"Adventures in Virtual worlds - Part 1." by Lionman

Microsoft's longest running program is their flight simulator series & I own & fly both the penultimate version, FS9 A Century of Flight & the latest version FSX. They both come close to matching the capacities & characteristics of full-sized commercial simulators used to train commercial pilots, yet they cost less than £70 each, awesome value for money. The whole surface of the earth is modeled in such detail than one can navigate by Visual Flight Rules (VFR) following roads & landmarks, through perfectly simulated real-world weather & clouds, downloaded & updated every 15 minutes from satellite information!

Meanwhile the aircraft & their characteristics are so well reproduced that many of the best examples are put through final testing by real world commercial pilots who fly the real thing. There is not only continuous (AI) Air Traffic Control available as a program option, but VATSIM (Virtual Air Traffic Control Simulation) provide free REAL volunteer amateur air traffic controllers online, who direct global virtual air traffic using simulated ATC screen software!

One can add on software that hooks your Simulator into the world airlines reservations network, so that ALL real world scheduled flights, delays and traffic, complete with airport arrival and departure boards, are reproduced in real-time on your own PC "around you" in virtuality!

There is a hardware add-on gizmo which involves wearing a special pilot's baseball cap whose exact position is read in real-time by a small scanner on top of your monitor. This is called "Track IR" and means that every tiny head movement is automatically transferred to your view on screen, so that in your virtual cockpit you can literally "lean forward to read instruments more closely", look up at overhead switches & scan the cockpit & the sky outside. This gives an awesome feeling of "immersion" as hard-core simmers call it.

So, when you sit in front of your PC with its screen (or three wrap-around screens if you can afford them!) wearing your pilots hat, headphones and boom mike, talking to live air traffic control as you taxi for take off, your feet on the pedals under your desk and your force feed-back joystick in your hand, your seat vibrating with the engines (through an add-on gizmo called "Buttkicker" that attaches to your PC seat and is driven by the sim), the room filled with the thrum of your motors and whine of your propellers in surround sound, the bass tingling your feet and shaking your chair, it is SO like being there, that it is uncanny.

Flight simulation is absolutely addictive and a wonderful way of exploring our beautiful world, whilst developing a real, new and complex skill. You can fly anything from a glider or the tiniest microlight, through a modern combat jet fighter like the Tomcat, up to & including the largest & latest commercial airliners like the A 380 Airbus, using real check lists, and with all the ambient cabin and crew sounds of the real world. The final wonder is that there are thousands of add-on aircraft available totally free as online downloads, many of them of the same quality as the most expensive commercial add-ons. I currently have around 550 aircraft in my FS9 sim!

Judge for yourself. This picture is a freeze frame from a living, breathing, dynamic world where you can fly through the clouds, feel side winds on landing, or land on water in your float plane, with spray kicked up by your prop wash and maybe a sudden rain shower pattering on the water and streaking your windshield.

If you have the hard ware to truly show them off, these simulators are so realistic it is almost beyond belief. Robyn's home is just outside Alamogordo New Mexico and while in London, when I felt homesick, I entered virtuality in FS9, take up a plane from Holloman USAF base and overflew where we were to have lived together. The live downloaded satellite weather was SO accurate and detailed that it even showed the white sand build up on the cockpit windscreen over White Sands National park on windy days! Awesome.

FS9 and FSX are purely civilian simulators with no working weapons but if you want to fly in virtual combat either against AI (artificially intelligent robot) enemies or online against real-world human pilots like yourself, you need an air combat simulator. These fall into five broad categories. 1914-1918 WW1 air combat, 1939-1946 WW2 air combat, 1950s Korean War era air combat, 1970- 2007 modern air combat, and 1970-2007 modern helicopter air combat. There have been countless air combat simulators but I am only going to refer to the classic "best of breed" in each category, all of which I own and fly.

In the WW1 category there is only one real contender - Red Baron 3D. This is a very old program originally produced by Sierra back in 1998 and now a dinosaur by modern software standards, but it has spawned a loyal community of users that persist to this day for one very good reason. It reproduces the flying characteristics and "feel" of WW1 air combat and dogfighting better than any other WW1 combat sim before or since on any platform.

For some years I have belonged to the Royal Air Corps http://www.citigraph.com/rac/ one of the oldest and best of the Red Baron online virtual squadrons. Explore their website thoroughly and you will soon begin to appreciate the care and creativity that virtual combat fliers put into their realm. Follow up some of the links on the site too. You will find me as RAC_Lionman_EF in the Forums and crew roster. They are a really splendid and International bunch of chaps and while I was still in living in London all fellow members of the RAC Euroflight used to share Squadron Dinners together at the invitation of one of the senior pilots!

