Flight sims

[Obiwanshinobi]

One of my latest gaming infatuations (thanks to Sky Odyssey), finally made me get a flight stick (thanks to the PC Crimson Skies).
I'm searching for the genre's OutRun - games where joy of piloting aircraft is unadulterated. I know about Pilotwings, but what else is there?
Ace Combat is more of a shooter, as are numerous WWII-themed airplane games. Aerial shooters and realistic simulations recs, however, are not unwelcome here, provided you found the very flight particulary enjoyable.
I don't care how old they are if only I can get them to work.

[KAI]

I think you may like the Free Flight mode of Energy Airforce.

I always wanted to try that Combat Flight Simulator mod produced by Gainax.

[charlie chong]

I find the flying of helicopters/planes in the arma series to be very fun.you'll need a fairly beefy computer to run arma 2 or 3 tho.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I read stories about some Energy Airforce game some time ago... One of those reasons why I don't believe when people say they have a good grasp of PS2 library (even regarding just one region).
Air Ranger: Rescue Helicopter and City Crisis might be of interest for those who like playablye helicopters in their games.

[Gespenst]

If you don't care about graphics, then YSFlight. It's still quite popular for virtual airshows as well.

Not sure whether things like X-Plane and FSX count though.

I always wanted to try that Combat Flight Simulator mod produced by Gainax.

Wait, what?

[KAI]

From an old issue of Newtype Magazine (sorry about the shitty scan quality)

[beatsgo]

If you don't care about graphics, then YSFlight. It's still quite popular for virtual airshows as well.

What makes YSFlight awesome is the insane addons you can put in. Heck why not have vic viper, lord british and a R-9A have a dogfight against some star wars ships?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l96VvhiG8Og

[null1024]

One of my favorite experiences with YSFlight was just zipping around in the Ikaruga from Ikaruga. I cannot remember for the life of me where I found the plane, but damn. Ludicrous speed, pilot blackout with a mere touch [because ludicrous speed], and it felt amazing.


I need a new flightstick, this one has been acting really screwy. I've had it since 2000 or 2001. It came with an old-ass 900MHz Windows ME computer that's been gone from this place for ages.

[Gespenst]

One of my favorite experiences with YSFlight was just zipping around in the Ikaruga from Ikaruga. I cannot remember for the life of me where I found the plane, but damn. Ludicrous speed, pilot blackout with a mere touch [because ludicrous speed], and it felt amazing.

Luckily there's a place to search for mods, I got most of the YSFlight mods from there.
http://ysfinder.net/

Here's the mod that contains R-9 Arrowhead, Ikaruga, Vic Viper and Lord British. Plus some Yukikaze, Macross, Gundam and Ace Combat stuff.
http://raptorial.jp/cefp/

[gs68]

Taito's "Landing" series, though it focuses entirely on takeoff and landing.

[Gespenst]

I recall Aero Dancing series have free flight mode as well.


Plus two of them (Aero Dancing F and Aero Dancing i) were ported to PC but might be a bit difficult to find.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Very inspiring thread, many thanks.
Dug out this article. Having no experience with the series, I think I can see where he's coming from nevertheless.

need a new flightstick, this one has been acting really screwy. I've had it since 2000 or 2001. It came with an old-ass 900MHz Windows ME computer that's been gone from this place for ages.

If you don't demand vibration/force feedback at all cost, I recommend T.Flight Hotas X (works on PS3 as well).

Taito's "Landing" series, though it focuses entirely on takeoff and landing.

Sounds good. No flight sim is complete without either and after Sky Odyssey, I find games where it's not essential rather counter-immersive.

[Gespenst]

Totally forgot about FlightGear. And it's free.
http://www.flightgear.org/

Aerofly FS looks nice, but looks like it lacks moddability.
http://www.aeroflyfs.com/

[Raytrace]

emm are you only looking for 'arcadey' or do you also like sim sims that can be played in a fun way?

I really like Wings Over Europe

and also Total Air War has finally become playable again on modern systems due to some very nice people making a new version of it.

TAW is great fun because you can basically control mission flight paths etc. from an AWACS and then at any time you like you can jump into the cockpit of any of the F-22s in the air .

I still have it's lovely ring-bound manual up on the shelf beside my PC to this day .

This is a great time for flight sims I think - with DCS on Steam, and also X-Plane got greenlit, hopefully the modular purchase system DCS are going for will make it feasible for them to continue making flight sims.

[Aguraki]

idk if its good but humble bundle bohemia games has arma 2 and 1 and a chopper game.
if u pay more u get carrier command dunno if it has planes.

