Digital Combat Simulator: Black Shark

[sillyeagle]

Does this have a free flight mode at all? I'm not too interested in campaigns but I would enjoy playing with the flight/physics modeling and killing dummy targets. I always loved the flight and afterburner modeling in LOMAC, so I might get this being that there will be other aircraft add-ons. Plus I've never flown choppers outside of FSX, and I've always wanted to try something with some real fidelity.

[Sabadin]

Originally Posted by sillyeagle

Does this have a free flight mode at all? I'm not too interested in campaigns but I would enjoy playing with the flight/physics modeling and killing dummy targets. I always loved the flight and afterburner modeling in LOMAC, so I might get this being that there will be other aircraft add-ons. Plus I've never flown choppers outside of FSX, and I've always wanted to try something with some real fidelity.

Closest thing to free flight mode is the mission editor. I use it a fair bit to just load up some vikhrs and go shoot up power lines. She's a beauty to just fly around though.

[Scendore]

Welcome to the world of HOTAS....

[J-Mag]

Does the SIM have ejection animations?

[Amuro]

Nice Slawter! Looking forward to doing that myself.

[sillyeagle]

Originally Posted by J-Mag

Does the SIM have ejection animations?

Good question. I'd like to see those rotors blow off.

[mizzer]

I have a question:

I played around with Jane's USAF back in the days of Windows 98. I liked the fact I could make the sim as realistic or as simple as possible. I liked the feel of air combat without micro-managing every bell and whistle in the plane. Then, Windows XP came out and USAF would not run.

So, still wanting a fun sim, I purchased Falcon 4.0. Big mistake. I gave up after spending a few hours just to get the plane to taxi on the runway: NOT what I wanted in a sim.

I figure what I'm looking for is something between Falcon 4.0 and Battlefield 2: the fun of aerial combat without the tedious button pushing found in hard-core sims.

So, does this game deliver or should I look elsewhere?

Thanks,
mizzer

[Scendore]

Originally Posted by J-Mag

Does the SIM have ejection animations?

You becha!

[Scendore]

Originally Posted by mizzer

I have a question:

I played around with Jane's USAF back in the days of Windows 98. I liked the fact I could make the sim as realistic or as simple as possible. I liked the feel of air combat without micro-managing every bell and whistle in the plane. Then, Windows XP came out and USAF would not run.

So, still wanting a fun sim, I purchased Falcon 4.0. Big mistake. I gave up after spending a few hours just to get the plane to taxi on the runway: NOT what I wanted in a sim.

I figure what I'm looking for is something between Falcon 4.0 and Battlefield 2: the fun of aerial combat without the tedious button pushing found in hard-core sims.

So, does this game deliver or should I look elsewhere?

Thanks,
mizzer

Well I can appreciate your sentiment on this one. In short the answer is yes but I did want to comment on what you missed out on.

You just hit the nail on the head as to why most folks don’t get into hard core sims. Spending a few hours just to get onto the runway doesn’t sound like a lot of fun and I hear you on that one. I call this switchology and there are some that really enjoy that aspect of a hardcore sim. I personally am somewhere in between. I’m a pilot in real life and I understand why developers set out to achieve a certain realism goal but at the same time I like to get out on the battlefield and get to work. If I wanted to have that work load I would go flying in real life.

So with that here is what you missed out on. Remember when you bought Falcon 4? Did you go through the manual and the training sections that walk you through all various aspects of the sim including taxi? Well if you didn’t you really missed out on something pretty amazing. Here is why. Falcon 4 turned out to be one of the best gaming experiences I and others have ever had and continue to have. I will spare you dramatic story behind Falcon and the last 10 years of continued development.

In short Falcon 4 turned into one of if not the most rewarding Modern Combat Flight Sims of all time. That sim is simple amazing and even to this day no other game has come close to simulating what it’s like to fly and manage a real F-16 in a real time war. Did you know that Falcon 4 supported multiple CPUs in 1998? Yes it runs really well on Dual Cores and above.
If you had stuck with it you would have looked back at Janes USAF fondly but you would have realized just how simple it really was. The rewards for learning such a deep sim are difficult to convey in forum thread but I will leave you with this. That reward is what drives guys to buy games like Black Shark and it’s what makes Falcon 4 to this day one of the best flight sims of all times. People are still very active flying Falcon 4 after 10 years.

If you still own Falcon 4 you have a great opportunity to check out what’s been going on for the last 10 years of continued development. There are two main groups to consider and each of them has their own version of Falcon 4 which has been highly updated.

www.FreeFalcon.com

Check out some of the latest screenshots in the preview of Free Falcon 5.

http://www.freefalcon.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13903

www.frugalsworld.com and look up in their forum the latest version of Open Falcon.

If you’re interested in a lighter Modern Combat Sim that’s a bit more like Janes. Pick up LOMAC and the addon called Flaming Cliffs. LOMAC isn’t as rich as flying Falcon. It’s a bit more sterile with the pre-canned missions and campaigns. It’s still a very nice sim though and you can find it for super cheap.

When you mention you want something between Battle Field 2 and Janes that's such and extreme it's difficult to gadge what you really want. BF2 has nothing to do with flying...

If you decide to check out either of those addons don’t bother with the original manual. It’s completely different now. Those addons have all the documents you need to get going.
If you don’t even want to bother with it I understand but I will also warn you Black Shark is the Falcon4 of Helicopter sims.

Sorry for the rant dude. I really wished you stuck with it you would know exactly what I'm talking about.

[mizzer]

Originally Posted by Scendore

Well I can appreciate your sentiment on this one. In short the answer is yes but I did want to comment on what you missed out on.

