Recommend me some flight sims [was Recommend me a Joystick for flight sims]

• 

  Tycn on 03/01/2013 - 21:16

  +1

  The Attack 3 is limited by its lack of a twist axis which would make rudder control a massive pain in flight sims.

  What kind of sims did you want to use it with? Oh, and welcome!

  www.logitechshop.com.au/logitech-extreme-3d-pro-joystick.htm…

  This is probably the cheapest half-decent option. It's been on special for $35 a few times.

  • 

    _Bruce_ on 03/01/2013 - 22:08

    +1

    Or here:
    http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail/products/Technology/PC-…

    I have this, it is perfectly reasonable, but I am not really into serious sims, just space sims and descent type games.

    • 

      Mosty1966 on 04/01/2013 - 00:15

      This is $32 at Megabuy - does anyone know if Officeworks price match that?

  • 

    Mosty1966 on 04/01/2013 - 00:28

    Thanks :) Either IL-2 or MS Flight Simulator. (Although I'd welcome suggestions on sims as well!) I'll look into getting the extreme 3D from Officeworks ($39 and might try to price match).

• 

  exc3113nce on 03/01/2013 - 22:33

  Where are you located?

  • 

    Mosty1966 on 04/01/2013 - 00:20

    Perth - Staticice suggests that this limits my options :(

• 

  samfisher5986 on 04/01/2013 - 01:24

  +1

  The Logitech Extreme 3D Pro is not the best quality, but if you need it cheap its the best option.

  • 

    Mosty1966 on 04/01/2013 - 02:27

    Thanks for the heads up. Is there anything you would recommend under $50?

    • 

      samfisher5986 on 04/01/2013 - 03:43

      +1

      I got the Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas X Flight Stick for $53 delivered over a year ago from Amazon.

      I use it for Flight Simulator X mostly.

      Had a quick look just now and its available in Australia pretty cheap.

      From $54-58 depending on your location. Umart is probably has the cheapest postage.

      http://staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=Thrustmaster+fl…

      • 

        Mosty1966 on 04/01/2013 - 13:34

        This will cost ~$80; can't find it on Amazon with intl shipping. I might start with the Logitech, and upgrade if I get serious. Thanks for your suggestion.

• 

  Jabba the Hutt on 04/01/2013 - 10:50

  +1

  I went through various Saiteks, Logitechs and Microsoft Sidewinders back when I was into flightsimming and they always left me unsatisfied - the centre of the stick was never "tight" enough, requiring too large a dead zone. And I recall one stopped working completely within its first year of light use. In hindsight, maybe it would've been better to invest in something like a CH Flightstick at the beginning.

  • 

    Mosty1966 on 04/01/2013 - 13:39

    A CH is a bit out of my budget, but I'll keep it in mind if I get serious and decide to upgrade my joystick.

    By the way, are there any flight sims you'd recommend?

    • 

      samfisher5986 on 04/01/2013 - 14:14

      +1

      what kind of flight simulation are you looking for?

      Flight Simulator X has missions, mods, ATC, the entire world mapped.

      For example I fly from Brisbane to Sydney with my Qantas 737, I have to fly/land well or my company might get fined or I might get a bad reputation for my company.

      Other Flight Sims don't have anything close to this and focus on the simulation of an aircraft and not much else.

      • 

        Mosty1966 on 04/01/2013 - 14:24

        I'm mainly looking for the core simulation of flying the aircraft. I've been looking at FS X, IL-2 and DCS A-10C.

      • 

        samfisher5986 on 04/01/2013 - 14:47

        +1

        There is also X Plane, meant to be really good but never used it.

        Here are some screenshots I have of me at Brisbane Airport in FSX

        http://i.imgur.com/GbtRB.jpg
        http://i.imgur.com/QHRba.jpg

      • 

        Mosty1966 on 04/01/2013 - 15:22

        Thanks, I'll have a look at X Plane as well.

