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Off Topic: Man! Reading this answer so makes me want to play those FlightSim games of the yesteryears like Apache Havoc, Commanche, Jane's F/A 18 Hornet etc etc

Off Topic: Man! Reading this answer so makes me want to play those FlightSim games of the yesteryears like Apache Havoc, Commanche, Jane's F/A 18 Hornet etc etc. Does anyone have any suggestions for a modern Flight Sim game? Thanks!

serf 12y ago
I don't know much about combat sims, but I have a blast with X-Plane. It's highly realistic and can practically scale to any performance computer. It has some combat-sim aspects, but I haven't played with that stuff enough to comment. Flying is tough enough for me without the weapons ;)
Gracana 12y ago
The DCS sims are some of the best around right now. Check out DCS: A-10C Warthog, I think it's one of the latest releases. https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/products/warthog/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/products/warthog/
shiftpgdn 12y ago
GOG.com has most of those games with a modern windows installer. They're still good fun. :)
chrisan 12y ago
Commanche was great. Strike Commander with a full Thrustmaster setup back in the day was epic. Games to keep an eye on (if you like combat) http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/9/5791924/e3-2014-marks-the-return-of-the-flight-sim-genre http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/9/5791924/e3-2014-marks-the-re... Been out of games for a while, but looking forward to Oculus and whatever today's Thrustmaster equivalent is :)
- the_af 12y ago
  For being a "Wing Commander"-like game, Strike Commander was surprisingly good and detailed. The manual was pretty interesting, with lots of information similar to the Quora answer. The hardcore side of combat flightsim gaming for me was Su-27 Flanker (http://www.mobygames.com/game/su-27-flanker http://www.mobygames.com/game/su-27-flanker), published by SSI. So hardcore I never actually managed to complete a full mission! It was a bit dry, without any campaigns or any kind of career tracking, but man was it detailed! It made me fall in love with the real-life Flanker. And of course, Falcon 3.0 by Spectrum Holobyte. Another awesome flightsim I spent a lot of time with but never managed to complete a single mission with. It was obvious this sim was a work of love.
- madengr 12y ago
  Yes, Comanche was awesome back in the day. First 386 protected mode game I had and it pushed my 486DX-50 to the hilt. I also had the Thrustmaster stick and throttle, and 8-bit sound blaster. Ahh, the good old days.
fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
X-plane and War Thunder. You shouldn't be thanking me.
vmp 12y ago
Lock On! used to be a favorite of mine, no idea how well it runs on modern OS'es.
- clogston 12y ago
  This sim still exists as Flaming Cliffs 3 (http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/products/flaming_cliffs_3/index.php http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/products/flaming_cl...)
clogston 12y ago
There are two main options at the moment, with many simmers enjoying both: 1) DCS World (https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/world/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/world/) is the "framework" and comes with some free aircraft. There are paid aircraft options both 1st and 3rd party; DCS A-10C being the most popular. 2) Falcon BMS (http://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/content.php http://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/content.php) which is the successor to Falcon 4.0
jameshart 12y ago
Fully expecting flightsims to make a glorious comeback with Oculus' full availability. It is too well suited to games which require you to sit still, and have your hands on controls. Time to buy shares in joystick manufacturers.
- bandwevil 12y ago
  Unfortunately, the Oculus has some issues with full flight sims. It's still extremely neat tech, but I don't think I'll be giving up head tracking for it any time soon. First, there's the resolution issue. I've only used DK2, but its resolution was so low that I was unable to read the dials/HUD without getting my face super close to them, which presents major issues when trying to maintain situational awareness. Second, no matter how many buttons and switches you have on your HOTAS, you're going to have to manipulate something with your keyboard/mouse at some point. This causes some obvious problems when you have an Oculus strapped to your head.
hammock 12y ago
Ever play EF2000? It's not a modern one but it's an older realistic one that I remember fondly. That and Echelon (not realistic)
wtracy 12y ago
If you want something Free/Open Source to mess around with, try GL-117 (your distro probably has a package for it): http://www.heptargon.de/gl-117/gl-117.html http://www.heptargon.de/gl-117/gl-117.html It doesn't compare well to the modern commercial flight simulators in terms of graphics or realism, but it's still a good time. :-)
dsl 12y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_4.0 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_4.0 Falcon 4.0 is nothing short of amazing. It has been under non-stop development by the official developers and the community (thanks to a source code leak) since 1984. Many of the community developers are former pilots and avionics techs.
ibisum 12y ago
I probably ratched up 100 hours or more on F-117 Steal Bomber, for DOS, back in the day. There is no reason not to play it even now, still today: consider the pixelation more of a consequence of "HUD"/"IFR" and be done with it. Fact is, those old games still run, and still work for simulating the death cult and its machines ..

