So let’s talk a little about airplanes simulation games. For those of you who read my About page know that I first came in contact with simulators on the Commodore 64 during the 80′s. Both me and my dad had a strange fascination towards aircrafts and i still remember us sitting in front of the small 14-inch monitor playing Solo Flight by MicroProse Software.
Solo Flight Simulator
So this is where it all started. I was going to school back then and one night after I had gone to bed, I had to go to the bathroom sometime around midnight and I found my dad playing the game. He enjoyed it so much that he literally couldn’t stop playing. Now, that’s what airplane flying simulator games are all about. Setting a destination, checking gauges, altitude, speed and just fly. Maybe you even recognize yourself in my dad? To soar through the sky, to feel free…
The fascination we had wasn’t perhaps as odd as it might sound. My father had been working a couple of years for Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) so he spent much of his time around aircrafts. At times, he managed to give me access to the real flight simulators they used to train pilots – now that was awesome! The feeling you have when sitting inside of a cockpit is unbelievable, and back then the realism of these simulators were light years ahead of what the home computers at the time could offer.
A couple of years later i had a new computer and some new airplanes games to play. This time it was on the Commodore Amiga and the game F/A-18 Interceptor.
F/A-18 Interceptor
8-bit versus 16-bit is a no-brainer – better graphics, higher realism plus that you were allowed to do so much more. The main difference here was that you piloted a jet plane rather than a propeller one. Another difference was of course that it was more focused towards warfare, but I didn’t mind, I just wanted to tame that beast! One of the problems these early simulators had though was the lack of faithful lighting, authentic cockpit displays and realistic handling. They were fun to play but it wasn’t “real” in that sense. In realistic airplane simulator games you really want to feel that you are right there in the cockpit handling the controls and piloting the aircraft. You are the captain making all the right choices, you’re the one who sets the destination and controls the take-off and landing and so on.
It wasn’t until the release of the Flight Simulator series by subLOGIC that things really got interesting. The first few games were great fun, but they evolved into so much more. Eventually the game transformed into Microsoft Flight Simulator (I think the company was bought my Microsoft?) but lately I found them lacking somehow.
Microsoft Flight Simulator
For me it is extremely important to have realism in a simulator. Not just the controls, but everything surrounding the experience. Realistic weather, time-of-day, detailed instruments and graphics and a good variety of aircrafts. I feel that I want to find something new, not just realistic airplane simulator games, but THE BEST flight simulators for PC, period! I have found one that has sparked my interest called ProFlightSimulator and I think this might be the one. Click here to visit their official site.
The future is looking bright as simulations get better and better. But as the world changes, so should the game you are playing right? Old airports get rebuilt, new ones are erected…
