The first flight sim I got in the early 90's was F/A-18 Hornet 2.0 by graphic sims.  I absolutely loved the gameplay and the realism to the flight ops, systems, landing, taking off, etc...  Right now I have F/A Hornet 3.0, which is basically the same game with slightly better graphics (better by mid to late 90's standards, horrible compared to CFS2).

CFS2 is great, but sometimes I feel the need to kick the tires and light the fires.  Good ole F/A 3.0 doesn't cut it anymore on account of the graphics.  I just tried to play the demo of LOMAC, but the video requirements are way to high for my system (a dell inspiron 2200, no after market graphics card).

Can anyone recommend a good modern air combat simulator to replace Hornet 3.0 that has minimal graphics requirements (similar to CFS2)?  Keep in mind I'm really looking for use of all the flight and weapons systems and all the finer details of landing and taking off.  Thanks for the help!

Microsoft could really cash in on a good 1950's Korean war era jet fighter combat sim. "Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 4"

The Sabers vs. the MiG-15 and 17 over Korea... pure pursuit jet fighter combat - all guns - none of this hit a button and the guy 20 miles from you dies nonsense. 

Quote:


Strike Fighters - Korean War mod.

Strike Fighters - $5.
The mod: Free.

Mushroom_Farmer wrote on Feb 21^st, 2007 at 1:59am:


"Minimal" was my way of saying I don't even know exactly what my computer has in terms of hardware.  Here's what I know:

Dell Inspiron 2200 (ordered 07/05)
Intel Celeron M 360 (1.40GHz/1MB Cache/400MHz FSB)
760 MB RAM
It doesn't have a dedicated graphics card, just whatever Dell sells in the inspiron.  I can't remember what it is, but it plays CFS2 at the maximum graphics settings with no problems.  I don't know if it will handle Falcon 4.0.

Mentally demanding I think is what I'm looking for.  I'm not really interested in Korea or Vietnam era combat.  I'd like a sim that forces me to utilize all the complex weapons and flight systems of an F-18 or F-15.

edit - I just downloaded the demo of falcon 4.0, and it won't run on xp, so I don't know if falcon 4.0 is the answer.

Sounds like Falcon 4.0 will fit the bill exactly for you.  Falcon 4.0 runs just fine on XP, if you manage to find an original copy of Falcon 4.0, you can update it to use some of the newer mods out there, or you can avoid the whole "Falcon Dance" and just get Falcon 4.0: Allied Force.  If you want a lot of buttons to push, that is the sim for you.  If you want, you can go through the 20 minute cold start-up procedures for the F-16, input all your navigation and targeting data through the ICP, take-off and fly to the target, deliver your weapons, and navigate back to land.  The really cool thing about that though, is the fact that you can do almost everything through the clickable cockpit, instead of pressing buttons on the keyboard, that way it's like you're actually pressing the buttons and flipping the switches you would have to in a real F-16, to get the job done.  If you do get it though, make sure you patch it up to the latest version (1.0.9 I think).

http://www.lead-pursuit.com/

The original Falcon 4.0 does work on XP, but your computer should be able to handle Allied Force, it's pretty much the same sim as the original Falcon, just updated recently.  I've run Allied Force on a computer that is 6 or 7 years old, and it ran just fine, with no stutters or anything, but still, that's not saying your not guaranteed to not have problems either.

What about Jane's F/A-18 or Graphic Sim's F/A-18 Operation Iraqi Freedom?  Operation Iraqi Freedom looks like an  updated version of Hornet 3.0, which would be cool since that's what I'm familiar with, but I can't get a good feel about how it is as a game from the demo.  Jane's looks pretty sweet too, but Falcon 4.0: AF seems to be the gold standard.  How do these F-18 games compare to Falcon 4.0: AF?

Mobius wrote on Feb 22^nd, 2007 at 5:36pm:


That's a bummer.  I guess I'm just a much bigger fan of the F/A-18 than any other modern jet fighters.  I especially liked doing carrier take offs and landings.  But I can't justify buying a crappier game just for that.  Falcon 4.0: AF is <$15 on ebay, so I guess that's worth it for "the best jet flight sim yet".

And, just to take things one step further, how would you compare LOMAC to F4.0AF?  LOMAC is even cheaper, and I've heard a lot of good things about it.  Of course, the demo wouldn't work on my laptop.  Have you tried running LOMAC on your older computer?

Falcon 4.0 Allied Force will be the way to go for you.  It's an older game so the computer requirements aren't all that intensive.  The "Allied Force" version is simply a patched version of the original Falcon 4.0 which fixes some bugs and makes it XP compatible.  There are minor addons with AF as well.  It's quite simply THE most intensive, realistic modern jet combat sim available commercially.  I guess some may jump in about LOMACs flight model, so I guess there could be debate, but for me I find the Falcon 4.0 flight model quite good and LOMAC can't touch the systems realism of Falcon 4.0.  Which is moot because LOMAC is quite computer intensive so it won't work for you.

burninator wrote on Feb 22^nd, 2007 at 4:31pm:


I hear the Janes F/A18 is good but I haven't been able to find a copy anywhere.  Good luck if you decide to go that route, it's an old enough game that it may not run on XP.  Still, I don't think you'll be able to find better than Falcon 4.0.  I'd prefer a sim that allows some Navy flying but I'm willing to pass that up for what Falcon 4.0 offers.