Tailslide's Picks - WWII Combat Simulations  

News Links

Games Domain B-17 II Preview	Bad news: The B-17 II will NOT have a multiplayer option! Game, graphics etc. great, but no multiplayer....in 2000!
"Flight Museum" pages for FA2	It gives a OK picture of the various planes' strengths and weaknesses, developmental history and so on.
Fighter Ace 2 News	MSN in coop with US Airforce will launch a lot of events in the weeks and months to come. Check it out on their web-page.
Aces High Terrain Editor	HiTechCreations just released a new terrain editor (and a help file) for their WW2 sim "Aces High".
F-86F v1.1 for SDOE	F-86F Sabre Jet for SDOE. Model by Zur and improvements by mace.
Download Missions and Planes	Required for Online Play
Sidewinder Setup	for SDOE
Screen Shots	of my favourite SDOE multiplayer missions
Screenshots - CFS 2	Exclusive Screen Shots from Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 2
Battle of Britain Demo	This demo was not official and has been removed. I will let you know as soon as a real demo is out.
Aces High Terrain	Crankshaft sent me a cool pic of some new terrain
Erazor Falcon 4 Patch 1.0795	Unofficial patch based on leaked source.. improved AI and realism. Click link for details.
European Air War	Demo 22Mb
Setup File for Joysticks
SDOE Downloads list	Forum that holds download announcements and links.
Korea Pack for SDOE	Sabre vs Mig fights !
Combat Flight Center	Lots of MS Combat Flight Simulator information and downloads. (plane add-ons, missions)
IL-2 Sturmovik Movie	see the new IL-2 sim in action
CFS 2 Review	My impressions of Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator 2
No CD Patch for CFS2	put an end to the old "cd-shuffle". click on the link under 16-10-2000
DXTBmp	Utility to decompress CFS2 skins for painting
Wings Over Water	A SDOE site with many add-ons including helos, sea aircraft and jets!
CFS Dump/Refuel Guages	Some people are using these to dump fuel in online games to make their planes more manouverable.
Free Scenery	for CFS / CFS2. Lots of scenery downloads.
More Free Scenery	for CFS2. Eastern front, ground objects.
Well's FM V1.7	Latest FM updates for CFS2. Haven't had a chance to test them
Sound Pack for P80 Jet	Replacement Sounds for P80 jet in SDOE.
Rowan BoB Website	Here's the recently started official Battle of Britain Webside. Should be a good source of news, addons, etc.
Desert Fox Campaign	For SDOE. Includes new paint schemes, planes and ground objects !
Multiswap for CFS2	Allows you more control over multiplayer online missions!
B17-2 No CD Patch	Lets you play without shuffling cd's
Nibbio's CFS2 Site	Great addons.. Roll damage fix, torpedo wakes, fuel ships that leak oil!
B17-2 Summary	Read the glowing review on combatsim and picked up b17. After a week I am uninstalling it. A potentially good game mired by a terrible UI and serious bugs.
"Unternehmen Barbarossa"	Campaign for SDOE
VoxxSounds for WarBirds	They are simply the most magnificient sounds I've listened to.
CFS2 Frame Rate Tweaks	Here's a tweaking guide for CFS2. It's comprehensive, well-written, and it works!
New Aces High Terrain Editor	Seems that HiTech has revised their Terrain Editor, it's now called v1.00. Company claims that it's 100% downwards compatible (with the 0.92 version).
Do17 Beta Removed	Due to overwhelmingly negative response the do17 beta was removed. Updated versions will be available by email only.
B17-2 Patch !	This is a stability patch fixing the ctd's and missing crew members. No mention of fixing the bugs with the navigator though.
Target For Tonight	Free british WW2 night bombing sim in the works.
B17-2 Multiplayer Petition	Petition to InfoGrames to make B-17 2 a multiplayer game, and also fixing the bugs (after patch). Nice initiative!
SDOE Patch v1.6.0.6	This Patch updates the game to the latest version. This will also install the shortcuts you will want to use to play the sim.