[Obiwanshinobi]

emm are you only looking for 'arcadey' or do you also like sim sims that can be played in a fun way?

I believe Sky Odyssey proved those qualities are not mutually exclusive. If beardy sims can be as tweakable as IL-2 Sturmovik, that's all the more inviting.

I could also use a suggestion what else is worth playing with analogue stick (other than Space Harrier, Monkey Ball and so on). Car games I tried with it (OutRun 2006 and Mashed: Fully Loaded) hardly benefit from the thing. OutRun was more playable with twisting axis (although I haven't tried out all possible configurations), but I think neGcon would be better still, whereas Mashed felt all wrong. Will certainly experiment with Richard Burns Rally, though.
I suspect bike games would feel most natural played this way... Superbike 2001?
The original S&P, maybe? Hat swith on mine is pretty snappy.

[Gespenst]

Strike Fighters series (NOT the mobile versions) is more action-oriented 'sim-lite' but moddable as hell.

The mods can be difficult to find though, and most of the modding sites requires you to register to download the mods.

[rapoon]

Here's a couple screenshots of War Thunder


my Ki-61 Hien I had just landed. SS right before being blown to shit.


A6M3 I managed to land for repairs.

It's a good (and bad) game. It looks awesome (I have a decent machine), it plays well. Fully supports your stick with a preset layout if you chose
to use it. The controls in the game are very well done. Everything from mouse aim to a ridiculous number of customization options for full-control.
prop, radiator, etc. everything can be adjusted. in addition to having friends join a custom game reenacting historical battles, you can fly in Arcade (fly and shoot
shit down, capture objectives as fast as possible), Realistic Battles and Simulator.

Bad: 5 nations to chose from (America, Germany, Britain, USSR, Japan). Minus Britain, I've leveled all nations to tier 3 or 4 (out of 5 tiers) and USSR is
hands down the strongest and Japan the weakest. In fact, it's insulting how much ass Japan sucks in the game. Until recently, Japan hadn't received a new plane
in over a year. They got the Ki-84 Hyate about 6 weeks ago and it's a steaming pile of shit even though it was one of the best, arguably THE best Axis fighter of WW2.
Planes are given a Battle Rating (determined by the maker Gaijin) which determines what kind of planes you fly with and against. The Hellcat has a battle rating of 2.7.
The basic A6M3 (Zero/Zeke) has a battle rating of 4.0. Despite the fact, these planes fought all the fucking time in RL, they rarely see each other in the game.
my point: can be an awesome or extremely frustrating game depending on the nation you fly.

For me the game's allure stems from it being a WW2 sim. if you're a bit meh about the WW2 aspect and prefer more modern planes, I'd stay away. However, there
are Korean era jets in the game but they take a long time and all that's a bit fucked atm.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I don't mind the aircraft of that era. It's just that some WWII games look more Star Wars than sim to me. I even like SWON, but it's a sort of Rogue Squadron in historical settings (basically a 3D shmup).

I think when flight sims lost mainstream appeal (enter Wolfenstein 3D), some game designers thought pretend violence is the only thing that might keep masses interested in flight games, hence designs tailored to allow many kills for minute.

[charlie chong]

warthunder is very much deathmatch with planes on default settings.The sim mode may be different tho.
i would get that humble bundle..for £6 you'll have about 4+ games with definite flight sim leanings.plus there are lots of mods for those games too.

[rapoon]

in arcade mode yes. it's team deathmatch. in realistic and sim mode, no. but there's dynamic storylines and single player missions that can
be run solo. atm, i wouldnt recommend anyone play arcade anymore than id recommend them fly Japan. miserable tactics exploited by ppl
(the type i started playing WT to get away from) have pushed player frustration to the brink. arcade matches use to last 15-20 mins. they last 3-5 now.

I think when flight sims lost mainstream appeal (enter Wolfenstein 3D), some game designers thought pretend violence is the only thing that might keep masses interested in flight games, hence designs tailored to allow many kills for minute.

pretty much. I love flight sims, so I'm glad to see this thread. I grew up on them (25 years later, the first thing i do when playing any game is invert my Y-axis). Gaijin has done a great job
catering towards all different types of flight sim fans. outside of your time, you lose nothing if you don't like it.

[Obiwanshinobi]

It looks awesome (I have a decent machine), it plays well.

Not really on topic (it's like Rogue Squadron meets Viewtiful Joe on Earth), but if you want to give your PC some workout, see how many fps you can get in Secret Weapons Over Normandy maxed out. I found it more demanding than Doom 3.