You just hit the nail on the head as to why most folks don’t get into hard core sims. Spending a few hours just to get onto the runway doesn’t sound like a lot of fun and I hear you on that one. I call this switchology and there are some that really enjoy that aspect of a hardcore sim. I personally am somewhere in between. I’m a pilot in real life and I understand why developers set out to achieve a certain realism goal but at the same time I like to get out on the battlefield and get to work. If I wanted to have that work load I would go flying in real life.

So with that here is what you missed out on. Remember when you bought Falcon 4? Did you go through the manual and the training sections that walk you through all various aspects of the sim including taxi? Well if you didn’t you really missed out on something pretty amazing. Here is why. Falcon 4 turned out to be one of the best gaming experiences I and others have ever had and continue to have. I will spare you dramatic story behind Falcon and the last 10 years of continued development.

In short Falcon 4 turned into one of if not the most rewarding Modern Combat Flight Sims of all time. That sim is simple amazing and even to this day no other game has come close to simulating what it’s like to fly and manage a real F-16 in a real time war. Did you know that Falcon 4 supported multiple CPUs in 1998? Yes it runs really well on Dual Cores and above.
If you had stuck with it you would have looked back at Janes USAF fondly but you would have realized just how simple it really was. The rewards for learning such a deep sim are difficult to convey in forum thread but I will leave you with this. That reward is what drives guys to buy games like Black Shark and it’s what makes Falcon 4 to this day one of the best flight sims of all times. People are still very active flying Falcon 4 after 10 years.

If you still own Falcon 4 you have a great opportunity to check out what’s been going on for the last 10 years of continued development. There are two main groups to consider and each of them has their own version of Falcon 4 which has been highly updated.

www.FreeFalcon.com

Check out some of the latest screenshots in the preview of Free Falcon 5.

http://www.freefalcon.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13903

www.frugalsworld.com and look up in their forum the latest version of Open Falcon.

If you’re interested in a lighter Modern Combat Sim that’s a bit more like Janes. Pick up LOMAC and the addon called Flaming Cliffs. LOMAC isn’t as rich as flying Falcon. It’s a bit more sterile with the pre-canned missions and campaigns. It’s still a very nice sim though and you can find it for super cheap.

When you mention you want something between Battle Field 2 and Janes that's such and extreme it's difficult to gadge what you really want. BF2 has nothing to do with flying...

If you decide to check out either of those addons don’t bother with the original manual. It’s completely different now. Those addons have all the documents you need to get going.
If you don’t even want to bother with it I understand but I will also warn you Black Shark is the Falcon4 of Helicopter sims.

Sorry for the rant dude. I really wished you stuck with it you would know exactly what I'm talking about.

Yeah. I never fit in with your crowd.

Seriously, I appreciate your enthusiasm. Falcon 4.0 just wasn't for me (and I even tried the add-ons). It's a fine sim, I'm sure, but it was not what I was looking for. I just want to fly and have fun. I just wanted my weapons to lock-on and hit their targets. I just wanted to follow a pre-determined waypoint by lining up the little arrows, etc. I want something like Jane's USAF used to be: fun, easy to learn, and a bit like flying a real jet. BF2? Nah, that's like an arcade game. Jane's USAF offered enough depth to be challenging but it was also a lot of fun.

mizzer

[Scendore]

Originally Posted by mizzer

Yeah. I never fit in with your crowd.

Seriously, I appreciate your enthusiasm. Falcon 4.0 just wasn't for me (and I even tried the add-ons). It's a fine sim, I'm sure, but it was not what I was looking for. I just want to fly and have fun. I just wanted my weapons to lock-on and hit their targets. I just wanted to follow a pre-determined waypoint by lining up the little arrows, etc. I want something like Jane's USAF used to be: fun, easy to learn, and a bit like flying a real jet. BF2? Nah, that's like an arcade game. Jane's USAF offered enough depth to be challenging but it was also a lot of fun.

mizzer

Roger that... At some point F4 could be dummied down to do exactly what you wanted. Actually even in the hard core mode you just line up the heading carat and fly the way points. Using the radar and understanding A-Pole Fighting versus F-Pole Fighting is a whole other ball game.

If you want a semi hard core LOMAC is the way to go. Easy radar modes fly your way points and shoot stuff down. It can get a little more hairy at the merge because the AI is pretty good.

If you're open to a good sim without all those things but still has a bit of a learning curve is IL2 1946. The learning curve is basically learning how to use the strengths of your plane vs the bad guy. Offline play is solid but nothing spectacular but the Online is one of the best for a WWII sim. Plenty of planes to learn both on the Allied side and the German side. The graphics have been updated so it still looks very good. Runs great on good hardware and is again a very rewarding game if you spend some time.

It has a very active online group and you will find plenty to do with this game. I think Steam has it for pretty cheap these days.

Black Shark. Can be dummied down but again it's more like Falcon in terms of Switchology. If you really want to fly Helos its about the best thing out there at the moment. The last king of the helo genre IMO was Janes LongBow II. Pretty ancient now and by Black Shark Standards too old to stand up.

Meanwhile you can read through this thread and take a look at Black Shark. Lots of guys having fun with it.

Also highly recommend if you do get into any of the above sims you look into getting your self a Tracker IR.

Go to their website and check out some of the videos. Pictures worth a thousand words. It's about the best piece of gear I've bought years. It really adds to the immersion of a sim.

www.naturalpoint.com

[aceflier]

Bump

This sim needs more attention.

The best helo sim ever made in my opinion.

Just got this a week ago and was on the fence. Now that I bought it I cant stop playing/learning.