Re: Flight Sim Recommendations

**Miles** · 11-06-2009, 12:21 PM

Holy smokes Barnes, Rise of Flight looks amazing. I'm gonna have to give that a try. Looks like I can buy it on Direct2Drive and play it today.

**protobob** · 11-06-2009, 12:27 PM

Orbital is pretty cool but it's mostly focused on LEO and up. I messed around with it a month or so ago and it's really awesome and fun to learn about orbital mechanics. Be sure to get the Orbital Sound mod and also the Delta Glider IV mod.

**Boondocksaint** · 11-06-2009, 12:39 PM

Yeah orbitor is a crazy game lol, you can't land a shuttle like a fighter jet

**InFireBaptize** · 11-06-2009, 12:48 PM

Originally Posted by Miles

Holy smokes Barnes, Rise of Flight looks amazing. I'm gonna have to give that a try. Looks like I can buy it on Direct2Drive and play it today.

it's a good game but you will need trackIR for sure, boy if you descent fast your wings will rip and if you fly high you will hear the wind on your wing, it still has bugs "AI" and they're working on fixing it.

Black shark, all i can suggest is the manual.

**BarnacleofDoom** · 11-06-2009, 01:26 PM

Depends on what your preferences are, I guess... for civilian flying, FSX is amongst the best - easier to deal with than X-Plane in my opinion as well as better looking. Not nearly as many control options as X-Plane has, though. X-Plane can also be used for some FAA flight training, depending on purchased options.

For combat, most of the sims that I am familiar with support multiple screens as well as trackir. I tend towards the WWII sims myself but I have F4 and F4:AF. Like Black Shark, it's best to start with the manuals and basics... learn to fly, then learn to fight. WWI is an area that I haven't really spent much time in although I may have to, depending on what aircraft are added to Rise of Flight.

The difference between modern aircraft and older aircraft is that the new stuff is easy to fly and hard to fight whilst the older aircraft are hard to fly and easy to fight.

So, depends on what you are after. Anyway... one of these days I will get my game box up and running - you will be welcome to an IL2 night.

-BoD

**Geronimo989** · 11-06-2009, 04:23 PM

I played many flight sims, And for me most fun for both online fighting or just flying from A to B is IL-2 sturmovik. It is great game with many mods, and hundreds of planes it has just fly real.
I cannot play any other sim after I've got immersed into this game. I tried Rise of Flight, and despite excellent graphics it just didn't feel like IL-2, and I couldnt get into it. Cant wait for sequel, Storm of War: Battle of Britain.

**SporkWitch** · 11-06-2009, 05:10 PM

Sorry to derail this a bit, but how about equipment? I'm seeing a lot of awesome suggestions for combat flight sims (a modern combat flight sim is something I don't think I've ever seen, since the genre kind of went into hiding with the rise of FPS games; the last flight sims I played other than MSFSX were from the early to mid '90s, primarily ones from Jane's Combat Simulations - oh how I miss those pieces of divine work), but very little equipment has been mentioned.

I currently have a Saitek x52 Flight System (joystick + throttle only), and it's tolerable, at best. When combined with the software for it in vista/win7, it's the worst thing I've used since the joystick on my Atari 2600 (controls aren't labeled on the joystick, software is nothing more than a table with the number of what button it is in the hardware logic and an entry for what you mapped it to, shoddy game detection at the best of times).

My requirements would be a separate throttle with at least a few controls on it, and a joystick with flip-cover top button, trigger, and as close to one you'd find in an aircraft as possible. Pedals are desired but not required, same goes for force feedback (no rumble, period; either proper force feedback or nothing, rumble is just annoying).

Appreciate any suggestions, for some reason I've just not had much luck in finding good flight-sim related stuff (or good flight sims, for that matter).

**Miles** · 11-06-2009, 06:28 PM

Originally Posted by SporkWitch

My requirements would be a separate throttle with at least a few controls on it, and a joystick with flip-cover top button, trigger, and as close to one you'd find in an aircraft as possible. Pedals are desired but not required, same goes for force feedback (no rumble, period; either proper force feedback or nothing, rumble is just annoying).

Appreciate any suggestions, for some reason I've just not had much luck in finding good flight-sim related stuff (or good flight sims, for that matter).

Like I said before, I don't have much experience at all with flight sims. I've played arcade flying games with cheap joysticks before, but this is my first attempt at getting into an actual sim with a higher end joystick. I haven't used any other high-end joysticks to compare it to, but I do like the feel of the Logitech G940. The force-feedback is actually a pretty powerful hydraulic motor which is why the cyclic requires a separate power source besides just USB. It doesn't have a flip cover top button, but it does have alot of buttons on it.

I know that being able to adjust "trim" is a big deal for some enthusiasts. I don't even know what trim is or what adjusting it does, but this stick has 3 separate trim dials. It also has a dual-stick throttle, so that you can control dual-engine aircraft easily. Unfortunately, this is a fairly expensive stick, so you are unlikely to find this sitting on a shelf at best buy for you to play with. But if you do get an opportunity to try it out, I'd recommend it. There are always youtube videos of this thing with better overviews of it than what I can give.

