Good flight simulator combat or civilian

[chris330]

Hi,

I'm missing being able to fly quite alot right now, was wondering if you chaps could give me some ideas of the best flight sim to have a go at. I used to do alot of rough ground landing stuff in wwiionline but I hope I never go back to that fiasco again. I do miss that really engaging low flying stuff though and landing big-ish planes like C-47's and Ju52's on rough ground.

As such I'm looking for a decent flight simulator. But I have no idea what all the latest stuff available is. Here's what I'm looking for:

1)Very realistic simulator definitely nothing whatsoever arcadey.

2)Chance to fly transport planes like Dakotas and such like.

3)If possible chance to fly a fighter and dogfight - this is not so important.

What do you reckon? Anything will do even games a few years old will suit me fine, and hurt my wallet less too! Any ideas? Thanks

[Celery]

IL-2 1946 is the best one there is.

[Beagle]

I would recommend you IL-2 Sturmovik 1946...that has over hundred different airplanes ranging from '30s biplanes like Gloster Gladiator to MiG-9M or medium Bombers like B-25 or He-111 including working and adjustable bomsights. Some prototypes are also flyable.

flight model is top notch and all airplanes have very distinctive characteristics.

For modern aircraft I would recommend you Lock On: modern aircraft combat gold, including the flaming cliffs addon. The Su-25s in LOMAC have a very good handling and damage simulation....LOMAC is still the best looking Flightsim despite its age. (2004)

Well, and for flying only...there is still FSX.

[chris330]

Fantastic thanks chaps, looks like IL-2 1946 it is thank you very much indeed for sharing your knowledge

[-Total-]

The standards that are out there:

IL-2 1946 (WWII conbat) all details already mentioned

Lock On: Modern Air Combat w/ Flaming Cliffs upgrade (details already mentioned)

Wings Of Prey (WWII combat) - Recent release. Graphics look awesome. Features are still in development, so don't expect everything you would like right up front and it's a worthy purchase.

Digital Combat Simulator Series - Currently consists of the KA-50 Blackshark helicopter. Most high fidelity sim out there at the moment. Next installment will be the A-10C. Upcoming update for Lock On: Flaming Cliffs will make DCS and Lock On compatible in online play (made by the same company).

Flight Simulator X - the last installment of the official MS Flight Simulator line. Extremely detailed. No online combat. Many planes have to be purchased.

Rise Of Flight - a WWI combat simulator. Detailed and alot of fun.

X-Plane - another non-combat flight sim. The chief competitor to FSX.

Flight Gear - an open source (aka free) non-combat simulator. Able to use google maps as terrain.

There are several independent projects in development, but many of them have been in spare-time development for years.

[chris330]

Thanks again guys that's all great stuff! One question though, I have seen many pics of a C-47 in game in IL-2 (which I have now bought) but I do not have it in my loadout selection and I have also installed what I believe is the latest patch. Anyone know where I can get it? Thanks

[Celery]

Thanks again guys that's all great stuff! One question though, I have seen many pics of a C-47 in game in IL-2 (which I have now bought) but I do not have it in my loadout selection and I have also installed what I believe is the latest patch. Anyone know where I can get it? Thanks

To my knowledge it's an AI only plane. IL-2 is a combat sim.

[chris330]

Ahh thankyou! Thou art indeed correct. I set up a mission and found AI C-47's available, they even have the Bristol Blenheim!!!

Thanks pal. I could use some help regarding prop pitch and mixture theory. Does anyone understand this well enough to help me out here? If so I'll fire a few questions away. This really is a great game.

[TRexian]

Falcon 4.0, baybee. With the FreeFalcon mod, you can fly many other planes, including some heavies IIRC.

You can't get much more non-arcadey than that, either.

[chris330]

I will indeed check that out, thanks!