How did you discover online flight sims?

[TequilaChaser]

My dad was apart of Air Warrior and began training me to fly this game at a young age. Which explains why I have been around for so long. He has now retired from flight sims and the navy.

GhostCDB / Ratio,
Your story about AW and you going to Annapolis sounds so familiar... One of the many great friends I've the pleasure to of known, had almost the same identical.. Had a young son, who also went to Naval Academy, etc...

I hate that my memory keeps getting more lapsed day by day .... I can not recall your Dad's name or callsign...

Some posts in this thread do bring a lot of them back for me ....

<§>

TC

[Mitchell]

I saw Rowan's Battle of Britain at Best Buy back in 2000-2001 (when my dad bought our first computer), so I begged my parents to get it for me.

My addiction stated there.... I got a cheep joystick because I didn't like the mouse, then I got a couple other games like Fighter Pilot. I got Microsoft combat flight simulator 1&2(eventually 3 also), and at some point I found an online game where I could fight other people not predictable AI

It was Tour 35 in AH1, late 2002, and I was 14yrs old

I started out as Mitchk and changed to Mitchell some time later. I flew with the =GHOSTS= 

I joined the Marines in 2006 and have played very little over the last few years, but I got the itch bad and now I'm back 

[Auger]

Saw an ad for Confirmed Kill in a gaming mag and the rest is history.  I think there are still a few CDs floating around here somewhere.

Trying to find a provider that wasn't CompuServe or AOL and had shell access was a bit of a challenge in those days.

[Mongoose]

  San Diego Computer Expo.  They had a group demonstrating flight sims.  One group had people online dogfighting in WWII planes.  I am pretty sure it was Warbirds. I wanted in on that, but couldn't afford it.  Years later, when I became a real computer geek, I went searching for Warbirds.  I installed it and played offline for a couple years, because I still couldn't afford to play online.  Finally I got a new job, and higher pay, and decided to get online.  I loved it. After a year or so I had to quit for a while, for various reasons.

  A couple of years later, I decide to go back to Warbirds.  For some reason, their servers didn't want to talk to my computer.  Their tech support didn't make a serious effort to find a fix, so I went looking for something else.  Found Aces High, and loved it even better than Warbirds. 

  Some time between the computer expo, and Warbirds, I played Wing Commander.  In that game you choose a name and a call sign for your pilot.  I always liked the cartoon, Rikki Tikki Tavi, So I name my pilot Rick Tavi, and his call sign was Mongoose.  I just stuck with that for all my flying games.

<Salute> Hitech.  It's been a lot of fun.

[madrid311]

The old fashioned way, a friend told me about air attack after he helped me get my faulty lap top replaced. I looked it up and started learning the game. Then I would go in and find him and let him beat me to a pulp. I would do anything to try and kill him. The best learning experience for me and a blast too. I was hooked. Then the game bellied up and I stumbled across aces high.

[LLv34_Dictonius]

I found European Air War from the stores shelf. The cover sold it to me instantly. This was somewhere around 1998-9. Flew the game offline at first. In the turn of the millenia I got connected to a fibre and realized pretty soon that somewhere in the cool cover of the game was printed that there was this multiplayer option somewhere in it. Decided to try it out. Finding a way to the MSN Lobby was a pain. But once there I got a taste of what the small community of online simmers was as its best. I didn't even realize it then, but I got addicted instanly. Not to game itself but to the community that unlike in previous online games that I had been playing (counter strike for example) and where I got booed for noob and stuff. No, in "The Lobby" I got a pad in the back when I failed - I even got precious advise and encouragement to continue. The rest is pretty much history. EAW was a bit short lived simulator and soon the IL-2 came along and soon after that Aces High 1, then 2.

The addiction is nowhere near of giving up its hooks still...

[Kazaa]

Found a five year old review on gamespot in 2005 and took a chance.

[Scca]

I wish I could remember the first one.  It was Battlehawks 1942 back in the 90's.  I found AH from a history channel commercial on 06 and have been  ever since.

[R 105]

same

Me Too.

[Oldman731]

Battlehawks 1942

First of the good air combat games.  Just looked it up, it came out in 1988 and I got it right away.  Flew it with keypad keys.

- oldman

[DaddyAce]

AOL AW4W.....am still playing on the same puter....well sort of, and unfortunately still using dial up, as my only internet choices here in the mountains of rural Montana are dial up and sattelite, and INK, your sattelite must be better than mine to be able to play AH on sattelite.  Oh and my puter has been many times upgraded from that old 1993 Micron, still same keyboard and 3.5 drive is about all that's left from the original Micron.

[Slate]

    I had been playing Video games since the 70s against the computer. Kids don't know how good they have it today. 




Finally in 2003 I went online to download the free Flight Sim from Hitech Creations after seeing a commercial on TV. I really liked the way it was set up and the variety of aircraft available. Messed around offline for a bit but no real challenge there. Bit the bullet and paid the monthly fee and spent awhile to get my first kill. You never forget your first.  
 
    

[matt]

I was playing fh ace and someone told me about how much better aceshigh was IN 2002 be playing on and off for years..

[pipz]

Bought the boxed version of Air Warrior II at Best Buy! I had no Idea what I was in for! Play others online? What? What is this online rubbish?  

I remember being at work many years ago and reading an article in one of my magazines. Seems there was this fuss over at Warbirds. Some guy named Dale split with some other folks to start their own online flight sim. Wonder how that turned out................... 

[1stpar3]

Well I had the old COMODORE 64!!! Play was on Microsofts F-15 Strike Eagle. Wish I had a penny for all the minutes I played that game,I would be loaded. I always loved any sort of flight sim. Does anyone remember the ARCADE flight sims? The ones that moved during flight and cost about buck a game?  Think that was why I got my first job. Then Top gun came out. Man those were the days!!!  Ofcourse with wife and kids I had to let my commodore go, but now that kids are grown up, I have reverted back to video games. Only thing different is no zits as at times I do still fly in my undies. Well those are different also!
Saw Aces High during an war planes episode on military channel or history channel. Wish I new about it sooner, missed a lot of time.
Thanks for that post, it brought back some mighty fine memories