Frames: 16268 - Time: 332391ms - Avg: 48.942 - Min: 21 - Max: 63

on my antiquated rig today. Everything maxed out... in 640x480. In 1600x1200 it would hit single digits occasionally. Video card being only GF7800 GS+, but it's a 11 years old game. All of which would be just one more slow game engine of yesteryear, but hot damn, does it look dope. Graphically impeccable if you ask me; by its time console standards it's MGS2 or Metroid Prime.
Some found the console versions not as good looking as the contemporary Ace Combat games, but the catch is that SWON doesn't try hard to look "real", neither does it look cartoony. For lack of a better word, it looks like a diorama, except it's animated (so stills don't quite capture the spirit).
Oh, and it doesn't even have cockpit view. Unorthodox to say the least.

[Gespenst]

Honestly I'm not too fond of SWON's graphics though. The textures looks too dark for me.

But using my laptop with all maxed up settings and 1024x768 resolution, I also unable to get constant 60FPS either.

[rapoon]

few more screenshots:





Ki-84 Hayate Ko


Hayate Cockpit.


I'll check out Secret Weapons Over Normandy. is the keyboard/mouse support decent? I don't have a stick anymore and I can't decide on a new one...
something very unique about flight sims. that top screenshot I took for the purposes of showing the graphics but I ended up flying around, zooming in and out of hangers
for an hour. when I climb to 20k ft, go into a straight dive and the plane violently shakes, elevator locks up and the sound of the air screaming by.... it's satisfying. =)

[Obiwanshinobi]

That graphics.

Honestly I'm not too fond of SWON's graphics though. The textures looks too dark for me.

Does look weird. Unplayable in daylight, like Thief or something. As if all missions took place in twilight hours. Makes no sense (considering the sun's position), but it's acquired taste for me.

I'll check out Secret Weapons Over Normandy. is the keyboard/mouse support decent? I don't have a stick anymore and I can't decide on a new one...

I doubt mouse can be used outside of the menus, but analogue controls are so twitchy even with a stick that you shouldn't feel bad about using only keyboard.
In fact, good gamepad is a perfectly adequate controller, although experimenting with various buttons layout might be necessary before it feels right. Just be warned: speeding up and slowing down the flow of time are such essential mechanics here that Instant Action can be paced like a deatchmatch of Quake.
Actual system requirements explain why split-screen didn't make it to this version, but since "reflex time" obviously wouldn't glue together with multiplayer, one has to wonder why they put any in to begin with.

What's with all Yankee pilots in WWII-themed games being the same chap? Even voice acting is the same here and in SWON.

[Gespenst]

Not-so-relevant: Speaking of WW2 flight sim/arcade, is Attack on Pearl Harbor any good?

[apatheticTurd]

I've heard good things about the flight model of Dropship: United Peace Force, though that's a decidedly different type of flight game.

[ZacharyB]

I just bought IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946 for the PC. War Thunder and its console equivalent, Birds of Steel, were based on the series. The engine is very old--from 2001--so it has been modified to hell and back by its player community. Some modifications make the game look new. As for gameplay, it is a hardcore flight simulator with variable difficulty settings.

IL-2 also has another game in the series called Cliffs of Dover which looks very nice. However, that installment requires the installation of a few patches in order to play properly.

It is just receiving a new installment in the series, Battle of Stalingrad. The team is working with another team which developed another renowned flight simulator, Rise of Flight, which focuses on planes from the World War I era.

[Raytrace]

I just bought IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946 for the PC. War Thunder and its console equivalent, Birds of Steel, were based on the series. The engine is very old--from 2001--so it has been modified to hell and back by its player community. Some modifications make the game look new. As for gameplay, it is a hardcore flight simulator with variable difficulty settings.

IL-2 also has another game in the series called Cliffs of Dover which looks very nice. However, that installment requires the installation of a few patches in order to play properly.

It is just receiving a new installment in the series, Battle of Stalingrad. The team is working with another team which developed another renowned flight simulator, Rise of Flight, which focuses on planes from the World War I era.

Il-2 is still an amazing game, I could even sit there for hours watching it's demo movies - the P-51 - V-1 part and the Ju-87 Stuka night time dive bombing being particularly brilliant.

[Gespenst]

For singleplayer: Il-2 + DBW modpack + New Full Monty (basically a compilation of high-quality mods from SAS1946 forum) = full of epic win.

Recently, modders are busy experimenting stuff like WW1 planes, kitbashed planes, cold-war era jets, helicopters and even UFOs.

Plus some 'wacky' experiments like turning P-39 Airacobra into RF's Slave-like plane:


About that Gainax CFS mod, I found its (archived) official site:
http://web.archive.org/web/200010172038 ... ex2-e.html