**Ghost02** · 11-06-2009, 06:56 PM

Briefly, trim is setting your airleons to a certain position, are you constantly having to adjust your nose? then trim your elevators to counteract that, constantly rolling? Then trim the airleons. Trimming is just tweaking the default position of the flight control area. Try it out.

**Sorvete** · 11-06-2009, 07:25 PM

In real life is used to help the pilot work, avoiding him to have to apply excessive and/or continuos force to the stick/pedals. In simulators, unless you have a force feedback joystick, u cant feel these forces, so its mainly used to keep the aircraft in a certain attitude, while leaving the stick centered.

**HOTMACHINA** · 11-06-2009, 07:31 PM

To put trim into context, imagine you are driving along the road and when you release the wheel you drift slightly to the left, you would take it to the garage and get the wheels aligned. This is trim.

Not sure what you are playing but in X plane and real life even entry level auto pilot system are able to take care of trim for you as the demand on the pilot during heavy weather or thermal conditions can place a real strain on you if the flight is many hours.

**SporkWitch** · 11-06-2009, 10:16 PM

Originally Posted by Miles

Like I said before, I don't have much experience at all with flight sims. I've played arcade flying games with cheap joysticks before, but this is my first attempt at getting into an actual sim with a higher end joystick. I haven't used any other high-end joysticks to compare it to, but I do like the feel of the Logitech G940. The force-feedback is actually a pretty powerful hydraulic motor which is why the cyclic requires a separate power source besides just USB. It doesn't have a flip cover top button, but it does have alot of buttons on it.

I know that being able to adjust "trim" is a big deal for some enthusiasts. I don't even know what trim is or what adjusting it does, but this stick has 3 separate trim dials. It also has a dual-stick throttle, so that you can control dual-engine aircraft easily. Unfortunately, this is a fairly expensive stick, so you are unlikely to find this sitting on a shelf at best buy for you to play with. But if you do get an opportunity to try it out, I'd recommend it. There are always youtube videos of this thing with better overviews of it than what I can give.

As you said, "enthusiast," price is not an issue. What I'm looking for is something to meet my needs. Just like upgrading my computer itself, the price is just something to save up for. You don't compromise cost for performance, the difference is worth it, and then some.

I'll check out the system. I've always been a big Logitech fan (I use them exclusively for my keyboard and mouse options, and alongside Plantronics, they're one of the two companies that I will buy a headset from), and I've used some of their force-feedback sticks before. Will definitely check out that system, thanks for the recommendation ^^

PS
Anyone know if ArmA2 supports force feedback, or just TrackIR? (TrackIR is my current goal as far as my next gaming investment, can I get some input as to just how useful it is? As I said in another post, EVE's settings listing TrackIR caused me to look it up, and the videos from the TrackIR site are what led me to ArmA2; I can see the usefulness from the vids, but first-hand experience from an impartial source is always optimal.)

**BarnacleofDoom** · 11-06-2009, 11:58 PM

TrackIR if you can lay out the cash... my flightsim equipment for many years now has consisted of a MS Sidewinder 2 force feedback joystick. Suits my needs and is finally, after over ten years, starting to show some age. If I can find an adequate replacement, I might replace it... haven't found one yet over a couple years of half-hearted searching.

As for TIR usefulness in game... once you get it set up properly and used to it, you won't go back. Games without TIR will be viewed in a different light. Trying not to sound too fanboy but the product is quite good.

**Dslyecxi** · 11-07-2009, 02:11 AM

Originally Posted by BarnacleofDoom

TrackIR if you can lay out the cash... my flightsim equipment for many years now has consisted of a MS Sidewinder 2 force feedback joystick. Suits my needs and is finally, after over ten years, starting to show some age. If I can find an adequate replacement, I might replace it... haven't found one yet over a couple years of half-hearted searching.

I was a big fan of the Sidewinders, switched to an X32/45/52 (if I recall the numbers correctly) over several years for the more hardcore sims. I still pull out the Sidewinder when the fancy strikes, but if I were to ever replace it, I think I'd go for this: Saitek Cyborg X. Reminds me a lot of the Sidewinder for some reason, and I'd even go as far as to say that I think it may have it beat, even.

As for TIR usefulness in game... once you get it set up properly and used to it, you won't go back. Games without TIR will be viewed in a different light. Trying not to sound too fanboy but the product is quite good.

Flight sims in particular, without TIR (or equal), are only a fraction as cool as they are with it.

**Miles** · 11-07-2009, 02:20 AM

Has anyone tried Heroes over Europe? It's a new WW2 dog fighter by Ubisoft. I went over to Best Buy this evening to pick up MSFSX and saw the box for Heroes over Europe. I couldn't tell if it was an arcade style game like HAWX or not by looking at the box. But "realism" wasn't mentioned anywhere, so I'm guessing it is more of an arcade.

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