How Long Have You Been Playing Flight Simulator Games?

[Majpalmer]

I remember Blue Max! When you'd invert, your shadow would rotate with you and eventually be up in the sky. 

[Majpalmer]

I flew in Air Warrior on AOL and later Delphi. I guess about 5 years--19o95-2000. JG27. Handle was Nowi. I actually was an instructor over on Delphi, which was interesting. I had students" all over the place. At one point one in Japan, and another in Macedonia, who was watching the US convoys head through his town toward the Serbian border back during the Clinton administration. He'd give me an intel report before each lesson of what he saw stuck in traffic under his window. 

 

Our guys managed to get together twice. The first time we met in DC and went to the Garber Restoration Facility, where the Smithsonian did their restorations, back then, and had assorted aircraft they didn't have the space to display. I remember seeing the disassembled Horton and a FW they were restoring, and another N17 they were working on. Next we met at the museum at Wright-Patterson. 

 

Great days. Great bunch of guys. 

[343KKT_Kintaro]

I'm playing these things for 30 years now... but there's no category "20-30 years"... how is that? I was forced to tick "over 20 years"...

[Majpalmer]

Me too!

[Stonehouse]

Original Bruce Artwick version of Flight Simulator for me on an Apple II. So around 1979. It then became Sublogic FS.

[HBPencil]

I voted for 'Over 20 years', although it hasn't been continuous. My very first sim was the first 'F/A-18 Interceptor' on my Amiga 500.

[Chief_Mouser]

Over 20 years. Since the original Il-2 came out I have flown exclusively that, RoF and Il2-GB. Nothing else appealed. I think that it might be coming to an end though.

[Majpalmer]

Sublogic's Jet was my first, 1985. 

[Lusekofte]

Yeah. Been doing this since my first pc in 1996

But it feel like I am over it now

[IckyATLAS]

50 minutes ago, 216th_Cat said:

Over 20 years. Since the original Il-2 came out I have flown exclusively that, RoF and Il2-GB. Nothing else appealed. I think that it might be coming to an end though.

What said above makes me wonder, what else is now appealing after IL2-GB ? 

[Chief_Mouser]

38 minutes ago, IckyATLAS said:

What said above makes me wonder, what else is now appealing after IL2-GB ? 

 

Nothing. Change in circumstances.

[Bonnot]

 

I'd been not only crazy  enough to play this for hours, but I remember quite well the price for an Apple IIE, screen, crude  "joystick" and the

"Flight Simulator "himself on a floppy disk of some  725 (???)  Ko .....But it was such a technological jump from the Mattel Intellivision and the Sinclair ZX  that we were literally fascinated and ready to pay for more !

Ho, Happy Days ?

[Majpalmer]

I'd forgotten about Intellivision. B-17!

[Todt_Von_Oben]

Well, let's see...

 

In 1976 I started playing PONG on a Tandy Computer from Radio Shack and was working for Perry Stevens at the Antioch Sport Parachute Center where he had a sit-down version of SPACE INVADERS.  At that same time there was "The Carousel" gaming arcade in Concord, California that had a stand-up game called RED BARON: dark screen, "Pong-like" stick figures; little biplanes flying at you and you had to shoot them down or die.  I played that a lot.

 

I flew professionally for eight years and also dogfought with friends in stick-and-rudder taildraggers over unpopulated areas of Northern California during the 1980's.  Not a sim but that's where I learned to fly and dogfight; and that experience and those kinesthetic senses do relate directly to VR.

 

In 1997, my supervisor introduced me to RED BARON with A10 TANK KILLER.  I put it on a laptop with a twiststick and flew all 3 versions (RBII; RB3D) during down-times at work.  I still have that rig and it's still operational.

 

Continued through what followed: WOFF, FCJ, and ROF.  Better computers along the way.  Also MSFS, HEROES OF THE PACIFIC, LUFTWAFFE COMMANDER, and a couple more I can't recall the names of at the moment.

