WW2 PC game

[chrish483]

Tonight I'm doing some shopping and i was thinking of picking up a PC game for some off line practice  and i was wondering if anyone could recommend one or two.    Are there any that compare to what we have here on AH?

thanks
 chris h

[B@tfinkV]

in a word, nope!


IL2 series is widely considered the best available single play dogfighter. graphics are very pretty but flight models are not a touch on AH.

Targetware (do a web search) can be fun but graphically is far worse than ah2. it is free the last time i checked it.

in the sense of head possitions, flight model, and all the things we take for granted here, you will be largely dissapointed by any box sim you buy.

i would say go with IL2 - pacific fighter or forgotten battles.

[Obie303]

Flight sims, strategy, or first person shooter?  

Off-line practice, IL-2 is pretty good from what I remember.  Haven't played it in years.  Then of course you have Microsoft Combat Flights Sims 1,2, and 3.  Oldies but goodies if you can find them.

For strategy games, I've heard Company of Heros is very good.  Although I've never played it.  I'm sure somebody else can offer advice on this one.

The first person shooter games are of course call of duty series.  Very fun to play but they tended to get a little boring after.  I prefered the Brother in Arms series.  These games were fantastic.  The ability to control your squad added another element the CoD games were missing IMHO.  

Hope those help.  You can of course look up these games to see previews and possibly download demos from the net.  Good luck.  

Obie

[chrish483]

for the most part i only have one phone line so i need to keep the line open for calls and such being this time of year,   but mostly a game for flying the planes that we have here.
The offline AH TA is just to basic  but thanks for the responces so far gives me some ideas and ill look at best buy and see what they have on hand.

[B@tfinkV]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IL-2_Sturmovik_(game)

check it out now if you want, this is what you will be wanting i think, there is nothing that competes that i know of.

edit.
hmmm crazy link did something wierd lol

[Alien490]

Originally posted by chrish483
Tonight I'm doing some shopping and i was thinking of picking up a PC game for some off line practice  and i was wondering if anyone could recommend one or two.    Are there any that compare to what we have here on AH?

thanks
 chris h

We are active in almost all the above mentioned, if you find your game, and we play it, feel free to join us anytime, were just a bunch of ex Military/some still active and drunks that like to game and have fun, comms are open 24/7 as well as friendship....you can find our gaming info and servers at
=Captains of Combat= / 490th BG =OUTLAWZ=

Not really drunks, just practicing and wanna be's

[PanosGR]

There is only one game that i would recommend and that is IL2 forgotten battles of Ubisoft.. Superior graphic work, realistic gunnery, realistic view system, and realistic Flight Model plus a very extensive on-line community. .   Don’t know why people think that AH FM is more accurate than IL2. But the far superior game will be Battle of Britain: Strom of War, from Ubisoft also. Company claims that the actual aircraft model comes from the original blue prints of the aircrafts plus an excellent interior cockpit design.

[toonces3]

I find the AI pilots in IL2 utterly stupid.  I landed 5 kills in a zero the other day, and I am NOT that good in AH2.

Furthermore, I can't get a decent view system set up no matter what I do.  AH2 has such an elegant view system.  I don't know why nobody else uses it.  I have a TrackIR, but that's only useful at night when it's dark.  

IL2 has very pretty graphics.  If AH2 could import some of them...well, I'd never leave the house probably.

[Benny Moore]

BatfinkV's right.  IL-2's flight model stinks compared to Aces High II.  This is especially true of IL-2's stalls, although the physics are notably inferior in all other aspects as well.  In addition to this, the individual flight models for the various aircraft are generally less accurate.

