Which CFS?

[dandog]

Hello All. Been having fun with FS9 for about two years. Thought I might try Combat Flight Sim. Now, which one to get, 1, 2, or 3? And why? I figured I would go to the forum in the middle and trust I'll get an honest evaluation.

[OBIO]

dandog

Welcome to the Basement and the official home of the best combat flight sim EVER! CFS2 is the one to go with....it is based on an open architecture...like FS9....so modding it is superbly easy. CFS2 comes with the entire world scenery...like FS9...and you can find add on air ports and scenery for much of it...and you can use FS2000 scenery in CFS2, though sometimes there are flatten issues, but on the whole it works. CFS2 has a ton of aircraft available for it, tons of ships, heck you can even pilot submarines in CFS2 and use them to torpedo other ships (thanks to the work of Psully, Tango Romeo and others).

CFS2 is like FS9...but with working bullets and bombs. The scenery and detail is not as sharp as FS9 but with some work you can get a very impressive display out of this old sim.

CFS1...haven't used it...but having seen the planes in CFS1..skip it.

CFS3....that was my entry into the world of Combat Flight Sim....I fought with the program for 3 or 4 years trying to get it to feel like something other than an arcade game and run smoothly...never accomplished either. Once I got CFS2 and installed it, CFS3 was uninstalled and is now collecting dust on a shelf, awaiting the day when a wobbly table needs just the right thing stuck under a leg...the CFS3 install disks will make a nice wobble remover.

I got FS9 for Christmas....and I can now say that the similarities between FS9 and CFS2 are amazing...the ease of installing aircraft, the smoothness of the program, the availability of add ons. The ease of painting and tweaking aircraft. Coming from FS9 to CFS2, you will feel right at home....once you learn the different key mapping...I am still a bit lost in terms of FS9's commands...

And in CFS2...which comes out of the box as a Pacific Theater WW2 combat sim...has been expanded to all of WW2, WW1, Korea, Vietnam in the works. There are even Civil War era pilotable ships that fire at each other. A good selection of UFO's, Harry Potter on his broom, Santa Claus, Snoopy and the Red Baron, a flying pig (Squealer) and a Pterodactyl that you can use as a gunnery target.

OBIO

[SW]

No question that CFS2 is better than CFS1. Can't comment on CFS3 - have it installed but rarely use it, still playing with CFS2!

cheers,

SW

[bearcat241]

Of the MSCFS series, i have all three. Honestly, all three have their merits, but in the end CFS1 leaves you asking **What if?**, CFS3 makes you ask **WTH???** and CFS2 makes you wonder **What took me so long to get HERE!**

[Wulf190]

Of the MSCFS series, i have all three. Honestly, all three have their merits, but in the end CFS1 leaves you asking **What if?**, CFS3 makes you ask **WTH???** and CFS2 makes you wonder **What took me so long to get HERE!**

:amen:

[Rami]

Dandog,

In all honesty, CFS3 CAN be very fun and comprehensive. If you are interested at all in the Great War, (WWI) then Over Flanders Fields, which is a CFS3 - based sim, is truly awesome. In addition, CFS3 also has Mediterranean Air War, another comprehensive add-on.

CFS3 takes a little longer to upgrade, and by most accounts can be a tougher sim to mod if you're used to the way CFS1 and 2 operate. CFS3 is also more of a "system-basher;" it doesn't run well on low or low-mid range systems the way CFS1 and 2 do.

CFS2 is a wonderful sim, and will be easier for you to jump in and mod if you're familiar with CFS1. It also probably has the most diverse collection of aircraft, scenery, theatres, and other mods that you'll find, especially if you're into a "global" sim. It's not just about the Pacific. You're looking at theatres ranging from the Eastern Front and Europe to Korea, from CBI to the Mediterranean.

It's simply a matter or choice. :ernae:

[VFC_Baxter]

Hello All. Been having fun with FS9 for about two years. Thought I might try Combat Flight Sim. Now, which one to get, 1, 2, or 3? And why? I figured I would go to the forum in the middle and trust I'll get an honest evaluation.

Buy all 3 and try them. CFS1 might be hard to find. CFS2 should be in the bargain bin, and CFS3 is getting pretty old so it should be discounted too. I liked CFS1 a lot, disliked CFS3 and settled on CFS2 as my MSCFS but I also have Wings of War, Battlestations Midway, Heroes of the Pacific, Battle of Europe, First Eagles, FSX, FS2004, Shells of Fury, Flight Unlimited III, Fighter Ace and Microflight on my PC. I like making in game movies so I play all of them now and again. They are all different and all have their good and bad points but CFS2 is pretty close to the best all round sim I think.:typing:

[scruff]

cfs2.without a doubt the best flight sim.ever.period.you would be a fool not to get it.