 

Pre-purchased FC 1 and 2 when they first became available; upgraded my GPU and got into VR shortly thereafter with a CV1.

 

Got PREPAR3D not long after that and bought a helicopter simulator.  It's nice but I prefer open cockpit dogfighting. 

 

Our 2004 Cybertron crashed last year so for the past 3+ months I'm flying a new Corsair with a 3080ti and an HP-G2. 

 

Also building a Fokker D7 sim pod and motion simulator platform.

 

So what's that; about 46 years?   But it's not like I'm addicted or anything...   ?

[Majpalmer]

44 minutes ago, Todt_Von_Oben said:

Well, let's see...

 

In 1976 I started playing PONG on a Tandy Computer from Radio Shack and was working for Perry Stevens at the Antioch Sport Parachute Center where he had a sit-down version of SPACE INVADERS.  At that same time there was "The Carousel" gaming arcade in Concord, California that had a stand-up game called RED BARON: dark screen, "Pong-like" stick figures; little biplanes flying at you and you had to shoot them down or die.  I played that a lot.

 

I flew professionally for eight years and also dogfought with friends in stick-and-rudder taildraggers over unpopulated areas of Northern California during the 1980's.  Not a sim but that's where I learned to fly and dogfight; and that experience and those kinesthetic senses do relate directly to VR.

 

In 1997, my supervisor introduced me to RED BARON with A10 TANK KILLER.  I put it on a laptop with a twiststick and flew all 3 versions (RBII; RB3D) during down-times at work.  I still have that rig and it's still operational.

 

Continued through what followed: WOFF, FCJ, and ROF.  Better computers along the way.  Also MSFS, HEROES OF THE PACIFIC, LUFTWAFFE COMMANDER, and a couple more I can't recall the names of at the moment.

 

Pre-purchased FC 1 and 2 when they first became available; upgraded my GPU and got into VR shortly thereafter with a CV1.

 

Got PREPAR3D not long after that and bought a helicopter simulator.  It's nice but I prefer open cockpit dogfighting. 

 

Our 2004 Cybertron crashed last year so for the past 3+ months I'm flying a new Corsair with a 3080ti and an HP-G2. 

 

Also building a Fokker D7 sim pod and motion simulator platform.

 

So what's that; about 46 years?   But it's not like I'm addicted or anything...   ?

Did you used Pat Wilson's Campaign Generator for Red Baron 3D.

[Todt_Von_Oben]

7 hours ago, Majpalmer said:

Did you used Pat Wilson's Campaign Generator for Red Baron 3D.

 

No.  I've never gotten into that.  I know Pat's Campaign Generator gets good reviews and we're lucky to have it; but I haven't gotten around to learning how to use it.  Never learned how to make my own aircraft skins, either.  

 

I guess I'm kind of like Sgt. Oddball in the movie KELLY'S HEROES, when he said of his tank, "Oh man, I just ride 'em.  I don't know what makes 'em work."

 

I am interested in Campaign Generators and Skins, though.  Maybe I'll try to learn after I finish my sim pod.

 

Prosit!  ?

[Dallas88B]

2 hours ago, Todt_Von_Oben said:

I guess I'm kind of like Sgt. Oddball in the movie KELLY'S HEROES, when he said of his tank, "Oh man, I just ride 'em.  I don't know what makes 'em work."

classic ! I like that ?

 

Memory lane reading all the posts in this thread. thanks everyone.

I had an Amiga 500 in 1989 and thought I had it made. 
I took an introductory flight in a two seat glider about that time. After being released from the tow plane we circled around a bit and then the pilot asked if I would like to try flying it. So I did. He asked if I used a flight simulator (I did) and he said he could always tell those that did...something to do with being able to better relate to the tilting horizon and the planes movements... to this day I don't know if that was a genuine comment from him but it made me feel good. Hooked ! 
 

Edited April 16, 2022 by Dallas88B
Spelling ! Sigh.

