Combat Flight Simuators

[herger]

Hi all! I am new of this forum and of MAC family too!!! :) :apple: :D
I am searching for some detailed and "serious" (that is, not arcade) combat flight simulators for mac set both in World Wars and in modern years.
Is there any simulator for mac of that kind? Something like the microsoft combat flight simulators, to be clear.
(I would not use a virtual machine or bootcamp, if it is not strictly required...!!! :apple::apple:!!)
Thanks a lot in advance and the kindest regards

Herger for mac

[Black&Tan]

Your basic, mac only, options are, in no particular order:

1. Skyfighters
2. Warbirds
3. WWII Online
4. Targetware

I may have missed one or two there...

However, with Bootcamp, which is how I flight sim, your options are exponentially greater. Basically anthiing that works is XP or Vista, depending on what Windows system you load. Personally, I'm using XP and IL-2 Sturmovik. Joystick and rudder pedals are from CH Products and pose no issues with cross-platform applications.

[liptonlover]

xplane is an awesome cross platform flight sim, and just had a recent major update (now xplane 9) it's not specifically a combat sim, but certainly has the ability. It has weapons, and there are plenty of fighters, bombers, whatever you want. People create planes from all time periods, and invent their own too. To complete your combat experience, you just set up teams with up to a total of 20 planes I believe, set the team each plane is on, set what plane each will use, and go for it! And while you're at it you have the best regular flight sim, and unofficially a great boat and ground vehicle sim as well. Oh, and don't forget about mars and various spacecraft.
Good luck!
Nate

[herger]

Hi guys! Thanks for Your replies!
I have tried the demo of xplane and it is really FANTASTIC!! :happy: :apple:

For Black&Tan: I have the engine rudder and pedals by saitek and the joystick Sidewinder pro by microsoft: are good for playing with a mac or do I have to switch to bootcamp (and in this case, do they work? :o )
Is there a list of compatible hardware somewhere?

Thanks a lot and the greatest regards

Herger

[Black&Tan]

Hi guys! Thanks for Your replies!
I have tried the demo of xplane and it is really FANTASTIC!! :happy: :apple:

For Black&Tan: I have the engine rudder and pedals by saitek and the joystick Sidewinder pro by microsoft: are good for playing with a mac or do I have to switch to bootcamp (and in this case, do they work? :o )
Is there a list of compatible hardware somewhere?

Thanks a lot and the greatest regards

Herger

They "should" work without a problem...just plug them in, start your game up and see if the game recognizes the devices. Not all games recognize rudders, I recall F-18 OIF did not have the rudder pedal option (which is odd because all their recent OS9 applications did, but I digress). If not, you'll need to investigate a USB controller application such as USB Overdrive.

[herger]

Hi! Thanks for the reply.
In another forum, a guy tells that with bootcamp he has problems with combat flight simulators, since it does not support core 2 duo architecture...
Thus he has do "turn off" one core, but this causes the resolution to be low... And this would be a real pity with a 24' wonderful screen...!!!! :eek: :confused:
Is that true? Is there any "cure"? :apple:
Thanks again in advance and the kindest regards

Herger

[Black&Tan]

Hi! Thanks for the reply.
In another forum, a guy tells that with bootcamp he has problems with combat flight simulators, since it does not support core 2 duo architecture...
Thus he has do "turn off" one core, but this causes the resolution to be low... And this would be a real pity with a 24' wonderful screen...!!!! :eek: :confused:
Is that true? Is there any "cure"? :apple:
Thanks again in advance and the kindest regards

Herger

Not sure...I've been running IL-2 on a 2008 MacPro dual quad core, and I haven't touched any of the system settings through XP. XP properly recognized my video card and as far as I know, the dual quad core processor. The video is smooth as silk, at least until I get shot down and have to hit the silk.

;-)

AAA is well modeled and the flight model is superb. But all this may just be a function of how well the individual game has been coded. The only downside I've seen with XP is that only recognizes a maximum of 2GB of RAM, regardless of how much you actually have installed. I believe this is more of an issue of Apple's implementation of bootcamp.

[herger]

Ok, thanks very much!
Then, if XP sees only 2Gb with bootcamp, it would be better to create a virtual machine with, for instance, 2.5 or 3 Gb, could it be?

Do You know if the hardware by saitek (pedals, throttle and joysticks) are supported by mac or do they work only with Win? In this case, again, better bootcamp or a virtual machine?

Thanks really much and the best regards

Herger

[dimme]

Ok, thanks very much!
Then, if XP sees only 2Gb with bootcamp, it would be better to create a virtual machine with, for instance, 2.5 or 3 Gb, could it be?

Herger

I do not think most flight sims work in a virtual machine, I know FSX is a no go. Boot camp is your best option.

[nerrawg]

This might be a bit off the topic of the above question which i think was answered, but central to this thread title and the genre:

What has happened to the combat flight sim genre - WHERE ARE THE NEW GAMES!?

From what I remember growing up in the 1990s, these kind of games were all the rage with many F-22 sims, Comanche & Apache sims, Warbirds, Falcon 4.0, Janes F-15&18 etc. etc.

Since that seemingly golden age the only games that have really come close to taking advantage of our new hardware this side of 2000 and been any good are:

LOMAC
IL-2 Sturmovik
Flight Sim X / 2004 (kind of, but not really good for combat)
Allied Force F 4.0 (actually just an update of good ol' falcon 4.0 that works this time round)

The only new combat flight sim that I know is coming out is Storm of War: Battle of Britain, which I am very much looking forward to, despite the delays. As for the rest, my question still stands: Will there be a follow on to LOMAC, maybe with some newer planes? Will there be another dedicated combat sim by Microsoft? - And what the hell happened to this gaming genre!?

[herger]

I totally agree with You, nerrawg....

[nerrawg]

I just saw on gamespot that there will be a new combat flight sim coming from the Tom Clancy line of games called "Hawx". It looks pretty nice, but also seems to lean more towards an arcade style of gameplay and might be like a more realistic version of Ace Combat. Here is the link anyways: http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/action/tomclancyshawx/index.html?tag=result;title;1
:cool:

[Huntn]

xplane is an awesome cross platform flight sim, and just had a recent major update (now xplane 9) it's not specifically a combat sim, but certainly has the ability. It has weapons, and there are plenty of fighters, bombers, whatever you want. People create planes from all time periods, and invent their own too. To complete your combat experience, you just set up teams with up to a total of 20 planes I believe, set the team each plane is on, set what plane each will use, and go for it! And while you're at it you have the best regular flight sim, and unofficially a great boat and ground vehicle sim as well. Oh, and don't forget about mars and various spacecraft.
Good luck!
Nate

Not to diminish your post in any way, but last time I checked xplane has no damage modeling. Yes you can dogfight, but you won't be able to riddle the loser with bullets. :D

[Huntn]

I totally agree with You, nerrawg....

Flight Sims are mostly dead, I imagine because they have never been big sellers despite the small community of enthusiastic participants.