Amongst WW2 air combat simulators one name reigns supreme - Oleg Maddox. Oleg is a Russian whose (originally quite small) design company, Maddox Games, took on and beat the mighty Microsoft, whose Combat Flight Simulator series (CFS 1, CFS 2, CFS 3) has been effectively wiped out of their own self-created market by Maddox Games amazing WW2 combat sims.

Oleg looks like a tartar, slim, dark with the narrow eyes and thin mustache of a Mongol horseman from the Steppes. But he is a modern, exceptionally smart businessman and a total perfectionist as far as realism in virtuality is concerned. Unlike Microsoft he doesn't allow "open code" for user MODS or commercial add-ons to his simulators, because the flight and structural models he uses for all his aircraft are of an exceptionally high standard which he seeks to maintain in everything carrying his brand. Indeed, until there were too few left alive to continue doing so, Oleg used to use real WW2 pilots, many in their late 80's, to test his virtual versions of the aircraft they used to fly in real combat, as the best way to ensure absolutely accurate flight characteristics in all his planes. He told me when I interveiwed him for one of my squadrons, that this is why he has not so far considered developing a WW1 combat flight simulator - few of the aircraft are stil flying and all their pilots are dead.

The first Maddox WW2 sim was IL2 Sturmovik, followed by IL2 Forgotten Battles (IL2FB), then the Aces Expansion Pack (AEP), then Pacific Fighters (IL2PF) and 3 major payware add-ons for the basic FB, Operations "Fall Blau" and "Barbarrossa", and "Battle Over Europe". The first two deal with historical air campaigns on the Russian Front and the last addresses long range B-17 raids into Germany from the UK. New maps, missions, aircraft "skins" (as the exterior camo and insignia are called) and landscapes come with these. Virtually unlimited other campaigns, missions and skins can be downloaded free online.

Finally in 2007 Maddox games produced IL2 1946, containing ALL the sims listed above in one giant package on one DVD, cheaper than any of the separate packages! This is quite incredible value and enables one to fly some 330 WW2 aircraft of every imaginable nationality, over accurate landscapes of WW2 theatres of war all over Europe and Russia. It was also exceptionally clever marketing to get people who already had all the software to buy it again, as one installation with no bugs is infinitely preferable to 3!

The skies are so beautiful that I sometimes take a plane up just to watch the sunsets. Air combat at very high altitudes, with the white contrails outlined against the blue black of space in the upper atmosphere in which the stars (in their real positions!) can be seen twinkling, is truly gorgeous! Add the chattering judder of machine guns, the pumping thump of cannons, the flames of falling enemies, the shouts and cries of wingmen in your headphones and the roar as other aircraft buzz your cockpit, and you have an unparalleled and utterly immersive combat experience. Track IR is essential as you are constantly twisting around and craning your neck to track where you opponent is, and personally I use a force feedback joystick as I like to feel the judder of the guns, the rumble as the wheels touch down on landing & the increasing flutter that warns you that you are close to a stall. Firing heavy cannons with a Buttkicker under your chair is awesome too!

I fly WW2 combat with the RAC boys and also with the BBB (Butcher Bird Brotherhood http://www.butcherbirdbrotherhood.eu/?listflight=60 )who I have belonged to since 2000 but who have only recently started flying online again and have nothing but a forum.

Oleg's next project is a whole new family of WW2 air combat simulators, called the Storm of War series which was due out around October 2007 but was then delayed yet again to mid 2008 - maybe. The first of these is to be "Battle of Britain" and the accompanying picture is of one of the staggeringly realistic and detailed cockpits of the new aircraft in SOW BB.

The Storm of War series will use an entirely new game engine that enables far higher levels of detail in every realm, landscapes, ground objects, skies, aircraft exteriors and cockpit interiors, as well as in the dynamics and realism of the flight models. Indeed the level of detail inside the cockpits is almost unbelievable as you can see for your self in the picture (look closely at the brass, paint wear & reflections in the gauge glass!) making Oleg's sims a "rivet-counter's" dream. A combat sim for OCD people.

The level of aircraft interior detail is so high and so structurally accurate, that once one becomes competent in a given aircraft, one really does feel as if one could get into the real thing and fly it. However, from my conversations with real contemporary test pilots at the Shuttleworth Trust who fly them, this may not be quite true, as many older aircraft have strange quirks and flight characteristics that have caused many crashes and fatalities amongst inexperienced pilots, even to this day. This was explained to me by the former chief test pilot of the RAF who often now flies the vintage aircraft at Shuttleworth as a hobby.

The odd thing about Oleg sims however, is that although he has always insisted that his team are obsessive about the detail and complete accuracy of the air craft and their flight models, the landscapes and ground realism in his sims have always been poor. The ground itself, trees, forests, roads and open areas are all far too uniform and featureless in colour & tone. There are detailed individual buildings, trains, vehicles, tanks, AA & field guns but they look like lego models plonked down in a flat landscape, while apart from some very poor & blocky dummy figures on the latter, all the other vehicles are empty (no drivers or passengers) as is one's cockpit when one is inside one's plane. One has no avatar and hence no legs on the pedals or hands on the stick. This ruins the immersion instantly and makes the whole sim feel "empty". It's a disappointment in what are otherwise certainly the best WW2 air combat sims to date.