[DragonDaddy]

I started in 1994 flying the first Combat Flight Simulator from Microsoft. Here I developed a love for military flight simulators and building computers. I have put in many hours in several different simulators since then and have built and modified a lot of computers. 
 

I tried civilian simulators (X-Plane, MS, etc.) but just couldn’t get into them. If I can’t shoot, bomb or get shot down I have little interest!

[JG7_X-Man]

F-19 Stealth Fighter by MicroProse (1990)

 

Edited April 18, 2022 by JG7_X-Man

[SIA_Target]

Aces Over Europe was my first sim, and frustration when my new PC (Zeos) wasn't able to handle it as bought. Hi Mem, Low mem, 486 something (?). I hardly knew what memory meant in the scheme of things. Before that the closest thing I had come to sims was playing Space Invaders at drinking establishments.

 

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by SIA_Target

[DaveP63]

Their Finest Hour on a Tandy T1000

[Majpalmer]

On 4/18/2022 at 11:51 AM, JG7_X-Man said:

F-19 Stealth Fighter by MicroProse (1990)

 

I'd forgotten about that one! They weren't even close to what the 117 actually looked like. 

[356thFS_Melonfish]

I used to play Wings, F-19, Gunship 2000, B-17 Flying Fortress, Lancaster (technically a tailgunner sim), FA18 interceptor, and Reach for the skies.

All on my Amiga ?

I've very recently got the A500 Mini and guess what? i'll be playing all of these again very soon, i've already setup the sideload stick.

 

[JG7_RudeRaptor]

MACH 3  1983  

[Blitzen]

Way way back...

[vonGraf]

Used to be a FLAK gunner on (broken) Airfix models hanging from a tree in the 1960s. 

 

The names of the Amiga/C64 flight games later I can't really remember anymore (Raid over Moscow?), I was not a 'computer guy' at all.

I wouldn't call them simulations in nowadays sense either.

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

Played them on any platform I could find back in the jurassic era  And propably will until I can not play anymore.

[kraut1]

My father started building and flying RC planes in the early 70s and I was there a small child of 4 and I was always with him when he was flying.

And we had always many books about aviation at home, which I liked very much. For some years RC modeling was my hobby too and when I was 17 I was for three weeks in a real glider training holiday by the german aero club.

For computers I was not interested when I was a child / young teenager. But then I was at a birthday of one of my friends and his gift was a C64.

From the moment when they started Blue Max I was absolutely fascinated by flight sims and computers.

I bought my first C64 in 87, played Blue Max, Dam Busters, Spitfire Ace. Then in 90 a Amiga500 Their Finest hour, Interceptor, and from 92 I played on PCs Red Baron, the Aces of the Pacific, 1942Pacific Air War, EAW, IL2...

 

[Billsponge1972]

Got into the original Microsoft combat flight simulator in 1999. Graphics weren't bad for the day and there was a mission I'd love to see made. It was a "steal the 109 from an enemy airfield" mission and it was awesome, with fighters chasing you down the runway and the flak coming up everywhere! It was probably 50/50 survival rate but tons of fun.

[Vishnu]

I  have since B17 Bomber with Intellivoice for Intellivision.  
1981.
 

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by Vishnu

[Majpalmer]

I'd forgotten about that one. 

[SkychaserGT]

I started my aviation career, then got msfs to save cash on IFR procedures. One day I found combat flight sim from MS, not too long after IL2 Sturmovik V1 came out followed by 1946. I bought the iron cross ROF as soon as it came out and went over to FC & GB and here we are . The younger gen is starting to dig into it. They'll eventually get over their TikTok phase  I bought quite a bit over the years and gifted quite a few packages as well and still continue to do so!

They are a bunch of guys with their channels on Youtube. Requiem is als a real time pilot these days but still takes time to upload instructional videos.

others do live streams too. The new gen tends to fly a little more DCS which I also have, but as they go, they eventually find their way to IL2 as well. 

The genre does get promoted. Could IL2 be promoted more? Absolutely! Especially with its amazing VR capabilities!