Any love for combat sims?

[Agiel7]

Just pre-ordered DCS: A-10C so I could play the open beta, and got off from my 4th playthrough of the start-up training mission trying to memorize the 8 minute, 50 step process of getting an A-10C "Warthog" ready to taxi to the runway. It got me thinking about how these kind of games were at the top of the PC gaming world 10-15 years ago, with Jane's Longbow 2 and Falcon 4.0.

Looking at all the guys today who think they know everything about the latest and greatest in military hardware just from playing Modern Warfare 2 sort of depresses me, making me think about how the mighty have fallen.

So do any of you have fond memories of these types of games?

A neat trailer for Digital Combat Simulator for your viewing pleasure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUu4SV3GjVw

I showed my room-mate a video from the developers on how to hijack *cough* ahem, start-up an A-10, and he understandably asked me: "Have you been checked if you have Asperger's Syndrome?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSIGzDMJ-ik

 

[Alon Shechter]

Well, ArmA 2 is my favorite gave EVAR.
It is indeed sad that people think they're military people for understanding MW2.
I want to see the typical MW2 player survive in ArmA 2.

 

[SimuLord]

I always preferred civilian aircraft flight sims. I've logged too many hours with Microsoft's venerable series...and I'm quite proud of the fact that I can land one of those planes without using any of the automated controls.

As for Asperger's/autism spectrum disorders, I adore people who "suffer" from them---brothers and sisters in arms, those.

 

[Arachon]

Oh man... That looked awesome. I remember breaking my brain trying to understand how to start up the Ka-50 in DCS: Black Shark, not too easy when the buttons are all in Russian...

And you're right, it's kind of sad how realistic games have been "rejected" by the gaming community. Hell, most posts about realistic games on this forums get nothing but replies about how they're like "second jobs" and not "fun". I suppose instant gratification wins out in this media.

 

[Agiel7]

How long is it going to be until DCS: A-10C Warthog is released? It's one of the few games which I'm actually looking forward to - Golden Sun: Dark Dawn is the other prominent one, and strangely, for a big-time Fallout fan, I'm not even looking forward to Fallout: New Vegas.

Oh, and yes, I've played other combat sims, including Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis, ArmA: Armed Assault, ARMA 2 and most recently, ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.218127-ARMA-2-Operation-Arrowhead-A-Comprehensive-Review].

They said before the year's out for sure. You can pre-order it and get in on the "open beta," but at $60, it's pretty damned steep. That I'm a university student with no stable source of income and surely and insurmountable student debt to pay off upon graduation and I bought in on that says a lot about my thought processes.

 

[TOGSolid]

I love combat flight sims, but modern planes just aren't that fun for me. I'm a big fan of Rise of Flight and IL-2 Sturmovik. Modern fighter planes feel more like I'm just learning to flip switches and push buttons as opposed to learning all the subtle nuances of how it flies.

 

[-=Spy=-]

Just got done playing some IL-3 Sturmovik. Love that game.

 

[Iwata]

Just got done playing some IL-3 Sturmovik. Love that game.

You mean IL-2?

And yeah, I love me some combat sims. The IL-2/Pacific Fighters series never leaves my PC, nor does LOMAC. And I still have fond memories of M1a1 Tank Platoon... now that was an awesome game.