The flight-sim group has been dead for ages and I've noticed that a
large number of different type of games are discussed here so I'd like
to ask opinions on the following 2 games: >https://www.gog.com/en/game/european_air_war >https://www.gog.com/en/game/1942_the_pacific_air_war
Just to give some context, I used to play things like Aces of the
Pacific, Aces over Europe, Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, Their Finest
Hour etc. These are 1990s flight sims but I enjoyed them immensely.
In your opinion, would any of these games (especially considering they
are discounted) be worthwhile based on the types of sims I like?
On Fri, 20 Jan 2023 18:41:33 +0000, Geoff May <GeoffMay_do_not_spam_me@nospam.com> wrote:
[snipped]
(Me? I'd just get both. But that sort of careless attitude is how I
ended up with an unmanageably large video-game library ;-)
The flight-sim group has been dead for ages and I've noticed that a
large number of different type of games are discussed here so I'd like
to ask opinions on the following 2 games: >https://www.gog.com/en/game/european_air_war >https://www.gog.com/en/game/1942_the_pacific_air_war
Just to give some context, I used to play things like Aces of the
Pacific, Aces over Europe, Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, Their Finest
Hour etc. These are 1990s flight sims but I enjoyed them immensely.
In your opinion, would any of these games (especially considering they
are discounted) be worthwhile based on the types of sims I like?
Cheers
Geoff
On 20/01/2023 20:46, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jan 2023 18:41:33 +0000, Geoff May
<GeoffMay_do_not_spam_me@nospam.com> wrote:
[snipped]
(Me? I'd just get both. But that sort of careless attitude is how I
ended up with an unmanageably large video-game library ;-)
Thank you, very much appreciated.
I was considering taking them both but didn't want to end up with games
I will never play. Based on what you wrote, it sounds like the sort of
things I like.
Cheers
Geoff
[snipped]
Have you tried any of the IL-2 series?
I have most of them but haven't flown them in a while.
-pw
On Fri, 20 Jan 2023 18:41:33 +0000, Geoff May ><GeoffMay_do_not_spam_me@nospam.com> wrote:
Have you tried any of the IL-2 series?
* Oh, and the Microsoft Combat Flight Sim games! Remember those?
On 1/21/2023 7:52 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
* Oh, and the Microsoft Combat Flight Sim games! Remember those?
On Sat, 21 Jan 2023 09:18:36 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
On 1/21/2023 7:52 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
* Oh, and the Microsoft Combat Flight Sim games! Remember those?
You missed out, then; they were fun games. Not great games, nor
particularly innovative, but still, they were capable sims with a good
amount of polish. Even if they did seem a sort of knee-jerk reaction
to years of people saying, "Microsoft Flight Sim would be fun if only
I could shoot down other planes!" ;-)
But they also were sort of the last hurrah for Microsoft games on PC
before they focused on XBox. Oh, there were a number of other
Microsoft published games after that - some of them quite good - but
the releases became more sporadic. Even "Combat Flight Simulator 3"
wasn't written in-house. The games pretty much marked the end of
Microsoft as a games developer.
I tried getting MSCFS1 running on modern hardware a few years back; it
didn't go smoothly. Even after I got it installed and running, I never
got the joystick to work.
On Fri, 20 Jan 2023 20:48:59 -0700, PW
<iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jan 2023 18:41:33 +0000, Geoff May >><GeoffMay_do_not_spam_me@nospam.com> wrote:
Have you tried any of the IL-2 series?
"IL-2" was highly regarded on its release, but it failed to grab me.
But this, I think, was because - by that time - I had pretty much
moved on from flight-sims in general, and piston-powered flight-sims
in specific (I prefer jets, partly because they GO FAST and partly
because electronic HUDs are easier to read than a bunch of analog
gauges but mostly because they tend to have better visibility out the
cockpit ;-).
