Anyone play flight sims?

[wagdog]

I've been playing a lot (A LOT) of DCS World, flying the A10-C. http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/products/world/

What a blast. Taken quite a bit of study to get proficient at it, but it's been really fun. Built a track ir system so I can move my head around and it follows me in the cockpit. This is a shot of my plane after dropping a mk-84 on a truck at the airfield behind me.

 

[tiger roach]

Nice screeny!

I used to love flight sims, but kind of drifted away from them a while back.

 

[OGG]

Never could really get into the flight Sims. The missing element of actual movement and the corresponding G forces, slight as they may be for a pedestrian fixed wing single engine GA type just completely messes with my head. If I can't "feel" the plane moving, it ain't moving...

I over input like a mofo on flight sims because that element isn't there. If the fluid in my ears isn't telling my brain that I'm banking, climbing etc, then I tend to way over do it on the controls.

My first flight instructor, Yanos Matiz from Hungary (crazy thick accent, never understood a fucking word he said) told me I was a "Barnstormer". He would make me cover my eyes while he had the controls and have me guess what the plane was doing. He would be equally impressed and pissed off that I never got vertigo and always "felt" the attitude of the plane. This is what the old timers call "flying by the seat of your pants".

So yeah, sims drive me bonkers. The only exception I ever came across, was a video game at Disneyland in the arcade probably 20 years ago. It was a massive contraption that had a five point harness and the entire thing was on a multi-directional gimbal. It could "roll" and "bank" and even go inverted. It was an F-14 sim. It cost like $5 to play, and most players took longer to get strapped in than they actually lasted in the game before crashing.

The object was to launch from a carrier, fly to your way points, shoot down a bunch of bad guys and return to the carrier where you had to land without boofooing yourself.

I strapped in, flew the mission, smoked the bad guys, flew back and landed like it was nothing. I didn't think much of it until I saw the "High Score" notification and the sea of stunned onlookers. The guy that ran the game and helped get you all strapped in said no one had ever beaten it before.

Ten seconds on MS Flight Sim with a Cessna 150 and I'm a smoldering hole in the ground. Go figure.

 

[Guitar Heel]

the last one I played look like this:

 

[Coralkong]

I play WarThunder.

It is an online game (free) and is pretty much "arcade-style" of play, but it is very cool.

 

[wagdog]

Nice screeny!

I used to love flight sims, but kind of drifted away from them a while back.

I've played 'em off and on myself, really getting into this one though. I've always had a fascination with the A10 since the 80s (was stationed at the 81st TFW for 2 years, and we had A10s there).

Never could really get into the flight Sims. The missing element of actual movement and the corresponding G forces, slight as they may be for a pedestrian fixed wing single engine GA type just completely messes with my head. If I can't "feel" the plane moving, it ain't moving...

I understand. Having never piloted a plane, it's about as close as I'll ever get.

The trackir (http://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/ - I made my own using freetrack http://www.free-track.net/) really helps. Having never flown a plane, I think it feels pretty real. I would imagine for someone like yourself it would further mess with your head!

the last one I played look like this:

View attachment 23523

LOL. Definitely played that. The latest one is available on Steam, I've seen it on sale for $5 - worth it! http://store.steampowered.com/app/314160/

I play WarThunder.

It is an online game (free) and is pretty much "arcade-style" of play, but it is very cool.

Looks like fun, I'll check it out.

 

[Guitar Heel]

My dad was a private pilot. He had a hell of a time with that first FS. I was like 8 and could fly the plane upside down through the hangar...lol. He was not amused.

 

[Coralkong]

Looks like fun, I'll check it out.

yeah, I have played a few through the years, but I remember being so frustrated playing some version of F15 or F16.....I just wanted to fly the plane and blow shit up.

I didn't want to actually learn how to fly the fucking plane, if that makes any sense.
And the graphics back then were so horrendous.

It is amazing what you can play online these days. WarThunder is the best one I have ever played......you can do tanks, too, if you're into that.

My biggest gripe is that in "Arcade Mode" you are with a bunch of people who don't give a rat's ass what the mission actually is, they just want to shoot down planes. So, you can shoot down 5 planes and still lose the mission. It takes a while to get the better planes, too, but it is pretty cool for what it is.

