Ironword Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Hi--total noob, never played a flight sim in my life, but I've just built a nostalgia Win98 gaming box and am pulling out Jane's F-15 and Longbow 2, which I bought about 10 years ago and never played. (Those 200-page manuals are quite intimidating.) I also have Flight Sim 98, and my question is this: the idea of playing a civilian flight sim seems boring to me--flying a (virtual) plane just to fly rather than face a challenging combat task seems rather pointless, just like for me it would be boring to run marathons as opposed to playing tennis or basketball (where there's a lot more to it than just running). However, just as I might run every morning to get in shape for my tennis club's upcoming tournament, I suspect that it might be a good idea to get comfortable on Flight Sim 98 before trying to fly with the big military dogs. I have the CH flight yoke, so I could even do it right. (For the military sims, I have a CH Fighterstick, throttle, and rudder pedals, so for controllers I'm outfitted fairly well.) So would that be profitable, or could a noob jump right into F-15 or Longbow 2 without too much trouble? I have to admit, the hefty manuals are what prompt me to think that first getting familiar with "lightweight" civilian flying might be a good plan. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin Rommel Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Hi Ironword Vhelkomme... Zhorry-- I am not two guut mit zhe English-- but vhill try mein beztez (Just joking -- the language above is Germlish (German English) that I have to speak on this forum to maintain my image!) IMHO the Flightsim packages (98- onwards and including FSX) have a mediocre flight characteristic modelling. You will feel the difference the moment you step into the office of an WW2 or modern jet fighter. Once you have powered up and try to taxi to the runway (especially with a tail-dragger - most WW2 fighters) you realise that you are handling a different beast. Most of us here started with European Air War (EAW) back in the late '90's and then migrated to the IL2 series. The EAW program had some excellent flight characteristic modelling and IMHO beats IL2 hands down- unfortunately it is no longer compatible with most XP machines and newer graphics cards. So-- IL2--- well- you managed to get your plane onto the runway, have take-off clearance and open up the throttle-- and promptly end up on the grass/mud/snow on the side of the runway--- very different to FS98! The prop torgue on these single prop jobs keep you busy up till the time the tail lifts and then you often still have to keep the rudder all the way over to keep from running over the edges of the runway. Well-- once up there you will be blown away by the responsiveness of most types and it is far easier to break out of the "safe flying" envelope that with any civilian craft. When you mastered the art of "bending" the flight envelope, aerial gunnery, deflection shooting, bombs and rockets lies in wait. It beats any civvie flightsim hands-down, except if you prefer to look at scenery and clouds. The learning curve is steep-- but don't worry-- the crashes are not fatal! I would go for the real Mccoy from the start--- FS98 just teaches you bad habits- as far as Longbow is concerned-- Helicopters-- Well-- they do not really fly do they-- those rotors just beat the air into submission... Give Jane's a try-- but for a real work-out it is difficult to beat a carrier -trap in a WW2 pony. Flight basics are the same- there are just so much more in the military sims-- and you can learn to fly in an "friendly" environment first. Phew-- Scheiss-- mein mutti vhould be proud--- all zhat ENGLISH in vhon pozt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Ironword, Welcome to our forum I agree with everything Rommel said. F15 and Longbow were excellent titles in their day, but they weren't without their quirks. I recall F15 being a source of frustration with its crashes to desktop, and Longbow was always a hassle with some of the memory loading stuff. Then again, I could be "misremembering" to quote Roger Clemens. If you can get those titles running on your vintage rig, by all means, play them! But, if you can get your hands on titles such as IL-2: 1946, Strike Fighters (an excellent jet sim), and Falcon 4.0: Allied Assault (the uber jet sim), get those too and run them on your modern rig. Most, if not all, of those titles have scalable flight model and gameplay difficulty settings, so even a n00b can jump right in and have a blast from the git go. As time goes by, you'll turn off the easy settings one-by-one, and before you know it, you're a steely-eyed aerial predator who can fly even the most high-strung and unforgiving aircraft without a second thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donster Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Welcome Ironword! Help yourself to the open bar, free appetizers, and women! Just kidding! The bar isn't free, there is no food since I ate it all, and all the women belong to me! (Yes..I do charge a usage fee IF I let you sample any of the women) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mane_raptor Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 (Yes..I do charge a usage fee IF I let you sample any of the women) Welcome to the Nuthouse, Ironword. (BTW: The women refund the fee just to get away from Donnie, only he don't know it, shhh.) I can't add anything to what Rommel (or Old Dusty as he's know around here) or The Dude said. I'm not a bunsen burner type, but each to his own. I do want to point out a couple of things, though. The "art" of combat flight simming has changed quite a bit since those days of 98. The eye candy, the flight modelling, and the programming of these puppies have all changed drastically since then. And as, The Dude said, a lot of those programs do have "issues" with 98. I have one suggestion, try to get a hold of Jane's World War II Fighters, if you can't get a copy of EAW. So why the 98 box, I have to ask. Also, on the controllers.............Are you going to program them or use DirectX? (Asking because I'm not sure if the latest version of CH Manager works under 98, prob'ly does, but not sure.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironword Posted February 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Welcome to the Nuthouse, Ironword.I'll assume unless otherwise informed by reliable sources (such as yourself) that any women still hanging around the Donster are better avoided, for reasons having to do with --ahem-- health. Anyhow, I must say that it's very nice to get such an enthusiastic response. Also nice that it's all consistent--"don't worry about the wussy FS series." So why the 98 box, I have to ask.Because I'm a stubborn cuss. If I paid for the d---d games, even a long time ago, then *%@# it, I'm going to play them! And actually, there are various non-flightsim games in the same boat--I was exceptionally busy at the time and never got around to playing 'em--such as Mechwarrior 3 and Heavy Gear 2, which were meant to run on 9x and have severe problems on Win2000, which is what I run on my normal computer. On the 98 box I have a 3Dfx card, which both F-15 and Longbow 2 were meant to run on, so even if these games can be run on Win2000, they'll actually look better on the older machine. And there's always the issue of whether or not an old game will even run on Win2000 or XP, a quagmire I have no desire to get bogged down in. I've no doubt that there'll be plenty of crashes with both sims on Win98--but at least the games will run! Are you going to program them or use DirectX? (Asking because I'm not sure if the latest version of CH Manager works under 98, prob'ly does, but not sure.)Was hoping to use CH manager. I've installed CH manager on the 98 box but haven't tested it yet: before I tackle the Jane's sims, I have to play through Mechwarrior 3 first, which is already installed; then I'll delete it and install a flight sim. (Old computer, limited HD space.) What I needed to know ahead of time was whether or not to put Flight Sim 98 in the queue, and you've all answered that question quite clearly. Thak you berry buch! (sorry, Rommel, my Germlish leaves rather much to be desired). I'll be back with all my legacy issues in a few months! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mane_raptor Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Because I'm a stubborn cuss. If I paid for the d---d games, even a long time ago, then *%@# it, I'm going to play them! Got no problem with THAT! Actually there are a couple of folks who fly non-combat FS around here, but we understand, and try not to laugh too loud. If you run into a problem or two getting them to run, give a shout out and we'll try to come up with an answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironword Posted February 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 If you run into a problem or two getting them to run, give a shout out and we'll try to come up with an answer. Certainly will. Thanks again to all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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