I miss F-22 flight simulator

R.P.L · 2 Feb 2013 at 14:19

dougal1331 said:
That would have been F-16 Combat Pilot. Another good 'un...

Indeed - see post #31

OspreyO · 3 Feb 2013 at 19:15

I started with

LHX
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxxakaeiB_I

Then on to things like Microprose F15 II, III and Fleet Defender.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fck189M5ipU

And also TFX, Tornado, and Apache
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzpd4lbfOo0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_0kxe5Ch_M

Then EAW. Dabbled with IL2 and Falcon but I kinda stopped around then, no time to play game and my hardware wasn't up to it. Only other thing I've spent some time with was Strike Fighters Vietnam. As you could do a mission in 30 mins without 3 weeks of study.

Malevolence · 3 Feb 2013 at 19:25

Along with nearly all the ones mentioned in this thread, I Used to play Jane's IAF and USAF many years ago, along with Fleet Command. Before that, another one that's worth mentioning is Bird of Prey on the Amiga.

Macro · 3 Feb 2013 at 20:00

R.P.L said:
I think this was the other one I was thinking of, which I seem to remember preferring to Falcon.

I think you could just lower the hook at the same time as the landing gear, but I just kept crashing into the side of the carrier or missing completely

I remember going down to DIs offices in Camberley to pick my copy up on day of release. Was a big Falcon 3 fan in my time as well (Epic Manual!!). Love F-15 Strike Fighter, F-19 Stealth Fighter and pretty much all the Microprose/Janes flight sims of the time.

Strange they seemed to go from dominating gaming to almost vanishing, bring back Janes Longbow 2...

Blue160 · 3 Feb 2013 at 20:11

F19 was awesome

spent many many hours on it as a kid.

I also had a stealth helicopter sim at the same time. Can't remember what the thing was called though. Anyone got any idea which game that might be?

theboyrob · 3 Feb 2013 at 22:13

I was F/A-18 Interceptor on the Amiga, then F22 Lightning II, followed by F22 ADF. I read the manual that came with ADF over and over, infact still have it upstairs I think!

I also remember playing Flying Corps which came with one of my Voodoo cards, very addictive WW1 dog fighting games!

Kosmiche · 3 Feb 2013 at 22:53

zola25 said:
If you're not looking for super high-fidelity simulation, the Strike Fighters series from Thirdwire is worth a look.

The base game is fairly limited, but there are literally thousands of mods/add-ons at CombatAce.com covering almost every military jet you can think of, including the F-22.

Here are some screenies from my (heavily modded) install:

What version of strike fighters do you reccomend I buy?

There's europe, vietnam, asia...was going to get the europe one.

I want to play a flight sim and the way you've described it this sim seems perfect for me.

Peter Tsang · 4 Feb 2013 at 06:28

Gixer said:
What about Aviator or Phantom on the BBC micro!

I expect there is an F22 download for microsoft flight sim however I don't know if it would be a detailed model. You can also only fly from airport to airport in it so not a military sim like F22 raptor was.

I would guess probably the most detailed / in depth military flight sim is products made by DCS. The A10, P51, Black Shark etc. I have the A10 one and it is VERY involved. Just purchased the X52 pro joystick as my old Saitek cyborg evo doesnt cut it and the hat switch is dying. Must resist buying rudder pedals though.....

I also notice that. In fact, they are very detailed. Feels like continuation from Falcon 4 released by Microprose in Jan 1999 perhaps the most sophisticated flight simulator developed on the PC throughout the entire history of PC flight simulator. Those clicking on the MFDs are re-appearing in DCS's titles.

I hope DCS will continue their projects and some day we will have F-22 displayed in their store.

Peter Tsang · 4 Feb 2013 at 06:46

oldbag said:
Who remembers falcon?

Any true veteran PC flgith simulator freak definitely remembers Falcon 4. Today it is BMS.

shaggyd · 4 Feb 2013 at 10:00

Eames said:
What version of strike fighters do you reccomend I buy?

There's europe, vietnam, asia...was going to get the europe one.

I want to play a flight sim and the way you've described it this sim seems perfect for me.

Version 2 of the series (ie. Strike Fighters 2) allows latest versions of windows to run the game correctly. Depending on what era you wish to fly, but I personally found the Vietnam immersive, as the avionics were pretty basic at the time. If you want 1980's jets, then Europe is the best buy. However, you can buy all of them, as they integrate with each other into a single game. So you can fly over Israel with Vietnam era aircraft. Also, CombatAce has a massive vault of mods for any of the games, including campaigns and aircraft. My favourite are the RAF Tornado GR1 (downloadable mod) and the old USAF Intruders.

zola25 · 4 Feb 2013 at 10:18

Eames said:
What version of strike fighters do you reccomend I buy?

There's europe, vietnam, asia...was going to get the europe one.

I want to play a flight sim and the way you've described it this sim seems perfect for me.

You can merge all of the games in on large install, but it's probably best to try one of the games and see how you get on first. I should warn you though that the stock games have extremely dated terrain graphics without mods.

SF2 is set in a fictional desert with fictional nations. Vietnam is what you'd expect

North Atlantic is a hypothetical conflict in/around Iceland and features more complete carrier ops than the other games. This can largely be replicated in the other games through community mods though.

