Your Favorite Flight Sim Campaigns

[Foxhound1 6]

Every flight simulator has a number of different elements that can make or break the game for its players. The flight model, the level of realism, graphics, multiplayer functionality, and so on. Which element is the most important depends on who you ask, but for me it is probably the campaign. I am willing to forgive a lot if the game comes with a good and interesting campaign (hello, Strike Commander), but sadly it often seems to be an afterthought.

 

Newer sims tend to feature dynamic campaigns, whereas older ones often had a linear mission-based structure. There are pros and cons with both systems, although my impression is that most flight sim fans prefer the dynamic ones. Personally, I'm in the other camp. To me, dynamic campaigns often feel cold and flavorless. You go on randomly generated mission after mission, whittle down the enemy's numbers, and eventually you are treated to a victory screen. There is little flavor in terms of reports about how the war is going, or sudden dramatic strategic changes (Russia has entered the war, etc). I am a big fan of Strike Fighters 2, but I have honestly had a lot of trouble getting into that game's campaigns. I remember having a similar problem with the otherwise excellent EF2000 back in the day.

 

Now I'm obviously missing something, so I would love to hear from other flight sim players what their favorite dynamic campaigns are, and what makes them stand out. If you know of any really good linear campaigns, I would love to hear about them too - there aren't really that many, in my experience.

 

What are your favorite flight simulator campaigns? What is it that makes them good?

[yubba 70]

IL-2 1946 ,, The Enterprise Campaign,, with a few edits to fly the Avenger Torpedo Bomber.,, and the B-52 campaign I conjured up for WOV 1

Edited July 8, 2017 by yubba

[33LIMA 972]

Any of the campaigns in European Air War. Because they feature(d):

 

1. The theatres I am most interested in (Battle of Britain and the daylight air campaign against Germany).

2. The ability to fly in a great selection of fighters from the above.

3. The ability to pick from a selection of historical units that operated each of the above types.

4. Reasonably large formations.

5. Decent map and audio briefings.

6. All the trimmings like a log book, awards, convincing menu screens like a nosy hangar and a Nissen hut type billet with a radio with selectable wartime music and background noise.

 

These days, campaigns (static or dynamic) for IL-2 mods like Dark Blue World come the closest to the EAW ideal for me, with much superior visuals compensating for fewer trimmings - campaigns like this one, and this one. Well-written briefings for campaigns composed of fixed mission sets can more than make up for more 'dynamic' features, while the scripting can add variety you just didn't get in the somewhat repetitive EAW campaigns.

 

For World War 1, I find I get as good or better from both Wings Over Flanders Fields and Rise of Flight with Pat Wilson's Campaign Generator. Both hit the WW1 equivalents of most of the reasons I gave for favouring EAW campaigns. Ditto for modded First Eagles 2.

[fallenphoenix1986 603]

Any of the campaigns in European Air War. Because they feature(d):

 

1. The theatres I am most interested in (Battle of Britain and the daylight air campaign against Germany).

2. The ability to fly in a great selection of fighters from the above.

3. The ability to pick from a selection of historical units that operated each of the above types.

4. Reasonably large formations.

5. Decent map and audio briefings.

6. All the trimmings like a log book, awards, convincing menu screens like a nosy hangar and a Nissen hut type billet with a radio with selectable wartime music and background noise.

 

These days, campaigns (static or dynamic) for IL-2 mods like Dark Blue World come the closest to the EAW ideal for me, with much superior visuals compensating for fewer trimmings - campaigns like this one, and this one. Well-written briefings for campaigns composed of fixed mission sets can more than make up for more 'dynamic' features, while the scripting can add variety you just didn't get in the somewhat repetitive EAW campaigns.

 

For World War 1, I find I get as good or better from both Wings Over Flanders Fields and Rise of Flight with Pat Wilson's Campaign Generator. Both hit the WW1 equivalents of most of the reasons I gave for favouring EAW campaigns. Ditto for modded First Eagles 2.

 

I really miss these kinds of touches... just doesn't really happen anymore.

 

For myself probably some of the IL2 DBW campaigns. BoB and Korean Panthers spring to mind.

[MigBuster 2,887]

I do like both kinds although the answer to this is probably the campaign type with enough gaming features to keep the player occupied. Falcon 4 hails from the 90s era and way of thinking so its campaign is excellent, and of course reality is generally dynamic with a high degree of uncertainty and that is part of the challenge.

 

DCS story based campaigns are pretty good if you only play them once.......which is about all I get time for anyway. Did The Museum relic in the MiG-15bis......was very good attempting all the different challenges......and if you screw up like stall the thing in the clouds by a Mountain, then you can do it again but have a higher chance to complete it because it is essentially Ground Hog Day / Edge of Tomorrow.

 

SF2 campaigns can be good but getting engaged with them can be difficult for example:

 

SF2V (RT/LB1) you get stuck in a long drawn out thing that seems like single missions that seems to drag on and often you get to hit similar targets..........so although might be a bit like the real thing was as a player you don't seem engaged in what is going on.

 

SF2I.........the best IMO often short distances to fly, some of the best jets, best scenery, challenging, dynamic differences being surrounded by enemy countries, because of the short time frame you see previous damage.

 

SF2NA..totally different to previous runs more like a story based campaign to some degree and once you work out how to do it the challenge and interest drops off.

 

There are actually a lot of differences between campaign and single missions in SF2 the players don't see outside of managing your pilots & Weapons, e.g. large flights all performing different roles, destroying parked a/c will affect their numbers etc etc.

[Foxhound1 6]

It sounds like Il-2 1946 with its mods really is the place to go for the best static single player campaigns. I own two copies of the game (retail and GOG versions), but I have only really dabbled in it. I really should dive in, install the Dark Blue World modpack and play through the best campaigns.

 

I do like WW2 stuff, but my main interest is jet fighters. I so wish that Strike Fighters 2 had the kind of tools Il-2 does for static mission and campaign building. With the release of BAT for Il-2, it seems like that game might be getting more jet fighter content in the near future, though.

 

My main gripe with DCS is that I don't really do study sims, and the campaigns are limited to the Georgian theater.

[MigBuster 2,887]

There are a few for the Nevada map now albeit for study level modules : https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/products/campaigns/

 

 

There hopefully will be other maps in the coming Years.

 

The free Su-25T and the Flaming Cliffs 3 module are not study level.

 

Some of the modules e.g. F-86F/MiG-15bis are relatively simple and include good training missions to step through things, and the clickable pits are really easy to use compared to all that remembering keystroke crap from years back.