dswo
May 7th, 2010, 06:25
The professor's done with classes for the year, but somehow he can't stop talking and analyzing:
I've been dipping my toes in and out of "IL-2" and its sequels since, I think, 2004. I never got good enough to really enjoy it; and meanwhile, Flight Simluator was always absorbing. I got "1946" a couple years ago, but the same thing happened. Then I discovered a series of missions called "Two Minutes to Action." These were fun, even for a beginner. Trouble was, the game was heating up my video card -- something FS almost never does. So, I ended up not playing.
A couple months ago, when someone mentioned that "Wings of Prey" was on sale for US$25, I bought it. Again, though, it made my video card hot and loud. Thus began my quest for coolness, which came to a successful conclusion last week: see http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?t=34794&p=406916&viewfull=1#post406916 for the whole torrid story.
Now I'm playing both "IL-2" and "Wings of Prey" almost every day. First, there's a lot to be said for blowing stuff up. Second, I'm a much better pilot than I was five or six years ago. I think practice in FS has made a difference here. Some of that practice has been in warbirds -- the RealAir Spitfire, the Classics Hangar Fw 190, the FSD and SU P-38, the Vertigo Dauntless -- and I think that has helped as well. The flight models in FS are more refined, but I have a more intuitive feel now for what I can and cannot do with one of these engines and airframes.
Surprises: when I first bought "IL-2" (this was "Forgotten Battles" with "Aces Expansion Pack") I thought the graphics were pretty good. And, in some of my early AVSIM reviews, I compared the sounds of FS payware with their "IL-2" counterparts. Five or six years later, the IL-2 graphics look rough to my eye, and the engine sounds are a perpetual disappointment. But, again, there's no substitute for blowing stuff up...
Also, I thought the same thing about FS2004, after upgrading from FS2002: the new stuff is as real as it gets, until something else comes along that's even realer. By and large, I think that's good: we can enjoy what we have, a lot, without it being perfect.
"Wings of Prey" is a big improvement in graphics and sound, especially the music, which is listenable in its own right. There just isn't nearly the same depth and variety of planes, missions, and maps; and, to date, no carrier ops (as we have had since "Pacific Fighters").
I'm stuck on the IL-2 mods. I don't play online, and I'm not a cheater. But apparently there's a mod that will let you move the eyepoint around with TIR (i.e., go from 3DOF to 6DOF). "Birds of Prey" already lets you do that. There are also mods for better engine sounds, and a really good map for BOB campaigns. What's giving me pause here: (a) not wanting to mess up a good thing, (b) the policy of not discussing mods on the official IL-2 community forum, (c) the danger of picking up a virus.
I've been dipping my toes in and out of "IL-2" and its sequels since, I think, 2004. I never got good enough to really enjoy it; and meanwhile, Flight Simluator was always absorbing. I got "1946" a couple years ago, but the same thing happened. Then I discovered a series of missions called "Two Minutes to Action." These were fun, even for a beginner. Trouble was, the game was heating up my video card -- something FS almost never does. So, I ended up not playing.
A couple months ago, when someone mentioned that "Wings of Prey" was on sale for US$25, I bought it. Again, though, it made my video card hot and loud. Thus began my quest for coolness, which came to a successful conclusion last week: see http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?t=34794&p=406916&viewfull=1#post406916 for the whole torrid story.
Now I'm playing both "IL-2" and "Wings of Prey" almost every day. First, there's a lot to be said for blowing stuff up. Second, I'm a much better pilot than I was five or six years ago. I think practice in FS has made a difference here. Some of that practice has been in warbirds -- the RealAir Spitfire, the Classics Hangar Fw 190, the FSD and SU P-38, the Vertigo Dauntless -- and I think that has helped as well. The flight models in FS are more refined, but I have a more intuitive feel now for what I can and cannot do with one of these engines and airframes.
Surprises: when I first bought "IL-2" (this was "Forgotten Battles" with "Aces Expansion Pack") I thought the graphics were pretty good. And, in some of my early AVSIM reviews, I compared the sounds of FS payware with their "IL-2" counterparts. Five or six years later, the IL-2 graphics look rough to my eye, and the engine sounds are a perpetual disappointment. But, again, there's no substitute for blowing stuff up...
Also, I thought the same thing about FS2004, after upgrading from FS2002: the new stuff is as real as it gets, until something else comes along that's even realer. By and large, I think that's good: we can enjoy what we have, a lot, without it being perfect.
"Wings of Prey" is a big improvement in graphics and sound, especially the music, which is listenable in its own right. There just isn't nearly the same depth and variety of planes, missions, and maps; and, to date, no carrier ops (as we have had since "Pacific Fighters").
I'm stuck on the IL-2 mods. I don't play online, and I'm not a cheater. But apparently there's a mod that will let you move the eyepoint around with TIR (i.e., go from 3DOF to 6DOF). "Birds of Prey" already lets you do that. There are also mods for better engine sounds, and a really good map for BOB campaigns. What's giving me pause here: (a) not wanting to mess up a good thing, (b) the policy of not discussing mods on the official IL-2 community forum, (c) the danger of picking up a virus.