Can you recommend a good combat flight simulator?

[McMullen]

Are any of the ones on Steam worth my time, or should I order one somewhere else? I have a rudimentary joystick with throttle, though I have to take my hand off the keyboard to adjust it.

I'm mostly interested in the world wars, but modern periods might also be interesting.

Thanks!

 

[Rakun Man]

Which ones have you played?

I don't have steam, so I don't know if they are on there, but...
IL-2 Sturmovik is pretty good.
Birds of Steel is great.
Both are WW2, I believe the former is in the Eastern European front, and I know the latter is in the Pacific campaign.

Hope I helped.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Though not on Steam, check Amazon or anywhere else online to try and find any of the X-Wing or Tie Fighter games. Well worth your time, both for gameplay and plot. Tie Fighter was released in the mid 90s and it had full voice acting and was generally awesome.

 

[kingthrall]

Freespace 2, then download the Babylon 5 Mod. Check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0Ms3Pjfl7s&feature=related

 

[octafish]

IL-2 Sturmovik and Wings of Prey on Steam and Freespace 2 on GOG. All of these will be fun with a basic joystick, but all are better if you have rudder twist.

It isn't available online and can be a ***** to get running on modern systems but Crimson Skies is awesome.

 

[Windcaler]

Freespace 2 is probably the best one Ive ever played. You might be able to find it on STEAM, if not check amazon

Ace combat 6 came out a few years ago too and I remember it being really good but I dont recall if it was on PC or not.

 

[McMullen]

Thanks. Haven't played any simulators so far, closest I've come is Battlefield 2. Was playing Just Cause 2's "Bridge of Death" plane race last night, and thought to myself "You know, this wouldn't be so bad if the people at Square Enix had thought to put in some goddamn rudder controls on their planes like GTA San Andreas did."

So I thought about reinstalling BF2 to do a few bombing runs, but remembered that it would be a choice between waiting in line or playing that one single player map. Decided an actual flight sim was the way to get what I really wanted.

Seriously, Square Enix, no rudder? Look, either act like you've played or seen flight games before from people who know what they're doing, or leave out anything that requires precision flying.

 

[TorqueConverter]

All I know is to stay away from Jane's Advanced Strike Fighters.

 

[McMullen]

Downloaded IL-2 Sturmovik from Steam

It's... different from most flight mechanics in games. Physics seems to matter here, and it's not friendly.

After initially thinking "Fuck this plane" I've taken a liking to the BF 109, and have not only learned how to not spiral straight into the ground, but take down the occasional B-17.

Also, seeing your engine just stop after it gets shot should be on the Oh Crap page on tvtropes if it isn't already.

Thanks Escapists!