"IL-2" felt like 'just another' WW2 sim - prettier graphics,
obviously; an interesting premise, sure; a more sophisticated flight
model, natch - but still just an evolution of the genre. And having >played"Aces Over Europe" or "European Air War" or any of the others
already mentioned in this thread* - I wasn't all that excited about
"IL-2".
TL;DR: Fine game, but bad timing.
* Oh, and the Microsoft Combat Flight Sim games! Remember those?
On Sat, 21 Jan 2023 10:52:52 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jan 2023 20:48:59 -0700, PW
<iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jan 2023 18:41:33 +0000, Geoff May
<GeoffMay_do_not_spam_me@nospam.com> wrote:
Have you tried any of the IL-2 series?
"IL-2" was highly regarded on its release, but it failed to grab me.
But this, I think, was because - by that time - I had pretty much
moved on from flight-sims in general, and piston-powered flight-sims
in specific (I prefer jets, partly because they GO FAST and partly
because electronic HUDs are easier to read than a bunch of analog
gauges but mostly because they tend to have better visibility out the
cockpit ;-).
"IL-2" felt like 'just another' WW2 sim - prettier graphics,
obviously; an interesting premise, sure; a more sophisticated flight
model, natch - but still just an evolution of the genre. And having
played"Aces Over Europe" or "European Air War" or any of the others
already mentioned in this thread* - I wasn't all that excited about
"IL-2".
TL;DR: Fine game, but bad timing.
* Oh, and the Microsoft Combat Flight Sim games! Remember those?
*--
Hornet Korea is my all time favorite.
Hornet Korea is my all time favorite.
On 27/01/2023 04:43, PW wrote:
On Sat, 21 Jan 2023 10:52:52 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jan 2023 20:48:59 -0700, PW
<iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jan 2023 18:41:33 +0000, Geoff May
<GeoffMay_do_not_spam_me@nospam.com> wrote:
Have you tried any of the IL-2 series?
"IL-2" was highly regarded on its release, but it failed to grab me.
But this, I think, was because - by that time - I had pretty much
moved on from flight-sims in general, and piston-powered flight-sims
in specific (I prefer jets, partly because they GO FAST and partly
because electronic HUDs are easier to read than a bunch of analog
gauges but mostly because they tend to have better visibility out the
cockpit ;-).
"IL-2" felt like 'just another' WW2 sim - prettier graphics,
obviously; an interesting premise, sure; a more sophisticated flight
model, natch - but still just an evolution of the genre. And having
played"Aces Over Europe" or "European Air War" or any of the others
already mentioned in this thread* - I wasn't all that excited about
"IL-2".
TL;DR: Fine game, but bad timing.
* Oh, and the Microsoft Combat Flight Sim games! Remember those?
*--
Hornet Korea is my all time favorite.
I've never played CFS but I have played Fighter Pilot, Tomahawk (both
Speccky 48k), Gunship, F-16 Falcon (both Atari ST) and lastly on the PC >Longbow 2.
F-16 Falcon I found went a bit overboard on the realism part, well for
my skill level, as it's not fun flying a mission only to crash trying to >land, yet again. Longbow 2 was I think a good game but unfortunately by
the time I played it my gaming tastes had moved on.
|I do occasionally think maybe I should give a flight simulator another
go but that's just the nostalgia part of my brain speaking to me.
On Fri, 27 Jan 2023 10:36:57 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson ><spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
On Thu, 26 Jan 2023 21:43:00 -0700, PW >><iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:*---
Hornet Korea is my all time favorite.
I've not heard of that one (and that's an odd sensation ;-).
Presumably it's in reference to FA-18 Korea (since 'Hornet' is the nom
de guerre for the FA-18). Was the game actually sold in some markets
as 'Hornet Korea'? Moby isn't giving any hints.
I was never the biggest fans of Empire's flight-sims, although I know
some of them - like "Dawn Patrol" - are considered cult classics. >>Technically they were often ahead of the curve (many of their games
sported SVGA visuals while the likes of "Aces Over Europe" were still >>mucking about at 320x200 VGA) but the gameplay and interfaces always
felt sub-par.