[PanosGR]

I can't get a decent view system

Well that’s new. Decent view system like 360 degrees? I have never fly with a WWII fighter, naturally, but I don’t think they had the ability of looking 180 degrees backwards. For a view like this u got to be Regan in the exorcist. This is realistic? Yes makes my life easier spotting the enemy, but that’s not the case. During WWII most of the enemy killing was due to surprise attack from 6 o’clock.
Stall? Yes it does stall easily, but I think this is how it really happened, in those days, with those fighters. IL2 has no FBW neither forgive mistakes. The controls in AH are so accurate and has so immediate response that u think that you fly an F-16 instead off a WWII fighter. And there is the gunnery issue also. Machine guns don’t burst 100% from the very first nano sec. There is a time to adjust. This is happening in IL2.

But then again this just my personal feeling. I will not stop playing AH cause has the greatest online community and system from any other, plus I don’t want to start another debate witch game its better, or more close to reality.

[BlauK]

The main reason keeping me away from IL-2 series is the unrealistic viewing system.
You know, pilots have been able to move their heads sideways, back and forth  in RL so that they can actually peek around the window frames.

AH2 viewing system has 6DOF while IL-2 series only 2DOF... big issue with TIR.
Surely the AH head can twist around and around, but it hardly matters compared to the IL-2 series with a single eye ball anchored in the middle of the cockpit.

Hopefully BoB:SoW will finally realize it more properly.

[Lusche]

Originally posted by BlauK

AH2 viewing system has 6DOF while IL-2 series only 2DOF... big issue with TIR.

Absolutely. That is one of the two reasons I can't play it anymore.

[2fly]

Battle of Britain 2 Wings of Victory  by shockwave productions is probably the most graphically impressive flight Sim on the market bar none.  If you have the computer to run it.  The game itself is very deep as you run the entire war effort.  But if you just want something with a great flight model and incredible graphics take a look at their website.  http://www.shockwaveproductions.com   I will warn you though, you need a serious system or the load times will kill you.  Especially if you download the optional multiskin pack.  It adds in actual historical individual plane markings for all of the thousands of aircraft.  So if you shoot down a Me 109 from a particular squadron that exact aircraft with its number is now gone.  As you can imagine the computer power required for this is intimidating.

My old computer was a P4 2.4ghz, 1 meg ram, geforce 6800 and a mission load time was 3-5 minutes.  There is a handy program included that shuts down all non-mandatory servies in windows that dropped the load times down to about 1-2 minutes.  My new system loads in seconds though.  core 2 6850 at 3mhz, 2gb ram, 8800 GTX etc....

The downside...
Coming from AH you will imediately have difficulty keeping track of enemy aircraft.  BOBII is aimed at realism.  There are no red tags over the plane and clouds really are for HIDING in.  Take your eyes off a bogey for a split second and he is G.O.N.E.
 The other thing you will immediately notice is the enemy skill levels.  No AI can ever (at least not yet) really simulate a real pilot on the other stick.  AH vs a top pilot is far far harder than the AI at even the highest settings.  Then of course the AI wont make a truely imbecilic move by mistake as even the best players occasionally do.  Even the best are human and sometimes goof.  I guess I am trying to say that the AI can be somewhat predictable once you get used it whereas a real person may do anything.

I have never seen this game on the shelf at a store, I ordered it.  But then I am in Fairbanks, Alaska and the nearest Real stores are 350 miles away.

[Benny Moore]

Originally posted by PanosGR
I have never fly with a WWII fighter, naturally, but I don’t think they had the ability of looking 180 degrees backwards.

I've sat in, though not flown, several real World War Two fighters.  It's quite possible to see straight back and even a bit to the other side (in other words, more than 180 degrees on each side) in most of them, if you're not strapped in tightly.  So yes, 360 degrees of vision is perfectly realistic.

The Me-109 is one of the exceptions.  Not only is the cockpit so ultra-cramped that motion isn't easy, but the model I sat in had the hooded canopy.

[PanosGR]

Maybe, in the sense that u are probably right since u had the opportunity. I have only sat and flown – at least three times- in various modern jet fighters and trust me the way u are strapped in, in their ejection seats its quite impossible to see backwards 180+. On the other hand I really don’t how the WWII pilots were strapped in, or how tight they were so I really don’t know, but I trust your opinion.