How realistic is SF2?

[names 8]

Hello everyone,

How realistic is it to fly planes in Strike fighters 2? (I mean the control of airplanes) Has anyone ever had experience flying a real airplane before?

[+Gepard 10,893]

SF2 is not a hard core flight sim. It is easier, but not as simple as an arcade flight sim.

[+EricJ 4,094]

Pretty much. Realistic would be DCS more or less, with the complexity. Like Gepard said, it's not as detailed as some of the other flight sims and also not an arcade. With some systems that are modeled (namely radar capabilities) can be modeled, and I believe TK had a degree in aeronautical studies, or something along those lines, so there's some "realism" in the game, but at the end of the day it's a game, and not a true flight sim in the meaning of the word.

[madvad 589]

Its not full harcore like DCS, but for me its the perfect balance.
The flight behavior is correct in the majority of time, using mods we can reproduce a lot of other stuffs, and you don´t spend 20mins on tarmac just for start the engines...

[+DoctorQuest 119]

I'm going to say it depends.

I think flying combat in most SF2 aircraft seems to model that experience pretty well. Playing with the game options will make a difference as well.

Cockpit workload is not as realistic as, say DCS or BMS but I'm OK with that.

I am a hard core aviation history buff. I love being able to "fly" aircraft I've studied about in historical situations. The Operation Desert Storm mod is just amazing in that regard. The infamous YAP mod supposedly did that very well. And SF2: Vietnam does that well right out of the box.

There is no perfect sim. DCS costs too much and has dreadful DRM. BMS is close but is kind of difficult to mod. SF2 strikes a nice balance but to achieve that you lose a little bit on the realism side. I think it makes up for it with a good overall COMBAT flight experience. And it is about the easiest sim to mod I've ever owned.

[+Trotski 857]

Realism is a relative term, you should be asking "Is it realistic enough without being over complicated ?" to which I would answer yes. As has been mentioned here in other comments, it is not hyper realistic when it comes to button pushing, as for example Microsoft Flight Sim, DCS, or the IL2 series, or indeed the OBD series of sims, Wings over the Reich, and Over Flanders field. However, what it is, is this, enjyable, far reaching ( with the amount of mods for multiple and prolific airframes and ground objects ) It is well supported by a very strong and friendly community here on CA. There are more campaigns, scenarios, and terrains than you can shake the proverbial stick at, but most of all, and the most important in my opinion, it is fun, engaging, and eminently moddable. So is it DCS ?.....Errr no, but then it never claims to be, Is it as GOOD as the likes of DCS, IL2, WOTR, WOFF........I would say no, but I would also say it has been around longer than any of those, and is still going strong, and I love it.

[anunk47 348]

I think the most realistic flight sim available if you an Airmen who "Fly" Bayraktar or MQ-1 Drones  

SF2 is kindda old machine (2013 update, i think?) so, super realism is not what I'm expect here.. but basic flight engine, weapon realism not so bad.. 
more you play more you love it! 

As mentioned by other brothers above, this game just like a sandbox for aviation,  bit patience, learning, and skill, you can make (almost) anything available in 3D could fly or fight here.. 

Okay.. time to drop my socks and grab my Cock-pit!

[OlWilly 122]

Flight model is fairly decent. Of course, a lot depends on the values inputted in, so quality of FMs of different aircraft (especially modded) varies a lot, but it gives you enough tools to have a fairly accurate representation of a real aircraft. This is one of the strongest sides of the engine, I would put the engine's flight model above MSFS (even the latest one, yes) and 90s sims, but below X-Plane and DCS/Lock On - which is a fine place to be.

Aircraft ground behavior is bad and quite unrealistic, there's little joy taxing around. Although not a problem for many people.

The only aircraft I piloted in RL was Yak-52 so I can't talk with competence about nuances of piloting a combat jet, but comparing with other sims gives some insight.

Weapon behavior itself is alright if we talk air-to-air missiles and unguided bombs/rockets; guided weapons and ARH missiles go above the game's competence

Systems, sensors and avionics simulation is the weakest part of the game. Many features are not available, many are automated or simplified. You would feel it when playing around with older jets, and it gets worse if you try newer ones - including stocks like F-14/F-15/F-16; not even gonna talk about trying modded modern stuff like F-22 or F-35.

Mind you, I am not comparing Strike Fighters to serious stuff like Falcon BMS or DCS, my comparison is vs Lock On series, Jane's F-15 and Jane's F/A-18. If you compare them between each other you will see what I mean.