I remember them as having just not enough meat to the games and the
most arcane controls. I tried them and then always quickly fled back
to Microprose/Spectrum or Sierra or LucasArts or even Origin. Empire >>Interactive's flight sims just weren't my thing, so it's no surprise
"FA-18 Korea" (or whatever it was called in Montana ;-) skipped my
notice.
Do I dare download it from this site: >https://www.myabandonware.com/game/f-a-18-korea-a55
I think not
-pw
On Thu, 26 Jan 2023 21:43:00 -0700, PW
<iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
Hornet Korea is my all time favorite.
I've not heard of that one (and that's an odd sensation ;-).
Presumably it's in reference to FA-18 Korea (since 'Hornet' is the nom
de guerre for the FA-18). Was the game actually sold in some markets
as 'Hornet Korea'? Moby isn't giving any hints.
I was never the biggest fans of Empire's flight-sims, although I know
some of them - like "Dawn Patrol" - are considered cult classics.
Technically they were often ahead of the curve (many of their games
sported SVGA visuals while the likes of "Aces Over Europe" were still
mucking about at 320x200 VGA) but the gameplay and interfaces always
felt sub-par.
I remember them as having just not enough meat to the games and the
most arcane controls. I tried them and then always quickly fled back
to Microprose/Spectrum or Sierra or LucasArts or even Origin. Empire >Interactive's flight sims just weren't my thing, so it's no surprise
"FA-18 Korea" (or whatever it was called in Montana ;-) skipped my
notice.
There was a WW2 one or series that I used to play all of the time back
then too. Can't remember the name.
Used to also play SU-27 Flanker. Terrible graphics but great realism.
"Papa Doc's Pink Flamingo!"
Not for planes but instead sub's - Uboat is a good one that is still
listed as early access but is pretty much a complete game now and it
does have continued support.
- LucasArt's "Battlehawks 1942" (1988) and "Their Finest Hour: Battle
- The "Aces" ("Aces Over the Pacific" in 1992, "Aces Over Europe" in
- The "B-17 Flying Fortress" games from Microprose, the first released
- The "Secret Weapons" games by LucasArts - "Secret Weapons of the
- The aforementioned "Combat Flight Simulator" (three games) from
- EA's "Janes" series had a couple of WW2-focused games: "WWII
Fighters" came out in 1998 and "Attack Squadron" released in 2002.
On Sun, 5 Feb 2023 11:39:53 +0000, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
Not for planes but instead sub's - Uboat is a good one that is still
listed as early access but is pretty much a complete game now and it
does have continued support.
Wow, that's a genre I've almost forgotten about. Which is odd because
the first 'real' sim I ever played was Microprose's 1995 "Silent
Service". And years later, "Silent Hunter" engaged me for weeks upon
weeks.
But after that, the genre seemed to fade away. Oh, there were some
notables - "Jane's 688i Hunter Killer" - but most of them focused more
on modern subs, which never engrossed me in the same way (too much
sound analysis, not enough strategy. Plus, I like looking out of the periscope too much).
There has been - apparently - something of a rebirth in the genre
recently ("Wolfpack", "Crashdive", the aforementioned "Uboat") but
I've not tried any of them. Despite how fascinating I found the games
years ago, I can't seem to muster much enthusiasm for them today. And
if I do, it's not like "Silent Hunter" isn't on my hard-drive waiting
for me...
On 2/5/2023 12:03 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
- LucasArt's "Battlehawks 1942" (1988) and "Their Finest Hour: Battle
- The "Aces" ("Aces Over the Pacific" in 1992, "Aces Over Europe" in
- The "B-17 Flying Fortress" games from Microprose, the first released
- The "Secret Weapons" games by LucasArts - "Secret Weapons of the
- The aforementioned "Combat Flight Simulator" (three games) from
- EA's "Janes" series had a couple of WW2-focused games: "WWII
Fighters" came out in 1998 and "Attack Squadron" released in 2002.