[bobhegf]

In CFS2 you also have US training missions and US bases along the East Coast.There is no other combat sim that will allow you to do what CFS2 will allow you to do.We can with a few programs chang the shape of the land in this sim, lets see anyother sim do that.One big draw back about CFS2 is its AI,they are easy to kill.Well in real life the IJN and IJA aircraft were easy to kill once you got your guns through them. Remember this sim was based on the PTO. The good part about it is you can make the AI as hard to kill as you want.:typing:

[OTTO]

No matter what I buy
No matter what I try
I always wind up right back here in the basement with CFS2
The people here are great & the downloads are DYNAMITE !
CFS2 seems to be more versatile and more user friendly.
For me anyway
OTTO

[dandog]

A big thanks to all in The Basement. Sooo, CFS1 is like Windows 98 SE, CFS2 is like Windows XP, and CFS3 is like Vista (bloatware with awesome possibilities, but a lot of work). I did some checking around and there is more in the way of add-ons for CFS2. Another reason I posted here. I'll give a virtual shot. :woot:

[egypt23spitfire]

**What if?**,[/I] CFS3 makes you ask **WTH???** and CFS2 makes you wonder **What took me so long to get HERE!**

[quote=OTTO;84470]No matter what I buy
No matter what I try
I always wind up right back here in the basement with CFS2
The people here are great & the downloads are DYNAMITE !
CFS2 seems to be more versatile and more user friendly.
For me anyway
OTTO

.........:amen:TOTALLY AGREE:woot:

[Cody Coyote]

You won't be disappointed in CFS2 dandog; and did anyone mention, it has a pretty nice Mission Builder too! :icon_lol:

[demorier]

I don't know what kind of flight control set you have, but if you haven't already got them you will soon be begging for a suitable combat flight stick or control set with pedals for CFS2. There is a vast array of standard and masses of top quality freeware add-on weaponry. And if you get into it you will want the extra buttons and triggers for weapons control and really tossing those fighters around.

[polecat0942]

Now, If someone could only get TrackIR to work with CFS2. :help:

Cheers,

John

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Now, If someone could only get TrackIR to work with CFS2. :help:

Cheers,

John

That would be the wish of all of us.

If you can, get CFS2 no matter what. I never bought CFS3 and CFS1 seems primitive in comparison with CFS2.

[Buddha13]

Hi all,
Just one thing to note.if you are using Vista CFS1's joystick commands do not work.A real pity as I have a great set up for it on a spare HD that I cannot use.Spent months finding the best replacement a/c as the origional ones left a lot to be desired by modern standards.Updated the scenery where possible.But no joystick = no joy.
CFS3 in its origional form stinks.But with the likes of OFF and the other modded areas it is a great deal better.Always end up back here though.

Buddha13

[Devildog73]

Dandog, Welcome to the basement.
All I can add is that Obio took most of my rolling thunder.

I have all three. CFS2 is far and away, the best of the three.
I like CFS pretty well, though it does not compare to 2.
CFS3 is a dust collector, as with Obio's. What a waste of good ole greenbacks.

I have gone through the entire original campaign in CFS, and CFS2 several times and they are both still fun. I have flown the very first mission in CFS3 several times over the course of 2 years and have yet to navigate it successfully. Hitler took over England in my CFS3 months ago. 3 is just too much work to do anything in it for me. To me, it is just not fun.

If I could figure out how to fly around the world in 3 without enemy fighters that will shoot me down, I might enjoy it for sightseeing, because I hear that the scenery in 3 is very good. But it has no virtual cockpit as far as I can tell.

[Ghostrider]

Been there, flown 'em all - CFS 2 rocks - by far the best mix of versatility, expandability, looks, performance, etc. IMHO :welcome:

GR

[miamieagle]

Here is a post of where you can find many of the items you need to improve this Sim:
http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1117604819/all (http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1117604819/all)

Read it from page one to the last page!

Look in Here also http://www.simviation.com/cfs2aircraft1.htm (http://www.simviation.com/cfs2aircraft1.htm)

Modern Planes Here
http://www.simviation.com/cfs2mod1.htm (http://www.simviation.com/cfs2mod1.htm)

Sceneries Here http://www.simviation.com/cfs2scenery1.htm (http://www.simviation.com/cfs2scenery1.htm)

Look in Here http://www.sim-outhouse.com/index.php?loc=combatfs/pages&page=downloads_cfs2 (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/index.php?loc=combatfs/pages&page=downloads_cfs2)

Look in Here http://www.netwings.org/library/CFS2_Planes/ (http://www.netwings.org/library/CFS2_Planes/)

and there is a lot more......