# Realistic air combat video games? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 17, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-air-combat-video-games/752497 "2016-04-17T19:43:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RollOutTheBarrel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rolloutthebarrel/32/1649_2.png) [@RollOutTheBarrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RollOutTheBarrel)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-air-combat-video-games/752497/1 "2016-04-17T19:43:40Z")
When I was growing up, I played a game called Jet Fighter and its sequel Jet Fighter II on the PC. You played as a Navy pilot in California fighting against an invasion of the US. In combat, you targeted enemy aircraft via radar. Once you got a missile lock, you would fire a missile. There was a slight delay as the missile traveled to its target. You never got close enough to see the other aircraft as anything but a black blob. This is different from a lot of air combat games that are basically first person shooters in the air. What other games have combat similar to Jet Fighter? It doesn’t matter what platform or how old it is. I’m just curious what else is out there. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-air-combat-video-games/752497/2 "2016-04-17T21:01:14Z")
I remember IL-2 Sturmovik being unplayably complex, so I’d start looking there. You can buy it for like $5 on Steam every sale. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-air-combat-video-games/752497/3 "2016-04-17T21:03:26Z")
There is also DCS World which is infamous for its 14 minute start up routine for an A-10 when set to full sim mode. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-air-combat-video-games/752497/4 "2016-04-17T21:44:28Z")
From your OP I believe you’re asking for more modern combat sims rather than WW2 era and earlier? Falcon 4 and its subsequent user-created add-ons is pretty much the gold standard in my opinion. The only reason I don’t play it any more is that I don’t have 2+ hours to set aside to play a mission properly… ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-air-combat-video-games/752497/5 "2016-04-17T22:08:44Z")
If you’re after modern air combat flight sims that are a bit more relaxed than Falcon 4 and DCS the [Thirdwire](http://www.thirdwire.com/index2.htm) ‘Strike Fighters’ series is pretty good. There is also a huge modding community for the series as well at places like [Combat Ace](http://combatace.com/forum/272-thirdwire-strike-fighters-2-series/). WW2: IL2 is still going nicely, again with a large [modding](http://www.sas1946.com/main/) community. The most recent official game in the series is [IL2: Battle of Stalingrad](http://il2sturmovik.com/). WW1 there are a few: Rise of Flight, Over Flanders Fields (a complete FSX conversion), Canvas Knights. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-air-combat-video-games/752497/6 "2016-04-18T00:33:52Z")
You also have the MMO ones-Aces High and Warbirds. Very hardcore physics. ---
**Author:** ![RollOutTheBarrel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rolloutthebarrel/32/1649_2.png) [@RollOutTheBarrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RollOutTheBarrel)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-air-combat-video-games/752497/7 "2016-04-18T19:04:23Z")
Thanks for the replies, everyone. It looks like there’s a variety to check out. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-air-combat-video-games/752497/8 "2016-04-18T22:02:34Z")
SU-27 Flanker 2 was a hardcore realism sim (a la Falcon 4) that I’ve sunk probably hundreds of hours into (mostly dying inexplicably from the SAM I never saw coming :)) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-air-combat-video-games/752497/9 "2016-04-19T18:33:50Z")
The big catch is that the hyper-realistic simulations tend to be as much or more hyper accurate flight simulators as they are combat simulators. I mean, IL-2 Sturmovik was gorgeous, and seemed like it would be fun, but it was so accurate in every detail, that you just about had to be a trained pilot to be effective at all, and it just flat-out wasn’t fun for me at all. Same for Falcon 3/4. So if you’re not into the minutiae of actually _flying_ the plane, they may not be too much fun. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-air-combat-video-games/752497/10 "2016-04-19T23:59:38Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > Falcon 4 and its subsequent user-created add-ons is pretty much the gold standard in my opinion. Pretty much. Plus it’s been modded to hell and back, so you can use it to fly pretty much any and everything under the sun these days, up to and including a ballistic turd. Insert your own A-10/MiG 21/Mirage 2000 joke there. That said, Eagle Dynamics also has a good rep - so SU-27 Flanker, Lock-On, Digital Combat Simulator should also be on your plate if you’re of the “donkey-choking manual necessary” kind of guy. I only used to be 🙂 ETA : although, as others before me have said, I emphatically add : these are _not_ games. They’re bona fide simulators. You’ll need to know the “lower flaps 1°” key. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-air-combat-video-games/752497/11 "2016-04-20T00:04:08Z")
OTOH, if you’re looking for easier-but-not-FPS fare, the Jane’s series, while antiquated, was pretty good. Well, the X Fighters group was pretty much arcade (_US Navy Fighters_, etc…) but _Longbow 2_, _F-15_, \*F/A 18 \*and \*USAF \*I have good albeit presumably rose-tinted memories of.