New to SF2 can't wait to get started !

[sixstrings 111]

Been at air combat simulators for around 25 years. Most all concerning WW i and WW II aircraft. My few good air combat simulators are IL-2 1946 BAT ,Combat Flight Simulator 3-(11 installs), RoF, WOFF,First Eagles Gold, and now Strike fighters 2. A late comer but at it now ! I Worked on weapon guidance systems on the F-14 Tomcat in the US Navy but always loved the older aircraft. I wanted to try something different ,but there is not a lot to choose from when you have a mid level gaming rig. This seems the ticket ! My video card is outdated and needs needs a upgrade to play SF2 ,(  WOFF and,RoF also), at max settings. Plan on getting a new video card in March-(fixed income) and do some serious playing then. For now i want to learn as much as i can in the meantime. Got the keyboard commands but haven't experienced the game play yet. Where do i start to get my head around it all ? Use Win 10. Is there any tricks/walkarounds i need to do to get it to run smoothly ? Where do i start reading to get up to par with adding aircraft and new/improved features to SF 2 ? A good friend gave me the whole series along with First Eagles Gold to see if i like them. Sorry to say my rig can barely handle them. Time to learn before i get started. Would be grateful  for any help. Regards, Scott

[+Trotski 936]

Welcome to our (usually) happy and slightly insane miscreants. The best thing to do on starting up SF and FE, is go to the forums, and look for the help files, there is a ton of interesting, and pertinent information over there, red all that bumf first off, and that should give you a bit of a leg up on how everything works ( usually) If there is something that you cannot get your head around, as some of the info is somewhat dated, but still relevant, but if for any reason it confuses the hell out of you, do not be afraid to ask !! This is a friendly, and helpful community, very little flak or gremlins here !! 

Anyhow that is my two penny worth, and again welcome to our band of merry men and the occasional lady.............................................

[macelena 1,070]

Welcome! I would suggest you get SF2 Complete if you haven't bought any yet, you will end up wanting to buy all games, expansions and DLCs however obscure they might be. The game itself doesn't need much in the way of hardware, other than it seems not to like Nvidia for some reason, IIRC. Better ask someone more knowledgeable on that topic. 

If I were you I would start playing mostly stock, learn a bit about how mods work and then get them bit by bit depending on what you find most interesting. 

[+EricJ 4,244]

I run a NVIDIA GPU and don't have any issues with SF2 Complete. It might be a specific card but overall  I don't have any issues.

And welcome sixstrings, check the Knowledge Base too for some questions as well...

[rlwicker1967 32]

Welcome! 

I have just started flying this simulator again after almost one and a half years, because of heart failure. I started with the series Strike Fighters: Project 1. That didn't work too well back then. Then, I got into the original Wings over Vietnam. I will tell you this to save you some frustration. Find a good Mod that deals with the inaccurate flight dynamics of the MiG-17. I just installed a Mod yesterday and for me, it's changed the game. After all the time I've flown this sim, finally found a fix for those Super MiG-17s. I used Aerodynamically Limited MiG-17s v1.1. There may be better ones but, this has made it possible for me to fight them with the F-4. This will save you some frustration also because the missiles are more successful. Good Luck, and Have Fun!

 

https://combatace.com/forums/topic/90358-aerodynamically-limited-mig-17s-v11/

[sixstrings 111]

Thanks guys for the help getting started. I run a 5 year old mid-range gaming computer. Does fine with IL-2 1946 BAT , and (11) installs of CFS3. Old sims to be sure, but they have aged well and continuously improved over the years. Love the change in flying Jets in more modern combat than and heard this was a good one. Plan on updating my video card and adding more ram to handle SF2 at highest settings and run smooth. Been playing and modding CFS3 for 20 years now so i know how to get in the nitty gritty of modding files and following instructions. Controls seem easy to remember what to use in the heat of the fight. The aircraft looks great,(scenery a little dated) ,and looks immersive. The only ones i'm missing is the Atlantic and FE2. They will be my next. The SF series were given to me by a friend in France that i know from my Facebook Group called "Combat Flight Simulator 3 Fans",and SOH. Have another facebook group called "Air Combat Patrol" that covers ALL pc air combat sims,digital art and all forms of combat aircraft art. Please check them out ,if interested join and post videos,and your best screenshots and get the word out. Was into aircraft model building for many,many years till i discovered SWOTLin the 90's and was hooked for life. I'm also a member at sim-outhouse and SAS1946 for many years and love to participate in their forums. This is my new favorite place. Much to learn ,and i'm sure to have plenty of questions in the future. I have a couple of months to learn as much as i can and this seems to The Place to go to for all things SF2 . Seems about as active as SOH, a few diehard fans, but that's us ,lovers of Good combat flight sims, not just eye candy,which is what most new air combat sims seem to only have to offer. Not much to choose from these days ,vintage or more modern air combat Simulators,not just "games". Played Falcon 4.0 for years and it was as hard as they come ,so this is a nice change for modern warfare at a enjoyable pace. Thanks for the advise and i'm sure you all will be hearing from me more. Sorry for rattling on, but excited ! Can't wait to play and showing off some screenshots in my fb group and spread the word. Kind Regards,Scott

[TaktischesGenie 303]

Welcome to the community scott! hope you get loads of enjoyment from this beautiful game :)
If theres any questions at all about the game or recommended mods we're always around or you could also hit me up in PMs and ill try to help the best i can!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLo_oHz3IVgMf7SdnQzRyy6MO_tN-qJXxV
Heres a playlist from Devin Horner explaining alot of stuff about the game which you'll find pretty useful

 

Edited November 15, 2022 by OrbitalPotato331

[rlwicker1967 32]

I have been flying this sim series since the original Wings over Vietnam. I struggled with the F-4 FM because I was using the published performance numbers as a reference. Those performance numbers are for a clean aircraft. So, I never realized the so often reported Mach 2.23 top speed with stores. From what I've read, that can't happen. But, Mach 1.4 to Mach 1.6 can be achieved under certain conditions. However, that is with burning a lot of fuel! I also struggled to achieve the published range with the fuel settings at normal. I've found using easy fuel usage actually makes it more difficult to achieve the performance reported by actual flyers because you will always be heavy with fuel. I've also found that taking off, it's best to keep the thrust setting low after wheels up until your flight catches up with you. Otherwise, your flight will be burning all of their fuel to catch up. After that, you need to find a thrust setting that will maintain Mach 0.96 which seems to be the limit at 100% military thrust. Anything above that is just wasting fuel. I've been able to use as little as 40% to achieve the waypoint speeds. One thing I've learned that really matters is to not try to be a hero or an ace in a day. Get your one kill and be ready to GTFO. Delegate task to your wingmen. I've had many sorties with no kills. No big deal. 

[sixstrings 111]

Thanks for all the advise and offers to help. A wonderful forum .Just updated the SF2 package and it works great ! Excited ! Now off to learning to operate the controls and radar/weapon systems . A big change from WW I and WW II simulators. Fast action ! Awesome air combat sim ! Will learn how to mod once i get the gamplay down. The addiction starts ! Regards,Scott