I play it on my laptop, so it's not like it takes up uber-resources........but it is amazing what can be done with the graphics, etc.....considering it is an online game.

 

[Jbird]

I'd love to be able to play the Rise Of Flight copy that I have, along with having the CH joystick/throttle/rudder pedals set-up. But for the life of me I can't figure out how to configure the controls in-game. You need a PhD to figure it out. What happened to the old days where you centered the joystick, clicked a button, moved the stick around the axis, re-centered it, clicked a button, and you were done?

It's a shame, because Rise of Flight looks like a fantastic game :( It has the most realistic clouds I've seen in a flight sim.

 

[wagdog]

yeah, I have played a few through the years, but I remember being so frustrated playing some version of F15 or F16.....I just wanted to fly the plane and blow shit up.

I didn't want to actually learn how to fly the fucking plane, if that makes any sense.
And the graphics back then were so horrendous.

It is amazing what you can play online these days. WarThunder is the best one I have ever played......you can do tanks, too, if you're into that.

My biggest gripe is that in "Arcade Mode" you are with a bunch of people who don't give a rat's ass what the mission actually is, they just want to shoot down planes. So, you can shoot down 5 planes and still lose the mission. It takes a while to get the better planes, too, but it is pretty cool for what it is.

I play it on my laptop, so it's not like it takes up uber-resources........but it is amazing what can be done with the graphics, etc.....considering it is an online game.

Cool, downloading it now.

The DCS game is awesome, and incredibly realistic... I've done hours of reading and watching tutorials on youtube. The online aspect is crazy too, especially with teamspeak... but, sometimes I just want to jump in a game and blow shit up - I think I'll like this War Thunder game for sure!

 

[wagdog]

It is amazing what you can play online these days. WarThunder is the best one I have ever played......you can do tanks, too, if you're into that.

Played this for a while tonight. Have absolutely no idea how the menu/interface works, but I managed to end up in a steady stream of battles. That was a lot of fun. Arcade like play for sure, but lots of fun. Will play again for sure.

 

[Coralkong]

Played this for a while tonight. Have absolutely no idea how the menu/interface works, but I managed to end up in a steady stream of battles. That was a lot of fun. Arcade like play for sure, but lots of fun. Will play again for sure.

I've been playing for about 2 months, and I have no idea how it works, either. Don't spend your gold lion emblem things, you'll need them later.

I should have told you it's all "old school" fighters, like WWII stuff.

Pretty fucking cool, though.

My favorite so far are the P-39, P-400, P-63a kicks ass, and the P-51 is a bomber-hunter!

Very cool.


Biggest tricks I can pass on is head-on, pick an opponent and get altitude on them. Then hit the "F" key for combat flaps when they are about 1.2 km out, then dive/spin and try to line them up from above and behind.


Then hit the "F" key which will raise your flaps and angle off.

You'll see......

 

[Tig]

I used to play them quite a bit. The only one I use now is Infinite Flight on the iPad. It has plenty of included planes and fields to fly from and they worked hard on the realism. They have a live multiplayer available that I've never used. I like the aircraft selection from 2 seaters to fighters, to jumbo jets and even land a Shuttle. The POV options are cool and I like to play back different recorded angles.

 

[wagdog]

I used to play them quite a bit. The only one I use now is Infinite Flight on the iPad. It has plenty of included planes and fields to fly from and they worked hard on the realism. They have a live multiplayer available that I've never used. I like the aircraft selection from 2 seaters to fighters, to jumbo jets and even land a Shuttle. The POV options are cool and I like to play back different recorded angles.

Very cool - I'll have to check that out.

 

[tiger roach]

I used to play them quite a bit. The only one I use now is Infinite Flight on the iPad. It has plenty of included planes and fields to fly from and they worked hard on the realism. They have a live multiplayer available that I've never used. I like the aircraft selection from 2 seaters to fighters, to jumbo jets and even land a Shuttle. The POV options are cool and I like to play back different recorded angles.

Wow that looks pretty slick. Will investigate later from the safety of my couch.