Old school combat sims?

[Stallion]

Just playing a little Janes's WWII.  This cockpit looks an awful lot like one I've seen in the latest IL-2

 

 

[Finkeren]

Janes was impressive for its time in many ways, but I was more into European Air War myself.

[Blooddawn1942]

Janes was impressive for its time in many ways, but I was more into European Air War myself.

 

Spend a lot of time with EAW. Great days.... Also loved Aces over Europe.

[Bladderburst]

[steppenwolf]

Red Baron came with a 1/2" thick reprint of a WWI era flight manual. I still read it.

[Rjel]

Dynamix's Red Baron was my second sim, the first being LucasArts BoB:Their Finest Hour. The original version of RB was bought at Software Ect. in glorious EGA. Really stepped it up when I sent in for the upgraded VGA disk. Great game with a lot of replay value.

[SYN_Mike77]

many many hours in Dynamix's Red Baron!

[MarcoRossolini]

Janes was impressive for its time in many ways, but I was more into European Air War myself.

EAW got me into Combat Flight Sims. 

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

 EAW and Jane's WW2F brought me to online flying 1997. Aces High II and original IL-2 turned it into a second work almost. Luckily got to my senses and cut gaming time drastically some years ago But still, the flight sims are the thing for me.

[Sternjaeger]

Chuck Yeager's Air Combat, yeah baby! 

 

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

 I never got to fly that one, Stern   I flew Ace of Aces and others on Commodore 64 though 

[Sternjaeger]

ooooh you want to find it and try it mate, it still keeps me hooked up every now and then, I wish there was an iPhone version ;-)

Fighter Squadron: The Screamin' Demons Over Europe is another sim that had a HUGE longevity (and AFAIK there is still a community out there!)

 

 

it was the first one that was extensively modded and it implemented features which are still not implemented in any more modern sims (i.e. flexing/bending airframes!)

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

 I had Fighter Squadron, but silly me sold it It was not that good in the beginning and when I later discovered FA modding community it was too late, could not find the game anywhere  

[II./JG27_Rich]

Warbirds 1998.

 

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

 I remember the WarBirds too, but it was not my cup of tea. Gosh how graphics have advanced since then

[Skoshi_Tiger]

Up until a few years ago I kept Janes WWII Fighters on a couple of old PC . When my nephews came over we used to have lan sessions. It was simple to fly, had good graphics for the time and was great fun to play. A good way to introduce young kids into flight sims

 

Still have the disks around some where.

[Bladderburst]

Just a side note, When I used to play Janes I thought it looked awesome... now look at it...

[Sternjaeger]

what I really loved about Janes' WW2 Fighters was the intro and the museum section with vets' interviews, that was the sort of added value that it's nowhere to be found today..

[Sokol1]

Fighter Squadron: The Screamin' Demons Over Europe is another sim that had a HUGE longevity (and AFAIK there is still a community out there!)

 

 

it was the first one that was extensively modded and it implemented features which are still not implemented in any more modern sims (i.e. flexing/bending airframes!)

 

A very good one, only if they are properly finished before release and not "rushed"...

 

Sokol1

[Sokol1]

Warbirds 1998.

 

 

 

Good times, @ 1.99$/hour.

 

Once our squadron put 50+ people in the main arena at Sunday, 9:00 AM.

Today find sim' host with 50+ people is rare...

 

 

 

I remember the WarBirds too, but it was not my cup of tea. Gosh how graphics have advanced since then

 

Curious that Warbirds lost "breath" when change for new engine "3D" ~99/2000.

 

Sokol1

[oneeyeddog]

Flying Corp Gold was the last flight sim I'd played, back in '96-97, I think. Did not even see another flight sim until I happened upon RoF a couple of years ago. I was stunned at how much the genre had progressed and I jumped in with both feet. 

 

[siipperi]

Mig Alley. Really liked it I must say. Might post reference pic tomorrow..

[=LD=Hethwill]

SOme I did play other I didn't.

 

Must say that Chuck's was quite a goodie and had stupidifying fun arranging the anachronic fights 1v1.

 

Yes, Finest hour and all Aces over. Those were great value with great campaigns. Secret Weapons was okay as well.

 

I remember on very oldie where we had to fly the Swordfish and sink the Bismarck, can't remember the correct name, could be Ark Royal, but age is catching up with these memories.

 

B-17 Flying Fortress, not being a full full sim, was also one of my favourites. Was hard and demanding and was a challenge to see it played through the entire 25 missions. Would kickstart a remake ( a proper remake ).

 

Seems most of you had grate fun in Warbirds. Gladly for my wallet I never touched it 

[Sternjaeger]

Yeah Warbirds was a strange creature really, I guess the hourly rate to play is what put most people off, other than for the cost itself (a lot if not all the players were young people that couldn't afford that!) for the payment, which was in an era where paypal and the like were just a dream.. 

