What is your favorite Combat Flight Sim?

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by Cybermat47

Never, EVER, mention that game again

Oh but I will. Have played through the campaign twice and plan to come back again. It has its downsides, but it's been excellently supported and, IMO, could still be a valid contender the best single-player WWII sim out there. Sorry if you had a bad experience with it. Mine has certainly been good though

[Oberon]

IL2 1946 for its online quality
BOBII:WOV for its offline quality
A-10c/BS for its complexity
Rise of Flight for its beauty
Freefalcon for its community added content
Wings over Europe for its theatre and eras (We need more Cold War Gone Hot Combat Flight Sims set in Germany)
Comanche vs Hokum for Nostalgia

[Herr-Berbunch]

Originally Posted by Oberon

(We need more Cold War Gone Hot Combat Flight Sims set in Germany)

We do indeed! Harriers deployed into woods alongside autobahns.

F-104s, Phantoms, Lightnings, Sabres (inc. Super) - the list of wanted aircraft goes on and on.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

We do indeed! Harriers deployed into woods alongside autobahns.

F-104s, Phantoms, Lightnings, Sabres (inc. Super) - the list of wanted aircraft goes on and on.

That's the primary reason I like Wings Over Europe. In terms of simulation...well...it's not going to challenge DCS any time soon, but you have Germany and if you install NATO Fighters modpack then you get a whole load of toys to play with, including the Frightening. But, I would love someone like DCS to take a run at a 1985ish era scenario, although admittedly dogfighting over the West German front in the first two days of the war would be a little bit like sticking your arm into a blender, but it would be spectacular.
I used to have a lovely print of a painting of a Harrier taking off from inside a wood, no idea where it went, sadly the frame was knackered. Was very atmospheric though.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Originally Posted by Oberon

a 1985ish era scenario, although admittedly dogfighting over the West German front in the only two days of the war would be a little bit like sticking your arm into a blender, but it would be spectacular.

Fixed.

Recommend Jerry Pook's 'Flying Freestyle' to you.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

Fixed.

Recommend Jerry Pook's 'Flying Freestyle' to you.

Too damn true!

Oooh, thanks for the recommend, have bookmarked and will investigate.

In turn, might I recommend 'Cold War, Hot Wings' by Chris Bain.

[Cybermat47]

Forgot to mention about birds of steel, there are little people on the ground, fighting each over, and they die when you shoot/ bomb them! also there are three difficulty levels:
Simplified:Arcade type mode, unlimited boost, bombs and ammo
Realistic:limmited bombs and ammo, black outs flap control required
Simulator: No friend or foe identification, no target camera, confined to cockpit mode, also you need to adjust every little thing manually.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by CCIP

Oh but I will. Have played through the campaign twice and plan to come back again. It has its downsides, but it's been excellently supported and, IMO, could still be a valid contender the best single-player WWII sim out there. Sorry if you had a bad experience with it. Mine has certainly been good though

It has some of the best AI in a flight sim. It actually makes mistakes, unlike the IL2 AI which bounces between idiotic and cheating.

[Cybermat47]

Originally Posted by CCIP

Oh but I will. Have played through the campaign twice and plan to come back again. It has its downsides, but it's been excellently supported and, IMO, could still be a valid contender the best single-player WWII sim out there. Sorry if you had a bad experience with it. Mine has certainly been good though

Eh. Glad to see at least somebody has had a good experience. Might as well try it again. I would recommend to you Birdds of Steel, or the pc version of the game,World of Planes. In it, you can play as British,American,Russian,Australian,German,Italian ,or Japanese. You can add 2 emblems on any part of your aircraft, select loadout realism and much more. You receive missions like combat air patrol, ground attack, head to head dogfight, tank bombing, city bombing, escort missions, and 2 main campaigns with 14 different dynamic campaigns. Here is the website:http://birdsofsteel.com/ I've got the Xbox 360 version of the game!

[HunterICX]

Played my share of the original CFS, Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe and other Combat Flight sims on the DOS and Pentium I PC back in the day, I think where I spend the most time in is IL2 1946 playing online.

Can't really name a favorite as I like all of them for their qualities and what they have to offer in gameplay but there are also things I don't like about them.
Example: I hate IL2's AI and non-existent campaign that makes the game interesting to play offline or co-op for a long period of time as it becomes rather repetitive and don't offer that much variety.
Wings of Victory II: Battle of Britain on the other hand does but doesn't offer multiplayer support to play it coop with friends but iirc they said they where working on a Multiplayer but not sure how far that has gotten so far and it begs that this idea of a campaign and AI was implemented into other Theathers of operations.

And I can go on and on for ages about this subject what I like and dislike about the Combat Flightsims.

I like them all for what they have to offer and I enjoy(ed) playing them.
And that's for me what it is all about.

HunterICX

[Dowly]

Yup, can't really pick one, or even two.

Can echo what Oberon said with one addition: European Air War

[sublynx]

I feel that I haven't yet played a flight sim I'm as happy as I am with a modded SH3. I like the old ones, Dynamix's Red Baron and Aces of the Pacific but of course they had some big limitations. Maybe IL21946 is the best for me yet but I hate the AI and I haven't yet owned a computer that can run air battles with lots of planes. The campaign in IL2 is pretty dismal as well. But I do love the feeling when I am flying alone in a BF109G-2 and am slowly starting to get an energy advantage and begin to dominate a battle against a group of La-5's

[Sailor Steve]

I know I'm bringing back a slightly old thread, but I was leery about starting a new on for this.

The last flight sims I played were Red Baron 3D and European Air War. Both had their weaknesses, and both were a lot of fun.

I just purchased Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 3, the point being to get Over Flanders Fields. I'm also currently downloading the F2P version of Rise Of Flight. I've said a lot of bad things about paying to get extra stuff, and I still feel that way about SHO, but to get cool WW1 planes? Oh yeah!

I'm still waiting until I can get a new computer so I can play these in all their glory, but I felt like starting the experience now.

Next I suppose I'll need a joystick, and I guess I'll have to get IL-2 sooner or later. We'll see how it goes.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I know I'm bringing back a slightly old thread, but I was leery about starting a new on for this.

The last flight sims I played were Red Baron 3D and European Air War. Both had their weaknesses, and both were a lot of fun.

I just purchased Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 3, the point being to get Over Flanders Fields. I'm also currently downloading the F2P version of Rise Of Flight. I've said a lot of bad things about paying to get extra stuff, and I still feel that way about SHO, but to get cool WW1 planes? Oh yeah!

I'm still waiting until I can get a new computer so I can play these in all their glory, but I felt like starting the experience now.

Next I suppose I'll need a joystick, and I guess I'll have to get IL-2 sooner or later. We'll see how it goes.

CFS3 is very good. Installing mods however....I tore my hair out this past summer trying to get the Pacific Theatre mods running. It involves a whole bunch of careful steps. I didn't look at OFF but the mods i did install were unfinished. The PTO Solomons mod only had a couple maps and the PTO Rising Sun Mod was NOT finished. Even for a Beta...it was rough. I ended up just adding a plane or two to the game and that was the end of my CFS3 for the summer.

I highly recommend IL-2 1946 though! The stock game is very fun! There aren't many sims you can say that about. Stock CFS3 is fun....but it gets boring after a while. If you get a mod working on CFS3, I'd love to hear about it.

Also, if you ever get the chance, play Jetfighter V. It only has 3 jets, but it's pretty fun.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Red October1984

CFS3 is very good. Installing mods however...If you get a mod working on CFS3, I'd love to hear about it.

OFF is more than a mod, it's a complete rewrite of the game. Basically right now I just want to play around in canvas byplanes.