In the realm of modern and contemporary jet air combat there are really only two contenders IMO - Ubisoft's "Lock-On" and Lead Pursuit's "Falcon 4 Allied Force" plus it's expansion "Flaming Cliffs".

These two modern jet combat simulators are very similar in their realism and level of detail, which is amazing, although not quite up to the standard of the coming Battle of Britain from Maddox games mentioned above. The ground detail seems oddly "dead" at low altitude.

Jet combat is almost exclusively a"young man's game" even in virtuality as it requires amazingly fast reflexes and ultra-sharp eyes, as ranges & closing speeds are vastly greater than in piston engined flying. An enemy must be spotted at the very limits of vision if one is to have any chance of preparing a tactically appropriate response to an attack, let alone take the initiative. Combat, when it occurs, is lightening fast and over sometimes in seconds. Missiles and modern weapons also change everything & there is far more to keep track of and think about in the "office" (cockpit) than in WW2 and even Korean War warplanes, which still had "iron guns".

I have flown very little in these sims, even though I own both. About the best I have managed is a complete mission from take off, to target and back to base, with a safe landing, in an A10 "Warthog". I found the realism and immersion quite amazing and was actually quite tired after my "flight"! I suspect I only survived because I had no actual combat to do, just a ground attack mission and had a lot of former virtual flying experience in piston-engined combat planes.

One of the things that is awesome about jet combat is the NOISE when an enemy makes a really close pass right over your cockpit. It is suddenly and shockingly AMAZINGLY LOUD and makes the room shake if you are using surround sound. For my neighbour's sake I quickly found headphones essential and now use my (silent) Buttkicker for the bass!

Although I have not yet managed it myself, the MOST immersive and realistic way to fly in virtuality, is with the "sky" exterior and cabin interior aircraft sounds on your surround sound speakers, while keeping the air traffic control and combat comms on your headset, just like in real life.

Notice in the picture that the visual display from rear mounted cameras is live in the cockpit. In modern aircraft with "glass cockpits" you have to learn quickly how to read a HUD (the "Head Up Display" projected onto your windscreen) and there are seldom many dials or gauges, just screens. Unless you focus totally on one aircraft (as real pilot's do) and one sim, evenb in virtuality there is a very steep learning curve involved in learning to be a jet fighter pilot.

You can't fly modern jets "by the seat of your pants" but have to think, watch & track, many many things simultaneously, even in the midst of ultra-fast combat. Add noise, disorientation, smoke, darkness, gunfire, missile alarms, hit warnings & cockpit damage & you have a very very "busy office". Remember that in the real world jet pilots also have to handle physical disorientation, heat, sweat, gravity, "grey-outs", G-Forces, dizziness & no toilet! That's why they have to be super-fit young athletes mentally & physically & are called "fighter jocks".

I confess that I find this the least enjoyable form of flying because they are so stressful even in virtuality & I fly strictly for pleasure, not to prove anything. However, the feeling of satisfaction when you achieve a mission or survive a dogfight, is correspondingly far greater too.

I have just obtained a Thrustmaster "HOTAS Cougar" the ultimate jet fighter stick and throttle as used to train US Navy and Airforce pilots, made from the same metal & moulds as the real F16 fighter controls in the real plane and use these in combination with CH Pro rudder pedals.

There are few contenders in this category and I have not flown them all, while the best one I have flown and own, is really old, Microprose's "Gunship" from April 2000!

This simulates combat flying in an Apache Longbow Gunship & even though it is an old sim, the level of detail and ground complexity is quite similar to Lock-On and F4 jet sims, with slightly better and more detailed trees, as it is designed for low altitude combat. Ground targets include "live tanks" the speed of who's progress across country is quite surprising and easily spotted from a long way off due to the dust plume they kick up.

Like combat jets, modern military choppers are very complex beasts with much to learn and keep track of and a very "busy office" in combat. Landing and taking off is far easier than expected however and far easier than in conventional aircraft- but missiles often have to be physically dodged at low altitude, which means you have to have eyes everywhere and fast reflexes.

Chopper combat is not everybody's cup of tea but it has many interesting dimensions and is actually far more like ground warfare that air combat. Flying an Apache is really much closer to being a tank commander than a jet pilot and the Apache's natural enemies are the enemies tanks, missile batteries and mobile infantry. You also need to become adept at "Knapp of the earth" flying to take advantage of every hiding place, hovering behind copses, hiding in forest clearings almost on the ground and popping up to aim and fire, then dropping back out of sight immediately. Current combat choppers are extremely well armoured, often whisper-quiet and awesomely armed, so seeing them as flying tanks is very appropriate.