I agree about B-17 Flying Fortress, it'd be great to have something similar again, although one has to wonder about longevity of such a dedicated product.. In a way that's what they're trying to do with DCS, but such development takes time.. 

 

Have you ever tried the A2A stuff? Aircraft management there is quite impressive!

[Finkeren]

What I'd like to see is a sim with a approach similar to "B-17" but centered around Bomber Commands night raids. The lighting technology is there now to handle it, and there's huge potential in correctly modelling the different radar guidance and navigation systems and their countermeassures for both sides.

[Sternjaeger]

What I'd like to see is a sim with a approach similar to "B-17" but centered around Bomber Commands night raids. The lighting technology is there now to handle it, and there's huge potential in correctly modelling the different radar guidance and navigation systems and their countermeassures for both sides.

 

then your best bet is to hope DCS does a Lancaster ;-)

[Finkeren]

then your best bet is to hope DCS does a Lancaster ;-)

The DCS engine would propably be the best to handle this kind of stuff, though clearly a Lancaster alone doesn't cut it. As a minimum it'd need the "big 3", a Wellington a couple of Mosquitoes, a Bf 110, Ju 88 and Do 217/He 219/something.

 

Also I'm not quite sold on whether the lighting in the DCS engine is up to the task. The only part I ever found impressive there is the self-shadowing.

[steppenwolf]

I can't wait to see what the next twenty years brings.

[Sternjaeger]

The DCS engine would propably be the best to handle this kind of stuff, though clearly a Lancaster alone doesn't cut it. As a minimum it'd need the "big 3", a Wellington a couple of Mosquitoes, a Bf 110, Ju 88 and Do 217/He 219/something.

 

Also I'm not quite sold on whether the lighting in the DCS engine is up to the task. The only part I ever found impressive there is the self-shadowing.

 

oooh they're getting there mate, have you seen the latest screenshots?

[Finkeren]

I can't wait to see what the next twenty years brings.

 

Propably less than what the last 20 years brought us:

 

Their Finest Hour (1989)

 

Aces of the Pacific (1992)

 

1942 Pacific Air War (1994)

 

European Air War (1998)

 

MSCFS 2 (2000)

 

 

IL2 Sturmovik (2001)

 

MSCFS 3 (2002)

 

BOB2 Wings of Victory (2005)

 

ClOD (2011)

 

BoS (2014)

 

Seems to me they cracked the nut somwhere between 1994 and 2000. Progress has been incremental since then.

[Finkeren]

oooh they're getting there mate, have you seen the latest screenshots?

 

I'd be interesting in seeing those new shots. Most of what I've seen from DCS looks sorta like this;

 

 

Which is alright, but nothing spectacular.

[Sternjaeger]

http://forums.eagle.ru./showpost.php?p=2067392&postcount=8

[steppenwolf]

Ha Ha Finkeren, I forgot about Aces of the Pacific.

 

DCS particle effects are a deal breaker for me.  

[Bladderburst]

Ha Ha Finkeren, I forgot about Aces of the Pacific.

 

DCS particle effects are a deal breaker for me.  

 

Dcs really looks like the real deal as far as modern air combat goes.Stuff lights up on fire and blows up after a while, sound is delayed with distance (I hope we'll get this in BOS). When you look into a screen into the cockpit and light something up, it really looks like the real deal.

[Bando]

sound is delayed with distance (I hope we'll get this in BOS). 

 

This is already implemented in BOS. In fact it was in ROF, so it was in BOS from the very beginning.

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

 Pacific Air War. Oh boy did I play that Got the original box + add-on still

[Bladderburst]

This is already implemented in BOS. In fact it was in ROF, so it was in BOS from the very beginning.

 

Dang I have to pay attention.

 

The thing is that we never kill something from 7km so it might be less noticeable.

[Sokol1]

 but centered around Bomber Commands night raids. T

 

Once, in these "golden days" of simulation, there was project called "Target for Today" based on Bomber Commands night operations, unfortunately like many others of the time, became a "vaporware"...  

 

The trend of end of 90's/early 2000 requiring a online mode in kill some these games.

 

Sokol1

[Finkeren]

"Golden days" indeed. Just think about it:

 

European Air War (1998)

 

MS Combat Flight Simulator 1 (1998)

 

Janes WW2 Fighters (1999)

 

Luftwaffe Commander (1999)

 

B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th (2000) 

 

Rowans Battle Of Britain (2000)

 

MSCFS 2 (2000)

 

IL2 Sturmovik (2001)

 

MSCFS 3 (2002)

 

All within the span of 3½ years. And today we feel lucky that there are 2 WW2 era flight sims in the pipeline.

[II./JG27_Rich]

S!

 

 I remember the WarBirds too, but it was not my cup of tea. Gosh how graphics have advanced since then

Two bucks an hour when I started in 1997