The game is in dire need of avionics overhaul; considering the nearly unparalleled amount of aircraft modded in this will put SF in a special place among other simulators.

Without this happening I recommend sticking to 1950s and 1960s jets as they are the best suited to be represented in the game

[OlWilly 122]

30 minutes ago, Trotski said:

.I would say no, but I would also say it has been around longer than any of those, and is still going strong, and I love it.

Falcon 4.0 was released in 1998

The first Il-2 in 2001

SF1 in late 2002

And LOMAC in 2003

Aircraft sim market is really old with barely new titles in over 20 years

[+EricJ 4,094]

47 minutes ago, OlWilly said:

Falcon 4.0 was released in 1998

The first Il-2 in 2001

SF1 in late 2002

And LOMAC in 2003

Aircraft sim market is really old with barely new titles in over 20 years

Also DiD's EF2000 was like 1993 or 94, and Su-27 Flanker was in 1995. I played both of those when it came out for a few years too. Don't forget Tornado as well (don't remember the year it actually came out), but combat flight sims were out earlier than 98.

Edited August 9 by EricJ

[Wilches 1,165]

My only complain is the  ground speed. It seems at least 1/3 slower to me. We´ve already discussed this but I´m not convinced.

[+Coupi 4,318]

In my opinion a fair compromise ! But this game would need a "core" update by the editor... 

[MigBuster 2,877]

Falcon 4 was derived from the Falcon series that started in the 1980s although was probably a similar level to SF2 in terms of difficulty back then.

Yes I started with ACE (Air Combat Emulator) a 2D game from the mid 1980s.

Every game has realistic aspects. In SF2 you can just select a date and the game brings all relevent objects (AIrcraft/ Weapons etc) into the game for that date and on a relevent terrain with defined loadouts. Cannot do that in those other games.   So called hardcore games/sims have more realistic aspects but some parts are still miles away from being realistic.

 

 

[names 8]

Thank you all for your response.I'm trying some settings to make the flight more realistic, and although I'm not exactly sure, my current settings are below, I'm wondering about your answer if you have a better suggestion.

 

[GameplayOptions]
MissionStart=2
CockpitView=3
DisplayUnit=2
EnemySkill=1
Simulation=4
FlightModel=4
WeaponEffectiveness=1
Avionics=1
Targeting=1
HUDDisplay=1
Landing=2
Collision=2
Blackout=2
AmmoUsage=1
FuelUsage=1

[ControlOptions]
ControlMap=Default.INI
Sensitivity=0
DeadZone=1
ForceFeedback=1
ForceFeedbackGain=100
TrackIR=1

 

 

Logitech xtreme pro.

 

[OlWilly 122]

2 hours ago, EricJ said:

Also DiD's EF2000 was like 1993 or 94, and Su-27 Flanker was in 1995. I played both of those when it came out for a few years too. Don't forget Tornado as well (don't remember the year it actually came out), but combat flight sims were out earlier than 98.

I mean the most popular sim brands around currently

Falcon 4.0 lives as Falcon BMS

LOMAC is the granddaddy of DCS

The first Il-2 is the progenitor of entire Il-2 series 

SF1 is the father of SF2 

MSFS and X-plane series started long ago too 

 

In 1990s new simulator titles were popping up every year, now we have mostly old "lineages" continuing development 

Quite sad actually 

[+daddyairplanes 9,699]

keep in mind that SF2's biggest strength is frankly variety and moddability. TK has something like 50 player flyables out the box (not going into F-4C, F-4C_67 etc), 

but bring in mods and theres  at least a thousand unique aircraft, and thousands of skins so you can fly and fight in any era with anybody you wish

and if you cant find what you want and have the skills, you can bring it into game

[+daddyairplanes 9,699]

5 minutes ago, OlWilly said:

In 1990s new simulator titles were popping up every year, now we have mostly old "lineages" continuing development 

Quite sad actually 

first one to $10 million bucks develops the new title.

otherwise thats the way it'll likely be for a long long time

[+Mr_Tayto 109]

On 8/9/2024 at 5:47 PM, OlWilly said:

Without this happening I recommend sticking to 1950s and 1960s jets as they are the best suited to be represented in the game

Agree with this bit especially. The game does best when there aren't lots of screens/MFDs and you're working with steam gauges and old school radars and RHAW.

 

Having said that, ODS30AE is an incredible achievement, given the age of, and the limited (although solid), tech the game is based on.

