available. I distinctly remember the P-51, Monty's B-29, a lot of the high viz F-100D skins by JSF_aggie and Mike's B-52G. Only after I actually got the sim, I realised that I had earlier bought an Aircraft Illustrated magazine which had a review of SF...

 

[Silverbolt 104]

im newbie, i was introduced to the game 3 or 4 months ago when a friend give me a WoV imported copy(here i dint see WoV in any store), so , i buy the WoE , and im happy now...

im still looking 4 SF to get the Desert terrain, i want know how will be the future of SF series, and if TK have plans to a new engine, i guess SF is in middle life birthday, but look the Falcon 4.0 series! im still playng today, the Falcon modding community is very evolved with amazing engine and graphics in a 1998 simulator!

succes to TK and congrats for the great game he created ^^

and lets wait for the first decade!

in 2012 shold launch a box with the first decade like in de C&C xD or now a half decade aniversary

[+starfighter2 117]

I had my copy in December 2002. Great game, wonderfull people in community - very rare these days.

I hope that this game will continue to grow at least 10 years more.

Cheers to everyone - special thanx goes to you C5

[tank03 1]

I've not played any other flight sim since I got teh SFP1 series.

 

Interesting note; after the first patch came out I didn't have an internet connection and therefore couldn't download it. I called Third Wire to see if I could buy a hard copy of the patch. Some guy calling himself TK answered the phone. He took my address and sent me out a hard copy of the patch; no charge and no problem. It wasn't until later, when I discovered CA and learned a bit more about the SFP1 universe that I realized that the guy who answered the phone was the guy who created the game. It says a lot about what kind of small dedicated operation TW is. I don't think you could call Microsoft and have Bill answering the phone. TK was quite understanding and accomadating, and he'll always have my support because of it.

Edited November 16, 2007 by tank03

[+kreelin 2]

I don't think you could call Microsoft and have Bill answering the phone....

 

 

[JediMaster 451]

I'm another Dec 2002 joiner, the wife got it for me (the real non-beta version) for Xmas. Haven't gone a day without it on my HD since.

[+whiteknight06604 934]

I used to be a CFS2 fanatic.I became aware of SFP! after USAFMTL posted some screenshots over at the Simouthouse forums.I bought the game even before I had a computer it would work on.I saved and a few months after reading and following things online I was able to play the damn thing.The whole "whens the damn patch gonna get released" stuff was a lot more bearable for me because I wasn't able to play.I have been hooked ever since.The game just has some undefinable draw for me.I can spen hours setting things up then tearing it apart and doing over and over again.The game play is just fun.I enjoy it and that what is important to me.

[+Zurawski 33]

Zur leans back in his Corinthian leather reading chair, adjusts the sash on his smoking jacket and takes a long pull on ivory carved pipe filled with an aromatic blend of Columbian tobacco and apple essence...

 

Sadly I knew nothing about Thirdwire or Strike Fighters until I chatted with DanW (He was helping me with the F-6F Hellcat textures for Pacific Fighters at the time)... He showed me a few screen captures from some textures he was working on, explained what a robust modding engine the SF engine was and pointed me in the right direction to create a mod for the game.

 

Thus became the F-86 Sabre series and my new-found hobby of modding for Thirdwire games.

 

I've never looked back... Oleg and his minions were a great bunch to work with, and I truly enjoyed the IL-2 games... The modding restrictions just eventually turned me away. IMHO there is no easier engine to mod for than the Thirdwire engine...

 

 

This sim and it's community have also brought me people I truly consider friends... Things tough to come by now days.

Edited November 16, 2007 by Zurawski

[+Dave 2,322]

Don't forget MajorLee! Hell he worked on the game...

 

OMG how could I forget.....Sorry Ken wasn't intentional.

[+Dave 2,322]

Zur leans back in his Corinthian leather reading chair, adjusts the sash on his smoking jacket and takes a long pull on ivory carved pipe filled with an aromatic blend of Columbian tobacco and apple essence...

 

Then he realizes he hadn't lit it. So pulling out the match he drops it in his lap and burns his smoking jacket set his hair piece on fire....

[+Major Lee 18]

OMG how could I forget.....

 

Probably your exposure to noxious chemicals in the line of duty whilst in your service in the Air Force has negatively affected your central nervous system???

 

No need for apology, Dave... This is a great online community and I am glad to be a part of it! As for the original SF, I think the best part is the storyline in the manual and the Dhimar/Paran map...

[Wolf65 0]

I wondering how did the mercanary campaing work, did you buy your weapons and choose mission or what?

[Guest Sony Tuckson]

I'm also one from the December 02 breed...

 

Woaw a game with a Starfighter, and a possibility to show Belgian roundels....didn't need anymore. This is the flightsim!!!

 

Then....I decided belgian birds didn't look like that...the rest is history, thanks to Crab02, C5, USAFMTL and Nosecone who were the first I met....and who assisted me in understanding things.

[HrntFixr 4]

I started with WoV in 05.... hadn't flown sims in along time... Jane's F18 was the last major sim i had.

Liked what I saw here and decided to try (try being key word here) to do a skin after seeing all the goodies

available.

Stepped on the toes of one USAFMTL with my first attempt (sabre) reamed a new one and started a friendship from there.

This community is a ocean of talented individuals who have helped me more than i can say.

 

Big thanks to:

USAFMTL

Fubar512

Paul Nortness

Wpssggt

Ghost531

Bibbo

I could list so many here, but ya'll don't want a mile long post.

[+DoctorQuest 120]

Hard to believe......

 

As a hard core simmer and aviation historian I was thrilled to see the aircraft of the 60's modelled in a sim. I remember reading National Geographic articles during the Vietnam War and wondering what it would be like to fly those Phantoms, Crusaders and Skyhawks. My first exposure to the Thunderbirds was when they were flying the F-100 and I had a toy F-100 that I played with constantly as a kid.

 

As an IT guy, I found it encouraging that the elements of the sim were so accessible to modding. Even without a mission editor it is fairly easy to work up a decent mission, TK appears to have made custom paint jobs fairly easy to do (not my forte, though..) and the wealth of add-on aircraft while not as prolific as MS sims is still remarkable. I won't get into it more than this but there are some sim devs that could learn a lot from TK's biz model.

 

My most flown sims at this point are the TW series, TAW and Jane's F-15. Eye candy is nice but I have a fairly modest machine based on today's standards and I've been doing this for long enough to appreciate content more than glitz.

[+Major Lee 18]

And to think, they said this series wasn't going any where. Who is laughing now jackasses (where ever you are)

 

Ah yes, the naysayers and their visions of vaporware... Let's see...

 

SF:P1

Wright Flyers: First Flight

WOV

WOE

USAF:AD (Air Force use only)

FE

FE: expansion

WOI (coming soon)

 

Strike Fighters: any where, any when...