Flight simulator recommendations

[Edward64]

Anyone out there with flight sim recommendations?

It seems the only recent one with good reviews is "rise of flight" and I am thinking about buy it.

But there are other older games (e.g. lock-on modern air combat) that seem to still have a following.

Does anyone have recommendations on a fun and realistic flights sims? My interest range from WWI, WWII and modern.

[EagleFan]

It's an older one but is great for WWII era - IL-2 Sturmovic: 1946

I think that I saw it is now available on GoG.

[weegeebored]

If you can find it, the original Falcon 4. Then go to freefalcon.com and get the updated FF5 version. (v5.3 is the latest, I think). Before you do, read the threads on the Nvidia driver issues. I think ATI cards are fine but it's been a while since I've been on the site.

[gstelmack]

For Falcon 4, get the Allied Force version from Lead Pursuit. It's the most stable of the bunch, although not the most featured. The best thing about this series is the dynamic campaign that no one else has matched since even though the basic sim is like a decade old at this point.

For just plain fun, Third Wire Productions - Home has updated all their sims for Vista/Win7 compatibility, and the focus is fun. I bought the $50 combined pack at Christmas. The big thing here is he actively supports them, with patches roughly once every other month.

You can often find the IL-2: 1946 pack on sale. It's probably about the best WWII sim out there, and the full pack has everything they've released with it.

DCS has a few sims, including some chopper sims. They are working on an A-10 sim.

Lead Pursuit is cooking up something after F4:AF, but no word yet.

Head over to SimHQ.com — Simulation Gaming News, Reviews, and Features for sim info.

[Warhammer]

For playingIL-2 onlne check out Warbirds of prey.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

For playingIL-2 onlne check out Warbirds of prey.

Or Aces High.

[Edward64]

Thanks guys for your recommendations.

I did check out Thirdwire but the reviews seem to indicate they were more arcade like? Which one of the games do you like the best?

I'll be honest, the Falcon 4 games/variants have always intimidated me... I remember reading about how much of the learning curve it'll be. But I'll read up more about it.

The IL-2 looks like a possibility but I understand the graphics is dated. Didn't know about Aces High but its a MMO which is a strike.

Thanks again.

[Warhammer]

The graphics in IL-2 are good enough. I certainly never worried about them, plus there are some very nice mods out there for it that step the graphics up a bit.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Edward64

I did check out Thirdwire but the reviews seem to indicate they were more arcade like? Which one of the games do you like the best?

I'll be honest, the Falcon 4 games/variants have always intimidated me... I remember reading about how much of the learning curve it'll be. But I'll read up more about it.

These two paragraphs contradict each other. Either you want a realistic modern flight sim, or you want a fun one. The Thirdwire aren't arcade (they are well above say HAWX or Ace Combat), but are certainly tipped to the fun side. As for which one, right now Israel has the most advanced engine, although the others will get patched up there. It really depends on which theater interests you most.