[+daddyairplanes 9,699]

2 hours ago, Mr_Tayto said:

Having said that, ODS30AE is an incredible achievement, given the age of, and the limited (although solid), tech the game is based on.

ODS30AE is the pinnacle of SF2 development to date*, and RL early to mid 90s is about the cut-off for what you can do with this game to date, although still some aircraft will be less than they could be . The parts native to SF2 North Atlantic (particularly Tomcat features for the tactical birds) make it where we can get this far. if you dont have that part (or the whole big merged pack), then youre best not going past the early 1980s

 

 

 

 

*not just saying this because i was on the original team

[simonmiller416 1,197]

On 2024/8/12 at 1:24 AM, daddyairplanes said:

ODS30AE is the pinnacle of SF2 development to date*, and RL early to mid 90s is about the cut-off for what you can do with this game to date, although still some aircraft will be less than they could be . The parts native to SF2 North Atlantic (particularly Tomcat features for the tactical birds) make it where we can get this far. if you dont have that part (or the whole big merged pack), then youre best not going past the early 1980s

 

 

 

 

*not just saying this because i was on the original team

That's exactly it.

I'm a modern birds fan and try to bring more through mods, but the era background makes most of these advanced things messed up.

This is why my progress is so slow (yeah, I'm definitely not making excuses... I'm definitely not...)

[AcariaPlainum 33]

On 9.8.2024 at 9:18 PM, names said:

Hello everyone,

How realistic is it to fly planes in Strike fighters 2? (I mean the control of airplanes) Has anyone ever had experience flying a real airplane before?

Definitely nowhere near something like falcon BMS but more so than say Warthunder arcade battles at least when it comes to planes

Its halfway between arcade and sim

I say avionics are its weakness and with mods it heavily depends on quality of the mod. This also applies to weapons avionics and radars btw

Edited August 23 by AcariaPlainum

[AcariaPlainum 33]

On 10.8.2024 at 2:39 AM, OlWilly said:

Falcon 4.0 was released in 1998

The first Il-2 in 2001

SF1 in late 2002

And LOMAC in 2003

Aircraft sim market is really old with barely new titles in over 20 years

Falcon got updates form the community though

[+Mr_Tayto 109]

18 hours ago, AcariaPlainum said:

I say avionics are its weakness and with mods it heavily depends on quality of the mod. This also applies to weapons avionics and radars btw

It all depends on what you mean by this. As for aircraft avionics, I think the radars of the time are very well represented, actually. The only thing missing is ground clutter, but otherwise they work exactly as they should. For everything else, we're talking steam gauges (given the 2nd and 3rd generation jets the game was designed around) and they are much better represented than most flight sims short of study-level sims, and even then they mostly concern themselves with more modern glass-cockpitted jets. The more you play the game, and with the HUD off, you learn to fly the aircraft with the engine gauges and instruments.

 

Weapons work as intended; remember poor performance of early missiles is literally coded into the game. It's actually impressive how well TK programmed the early Sidewinders as they work EXACTLY like they did in the early cold war period. One thing I do miss is a proper LABS or Dive/Toss system, and also the ability to manually target EO weapons.

[+EricJ 4,094]

18 hours ago, AcariaPlainum said:

I say avionics are its weakness and with mods it heavily depends on quality of the mod. This also applies to weapons avionics and radars btw

I've been inclined to agree, but overall the systems are modeled fairly good, my only complaint being the ECM, both internal and podded.

[AcariaPlainum 33]

6 hours ago, Mr_Tayto said:

It all depends on what you mean by this. As for aircraft avionics, I think the radars of the time are very well represented, actually. The only thing missing is ground clutter, but otherwise they work exactly as they should. For everything else, we're talking steam gauges (given the 2nd and 3rd generation jets the game was designed around) and they are much better represented than most flight sims short of study-level sims, and even then they mostly concern themselves with more modern glass-cockpitted jets. The more you play the game, and with the HUD off, you learn to fly the aircraft with the engine gauges and instruments.

 

Weapons work as intended; remember poor performance of early missiles is literally coded into the game. It's actually impressive how well TK programmed the early Sidewinders as they work EXACTLY like they did in the early cold war period. One thing I do miss is a proper LABS or Dive/Toss system, and also the ability to manually target EO weapons.

RCS isnt really a thing, false positives arent, active homing missiles plenty of things radars lack

Its halfway arcade halfway sim