So real it's uncanny...

[coasterdigi]

Originally Posted by nodlew

Wasn't there a kind of Super Mod for that game where they completely overhauled it and tried to make everything as detailed and realistic as possible...to the point where to take off you actually had to know the proper routine?

Yes, but that's not at all uncommon in any kind of hardcore flight sim (if you want to see another ridiculously detailed sim, check out DCS Black Shark). Being a pilot is all about being familiar and proficient with tons and tons of minutiae, and, unlike a sub or ship sim, the pilot is often the only person aboard the aircraft, so they've got to do everything.

When I was working on getting my license, I can remember spending hours sitting in a dry (powered down) cockpit going over flows, which are essentially procedures that should be able to be done very quickly and by muscle memory--especially in an emergency.

...although, it's a hell of a lot more difficult with a mouse.

[Kimmers]

Never played The Sims.

oh you kidding me. although i've outgrown it, thats a classic

[TomcatMVD]

Originally Posted by nodlew

Wasn't there a kind of Super Mod for that game where they completely overhauled it and tried to make everything as detailed and realistic as possible...to the point where to take off you actually had to know the proper routine?

The stock game already comes with the option to do a "Ramp Start" for each mission. This requires you to "turn on" the plane. From spooling up the engine up to waiting for the inertial navigation system to align.

Originally Posted by coasterdigi

When I was working on getting my license, I can remember spending hours sitting in a dry (powered down) cockpit going over flows, which are essentially procedures that should be able to be done very quickly and by muscle memory--especially in an emergency.

I'm a student pilot myself! Although talking about a "powered down" cockpit sounds more like you're talking about your commercial certification. (?)

Cheers!

[nodlew]

I had that game (Falcon 4.0). But for some reason, I just couldn't get into it. I think it was the graphics. By the time I got my hands on it, they were so outdated that I just said, "Nah.".

Il-2, on the other hand, can still make me say "Whoah!" Still a beautiful-looking game with an awesome damage model, terrific gameplay.

I think, partly, I like the WWII era better as well. Firing Sidewinders from 4 miles away and watching your enemy go "poof" in the distance is not nearly as visceral as watching him disintegrate before your eyes under a stream of .50 cal bullets. Or watching a 10,000 ton behemoth on the horizon jump out of the water and fill the sky with fire and debris.

Strange, I never tried Sub Sims, or Naval warfare sims in general before. I think I had the old game "Battleship" stuck in my head. And I guess I didn't think riding around for days in a submarine with nothing to do would be very engrossing. Wrong about that. I take log entries. Bitch about the weather. Manage my crew. Plot new courses to, hopefully, better hunting grounds. Sometimes I stop all engines and just wait for days (weeks) for the weather to clear up. Then, all of a sudden, you're being shot at by a plane, diving, taking on water, figuring out where to stow the dead crewmen, or staring at a massive convoy heading right for you, picking out the fattest targets, setting torpedoes up...all very absorbing to me.

Kimmers--if the Sims was set in WWII and my Sims were fighting the Germans, I would play it. But watching a bunch of Sims wandering around a Sim House, occasionally using the Sim Lavatory and feeding the Simdog, ain't my thang. My nieces love the game. That there is the surest clue that I myself would hate it.

[nodlew]

Sorry have not responded until now. In general, I save money on DVD's by watching YouTube. I am afraid (translate=delighted) that the days of "buying" things seem to be becoming passe. The internet is an incredible cornucopia of free stuff. Free programs, free movies, free reading material. You might not get the best of the best. I'm sure Professor Smith's five volume history of The Battle of Jutland is far superior to Wikepedia, but Wikepedia can tell me all the essentials--in fine detail, and costs nothing compared to the $100 dollars for Smith's opus.
And I am...how to put this?...almost without financial resources of any kind.

[Sailor Steve]

Good points. But your 'Professor Smith' would love me. When it comes to the technical details I just have to have all those stupid books. Though I've had my ups and downs as well. I spent some time homeless, and I'm currently "between positions" as they say.

[TomcatMVD]

Come to thing of it... the Falcon game that allowed you to perform a full "Ramp Start", was Falcon Allied Force, basically, the version following Falcon 4.0.
As for The Sims series... I guess is one of those games you just have to install, to see what all the fuzz is about... but that's pretty much all there is about them... install them, try them, uninstall them, and go hunting tonnage.

BTW, speaking about WWII genre... I just got my hands into Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway... it seems like a truly recommendable game for the buck.

[coasterdigi]

Originally Posted by TomcatMVD

I'm a student pilot myself! Although talking about a "powered down" cockpit sounds more like you're talking about your commercial certification. (?)

Cheers!

Nah, I've only got my private, but I got it when I was going to school at Embry Riddle, where they strive to do all that they can to turn a 172 cockpit into the flight deck of an A320.

I didn't realize that this wasn't normal until I rented at an FBO for the first time. When I was going up for my checkout flight, I just ran through off the checklists and procedures that I was taught (leaning on the ground, verbally identifying things like the flap lever before moving it, etc). The instructor (a guy wearing flip-flops, Bermuda shorts, and some ridiculous hat) just looked at me like I'd sprouted 2 additional heads.

It was the shortest checkout flight I ever had.

But that was years ago. My last logbook entry is from 2003!