Il2 And Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 3

[LEDPIG]

What do yall think about IL2 aces expansion, Pacific fighters and Cfs 3 thats where i came from before i saw this game. I think this game might be somewhat more realistic maybe thats why i get killed way more here especially the flight models. Another thing i think yall or some of the best internet pilots out there and it's fun dogfighting with ya, what do yall think?

[TinmanX]

Don't know about the rest, but Pacific Fighters
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[StarOfAfrica2]

As a MSCFS player myself, I can guarantee you this one is far better.  MS's "auto rudder" thingie (while a nice gesture to those who dont want to bother investing in rudder controls) is a POS.  Their shortcuts carry over into the rest of the programming too.  Which shouldnt be surprising, considering the source of the software.  IL2 I've never touched, I'll  leave that one to others who have.

[RTSigma]

It depends really.

I loved MCFS2. MCFS3 however is a horrible game by itself, but there are mods and add-ons that can help it.

IL-2 is great for the "other front" of the war and I find it to be highly enjoyable. Pacific Fighters is a lot of fun, especially when you are trying to land a F4F-4 during a storm on a heaving carrier.

[Kweassa]

IL2/FB/AEP is about the only contendor of AH2 when it comes to depicting WW2 aerial combat. It's pretty good.

 It's largest drawback is the unacceptably rigid view system, which takes a lot of time getting used to for people who fly Aces High. However, a lot of enjoyable realism has been put into the game, most notably the detailed Damage Modelling which is IMO way ahead of AH. Its also graphically intense, but hardly surprising since its a boxed game using multiple CDs.

[TexMurphy]

Imho the biggest game breaker in IL2 is the view system.

Head on stick views in a WW2 sim is unacceptable.

Ever since Ive gotten used to the 6DOF view system of AH I just feel claustrophobic in IL2. The views are soo bad that it totally ruins the game experience.

The game it self aint bad. But its just amazing that it took sooooo many years for Oleg to add torque to the flight model. The flight model is still quite far off the detail level of AH. The damage model on the other hand is fantastic. The detail level of the plane interface model is also great with fuel mixtures, cowl flaps ect.

It depends on which one views as more important. Personally flight model is more important then damage model and plane interface model. It doesnt matter how nicely a plane breaks apart or what systems I can use in a plane if it flies like shait. Now IL2 doesnt fly like shait but its still not as good as AH2 in that aspect.

Graphics wise IL2 is much better in some aspects. If you compare AH2 non reworked models the IL2 models are better. If you look at the AH2 reworked models they are in a class of its own. Terrain and especially sky/clouds/sun IL2 wins by a mile, not even the same ballpark.

BUT Il2 is VERY cartoonish the tracers looks like something stolen from Lucas Arts. The gun fire flames make a .303 look like a flame thrower. The cartoonish look and feel translates through all aspects of the graphics planes, environemnt and everything else.

Personally Im not a fan of cartoonish graphics.

well thats my 2 cents on the AH2 vs IL2 subject.

Tex

[bozon]

I agree with kweassa. The view system instantly killed IL2 for me. Also true that damage modeling is the only thing it does better than AH (and that was always the weakest spot in AH).

The extra eye candy and the horrible "realistic cockpits" or the few extra keys to fiddle with, get no extra credit from me.

AH is better.
Bozon

[mars01]

IL2 Setup blows.  It runs like crap and was unplayable for me.  Thus I am done with that series, plus the limit on the number of players in an arena sucks.

[Lusche]

Originally posted by TexMurphy
Ever since Ive gotten used to the 6DOF view system of AH I just feel claustrophobic in IL2.

I fully agree!

After flying AH2 for a few months with my newly aquired TrackIr, I reinstalled Il2/FB/PF and suddenly felt as if someone had me nailed to the pilots seat. I was literally physical uncomfortable with the views! Very sad, for when Il2 came out, it made a huge impression on me, bringing life again to a rather stagnating genre with its beautiful graphics and more realism than MCFS. Forgotten Battles was a further improvement. But Pacific Fighters was a huge disappointment, it seemed to be uninspired and rushed onto the market.

[Bruno]

plus the limit on the number of players in an arena sucks.

