# Recommendations for newish flight simulators?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-newish-flight-simulators/358600>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 29, 2006, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-newish-flight-simulators/358600 "2006-05-29T05:44:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-newish-flight-simulators/358600/1 "2006-05-29T05:44:56Z")

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So, I have gotten the flying itch again, and I was wondering if anyone could recommend some fairly recent flight simulator programs for me. Preferably I’d like a combat type flight sim, of course, but if you just know of a really fun civvie sim, point me at it.

I used to own a copy of Combat Flight Simulator (which has since disappeared), and I enjoyed that a good bit, so if anyone knows if the newer iterations of that game are worth buying, please let me know.

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**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:** [May 29, 2006, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-newish-flight-simulators/358600/2 "2006-05-29T06:24:55Z")

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Combat Flight Simulator 3 has been out for a while. Its generally reguarded as OK but in need of some aftermarket addons to bring it up to speed.

IMHO the best WW2 flight sim out there is the IL2/Pacific Fighters series. There is a new release with all the versions/addons on a single DVD which would be the way to go.

If you want jets take a look at the Strike Fighters/Wings over Vietnam/Wings over Europe series. They are light “survey sims” but a lot of fun and have a ton of free add-ons available for download.

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-newish-flight-simulators/358600/3 "2006-05-29T08:16:11Z")

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You might also try Aces High which is an online combat simulator.

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-newish-flight-simulators/358600/4 "2006-05-29T10:40:51Z")

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On the noncombat (though not necessarily civilian) side, there’s the constantly-updated and supposedly rather realistic [X-Plane](http://www.x-plane.com/).

On the combat side, there’s [Lock On: Modern Air Combat](http://lo-mac.com/) and perhaps the finally re-released [Falcon 4.0: Allied Force](http://www.f4hq.com). For older wars, IL2 and Aces High are both cool.

[A Gamerankings.com search](http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/simpleratings.asp?platform=5&subcat=68&sort=0&range=6) might be helpful too. That link displays the 50 highest-reviewed flight sims of the past 12 months; you can adjust the year to go back further if need be.