A friend of mine just got a new computer (now he’s got Windows 7-64bit, AMD 6-core, 2.8 GHz, 4 GB RAM, I don’t remember what his video card is, but it’s an AMD and is DirectX 11 capable).
He loves flight sims (especially WWII era) and I was hoping that there was a Doper (or more than one) that could recommend a good one for him. His last computer was old enough that the games he had for it won’t run on Win7.
Can anyone help me out?
IL2 Sturmvik is pretty much awesome. Kinda dated, though.
Second this - the best WWII Sim by far. (The complete Il2-Sturmovik 1946 package holds all expansions and mods made, making for a ridicilous total of flyable aircraft). But, yes, dated, and probably not something one would pick if one wanted to show of the graphical capabilities of a modern computer.
There will be a new flights sim from the same company dealing with the Battle of Britain (Storm of War), but this has been delayed several times already.
Haven’t tried this game: Wings of Prey — a new PC combat flight simulator , but it’s apparently the closest you get to IL2 Sturmovik WW2 action these days, with a somewhat more up-to-date look.
I’ve been playing hardcore flight sims since there were hardcore flight sims. They’re what got me into computers in the first place, as back in the DOS days you had to configure your rig to run in certain graphics modes depending on the game.
I absolutely love complex combat sims. With that being said, here is my recent inventory:
Falcon 4: Allied Force (kind of dated and cantakerous, but there is a metric crapton of DLC)
IL2 Sturmovik
DCS: Black Shark (very good helicopter sim)
For WWII era, you can’t go wrong with MS Combat Flight Simulators. Crank up the realism to 11.
You MUST have a flight stick to properly play a sim. HOTAS controls are mo’ bettah. Also, it helps to have some sort of device (iPad, laptop, Kindle) etc handy to be able to refer to the .pdf manuals. Often these are electronic only, and prohibitively expensive to print out a 700+ page color manual, including keyboard layouts, checklists, etc.
Bump the RAM up another couple of gigs, and see if your AMD (ATI Radeon) video card can run in Crossfire mode. That way you can add another identical card and get much better frame rates.
Sturmovik sounds like it’s the popular choice. Will it run on 64-bit Win 7?
I run it on Win7 64-bit. No issues at all.
Yes indeed 
Especially if enabling all the realism options in for instance IL2-Sturmovik. Fiddling with the keyboard to adjust rudder and propeller pitch while simultaneously dodging a schwarm of 109s gunning for you can get a tad workload heavy Personally I prefer the Saitek X-45 (Don’t think thats an option anymore, the newer X-52 has replaced it), and I have written my own fairly detailed config files for it. It is preferable to have at least three rotaty controllers, plus a mode switch key or two, so you can change the mapping of the buttons at will.
Since you all handled this question so easily, lets try it again. Same question for the Wii console please? What’s my best flight sim option?
Not sure if there is such a thing…
I was afraid of that. I couldn’t find one but my Google-fu is weak. I was hoping the masters of the dope could guide me to the correct path.