Recommended flight sims

[NH2112 0]

I'm going to be getting back into flight sims after quite a long break, and was wondering what you guys recommend. Due to cost and issues with Thrustmaster Cougar sticks and the fact that my FLCS/TQS/RCS won't work with my P4 3.0GHz I've decided I'm going to build a PC in the 500-600MHz range and just fly sims that it will handle. What I'm looking for are recommendations for good jet combat sims - I want realism in flight model, avionics, and weapons more than ultra-realistic graphics. I already have Falcon 4.0, Janes F15, and a bunch of older 486 sims I liked (Su27, Tornado, Longbow, even Falcon 3.0 Gold LOL) but I was wondering what the hardcore simmers here were flying 5 or 6 years ago? How about recommended 3D cards? (I was using a 16MB Voodoo3 2000 on my old P133.) Recommended RAM? AMD or Intel? Why? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Dagger 21]

Mig Alley is a great older title..and of course Fighter Squadron:Screaming Demons over Europe,Janes WW2 fighters...European Airwar..Flanker 2.0,so many titles of older sims..If you can handle Falcon 4.0 you can handle these..and might even look at Janes F/A-18.Good luck.( I know you said Jet sims..but look at these WW2 titles..great FMs and graphics..also if you're just going ot play SP..look at B-17 II the mighty eighth,F/A-18 is VERY realistic)

[+baffmeister 1,205]

One of the best older flight sims I played was the helicopter sim "Hind". I had to run it in software mode as it requires a 3DFX card. There is a terrain upgrade available as well for 3DFX. The game was very immersive with lots of ground and air action, airport activity etc. Lots of fun!

[NH2112 0]

Mig Alley is a great older title..and of course Fighter Squadron:Screaming Demons over Europe,Janes WW2 fighters...European Airwar..Flanker 2.0,so many titles of older sims..If you can handle Falcon 4.0 you can handle these..and might even look at Janes F/A-18.Good luck.( I know you said Jet sims..but look at these WW2 titles..great FMs and graphics..also if you're just going ot play SP..look at B-17 II the mighty eighth,F/A-18 is VERY realistic)

 

 

Are you referring to Janes F/A-18? Or one of the multitude of other F/A-18 sims out there? I was also looking to find Flanker 2.0 (I have the original Flanker, didn't play it much because of Tornado) and was also thinking of trying to find the latest EF2000 sim. MiG Alley isn't really my speed, I love fiddling with a dozen or so radar modes, designating targets, etc...straight gunfights don't do much for me. I'm not sure when I'll get around to building this system, but just to get ready for it I spent all day yesterday reviewing my Janes F15 manual LOL

 

 

One of the best older flight sims I played was the helicopter sim "Hind". I had to run it in software mode as it requires a 3DFX card. There is a terrain upgrade available as well for 3DFX. The game was very immersive with lots of ground and air action, airport activity etc. Lots of fun!

 

 

I was thinking of looking for Longbow 2, but would like to keep my number of sims down so I can enjoy all of them. I've never been very good at remembering 3 or 4 complete sets of Thrustmaster button configurations at the same time LOL. Right now I think I'll just stick with Janes F15 and Falcon 4.0, with maybe X-Wing or TIE Fighter for light entertainment :)

[Dagger 21]

Yes Janes F-18..the others are wannabes.if they could update grapghics on this one I'd switch back to it in a sec. If you have Janes F-15 installed you might look into that merged campain between F-18 and F-15.

[NH2112 0]

Well I've been doing some research and asking questions over the past few days, and the consensus is that the TM Cougar HOTAS system still has the same problems it did almost 2 years ago when I was considering buying one, so for right now that isn't an option. I may be able to run my FLCS/TQS/RCS through a sound card gameport, and sound cards aren't that expensive (I need one, too, my onboard sound sucks.) So I guess once Xmas is over with and I have a bit of extra cash I'll get a sound card and give it a try that way. If it works, fine, if not it looks like I'll be building a system using a mobo that has an ISA slot for my ACM card. If it's fast enough for F4:AF, fine, if not, it looks like I'll be flying F4 and F15!

[SU27-Flyer 0]

I'm going to be getting back into flight sims after quite a long break, and was wondering what you guys recommend. Due to cost and issues with Thrustmaster Cougar sticks and the fact that my FLCS/TQS/RCS won't work with my P4 3.0GHz I've decided I'm going to build a PC in the 500-600MHz range and just fly sims that it will handle. What I'm looking for are recommendations for good jet combat sims - I want realism in flight model, avionics, and weapons more than ultra-realistic graphics. I already have Falcon 4.0, Janes F15, and a bunch of older 486 sims I liked (Su27, Tornado, Longbow, even Falcon 3.0 Gold LOL) but I was wondering what the hardcore simmers here were flying 5 or 6 years ago? How about recommended 3D cards? (I was using a 16MB Voodoo3 2000 on my old P133.) Recommended RAM? AMD or Intel? Why? Inquiring minds want to know!