This is a long shot but you guys seem to know quite a bit aboutflight
games so I'll just have to ask and hope for a miracle..
I realize it's a tough one, the game wasn't part of a series that I'm
aware of and probably developed by a small company. I've been trying to
find the name of this game for almost 2 decades without success.
I got it for my disabled uncle who absolutely adored it back then (mid
to late 2000's). It was an incredibly short and easy arcade WWII combat >flight PC game, and must have come out somewhere between 2000 and 2010
(can't narrow it down further that that, sorry).
Here's what I remember: I'm 99% sure there were only 12 short missions
in total, lasting 15 to 20 minutes or so each one. The controls were >incredibly simple (I want to say mouse only but not sure) and in the
last mission (the 12th) you had to single handedly stop a barrage of
V2's flying towards London. There was no airplane choice, I think you
always had a Mustang but also not sure about that. We ran the game on a
IBM Thinkpad T20 and the graphics looked amazing for the time, it had a
very well optimized engine.
Also remember the tutorial (first) mission where you had to land the
plane somewhere, maybe an island, and take off again. In the following
one you had to destroy ships docked in a bay and some that were out at sea.
It had an incredibly non descriptive name (like 'Fighters of WW2' or
some such) which makes the process of finding it even more difficult.
On Tue, 7 Feb 2023 03:16:55 -0500, Metal Guru
<MetalGuru@NiceTrySpammer.com> wrote:
Here's what I remember: I'm 99% sure there were only 12 short missionsin total, lasting 15 to 20 minutes or so each one. The controls were
incredibly simple (I want to say mouse only but not sure) and in the
last mission (the 12th) you had to single handedly stop a barrage of
V2's flying towards London. There was no airplane choice, I think you
always had a Mustang but also not sure about that. We ran the game on a
IBM Thinkpad T20 and the graphics looked amazing for the time, it had a
very well optimized engine.
My first inclination is that it was "Secret Weapons Over Normandy",
Second suspicion is maybe one of the 'Warbirds' games?
Hmmm... maybe "Blazing Angels"? That was another arcade-sim
Similarly, "Heroes Over Europe"; arcade action so easy
controls but the your thrust into it from the start.
But then I had an epiphany: what if I googled arcade flight sims with 12 >missions/campaigns/levels since that was the only thing about the game I >still remembered vividly for some reason? I can't remember which key
words got me this result but google eventually came up with:
https://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/history-channel-battle-of-britain-world-war-ii-1940
But then I had an epiphany: what if I googled arcade flight sims with 12 missions/campaigns/levels since that was the only thing about the game I still remembered vividly for some reason? I can't remember which key
words got me this result but google eventually came up with:
https://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/history-channel-battle-of-britain-world-war-ii-1940
BAM! There's my little devil, I'm *almost* certain 😄 I haven't been
able to check gameplay or screenies yet because google chokes with those search terms (told ya it was a very generic name) but there is an
abandonware site that has it for download so I'll be checking it out
later tonight (can't find it for sale anywhere, either).
I remember when The History Channel started getting involved with
video games... they were all, pretty much, all universally awful
budget releases that did nothing to entice me to watch the TV series.
Already in 2004, the network was starting its long slide towards
decay; it was renowned as the 'ww2 channel' because that's all it
seemed to show. But nobody could predict the depths to which it would
soon sink...
And who's to blame for the destruction of that network. Look... I'm
not saying it was aliens... but it was aliens.*
* for those not in the know, The History channel aired a show -
"Ancient Aliens" - where the host pretty much gave credit to extra terrestrial visitors for every advancement and ancient monument to the
point he became meme-worthy.
On 09/02/2023 16:33, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
[snipped]
* for those not in the know, The History channel aired a show -
"Ancient Aliens" - where the host pretty much gave credit to extra
terrestrial visitors for every advancement and ancient monument to the
point he became meme-worthy.
I used to watch the History Channel sometimes even if it did have the annoying habit of the person who complied the video part seem to have
very little knowledge of the subject in hand. Now I just can't be
bothered to trawl through a catalogue of ancient aliens, UFO's, the paranormal, reality shows etc.