Pacific Tide Addon for EAW	Here are a couple of new, great addons for EAW, especially Pacific Tide. Note that you'll have to have patch v1.2 and "Enemy Coast Ahead" installed
IL-2 Sturmovik Preview	And here's the latest and, I think, most in-depth review of the IL-2 Sturmovik. (I must get me this one!)
SimHQ BoB Forum	Busy forum for BoB stuff
Mosi's Flight Sim Page	Great site for EAW, BoB, Mig Alley and Sturmovik(!) addons.
New Aces High & Terrain Editor	Aces High v1.061: A new version of the Terrain Editor is released, v1.01.(16.7mb). There's also a patch for upgrading from 1.00 to 1.01.
Operation Flashpoint	Here's a new demo for a combat game/sim. From the pictures one of the options is flying a plane or helicopter
FA2 Changes	Fighter Ace II: There are some significant arena changes in the Territorial Combat Arenas.
Weather Editor	for Aces High
eFalcon Website	Official location of falcon 4 patches.
Mosi's Flight Sims	FW TA-183 "Huckebein" for EAW
Midway	For EAW.. "Sighted Main Body": The Battles at Midway Island June 3rd to 6th 1942. Skins, 31 US missions, 30 Japanese missions, music. Great!
simTech	Readers should be able to find some interesting CFS addons there, many of which are free for download.
Free Area, Rolling Planeset in FA2	Axis Vs. Allies room adds rolling plane set, training arena free now.
Cord's JU-52/3m Addon	for EAW, not yet released but looking good!
Fighter Ace 2 Updates	Arena changes in Territorial Combat, and changes in the "Rolling Planes" set. Now, we can fly FW190A8 and Spitfire IX, amongst a number of other 1942-43 planes.
Rowan BoB Terrain Addon	AxA's replacement texture for terrain
New Philippines terrain	1.5 Mb for Aces High
WW2 Online Launch Problems	WW2 Online officially launched yesterday. It is currently DOWN but please do not return your game yet please follow the link and read.
WW2Online Up	They have enough servers to keep up with demand now.
Char B1s Tank Weak Points	WW2 Online guide to taking out the char. This game is getting fun now the bugs are getting fixed.
Fighter Ace 3	in the works !
Aces High News	Aces High: News and info about upcoming versions. They'll include roads and trees, also plan various graphical improvements from v1.08 on.
Junkers JU-52/3m for EAW	The Junkers JU-52/3m in a lot of versions, military and civilian, is released. Extremely well made.
Gord's EAW page	Excellent source of addon planes for European airwar!
Target for Tonight	Updated website, info and screenshots about this all-free bomber simulation.
Fighter Ace III	This one will probably be ready for download (in a beta version) for people having a valid subscription to FA
FA2 : Operation Pointblank	Fighter Ace II: "Operation Pointblank:Assault on Festung Europa. US 8th Air Force Attacks Fortress Europa". Online event registration.
CFS2: "Pearl Harbor" addon	(25mb) is released. Only, it costs $19.95. Anyway, I suggest you read about it, then decide if it's worth it.
FA2 for Free	Fighter Ace II: You can now subscribe for unlimited online time for 14 days! Also, FA III (a major update) will be in open beta in a few weeks.
WW2 Online V1.20	Finally released! Satchel charges for troops, bug fixes, much more.
Aces High Cheaper Rate!!	Aces High is now only $15 a month instead of $30 per month!
IL-2 Sturmovik Demo	102 Mb Playable Demo
Aces High Dx8 14 Update	Those of you who run DX8 and a GeForce card with updated driver (latest is Detonator 21.81) should really try these updates
Fighter Ace 3 Download	Fighter Ace III is ready for download!!
How to Fly a P39	Want to fly the P-39? Check out this web-site.
European Air War: Junkers JU-52/3m	(Tante Ju) in 4 different markings, and various tools for making your own versions is now ready at Cord's EAW-pages. Strongly recommended.
IL-2: Hyperlobby	for online dogfighting (with demo).
P61 Black Widow for your EAW
Canucks Overseas ~ Mission 1	Based on the historical events which resulted in the first aerial victory for the Royal Air Force in North Africa.
IL-2 Sturmovik: 25 Custom Missions	for the demo
Pearl Harbor - Strike at Dawn	Here's a new combat flightsim, there's even a demo (both in German and English languages).
Canucks Overseas ~ Mission 2	for CFS2. 318 Kb Requires other aircraft and scenery downloads; links are provided. Rick Rutherford ([email protected])
EAW: Planes Galore	Specializing in polish planes
Target Rabaul	New sim in the works
IL-2 sturmovik: It's gone Gold.	Full version available in stores these days. Also, UbiSoft.com is up as an online server
European Air War: "Pacific Tide II"	addon (free) is released.
Aces Rising	EAW: For an almost immense amount of addons, planes, skins, etc., check this out.
J2M3 "Raiden"	EAW Pacific: New release of the J2M3 "Raiden" or "Jack" type 21. No less than 21 skins.
IL-2 STURMOVIK- Historical Background	A huge coverage on the plane's historical background.
Stalingrad	Aces High: New terrain: Stalingrad!
EAW: New Ardennes Campaign
WW2 Fighters	Old website is down, but a new (seemingly good one) has emerged!
IL2 WestRiders Pack	IL-2 Sturmovik: 1.9. 2xP39 skins, 1 IL-2 skin, 4 NetCoop missions, 4 solo missions and 1 dogfight mission.
Battle of Britain: Developer Toolkit	is released. So now we have the source code, and this one!
Fighter Ace III: New arenas	take a look at these screenshots!
EAW: Un Cadeau de No�l	Oahu/Pearl Harbor terrain.
IL-2 Stumovik: Manager V1.1 available
Aces High: Stalingrad Terrain	New, updated
Aces High: New Germany Terrain	updated recently. It's huge, it's good.
Red Ace	New Demo
Perdonia Terrain	for Aces High 1.9 Mb
WW2 Fighters Online	A great resource for WW2 fighter addons.. FM updates, new planes, etc.
Sicily Terrain	for Aces High 2.4 Mb
Terrain Editor	for Aces High v2.082
IL-2 Manager V1.2	IL-2 Sturmovik: IL-2 Manager V1.2 is just released.Recommended. (French Site)
Aces High:	Lots of terrain upgraded (Baltic, Germany, Mindanao, Isles, Stalingrad, etc.)
Jane's Attack Squadron	New WW2 fighter sim available
IL-2 Manager V1.3	for IL-2 sturmovik released
Tunisia Terrain for Aces High	1.7 Mb download. Nice and detailed.
Project 1: More screenshots	- 13 in all.
A guide for the novice	IL-2 Sturmovik
IL-2 Skins	Click on IL-2 Sturmovik, then download the ME109 of Erich Hartmann (352 kills), the YAK 9U, etc.
New patch 1.04b	IL-2 Sturmovik: Lots and lots of improvements.
IL-2 Sturmovik: Major addon	in the works: The Forgotten Battles. Screenshots, etc.here. (French Site)
IL-2 Sturmovik: V1.2 upgrade	4 new flyable planes, 10 single player missions and 6 cooperative online missions
IL-2 Sturmovik New demo v2.0	is out.
New V1.2 patch is released.	for IL-2 Sturmovik
CFS 3 Previews/Screenshots	Release dates will be 31st October in the US, 14th November in Europe.
New patches and artwork	Mig Alley and Battle of Britain: New patches and artwork released.
New Libya terrain	Aces High: New Libya terrain released (AHLIBYA.EXE). 1.8 Mb
Aces High II: Tour of Duty.	A new version of the sim is in the works, and will be released in Q3 2003.
New (English) patch released.	Combat Flight Sim III New (English) patch released.
New patch is released	Fighter Ace 3.5 (Check their downloadpage).
Dunkirk May 1040 for EAW	is ready for download, if you'd like to re-enact the scenario from those dreadful days...
IL-2 Manager v2.5se	is ready for download
Forgotten Battles	IL-2 Sturmovik: "Forgotten Battles" released in the US!
CFS Downloads	CFS1/CFS2/CFS3: Patches, new aircraft, repaints, campaigns
Fighter Ace III	A new, smaller demo is released (34mb).
IL-2 Forgotten Battles	New site (inofficial) with noCD's for both IL-2 and FB
Manager V3.0	for IL-2 Forgotten Battles: ready for download. This is a very useful tweaking tool specific to IL-2 FB. Recommended.
IL-2 Sturmovik & Forgotten Battles	Complete list with pictures and data for all the planes - both flyable and AI.
IL-2 Unofficial update	You will here find an update (unofficial) for both sims, mainly increasing framerate and reducing stutter on some systems. Look for "FB Best DLL 2.0".
IL-2 Manager v3.1	is ready for download (free). A very useful tool for tweaking FB graphics.
Messerschmitt BF-110 G2 for CFS3	Messerschmitt BF-110 G2 in 5 various versions released! These planes look great and fly great. And they're free.
Dawn of Aces III	This totally new and revised sim of WW1 fighter combat is released is ready for download!
Patch v1.1b	for IL-2 Sturmovik Forgotten Battles. Mandatory for online play. New planes, missions and graphical improvements. Recommended. 42mb
IL-2 Manager V4.0	Strongly recommended for tweaking the IL-2!
Secret Weapons over Normandy	New WW2 air combat sim from Lucasarts. The screenshots look promising...
IL2-Quick Mission Generator	Here's a nice utility for you - a . You really can generate mission on-the-fly, complex or just dogfights. Recommended - especially as it's free (11mb).
BF109E Skins for CFS3	CFS III: If you're flying or interested in the BF109E, SimViation has 7 new skins for the early BoB, etc. versions. They're good! And free.
New BOB Sim	Battle of Britain: From Oleg Maddox (author of IL-2), a new WW2 flight combat sim, scheduled for release in 2005.
IL-2 Forgotten Battles: The update patch	16.75mb is ready for download. It's free.
Pacific Warriors II Demo	A new, budget priced sim. Info and demo 93mb
Fighter Ace III Update	There's an update released, from v3.6 to v3.61
European Air War	Remember this one? It's still alive, at least in the form of a 130mb update.
"Battle of Britain" addons	for CFS III: (missions and planes) All is very nicely made and hence - recommended. Take a look! (But be sure to download and install all the necessary files)
Dawgfewd's CFS2 Fuel Barn	Neat site with tricks and tips, missions and planes for CFS 2, including config file settings.
WW1 in SDOE	Argon's great downloads page for all your world war 1 needs in fighter squadron : screamin demons over europe.
Battle of Britain 0.973 Upgrade	0.973 is the newest with many features like the great weather effects. 0.96 is more frame rate friendly and loads old campaign. 27 Mb
Mig Alley 0.80 Update	This is a improved version of Rowan's "Mig Alley". It was created by the BDG building on the code that Rowan has published. 1 Mb
Operation Marketgarden	CFS III: New missions, the newest one (in a series) is "Operation Marketgarden".
Dynamic Campaign Generator	for IL2 Sturmovik and IL2 Forgotten battles. Models moving front, tanks, will even replace default in game campaign generator.
New official patch v1.22	for IL-2 Sturmovik FB is released 12mb
SDOE Beeper V1.4	Added to SDOE downloads section. Lets you know when players are playing in hyperlobby
Harman Motor Works	Very cool ground vehicles for SDOE..
Forgotten Battles Maps	for IL2-FB. Detailed navigation maps.
New WW2 Pacific Theatre sim	Publisher is Ubisoft. Developer is Oleg Maddox. (the maker of IL-2 Sturmovik).
Aces High II: Nearing completion	It's now up to V1.9933. Try it if you can't stand the waiting...
B-26 Marauder	For FS2002/2004: FlightSim has just released an excellent version of the infamous "Widowmaker" from WW2. It's freeware!
Aces High II: Official version	now released, already to V2.003. Recommended! (but it's a 84mb download).
Static Ground Unit Pack v4.0	Required Core File - Adds more Ground Units to the sim.
Battle Over Europe Addon	for IL2. Review of this addon that gives you WW2 planes from the european theatre.
Version .98	open source update to Rowan's Battle of Britain.
Nations v3.5 for SDOE	Adds many new countries and radio calls to SDOE.
Battle of Britain II	is soon to be released
Aces High: Upgrade to version 2.03	is just released. This is a major upgrade at 36mb. Needed for online play.
Pacific Fighters	New pacific simulation from the makers of IL-2 Sturmovik
Battlefield 2 Playable Demo	Playable online multiplayer !
Battle of Britain 2	Released! Some people are reporting problems running on some systems but hopefully this will be patched soon.
Patch 2.02	for Battle of Britain 2.
Battle Over Europe Preview	Preview movie 7 Mb
Ubi Soft's Blazing Angels	WWII sim that is unfortunately more arcade than sim.

ACES HIGH
Pay for play at $14.95/month US not including special events

Features

• Up to 1000 people in same arena !
• Models center of gravity changes with fuel load
• Hangar to load plane, set convergence
• Ground pounding troops, transports, you name it
• Sounds change depending on where around you they are coming from.

Coming: October 2000

Features

• Simulations of the Luftwaffe's 1,000 air raids.
• Fly a multitude of authentic aircraft including the famous Spitfire and Ju87 Stuka dive-bomber.
• Fully interactive campaigns that can be played from both sides.
• Play in either arcade or simulation mode.
• Multi-player options including death match, team play and quick mission.

CombatSim Preview

Fantastic graphics.. hope the gameplay is as good as it looks.

European Air War

Features

From the demo, this one has a very arcade feel to it. Not very realistic, but the full version of the game has very realistic settings, including spins and stalls.   The patch fixes any minor complains I had about this game.

• Fantastic online play, easy online setup

• Authentic aircraft flight models and detailed renderings of all cockpits.

• Missions that include up to 256 planes in the air simultaneously.

• Combat missions include Fighter Sweep, Bomb Target, Escort Flight, Intercept and Interdiction.

• Campaign mode enables you to improve your skills over time and assume greater leadership over your squadron.

• A Newsreel feature including historical film footage.

• Multiplayer dogfights and cooperative missions. 8 players supported on LAN and TCP/IP (16 players also possible - unsupported but works !), 2 players supported for serial and modem connections

News/Links

Download the Demo

Read a Review

Major Lee's AeroDrome

Patch V1.2

Enemy Coast Ahead V1.4 is out... this is an addon to EAW that does a pretty thorough job of updating the flight models among other things.

Features

• Massively multiplayer internet dogfighting
• Supports 3d cards and force feedback joysticks.
• Great value at $9.95 / month unlimited use

Features

Fighter Ace II User Manual. Good description of basic ACM (air combat maneuvers) with pictures plus a list of what targets affect the tactical campaign and how.

Fighter Ace 2 Updates:

New Special Event Lobbies:
Six new Special Events Private lobbies for host-generated events have been added.

New Physics Model in Intermediate TC:
The physics in the Intermediate TC arenas have been streamlined for a bit more added realism. Realistic G-limits have been put in place and the planes have been modeled to turn more realistically. This will affect the bombers more than any other aircraft, careful not to snap your wings off!

Removing Planes from Nations At War:
Since Nations at War is a dog-fighting arena, bombers and fast tank killers have been removed. These include: all dive bombers (Including IL-2 and Ju-87G Stuka), Ki-84 Frank, Typhoon, Spit IX, F4U-1C, and FW190D-12. Rockets and bombs have also been disabled.

Instituting Revolving Plane set in Free For All:
To keep FFA fresh and exciting, we are introducing a rotating plane set. The aircraft available to you will rotate on a set schedule. The first set of planes will be 1940-41 fighters: P-40B/C, I-16, 109E, Hurricane IIc, Spit V, and the Ki-61 Hien.

 

Follow-Up to the popular online game Fighter Ace. Bigger and better than ever!  Here's the company line:

Fighter Ace II features:
New 3D acceleration

What this means to you: You have planes and terrains unequalled by any online air combat game. Unlike the competition we have fully articulated controls (moving elevators, ailerons, rudders and flaps), visible 3d scoops, radiators and wheels. We have landscape with majestic 20,000 foot mountains, canyons, ravines, sea shores, hills, lakes and oceans.

New Physics Model

What this means to you: VR-1 went back to a clean sheet of paper and designed completely new force based model. Unlike the old models that used tables for performance referents, the new Fighter Ace II model creates the planes as actual 3d objects with very definite aerodynamic shapes. The air is actually modeled as particles that are denser at sea level than at 20,000 feet. We add in the engine's power and even model the thrust of the propeller at different pitches.

New Planes and a New Country - Japan

What this means to you: Fighter Ace II is not a tired retread of Fighter Ace 1.5 but a bold step into new territory. We've created new planes with realistically modeled weaponry and performance. You have new planes to try out, new planes to master.

Rockets and Bombs

What this means to you: Did we mention rockets? Bombs? Player flyable bombers? Now you can punish your online enemies in whole new ways. You are not limited to guns, but now you can rocket them, dive bomb them, high altitude bomb them, formation bomb them and level their countries to the ground. 

Territorial Combat

You and your mates can not only bomb your opponents but you can take their country.  Players trigger attacks on opposing airfields and factories by striking them from the air. AI controlled tanks roll to attack and defend these contested areas. The entire arena is supported by a strategic supply model that produces tanks and planes and the resources are moved around by trains. Cripple the train network and you cripple your opponent. 

Fighter Squadron:
Screamin Demons Over Europe

Features

• Open Plane Tool will allow you to create your own planes!.

• The final 'officially supported' number of players is currently 8. The game itself is capable of handling up to 16 players.

• 30 unique scenarios with ten different aircraft. Different national allegiances and three regions deliver 90 different mission options. In addition, players can switch planes within a squadron or change from pilot to tailgunner to bombardier, on the fly during combat.

• Rather than going from full flight to complete destruction with a couple of machine-gun hits, the planes in Fighter Squadron take damage on a per-polygon basis, which realistically and adversely affects handling incrementally.

IL-2 Sturmovik

Coming:  TBA

Features

• Realistic portrayal of the burning Stalingrad and some others cities with the fire, smoke, and real time ground battles.

• Day or night flights with realistic changes in weather conditions.

• Complex and realistic AI of all military objects in the game.

• Both realistic and arcade flight models.

• Single flights, campaigns, missions with more than 200-300 players playing in one arena across the Internet.

• Network and Internet voice communications integrated into the game.

• Massive air and ground battles between German and Russian airplanes and tanks.

Features

• AI is great.  Pilots will go vertical and also extend from you if they are in a faster plane.
• Campaign mode has no story line, rather poor.
• Flight model is good, but does not model spins right
• All new scalable 3D engine, supporting both current and next generation 3D graphics cards
• High polygon counts, real-time lighting, and super shapes for the best looking planes ever
• Individual 3D virtual cockpits with working dials and indicators for added realism
• Planes break apart and show detailed damage effects that intensify the action
• The best crashes and explosions ever with awesome special effects including realistic 3D clouds, smoke, and fire
• Fly the seven best fighters from both sides of the European air war:
  P-38J, P-47D, P-51D, Spitfire F.IX, Bf 109G-6, Fw 190A-8, Me 262
  
  Difficulty Settings
  Easy: plane has additional power. plane has easy controls.
  
  ?? : plane has (less) additional power. plane has easy
  controls.
  
  Medium: plane has standard power and standard controls.
  
  ?? : as "Medium" except store/loadout drag and weight
  are counted. single engine props have torque.
  
  Hard: as above, spins are now possible.
    

News/Links

Download the Demo
 
WW2 fighters Patch 1.08  

Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator

• Excellent Damage Modelling - lose rudder control, elevators. I even caught fire and put it out by going into a dive !
  
   

• Fly over Real World Scenery - Experience real world navigation through a world based on history and atlas data.
  
   

• Expandability (ability to add aircraft, missions, combat areas). Users will be able to import the thousands of planes and scenery already created for Microsoft Flight Simulator.
  
   

• Network Play - Lan, Internet play for free on Microsoft Game Zone.
  
   

• Artificial Stupidity - The AI on this game must have been added as an afterthought.  Dumb even when you have all the settings cranked up.   Enemy planes never go vertical.  The default "quick action" setting has you go up against five opponents. 'nuff said.
   

News/Links

Watch Video - 20 Mb

Order the Book

Interview with Creators

Download Addons
 
Hack CFS so Imported Planes Will Fight You

Find Multiplayer Games

Aircraft Dynamics Editor
158 Kb

 

Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 2

Features (Company Line)

• History takes wing. These aircraft-the pride of the Japanese and American fleets-made history. Now make them yours. Microsoft's leading graphics technology brilliantly captures classic WWII naval fighters. Choose from the American P-38F Lightning, F4F-4 Wildcat, F6F-3 Hellcat, and F4U-1A Corsair or the Japanese A6M2 Zero, A6M5 Zero, NiK2 George. Bid today goodbye as you fly off into history. More choices to fly and new challenges to master. All the new planes look and sound even more realistic than Combat Flight Simulator 1.

   

• The real story, straight from the source. Combat Flight Simulator 2 builds on a tradition of more than 18 years of creating compelling flight simulations. Veteran World War II pilots from both sides of the Pacific conflict helped make every detail-from the roar of engines to radio chatter--come to life. Read their stories in the Pilot's Manual, and then test their battle-proven tactics for yourself. Realistic and stunning visuals.

   

• Enhanced Depth of Play with improved active campaign structure and multiple branching missions. Combat Flight Simulator 2 engages you at heightened new level of gameplay. Your actions in the game now have real consequences - lose a wingman in battle and his replacement may not be the ace that you hoped for. Campaigns are a branching tree structure. You have to try and survive, not lose too many wingmen, complete your mission goals and earn medals and promotions, and fly increasingly higher-performance aircraft. Failing to perform will result in your early retirement. You will be able to enter the campaign at any of 10 different historical points. Real-life action and gameplay that immerse you into the era.

   

• Fight the Pacific war for either flag. You're a 20-year-old farm boy from Nebraska, engaging the Japanese with a 2000 hp fighter bristling with firepower. Or a veteran Japanese pilot at the controls of a deadly and agile Zero, determined to protect your fleet. Experience the war from both sides of the battle.

   

• Enhanced Visuals. Combat Flight Simulator 2 features enhanced 3-D objects and aircraft models, cockpits, explosions, splashes, waves and wakes, and many other effects. High-resolution terrain with detailed roads, rivers, coastlines, and atolls will bring this area of the world to life. Take off and land from the aircraft carriers Essex, Enterprise, Junyo, and Hiryu. A Landing Signal Officer will get you back on deck. Incredible realism and immersion.

   

• Updated and improved weather system including real-world weather provided by Jeppesen. Users can download current weather conditions and forecast winds aloft from a Microsoft server on the MSN Gaming Zone. The new weather system also dramatically improves the variety of weather as you fly and the effects you see like clouds, precipitation, lightning, and more. Customize realistic weather or fly in real time conditions using the Internet!

If the prop effects in Nations bothers you try playing with extra lights on in the room.  Worked for me.  If you turn the clouds setting down to 25% it fixes the "crawling" look to them.

If you are experiencing crashes at the loading screen, changing video drivers.. upgrading my TNT card to the latest reference drivers from NVidia did the trick for me.

Review #1 of Nations by Tailslide

 After playing Nations for the past couple days on the "Ultra Realistic"  and Hard difficulty settings, I'll sum up the good and the bad..  Test system is a 450 TNT 2.

Good

- Padlock view that doesn't follow planes out of sight
- Beautiful sun effects and fire effects. Lighting on planes is great.
- Has gear and flap damage from overspeeding
- Has decent damage model
- Hit boxes seem accurate
- Lots of fully functioning instruments including slip indicator
- Icon view that shows you nationality of planes and a distance and gradually fades to nothing as planes get closer
- Excellent campaign mode lots of wartime movie footage, good variety to missions (I like the missions much better than EAW)
- Large scale plane battles, sky is FULL of planes sometimes
- Decent wingman commands
- Great selection of user flyable and computer controlled aircraft (P40, P47, P51,P38, Me163, Me262,FW190A, ME109F, MosquitoVI, Typhoon I-B, Spit XIV, Hurricane IIb all flyable).  Even features some Italian planes ! (not flyable by player though)
- Mission recorder, you can replay missions view from any angle
 

Bad

- Padlock only engages on targets inside gun sight
- No way to glance down at instruments without losing padlock
- Clouds are constantly "crawling" looks very strange
- NO SPINS but planes stall and sideslip.
- All planes are pretty unstable in yaw axis, tend to float around.
- All planes require constant rudder to stay in trim, no trim feature.
- No way to zoom cockpit out a la SDOE to see all the instruments
- Buggy, all sorts of error messages, locks up my PC about one in 5 games
- Propeller graphics give me sore eyes and a pounding headache I can't play for more than 1/2 hour at a time.
- No flyable bombers
- Slow frame rates (default is 10fps but you can bump it up to 25fps)
- Same "Thock thock" sound when you shoot anything.
- For some reason they pit the spitfire XIV against the 109F the second mission of your career!  I don't know why they have the likes of the Spit XIV against the 109F and 190A, I would like to see more evenly matched planes.
- Almost nothing for a manual 90 pages, mostly fluff.
- Multiplayer has no lobby like EAW, Janes, SDOE so you have to prearrange a game.  Too much hassle for me haven't tried it yet.
 

Verdict

Look elsewhere if you absolutely must have online play and planes that spin.  However, the wide variety of missions and plane types make this a great game for offline campaigns.  Be wary of the propeller graphics though.. they bother me a lot.  Try before you buy if possible.

  

Review #2 of Nations by Banger 

Well. First Impressions of offline Nations Fighter Command. I just shot down 3 spitfires over the Thames in a Me109. Clouds look a bit odd, but very layered. No hud in this game, however and ingenius "Flag" designator. The Raf circles , the Iron Cross motif for the Germans and of couse...The USAAF symbol...That star in the circle with the bars.

Interesting game, Nice graphics, You have got to see the options menu's, You'll sit and stare at them for a while.

Overall, It's an interesting game. The Planes are responsive, Needless to say...If you can fly SDOE, you can fly this.

There is no "Cheat sheet" little card thingy with all the commands. You do have to activate your joystick once inside the game by hitting the "J" Key.

Don't expect sun glaring in your canopy, like EAW. The sky texture andclouds are interesting.  I think you'll like it.

It's got a Multiplayer setup similar to EAW, In other words....You have toschedule a game or search IP's for one.

I just flew a p-40 in Hard difficulty & Ultra realistic mode.

Attacked a mile long truck convoy in Libya. The Planes do spin and the explosions are wonderful.

Some of the graphics are goofy, The prop looks weird while spinning. All andall, A damn good game.

Oh, You can record your missions in "Movie form" It's integrated in thegame.

There's something you should know about the Multiplayer.
There are "Powerups' as an option in the game.....I.E.
Little boxes floating around that iff you fly through, give you extra ammo and other ridiculous things. for example....The ability to do double damage, Invincibility or a "shield"
Sounds very Arcade, So be on the lookout for a game with powerups.

 

April 2, 2000 - Had a little surprise in my email today. Appears IEN is using a spam script to search for all sites that link to the Warbirds Freehost site and threaten them with legal action. Nice.   Read it here.  Corporate censorship lives and the link is gone.