Recommendable Flight Simulators?

I have Microsoft Flight Simulator X and Sturmovik 1946.  I've played them extensively and am looking for other flight simulators, preferably military or space themed.  I know there's plenty of freeware out there, but retail titles seem to be almost non-existant.  Does anyone know where I can find flight simulators?  The genre seems to be pretty dead these days.
25,984 views 6 replies
Reply #1 Top
There is the X Plane series, and also Falcon 4.0. Never tried them myself, but i heard X Plane is very well done except the graphics is not as good as MS flight Simulator X.

Reply #2 Top
There is the X Plane series, and also Falcon 4.0. Never tried them myself, but i heard X Plane is very well done except the graphics is not as good as MS flight Simulator X.

Reply #3 Top
FS X and IL-2 1946 are two of the greates sims out there. Il-2 was the sole reason for me purchasing the Saitek X-45. ;)

If you want a cold-war era flightsim, you might try Wings Over Europe - can also be merged with Wings Over Vietnam and Wings Over Isreal, similar to the Il-2, Pacific, Ace and '46 merges.

Falcon 4.0 is a great game (I own Allied Forces), very, VERY detailed operations, but limited to the F-16. WoE isn't as detailed, but realistic enough and you have a myriad of planes to choose from with free downloads at combatace.
Reply #4 Top
Ok, here are my recommendations. Some are old games, some are recent, but all of them are good (IMHO):

Civilian Flight Simulators:
- FSX
- X-Plane 9.0

Combat - Prop planes (WW2):
- IL-2 1946
- Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory (fantastic... AI is brilliant, great campaign)

Combat - Jet planes
- Mig Alley (feels like props, but with jets; dogfights are fantastic. One of my favorites)
- Falcon 4.0 Allied Force (campaign is still unrivalled in immersion)
- Lock On: Modern Air Combat (great physics, specially if you grab the expansion)
- Strike Fighters series (pretty light in the sim department, but with lots of nice mods)

Combat - Helicopters
- Enemy Engaged: Comanche vs Hokum (fun, fun, fun. If you get it, get the community patches; if you can, get Apache vs. Havoc too)

Combat - Space
- Independence War series (also known as I-War... great space sim)
- Evochron Renegades (indie, but very, very good... even supports TrackIR)
- X3: Reunion (takes a lot of time commitment, and you'll likely play for a while before seeing some action, but it's pretty good)

Also, feel free to visit SimHQ for other options. Look for me in the forums, if you want (I'm "Wolfox" there).
Reply #5 Top
Pssh. IL-2 with all the realism settings on is what I do when I want a quick, light bout of gaming. Subsims are where it's at.

All of the good flight sims I've heard of have been mentioned already, but I'll recommend a pair of space sims:
Babylon 5: I've Found Her - freeware, but very good nonetheless.
X-Wing Alliance - the latest entry in the storied X-Wing/TIE Fighter series, with a wonderful campaign and a group of modders giving it a graphical update at www.xwaupgrade.com.

I'll throw in a shoutout to the Longbow series from Jane's, since that was a fantastic helicopter sim which I miss greatly.
Reply #6 Top
Thanks for the replies, I'll look up the games. I might try Falcon 4.0, looked pretty good.