The fun part with Ancient Aliens is you have to wonder how many of the presenters actually believe what they are saying as they almost never
come out and say this is what happened but instead phrase it along the
lines of some people believe or maybe it's possible.
On 10/02/2023 10:13, JAB wrote:
On 09/02/2023 16:33, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
[snipped]
* for those not in the know, The History channel aired a show -
"Ancient Aliens" - where the host pretty much gave credit to extra
terrestrial visitors for every advancement and ancient monument to the
point he became meme-worthy.
I used to watch the History Channel sometimes even if it did have the
annoying habit of the person who complied the video part seem to have
very little knowledge of the subject in hand. Now I just can't be
bothered to trawl through a catalogue of ancient aliens, UFO's, the
paranormal, reality shows etc.
The fun part with Ancient Aliens is you have to wonder how many of the
presenters actually believe what they are saying as they almost never
come out and say this is what happened but instead phrase it along the
lines of some people believe or maybe it's possible.
My missus occasionally watches just to see what kind of rubbish they are talking about.
On 09/02/2023 06:09, Metal Guru wrote:
https://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/history-channel-battle-of-britain-world-war-ii-1940
Well I hope it's the right one but I'm not sure a flight sim is off to a
good start when they put the wrong version of a Spitfire on the box art!
On Thu, 9 Feb 2023 01:09:36 -0500, Metal Guru
<MetalGuru@NiceTrySpammer.com> wrote:
https://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/history-channel-battle-of-britain-world-war-ii-1940
Although in fairness, flying P-51 Mustangs aren't something I
immediately associate with the Battle of Britain ;-)
I remember when The History Channel started getting involved with
video games... they were all, pretty much, all universally awful
budget releases that did nothing to entice me to watch the TV series.
Already in 2004, the network was starting its long slide towards
decay; it was renowned as the 'ww2 channel' because that's all it
seemed to show. But nobody could predict the depths to which it would
soon sink...
And who's to blame for the destruction of that network. Look... I'm
not saying it was aliens... but it was aliens.*
* for those not in the know, The History channel aired a show -
"Ancient Aliens" - where the host pretty much gave credit to extra terrestrial visitors for every advancement and ancient monument to the
point he became meme-worthy.
On 2/9/2023 11:22 AM, JAB wrote:
On 09/02/2023 06:09, Metal Guru wrote:
https://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/history-channel-battle-of-britain-world-war-ii-1940
Well I hope it's the right one but I'm not sure a flight sim is off to a
good start when they put the wrong version of a Spitfire on the box art!
Haha, I don't know anything* about fighter planes - what do you mean by
wrong version?
And who's to blame for the destruction of that network. Look... I'm
not saying it was aliens... but it was aliens.*
* for those not in the know, The History channel aired a show -
"Ancient Aliens" - where the host pretty much gave credit to extra
terrestrial visitors for every advancement and ancient monument to the
point he became meme-worthy.
https://i.imgur.com/P1EAQL8.png
On Fri, 10 Feb 2023 16:09:26 -0500, Metal Guru
<MetalGuru@NiceTrySpammer.com> wrote:
On 2/9/2023 11:22 AM, JAB wrote:
On 09/02/2023 06:09, Metal Guru wrote:
https://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/history-channel-battle-of-britain-world-war-ii-1940
Well I hope it's the right one but I'm not sure a flight sim is off to a >>> good start when they put the wrong version of a Spitfire on the box art!
Haha, I don't know anything* about fighter planes - what do you mean by
wrong version?
There were numerous variations of the Spitfire used during the war but
I'm not confident enough to say which was in service during the Battle
of Britain. One of the more obvious changes was to the armament; the
earlier spitfires were armed only with 6 (or was it 8?) machine guns
embedded in the wings, visible only as small muzzle-holes in the
wings' leading edge. The one on the box-art features two honking 2mm
cannons (the plane in the background seems to be lacking these
cannons).
