Malta_Dog 0 #1 August 10, 2007 Prologue: I've been an avid flightsimmer for years and in 2001 I've discovered Aces High (AH), a massive multiplayer online WWII combat sim with a very nice flight model. A lot of RL pilots (even military) play it. In 2004, AH2 rolled out but I discovered skydiving and got burned out on the flight sim genre. 2 weeks ago, the weather was awful and I found myself looking at my stick, throttle and rudder collecting dust behind my computer screen... Soooo I decided to see what AH2 had become during those 3 years... I downloaded the latest version, shook the dust off my hotas and gave it a spin offline. The game sure looks nice and the new skins and cockpits are gorgeous. I enjoyed making touch-and-go's on the carrier with the Me-262 and doing other silly stunts but I quickly realized that a nasty bug would ruin my online flying: every hour or so, the game locks up pretty badly, forcing me to hard-reboot my computer So I decided to wait a bit until next patch but the flight sim itch was back with a vengeance and I had to do something else in the meantime. Having just re-read Paul Gillcrist's 'Feet Wet' for the Nth time, I looked for a Nam jet sim and found this jewel. The sim: It's really easy to get as you can buy it online (29.99$) and download it directly from the website. The transaction happens on a securized Paypal page and it went without a hiccup for me. Installation and configuration are also pretty straightforward (multiple controllers are supported) In a nutshell, the good and the not-so-good: Pluses: - planes are very well modelled graphically, lots of realistically moving parts, historically correct (AFAIK) loadouts, nice cockpits - no need to have a couple of PhDs to be able to use the avionics in 'hard' mode, not overly simplistic though - huge choice of flyable planes: F-4 (different models), A-4 (different models), A-6, F-100, F-105, F-8, A-7 (2 models). I have found an abandoned official mod (copyright problem with Lockheed apparently) for the F-104 too. - 3 campaigns (Rolling Thunder, Linebacker I & II) covering the entire war, you chose to fly for USAF, USN or USMC then you pick up one of the 6-10 available squadrons, non-scripted missions with LOTS of plane in the air at the same time... - nice impression of speed, it's damn hard to see the enemy at those speed/distances, dogfights will give you a sweat with those primitive radars and unreliable missiles. - Air to ground is said to be good too, I haven't tried it yet as I'm mostly flying air cover and fighter sweeps missions in the campaign I've started - decent flight model / fuel consumption in the 'hard' mode - nice graphics, runs well on old computers (even with mirrors activated) - USN carriers - multiplayer allows you to fly the MIGs (17, 19 and 21) albeit with an A4 cockpit - lots of new planes, skins, mods and guides available on the web (mostly made by players) Minuses - flight model is a bit 'light': the planes bleed E nicely in turns but stalls and spins are never violent nor vicious. Landings are a bit too forgiving IMO. But you can bring the plane nicely on the ground if you don't rush the approach. - no air-to-air refueling - carriers are not moving - AI isn't very bright (for both sides) - manual is lacking (fortunately guides by players are available) This being said, the immersion is excellent and the dogfights are intense. I highly enjoy it. All your dropzone are belong to us!!!!111! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenister 0 #2 August 10, 2007 WarBirds 4tw... No jets granted.. but very few FS compare... now if they would just fix the FMs on some of the WWI planes.... its pretty much limited to Dr1 and F1s if you want to compete.. :(____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