 

My first posting here?decided I had to join after seeing this question! First of all, I?m not familiar with the current ?Thrustmaster FLCS? HOTAS you have, or at least I?m not familiar with the interface. From what you are saying, this HOTAS requires a proprietary ISA-type card, is that right?? I DO know it?s a great stick but, being short on funds I opted for the much less-expensive Saitek X-52 which has a USB interface (and I LOVE this stick, even though it looks nothing like the ?real-deal? in the F-16 cockpit!). This also allows me to run my flight sims (and yes, I?m a ?hardcore simmer? for sure!) on desktop AND laptop systems and it also has the advantage of using ?Hall-Effect? switches, thus eliminating potential potentiometer problems down the road?

 

But back to your question on ?which sim??; I too enjoyed Falcon from the beginning, even the Macintosh version running in B/W was cool with me and, IMHO this is still THE most realistic flight simulator out there. And now there is ?Falcon Alliance? which (again IMHO!) seems to have taken the best of all the Falcon 4 SP?s and rolled them into a package that don?t require you to do ?The Dance? (the Hardcore know what I?m talking about!) and this will be my next sim purchase.

 

I see here that nobody has mentioned Lock-On: Modern Air Combat (LOMAC); and for good reason: it?s a true resource-killer even when running on a bleeding-edge ?Alienware? system!! However (and this could be a first!!), YOU are wanting to DOWNGRADE so you won?t be able to run this sim on ANY ?slow? 600MHz machine?so here is what I would do?

 

Since you are obviously an ?electric-jet? man, and much like myself would much rather splash a bogie using BVR techniques than blowing 30mm rounds through his fuselage via a gun pipper, then your choices are limited. However, since you already own Falcon 4 AND you already have a relatively fast system, are there any ?conversion? cards out there that will allow you to use your ISA-based FLCS in your current system?? IF that were the case you could run the newer, as well as the ?not-so-new? sims and save some money in the process. Have you checked with Thrustmaster to see if perhaps THEY make such a card? One would HOPE that a company that sells THE ?defacto? standard in HOTAS setups WOULD have a solution for you!!

 

Last thing: you asked what (in so many words) us ?old-timers? use to fly and that is an easy one for me anyway: I use to fly the REAL F-16 Block xx Flight Simulator, as well as the REAL F/A-18 (US Navy Device 2E7 w/ twin, 360-degree domes!!) when I worked on these two projects BUT, when not working on these babies I?d be ?flying? Falcon for sure!! And?well, have you had a chance to ?fly? LOMAC yet??? IF you haven?t, and you (again like myself?) truly enjoy an accurate Flight Model AND you love ?playing? with all the avionics, then you have GOT to at least take a look at it! For in many ways it is more realistic than Falcon 4 even WITH all the BMS patches et. al. installed and it is a truly well-modeled simulation: but only if you a: are using the ?Flaming Cliffs? (or the more recent ?Shark? version?!) add-ons and b: you have an ENORMOUS amount of RAM both system AND video!! Since they have VASTLY improved the avionics in the SU-25, as well as in the SU-27 (modeling the ?N-Series? radar VERY well!!) I find the flying these birds to be a very realistic experience?something to consider if you are planning a ?down-grade?. Good luck to you!!

 

Sky

[NH2112 0]

Well I finally got my "retro" system up and running. It's a Gateway G6-400mhz, 128MB, 8MB 3D card, and (most importantly) an ISA slot for my TM ACM card so I can run the FLCS/TQS/RCS. I'm running Win98SE and I guess my next step is to hook up the controls and calibrate them. It's been a long time but I remember having a real bastard of a time getting anything done in Win98SE because it seemed everybody had a different idea of what to use for the settings - how many axes, how many buttons, digital or analog throttle, etc. I had a much easier time of it with Win95 but I didn't want to have to go through the hassle of partitioning my 10GB HD into 5 logical drives. Using DOS 6.2 was totally out of the question :P

 

So is anyone still running an FLCS/TQS/RCS combo on Win98SE and using it to fly Janes F15? What settings do you use? Got any good links for Janes F15 - flight training, missions, etc?

Edited May 20, 2006 by NH2112