serf 12y ago

I don't know much about combat sims, but I have a blast with X-Plane. It's highly realistic and can practically scale to any performance computer. It has some combat-sim aspects, but I haven't played with that stuff enough to comment. Flying is tough enough for me without the weapons ;)

Gracana 12y ago

The DCS sims are some of the best around right now. Check out DCS: A-10C Warthog, I think it's one of the latest releases. https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/products/warthog/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/products/warthog/

shiftpgdn 12y ago

GOG.com has most of those games with a modern windows installer. They're still good fun. :)

chrisan 12y ago

Commanche was great. Strike Commander with a full Thrustmaster setup back in the day was epic. Games to keep an eye on (if you like combat) http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/9/5791924/e3-2014-marks-the-return-of-the-flight-sim-genre http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/9/5791924/e3-2014-marks-the-re... Been out of games for a while, but looking forward to Oculus and whatever today's Thrustmaster equivalent is :)

the_af 12y ago
For being a "Wing Commander"-like game, Strike Commander was surprisingly good and detailed. The manual was pretty interesting, with lots of information similar to the Quora answer. The hardcore side of combat flightsim gaming for me was Su-27 Flanker (http://www.mobygames.com/game/su-27-flanker http://www.mobygames.com/game/su-27-flanker), published by SSI. So hardcore I never actually managed to complete a full mission! It was a bit dry, without any campaigns or any kind of career tracking, but man was it detailed! It made me fall in love with the real-life Flanker. And of course, Falcon 3.0 by Spectrum Holobyte. Another awesome flightsim I spent a lot of time with but never managed to complete a single mission with. It was obvious this sim was a work of love.
madengr 12y ago
Yes, Comanche was awesome back in the day. First 386 protected mode game I had and it pushed my 486DX-50 to the hilt. I also had the Thrustmaster stick and throttle, and 8-bit sound blaster. Ahh, the good old days.

fnordfnordfnord 12y ago

X-plane and War Thunder. You shouldn't be thanking me.

vmp 12y ago

Lock On! used to be a favorite of mine, no idea how well it runs on modern OS'es.

clogston 12y ago
This sim still exists as Flaming Cliffs 3 (http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/products/flaming_cliffs_3/index.php http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/products/flaming_cl...)

clogston 12y ago

There are two main options at the moment, with many simmers enjoying both: 1) DCS World (https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/world/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/world/) is the "framework" and comes with some free aircraft. There are paid aircraft options both 1st and 3rd party; DCS A-10C being the most popular. 2) Falcon BMS (http://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/content.php http://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/content.php) which is the successor to Falcon 4.0

jameshart 12y ago

Fully expecting flightsims to make a glorious comeback with Oculus' full availability. It is too well suited to games which require you to sit still, and have your hands on controls. Time to buy shares in joystick manufacturers.

bandwevil 12y ago
Unfortunately, the Oculus has some issues with full flight sims. It's still extremely neat tech, but I don't think I'll be giving up head tracking for it any time soon. First, there's the resolution issue. I've only used DK2, but its resolution was so low that I was unable to read the dials/HUD without getting my face super close to them, which presents major issues when trying to maintain situational awareness. Second, no matter how many buttons and switches you have on your HOTAS, you're going to have to manipulate something with your keyboard/mouse at some point. This causes some obvious problems when you have an Oculus strapped to your head.

hammock 12y ago

Ever play EF2000? It's not a modern one but it's an older realistic one that I remember fondly. That and Echelon (not realistic)

wtracy 12y ago

If you want something Free/Open Source to mess around with, try GL-117 (your distro probably has a package for it): http://www.heptargon.de/gl-117/gl-117.html http://www.heptargon.de/gl-117/gl-117.html It doesn't compare well to the modern commercial flight simulators in terms of graphics or realism, but it's still a good time. :-)

dsl 12y ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_4.0 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_4.0 Falcon 4.0 is nothing short of amazing. It has been under non-stop development by the official developers and the community (thanks to a source code leak) since 1984. Many of the community developers are former pilots and avionics techs.

ibisum 12y ago

I probably ratched up 100 hours or more on F-117 Steal Bomber, for DOS, back in the day. There is no reason not to play it even now, still today: consider the pixelation more of a consequence of "HUD"/"IFR" and be done with it. Fact is, those old games still run, and still work for simulating the death cult and its machines ..