The software house who produced LOMAC (Lock-On Air Combat) are about to launch a new air combat chopper simulator in late 2007 called "Black Shark" which is an awesomely detailed and accurate modeling of a modern dual-rotor Russian combat chopper. Although there is no free demo out yet, this new simulator looks as if it is going to become the new champion in this highly specialised realm of combat simulation.

Until recently this has been a much neglected area of combat simulation but it has been revitalised of late by the third version of the only real contender in the field, the "Silent Hunter" series of submarine combat simulators by Ubisoft.

Having spent a professional career at sea, much of it underwater as a commercial oilfield diver, I am naturally very hard to impress in this realm.

Silent Hunter III is an awesome program and exceeded my expectations in the amazingly dynamic and accurate way it reproduces the ocean, above and below. It is visually stunning and even has really good sound. The German U-Boats are extremely realistic and the simulator faithfully reproduces the chess-like nature of submarine warfare, with alternating long lonely passages, frantic nail-biting tension, sudden disorienting and frenetic action, red running lighting, gauges popping and leaks spraying in all directions as you are deafened by depth charges. Awesomely immersive.

Like jet combat sims SH III has quite a steep learning curve and you really do have to undergo "virtual training" in navigation, gunnery and torpedo use before you are ready to put to sea. But it is all well worth the trouble. My only caveat is that online the only multi-player mode is as one of several members of a collaborative "wolf pack" hunting convey and dodging escorts and air attack. But you can't play a Destroyer skipper on the Allied side.

There is a very large sub sim community online http://www.subsim.com/index.php, with many excellent forums http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/index.php and "Virtual Flotilla" websites. http://www.cavalla.org/subs.html There are also a large number of excellent free add-ons, enhancements, MODs, extra missions and utilities produced for SH III by the gaming community. http://www.users.on.net/%7Ejscones/GWX/ Watch the video on that link! The Grey Wolves MOD is awesome, free & adds hugely to SH III's realism

The latest iteration is Silent Hunter IV - Wolves of the Pacific, which casts you as a US Navy submarine captain in the Pacific, fighting the Japanese - so Americans should love it. It uses the same game engine but with subtly enhanced graphics on all levels and lots of new bells & whistles. Ubisoft seem to be actually really listening to the sub sim community, as they have included almost all that was asked for. I even the seagulls I requested in SH III although the fish I requested in SH IV have yet to appear, as being an ex-diver I wanted to see some realistic underwater life.

Strategy games aren't "my thing" as I like face-to-face 1st person action but if they are yours and the idea of Naval combat appeals to you, check out http://www.battlestationsmidwaydemo.com/ which models sea and weather awesomely and is a strategic combat simulator. One caveat - although you can "fly" the planes in a crude arcade-like manner, it is most certainly no combat flight sim!

This is quite a well-served field with many excellent simulators. Personally I have no interest in anything but ultra-realistic simulations of real racing either GT saloon racing or cross country. There are of course excellent F1 and Rally simulators but personally although I am a huge fan of real F1, the incredibly narrow field of view on screen, from so close to the ground makes it no fun as far as I am concerned, or maybe just too hard, as by the time you see the corners it is almost too late to brake or change gear! Rallying bores me because it is against the clock. I like to race neck and neck with opponents, especially live online! TOCA 2, TOCA Race Driver 2 & 3 , GTR FIA GT Racing & GTR 2 are all excellent saloon racing sims. CRC 2005 is good for cross-country saloon racing.

However to really enjoy road racing simulators you MUST have pedals and a force feedback steering wheel with paddle or stick gears, as there is really no point in trying to race cars with a keyboard.

You can however, race motorcyles in virtuality with a joystick, but adequate throttle control is very hard. For visual realism I recommend GTR 2

There is even one old game which I like that simulates all the old 1930's race cars at Brooklands and similar "raceways" called "Microprose Spirit of Speed". It reproduces the raucous engine notes of old racer cars like the Napier Railton especially well.

Saloon car or GT racing with an FF wheel and pedals is ENORMOUS fun, socially very entertaining for others to watch and if you are set up for it ALL your friends will love having a go, the ladies too! A "computer game" that in my experience, women love too.

I should also mention the awesome GPL (Grand Prix Legends) by Sierra which, although of a similar vintage to the ancient Red Baron 3D and now10 years old, remains the most accurately modeled and realistic simulator ever of Grand Prix Racing in the 60's and 70's. It has something of a cult following and really requires great skill to drive the race cars, just as the real cars did, back in the days when F1 Grand Prix racing was still almost a blood sport. The world of Stirling Moss, Graham Hill and James Hunt. This is a sport (like so many others) initiated by the British in which we still play a central role globally.