There were changes, too, to the fuselage, wings and engines of later
variants but its hard to tell the exact shape/proportions of the plane
in the box art, especially because of the viewing angle. The cockpit
looks more like a dome than in earlier versions of the plane, a
feature which didn't really come into use until later in the war...
but since the wing is blocking our view of the trailing edge of the
cockpit dome it's hard to tell.
(I'm not a Spitfire expert. I just have books on the subject.
Certainly I'd never have noticed any discrepancies on my own. Anyway,
I was always more fond of the bombers ;-)
Personally I've been watching their
"Greatest Mysteries" which seems pretty good. I also watched the first
of their new "Greatest Heists" series which was entertaining and mostly informative, especially about the weaknesses of the Antwerp Diamond Exchange's security. :D
On 2/10/2023 7:23 AM, Geoff May wrote:
On 10/02/2023 10:13, JAB wrote:The History Channel's programming ranges from the TV equivalent of
On 09/02/2023 16:33, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
[snipped]
* for those not in the know, The History channel aired a show -
"Ancient Aliens" - where the host pretty much gave credit to extra
terrestrial visitors for every advancement and ancient monument to the >>>> point he became meme-worthy.
I used to watch the History Channel sometimes even if it did have the
annoying habit of the person who complied the video part seem to have
very little knowledge of the subject in hand. Now I just can't be
bothered to trawl through a catalogue of ancient aliens, UFO's, the
paranormal, reality shows etc.
The fun part with Ancient Aliens is you have to wonder how many of
the presenters actually believe what they are saying as they almost
never come out and say this is what happened but instead phrase it
along the lines of some people believe or maybe it's possible.
My missus occasionally watches just to see what kind of rubbish they
are talking about.
tabloids (like Ancient Aliens) to some good stuff. Almost all of it has some aspect of popular appeal, they do want people to watch after all,
but there's some good stuff there. Personally I've been watching their "Greatest Mysteries" which seems pretty good. I also watched the first
of their new "Greatest Heists" series which was entertaining and mostly informative, especially about the weaknesses of the Antwerp Diamond Exchange's security. :D
I assume the selection of programmes that are the History Channel varies
by region and I just find too much of it is absolute pap so I don't even >bother having a look to see if there's something on I fancy.
It's probably not helped by I don't have a great deal of confidence in
the editorial standards when it comes to is this actually history or
just something you've cobbled together. I still remember watching
something with Sherman tanks in it where they repeated some of the myths >about issues it had as fact.
Will have to give the new Greatest Heists a whirl sometime, sort of
Ocean's Eleven but non-fictional I'd imagine :)
On Sun, 12 Feb 2023 11:24:15 +0000, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
Same. It's current selection of shows is attrocious (even though the
I assume the selection of programmes that are the History Channel varies
by region and I just find too much of it is absolute pap so I don't even
bother having a look to see if there's something on I fancy.
It's probably not helped by I don't have a great deal of confidence in
the editorial standards when it comes to is this actually history or
just something you've cobbled together. I still remember watching
something with Sherman tanks in it where they repeated some of the myths
about issues it had as fact.
channel actually has slightly improved from its darkest days, it's
still pretty poor) but even in its heyday, the History Channel
documentaries were extremely superficial, biased, and poorly
researched. They were rarely better than secondary school summaries on
a topic, except with well-produced multimedia flourishes.
Side note: You know what is a personal peeve of mine? Documentaryfootage that overlays modern sound effects on the film. Like all
those grainy black-n-white films of the D-Day landings where you hear
the machine-guns blazing and the planes flying overhead. That's all
been added later by modern 'documentarians'. It isn't so much the
added sounds that bother me (although too often those are inaccurate)
as the fact that there's never any notice that the sound wasn't part
of the original footage but a 'best guess' addition by a modern
editor. It gives people an unrealistic view of the world and is, IMHO,
an incredibly dishonest move on the part of the documentarian. And
History Channel did it all the time.
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