Europe covers many hypothetical NATO vs Warsaw Pact conflicts, and is the one I'd recommend to start with as many of the best mods make sense on this one. This also supports the single greatest pre-built mod (IMO) which is called NATO Fighters 5. This updates terrain, effects, adds new campaigns, ground units and 150+ flyable aircraft with minimal hassle.

Make sure to get the "Strike Fighters 2 xxx" version (rather than the older Wings Over xxx) if you do buy.

Edit: beaten to it by ShaggyD

Peter Tsang · 4 Feb 2013 at 10:20

zola25 said:
If you're not looking for super high-fidelity simulation, the Strike Fighters series from Thirdwire is worth a look.

The base game is fairly limited, but there are literally thousands of mods/add-ons at CombatAce.com covering almost every military jet you can think of, including the F-22.

Here are some screenies from my (heavily modded) install:

Combatace.com starts to charge for add-ons. If we purchase the series we will have to engage the subscriptions for add-ons.

zola25 · 4 Feb 2013 at 10:26

Peter Tsang said:
Combatace.com starts to charge for add-ons. If we purchase the series we will have to engage the subscriptions for add-ons.

You can sign up to CombatAce for free, and then you are limited to 6 (IIRC) downloads in any 24 hour period. If you subscribe, the download cap is removed. If you are so inclined you can do pay as you go subscriptions, e.g. subscribe for a month, hoover up all the downloads you need and then don't renew when it runs out.

The site is privately owned and funded, which is why they take this approach.

Ugley_Matt · 4 Feb 2013 at 10:30

F19 Stealth Fighter was such a tense game to play on expert levels, threading your way through radar and sam sites.

matt_fsr · 4 Feb 2013 at 11:51

Did anyone else here ever play Interactive Magic's iF22?

Thoroughly enjoyed that game, especially as you could dive down at an enemy airfield and 20mm cannon blast his oil tanks to bits, all the while their air defences seemingly being just busy scoffing donuts

SickAsAParrot · 4 Feb 2013 at 13:21

shaggyd said:
Yes, TAW was a follow-on of F-22 that added a dynamic campaign and Airbourne Fighter Controller to the game. They then did the highly underrated Wargasm which was an early battlefield style game, got great reviews but didn't sell well. DiD also tried branching into the military simulation but that fell flat.
Shame, they were really talented designers and the pc world misses them quite a bit.

I loved Wargasm, watching your tank shells pick off the enemy vehicles on a distant ridge was highly satisfying. From what I remember in every region you would be a 'weapon' behind, so you'd have tanks but they'd have helecopters, then when you'd defeated that area, you'd have helicopters but they'd have jets for the next area. Got vey difficult when they got jets.

I also had F22ADF, and wasn't there a 'Red Sea Battles' or somesuch expansion for it?

Macro · 4 Feb 2013 at 17:40

Some great old school PC flight sims recorded here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxQr4H1fSwk&playnext=1&list=PLBC0289A96DFD3F92&feature=results_main

Someone seems to have collected up in game video of Jet Fighter 2 along with TFX, Chuck Yeager's, EF2000, A-10 Tank Killer, DI's Tornado (awesome game!!), F-14 fleet defender and a bunch of others I'd long forgotten. Grab a coffee and sit back for 10mins stroll down flight sim memory lane!

Peter Tsang · 7 Feb 2013 at 01:48

zola25 said:
You can merge all of the games in on large install, but it's probably best to try one of the games and see how you get on first. I should warn you though that the stock games have extremely dated terrain graphics without mods.

SF2 is set in a fictional desert with fictional nations. Vietnam is what you'd expect

North Atlantic is a hypothetical conflict in/around Iceland and features more complete carrier ops than the other games. This can largely be replicated in the other games through community mods though.

Europe covers many hypothetical NATO vs Warsaw Pact conflicts, and is the one I'd recommend to start with as many of the best mods make sense on this one. This also supports the single greatest pre-built mod (IMO) which is called NATO Fighters 5. This updates terrain, effects, adds new campaigns, ground units and 150+ flyable aircraft with minimal hassle.

Make sure to get the "Strike Fighters 2 xxx" version (rather than the older Wings Over xxx) if you do buy.

Edit: beaten to it by ShaggyD

How long have you been playing Strike Fighter series?

I feel H.A.W.K. is equally good, even graphics is better.

OspreyO · 7 Feb 2013 at 07:39

Peter Tsang said:
How long have you been playing Strike Fighter series?

I feel H.A.W.K. is equally good, even graphics is better.

I haven't played HAWK (must try it) but I thought it was closer to a "game" than Strike Fighters. Strike Fighters is a "Lite" sim rather than a game IMO.

zola25 · 7 Feb 2013 at 09:07

Peter Tsang said:
How long have you been playing Strike Fighter series?

I feel H.A.W.K. is equally good, even graphics is better.

I've been playing Strike Fighters since I stumbled upon it in 2007. Personally I don't think H.A.W.X and SF are comparable. HAWX is much more of a game, and did have great visuals but the gameplay is almost sci-fi. I did enjoy it though.

Strike Fighters is a light sim by comparison to Falcon, DCS and even LOMAC, but is grounded in reality which - along with the variety of aircraft and theatres - is what drew me in. SF can never claim to have good visuals, only the aircraft are what I'd call today's standard.