      • 

        _Bruce_ on 04/01/2013 - 16:48

        Other Flight Sims don't have anything close to this and focus on the simulation of an aircraft and not much else.

        http://www.flightgear.org/

        I'm not really into this sort of thing, but I have been told flightgear rips Flight Simulator to shreds if you care about realism and the act of flying planes.

      • 

        exc3113nce on 04/01/2013 - 17:09

        When I used to play flight sims, I got bored really easily of just flying from A to B.

      • 

        samfisher5986 on 04/01/2013 - 18:27

        Bruce, it might rip it to shreds in some ways (all evidence shows that it doesn't), but I can't see any evidence that it does anything that I do in Flight Simulator X.

        Have a look at the horrible graphics
        http://wiki.flightgear.org/images/f/fd/Brisbane_Internationa…

        high quality Australian maps? mods? Australian airlines? Missions?

        its really easy to make a flight simulator (there are plenty), the hard part is having something besides a plane and a low quality map to fly it on.

        exc3113nce, there is a lot more you can do then fly from A to B, thats boring to me too.

      • 

        _Bruce_ on 04/01/2013 - 23:03

        +1

        Sounds like you want a game and not 'mainly looking for the core simulation of flying the aircraft' as described.

      • 

        Mosty1966 on 05/01/2013 - 01:27

        A bit of both, I guess. I'm still new to this.

      • 

        samfisher5986 on 05/01/2013 - 02:17

        +1

        Mosty, unless your an extreme simulation person who has no interest in fun or graphics, you need something more then a simple aircraft simulator.

        Here is an example of a FSX emergency mission

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL1aAXq2qwc

        Even if you don't do missions like these, there are so many other aspects of FSX that make it enjoyable rather then spending 2 hours pressing buttons only to land and end the game.

      • 

        Mosty1966 on 05/01/2013 - 12:04

        Any suggestions on where to get FS X from? The deluxe edition is quite expensive locally, so it looks like I'm going to Amazon. I haven't found it on Steam or similar stores but I was hoping to download it if possible.

• 

  Tycn on 04/01/2013 - 19:13

  +2

  For military sims, I'd recommend checking out the following as well:

  Rise of Flight
  Lock On: Modern Air Combat
  Falcon 4.0 and its many mods (e.g. FreeFalcon)
  DCS Black Shark, DSC A-10

  Any of those will easily last you hundreds if not thousands of hours, it's just a matter of whether you want to start at the deep end or the… less deep end. The DCS games in particular are among the most meticulous simulations and only for the very brave.

  • 

    Mosty1966 on 04/01/2013 - 20:11

    Thanks for your advice. I'll probably avoid DCS for now and look into it if I get more serious.

  • 

    Thaal Sinestro on 06/01/2013 - 00:25

    +1

    The IL-2 series is worth looking into and is probably really cheap by now. HAWX 1 & 2 are reasonable for people wanting a light weight, simplistic flight sim. Joytsicks are also great for space shooting sims, but I don't think there have been any high profile space sims since the last Privateer game - all the famous ones are DOS and pre-Windows 2000. DCS Black Shark 2 is just a big patch for the original Black Shark and probably not worth the current asking price since the original is currently $5 on Steam.

    • 

      Tycn on 07/01/2013 - 12:55

      +1

      space shooting sims

      The Freespace series is excellent. More 'battleships in space' than sim but it's a whole lot of fun and made better still by mods.

      There's the Freespace Port which updates the graphics of the first game, Silent Threat: Reborn which is a very good fan remake of the expansion and the Freespace 2 SCP which overhauls the graphics of the second game.

      Independence War 2 is decent as well, especially if you're after a more realistic flight model.

      There's also X3. It's pretty good with the right mods, combat is rudimentary but the sandbox environment and the sheer number of ships to upgrade to keeps things interesting.

      • 

        Mosty1966 on 07/01/2013 - 18:29

        Thanks to both of you for your suggestions. I think I'll start with FS X, IL-2 and Wings of Prey, and explore the alternatives if I get more serious. I'm more interested in the simulated flying experience.