150 folks is the max. 99 is about the highest pub server you will see. Some like VP run 64 max. However, pub DF servers usually cap between 36 and 50 players. However, these are set up to concentrate the fights. If the server is running a script then the combat / target areas are usually evenly split between the airfields along the front lines. There are typically just 2 or 3 bases per side and with the average map in FB 1/4 the size of an AH map the flight times are short and the combat concentrated.

Try the Winds of War Server, its a DF pub and caps at 50 players.

Most everyone I know who players both AH2 and FB/AEP/PF gets better performance with more bells and whistles activated in FB/AEP/PF then they get with AH. I not sure what's so hard about the setup in Il2. All you have to do is click on the icon that says 'setup'.

Any tweaking can be done right from the config.ini.

I have played Il2/FB/AEP/PF and AH since both were in beta. I find FB/AEP/PF is far more fun and I play it daily. I only play AH sporadically and mostly just for events.

As for the 'view system' all other games have/had the same view system as Il2. The odd ball is AH. While the AH view system is less restrictive it has its issues. In some planes you move your head out side the glass. If AH is the only flight game you play then I can imagine the difficulty some may have with the views in other flight games. However, if you play enough of them, long enough you adjust and its not much of an issue, especially with TrackIR. BoB will have 6DOF, FB/AEP/PF wont ever 6DOF get due to how they model the cockpits and it would be too much effort to correct them just for 6DOF.

Both games have their features/quirks that make them what they are. AH and FB/AEP/PF aren't in direct competion anyway. Only 10% of those who bought the IL2 series play on line according to Oleg. Any comparison is mostly irrelevant, play the game you like...

The CFS series never did it for me. I quit buying them after CFS2. Some folks like it but IMHO the series sucks arse.

[Edbert]

MSCFS 1/2/3 suck, might as well play Fighter-Ace.

IL2/FB/AEP/PF has better graphics and object/damage modeling, plus hundreds of aircraft modeled.

WW2OL has better ground war "stuff" if that's what you want.

AH2 has the best flight models, gunnery, and community.

++++++++++++++++

But the reason that AH is the best place to spend your money is the perpetual 750-player arena, I think it really is that simple. At least that is why I've been here so long.

[mars01]

Most everyone I know who players both AH2 and FB/AEP/PF gets better performance with more bells and whistles activated in FB/AEP/PF then they get with AH. I not sure what's so hard about the setup in Il2. All you have to do is click on the icon that says 'setup'.

Well all i can say is after all the tweaking I had to do it still ran like crap.  You oversimplify or got lucky with your set up.  Once I installed I had to get a bunch of updates.  Then I needed the updates to play online, on and on.  "Just click a button" LOLH.  You must be thinking of AH.

[Bruno]

Well all i can say is after all the tweaking I had to do it still ran like crap. You oversimplify or got lucky with your set up. Once I installed I had to get a bunch of updates.

I have the game set up on 3 different systems and never have any problems. Complaining about having to update the game to the newest version is kind of stupid isn't it? Do you complain when HTC releases a new version?

Setting up Il2 is just 'click on the set up icon'. Then if you want to make any more tweak its all in one place in the config.ini. If you run in OpenGL then look under OpenGl, if you run DirectX look under DirectX. There's only 5 or 6 lines to tweak on top of that. How hard is it to figure out? Every FPS game I play is much more difficult to opitimize then any flight sim.

As for AH2 plenty of folks have had problems running it. Both play fine for me though...

[mars01]

I have the game set up on 3 different systems and never have any problems. Complaining about having to update the game to the newest version is kind of stupid isn't it? Do you complain when HTC releases a new version?

LOLH - Really then why when I was setting up IL2 Pacific did I have to have the original IL2 and expansion BS installed?  Then I had to go and download the updates I had to make sure I got the right update for the right version on and on.  Run it out of the box and it stuttered like crazy.  Tweak this, update that and it still ran like crap.  I never did get the Pearl Harbor campaign to run.  Finally I stopped wasting my time and logged into AH and flew rather than tweaked.

IL2 update path is nothing like AH where I log in and it automatically downloads and installs the update.  You oversimplify all day long but it will not change the experience I had with that bloat ware.

All you have to do is search their message board to figure this one out.

[NattyIced]

You didn't need the original IL2, you didn't need Il2:FB and you didn't need Aces Expansion Pack to get Pacific Fighers Standalone to run.