f13.net

Any available?  If so, recommendations?

Wait for Ace Combat 6. And whatever Simulator comes out next year. Blazing Angels is not worth the pickup.

There's two options available now for the PC. IL-2 Sturmovik, although 'old' is still a very very solid sim. You can now get it on a single DVD with all released expansions. If you've not played it before, its well worth it. I still play it daily.

The other option is Aces High II  (http://www.hitechcreations.com/frindex.html) which is a 'mini' MMO. Be warned, however, that the people that frequent the game are long time players, with many of them actual, you know, pilots. The game play is on set 'realism' levels, but its not awful; I've never flown in my life yet I can still manage basic manouvers. Now, of course, these guys have perfected the pin point accuracy of dropping from 10k meters to do a one-pass instant kill on your barely off the ground sputtering plane. You can also fly cargo runs into damaged bases, which is a neat support role that'll earn you friends. You can also drive tanks and captain ships, but that's a whole other very specialized mini game that takes time to master. It has integrated voice chat.

I stopped playing Aces High II, simply because I was just not anywhere good enough against a large number of the players. Getting one kill in for every 20 deaths was ok for a while, but in the end, I knew when I'd been seriously out matched.

As far as console games, I defer to Schild :)

Well, he said 360.

Whoosh! my hairline!

Edit: Just wondering; how does one play a flight sim on a console? Are they really dumbed down version that only require 8 or so keys, or is it expected that you have a keyboard add on or some such?

Roger Dodger, wilco


I'm still giggling...

Anyway, thanks for that info.  I might actually give Aces High II on the PC a try.  Sounds fun, even though I'll suck.

Well, if it's a Wii you flap your arms. Vigorously I assume.

They usually tone it down a bit. There was another flight game for 360 that Schild didn't mention which is Over G Fighters. Which didn't do very well (http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/929256.asp?q=Over%20G)...

In a somewhat related area- has anyone played Battlestations: Midway? Any good?

To continue the off-topic angle on a subject I know nothing about, I still encounter hardcore nerd chatter about Falcon 4.0 (and its updated version Allied Force). The kind of flight sim nerd with high-end flight control systems, pedals and head tracking system, who sits in a chair all day flying in a virtual squadron, may still be playing that. I reviewed the original in 1998 or something, when it was the buggy and ambitious successor to Falcon 3.0 which the flight sim nerds played for five years before that, and 4.0 seems to have been the kind of game that outlived the company that spawned it, then was picked up and enhanced by its online community, SubSpace style.

I'd love another realistic helicopter sim.  Sadly, Enemy Engaged 2 is not that game.

Actually, I'd just like to see the sim genre revive, period.  We desperately need an updated Red Baron, Longbow, and F-19 Stealth Fighter.

 :heart: Red Baron. I have so much love for that game.

The new Crimson Skies should be revealed soon, that should be hot.

Check out Knights of the Sky for an updated Red Baron. It looks like they are making good progress. I would absolutely kill for an updated Aces of the Pacific. Pacific Fighters fell way short unfortunately. I think the sim developers have forgotten what made their games fun and need to throw in some atmosphere with all the switchology.

Not too sim-y, but I played the everliving shit out of Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain. God that game was fun.

Another vote for a good 360 flight sim.  As long as my plane shoots blazing slugs of death.  :evil: