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Damned Interesting: The History of Flight Simulation

acecombatsix.com — A pretty comprehensive history of flight simulation, with video and photos.

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  • pearlfender2, on 04/09/2008, -1/+15nothing like a good flight simulator
  • Smooshee, on 04/09/2008, -0/+5That bucket looks awesome fun
  • aaaleman, on 04/09/2008, -0/+28Anybody remember Chuck Yeager's flight sim? Old-school. Forget the exact name...
    • Smooshee, on 04/09/2008, -0/+9Chuck Yeager's Air Combat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Yeager's_Air_Co ...
      • aaaleman, on 04/09/2008, -0/+6Classically huge polygons!
        • staxofmax, on 04/09/2008, -0/+8The terrain was so diverse! There was the pyramid, the giant red ball, and the row of giant cubes, forever and ever to the end of the universe.
      • CrushThemTorg, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1Nobody could stop me in a MiG-21 ... which I think says something about the game's realism.
    • doctechnical, on 04/09/2008, -1/+5http://www.mobygames.com/game/chuck-yeagers-advanc ...
      Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer. Not only did it include the SR-71 (which is a ball to dead-stick in at 10,000 feet) but the plane parameter files were plain (heh) text so you could hack the model of what you were flying.
      I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader as to how to get a copy.
      "Today's a good day to fly."
    • staxofmax, on 04/09/2008, -0/+8The taunting he gave me every time I crashed still gives me nightmares.
    • fhernand, on 04/09/2008, -0/+8You really bought the farm on that one!
      • Mufonix, on 04/09/2008, -0/+4Jesus, I haven't heard that since I was 9...
    • Tiggums, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2I had both of them. You had to have the manual in order to play the game, because you had to answer a question before the game would start. It would be the Max Ceiling of a certain plane, or you'd have to know the top speed and such... Awesome games
      • silverglade00, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2Why didn't you just Google it? Oh wait...
      • ObeseSnake, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3Low tech copy protection
    • Tempest261, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1That was one of my first PC games growing up. I played it incessantly.
    • Flashman, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2"It's a great day for flying!"
  • Zambodian, on 04/09/2008, -4/+4I haven't had a flight simulator since the 1997 one. I used to place a 737 craft 100,000 feet up and watch it spin out of control and crash.
  • geekchic, on 04/09/2008, -0/+6To add to the list:

    1983 - Artic Computing made “Flight Simulator” for ZX Spectrum
  • LostinService, on 04/09/2008, -3/+33no mention of X-plane?
    This article is less like a history of Flight simulators so much as it is an ad for ace combat six
    • Wartz, on 04/09/2008, -0/+7I haven't RTFA but WTF? ace combat a flight sim? what drugs are they on?
    • Picaroon, on 04/09/2008, -0/+6And Ace Combat 6 is not even close to being a flight simulator.
    • CrushThemTorg, on 04/09/2008, -2/+7True. X-Plane does punch MSFS in the balls repeatedly.
    • rspeed, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Agreed 100%. X-Plane is vastly superior to MSFS in every respect but graphics.
      There were a few other reasonably good flight simulators such as Fly! and Flight Unlimited which failed to mention as well.
  • RogerStrong, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3Cool! I used to play the original Flight Simulator I on the Apple II, and I've owned most versions since.
  • jeffgrado, on 04/09/2008, -0/+7Flight Unlimited introduced some fun physics to computer flight sims
  • lordmike, on 04/09/2008, -0/+10What no pictures of the Timex Sinclair 1000/ZX81 Flight Simulator? It was actually a pretty good game, believe it or not! Considering that the Sinclair machines had only monochrome low-res graphics, a Z80 processor running at 1MHz, and 16K of RAM... take a look: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2005/2400701941_9e9 ...
  • AndrewDB, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3Holy *****.. I remember playing Flight Sim 4 for hours and trying to make aircraft that would fly.
  • DopeGhoti, on 04/09/2008, -0/+11More like a History of MS Flight Simulator once it gets into the laughable "computer" history.. No mention whatsoever of FlightGear, or X-Plane (which I understand is actually able to be used for logging flight hours or for actual training when properly configured and monitored), or any of the non-MS Flight Simulator programs. No digg. I wonder if this is because it's on the site for Ace Combat 6, a game for the 360?
    • LostinService, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1X-plane can be used to log hours for the ATP if used with FAA certified equipment, which is more than can be said for MSFS, its so much better, The only thing I wish it did was simulate the G1000.
  • kenok, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1Too bad, there are no good/realistic Triple AAA Flight Sims nowadays.
  • NucleaRR, on 04/09/2008, -9/+0They forgot to mention these were the 9/11 terrorist training tools!
    • drey, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1you're such an idiot. what does this have to do with terrorists? Oh, yeah... the food you eat is also terrorist food, so stop eating it!
  • pillcounterd, on 04/09/2008, -0/+9What about the Jane's Combat games?
    • snotrokit, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1had em all!
    • Tempest261, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2Oh man, I had them all too. I was so sad when they quit making them.
  • terracottapai, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2What the hell is with the guy in the "The Mimicker True 3D Simulator" video?
    • DNABeast, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2He seems to have a real chip on his shoulder.
      "You don't give a Rat's Ass,.."
  • joepodcaster, on 04/09/2008, -0/+16I used to fly the A-10 . The old joke was that for combat simulation they'd put you in a dumpster and throw rocks at it. Everybody laughed like hell when they heard that one.
    That was before the A-10 kicked ass in Desert Storm.
    • snotrokit, on 04/09/2008, -1/+6Everyone makes fun of them until you need em. Close Air Support never sounded so good!! As much as I love em, I love em even more when they got my ass out of a jam. :)
    • rspeed, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Same here. I've logged hundreds of hours in A-10 Attack! and A-10 Cuba. This is an article about sims, after all.

      But seriously, well done sir. They were a hell of a machine, and had some amazing pilots.
  • ShempRider, on 04/09/2008, -0/+6I still have the 5.25" diskette for MS Flight Simulator 1. And I guess that's the only way to fly into Miegs Field anymore after ***** Daley tore it up.
    • snotrokit, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2you can add it back in to FSX, check the freeware sites.
  • snotrokit, on 04/09/2008, -1/+2As a total flight sim junkie, this makes my favorite non-hillary bashing article of the day!!!!
    Dugg.
  • pitdog, on 04/09/2008, -0/+4I thought the link would point to damninteresting site...
    • rspeed, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Yeah, it's a clever trick on the submitter's part to fool us into looking.
  • 4321234, on 04/09/2008, -0/+5The open source flightgear is fun and free. I'm a recovering addict.
    http://www.flightgear.org/
    If you use suse 10.3 linux there are binaries.
    http://packages.opensuse-community.org/index.jsp?s ...
    Also windows version and live cd I am told.
  • kyleforeman, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1I remember the days of FS 5.1 :)
  • cgoodwin, on 04/09/2008, -0/+4What a Microsoft love affair... it's like they wrote it themselves. No mention of X-Plane, no mention of Flightgear, or the many flight sim games that preceeded Microsoft's. Just all the MS Flight sim releases...
  • spongya77, on 04/09/2008, -0/+4The article is not very accurate. It focuses on the Microsoft Flightsim series exclusively, and then dares to bring up Ace Combat as a sim... First: there are many (OK: 2 or 3) more realistic "peaceful" sims out there. Second: there are many very realistic combat sims, too. Il-2 series, Lock On - incidentally they looked much better than their contemporary Microsoft peers... Ace Combat is a simple shoot-them-up with airplanes. Dugg down for bias.
  • NeoCortex, on 04/09/2008, -0/+4How about Microsoft Space Sim? I wish they would bring that one back.
  • yeehawjared, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2what about gunship 2000? - best combat helicopter sim ever. Also, B52 bomber and F117a Stealth Figher were awesome sims as well.
    • kenok, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1Oooh! I remember that... i still have that gamebox somewere. Old Microprose FTW!
  • nixfu, on 04/09/2008, -0/+8NO XPLANE????

    http://www.x-plane.com/

    The most ACCURATE flight model simulator for computer users?


    Not to mention cross platform for Win, OSX, and Linux.


  • CobaltBlue, on 04/09/2008, -1/+1How about Top Gun for Nintendo? If there is a more realistic flight simulator, I have yet to play it.
  • Jlaw09, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2Ace Combat is not a combat flight sim. Lock On Modern Air Combat or Falcon 5.0 are. None of the crap console fighter plane games.
  • nixfu, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2Man..no mention of Fly! or my personal favorite Flight Assignment:ATP...the BEST DOS flight sim ever, when MSFS was a toy, ATP was pretty damn close to the real thing for procedures, ATC communcations, NAV etc..

    http://simpilot.net/~stotzer/history.html

    http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc ...

  • solid12345, on 04/09/2008, -2/+1They left out the Buddy Holly & John Denver Edition Flight Simulator.
    • flipmeat, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1Featuring Will Rogers and Carole Lombard!
  • quaunaut, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2No Falcon 4.0 = loss
    • aaaleman, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1I bought that game when it came out and couldn't play it. I was practically devastated. Took 'em about 3 years to make it playable. By that time I had moved on to other things.
      I must've looked at its clipboard manual dozens of times, dreaming of playing it
      ;_;
  • sedawk, on 04/09/2008, -0/+5It think you got the description wrong "A pretty comprehensive history of flight simulation" -- I would say a pretty "UN-comprehensive" history. Missing:

    - Chuck Yeager's Air Combat (loved that)
    - X-plane
    - Flight Gear
    - Flacon
    - and lots more ...

    The list goes on and on. Please replace "comprehensive" with "piss-poor" :)
  • starrd, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1completely missing references to Silicon Graphics aka SGI aka birthplace of OpenGL. Today's gaming industry would be pretty sucky without SGI's work
  • mktsurvey, on 04/09/2008, -3/+0Please take a minute and fill out this 10 question survey for my marketing class. Thanks.
    http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=FfIHlYSZNCmx ...
  • Tempest261, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2Gotta love how this thing is on www.acecombatsix.com

    This timeline is incredible:
    1. Old mechanical sim.
    2. Slew of Microsoft peaceful sims.


    ((HUGE MISSING COLLECTION OF ACTUAL COMBAT SIMS RANGING OVER DECADES))




    3. Wow! Check out this incredible SIM [sic] called ACE COMBAT SIX!!! We even ripped off the Saitek X-52 for a single-game-use HOTAS! BUY NOW BUY NOW BUY NOW!!!!

    Ugh. Buried.
  • third_eye, on 04/09/2008, -3/+1Am I the only one who really sees a flight simulator as nothing more than an excuse to crash a plane into something? I mean, I don't get it. You just pretend you're flying?
  • LoveWidescreen, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Some missing information...

    subLOGIC released their flight simulator for the Commodore 64, followed by subLOGIC "Jet" which was meant for jet simulation only (obviously). Both of these were two of the first games that I got when I bought my C64.
  • AttilaD, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2Of all the lame-ass no research phoned in articles on digg.. well, top 10 anyway, for the week.
  • rspeed, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Buried as spam. It's an ad for Ace Combat.
  •  

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