High ChuckP.

Very nice games list; you've got a lot to keep you "busy".

Red Barron 3D is very much alive and kicking. Scroll through the Red Baron posts for any and all help; it's there.

As for the "game", the three best mods. imho, are Hell's Angels, The Western Front 2 and Re-Load. Using a glide wrapper does make a big difference. You'll be able to find all the HOW-TO'S in the RB section.

plug_nickel (Al)

Just my 2 cents, If you enjoyed Red Baron then you will love Over Flanders Fields. Its an add on to CFS3 but really nice. The developers are still developing it to its full potential. Plus the forum over at combatace.com supports any and all problems. The learning curve is adjustable. It is my most played game. I seem to find different things happening each time I switch aircraft or start a different time period or join a different unit. or adjust the settings.

Try IL2 and use the easy settings then gradually ramp up. It won't be so frustrating then.

Tracker IR is a must I'm afraid if you really want to feel immersed. There is nothing like it. It takes most of the memorization of the keys away since in WWII sims they are mostly used for the view. No pip or rockets to arm or radar to fool around with. You just get you nose pointed at the enemy plane, get the proper lead and squeeze the trigger.

Stay with IL2 and get a Tracker IR and you will be set for years to come.

Try America's Ace of Aces campaign and fly in the shoulder harness of Richard Bong in the P38 in the Pacific.











By the way there will be an Airshow in Sacramento, CA Sept. 11-12 and 5 or more of the last 11 P-38 Lightnings will be there flying.

Oh wow! What a dream that would be. Do they sell 'cockpit time' there, to gather some donations?

I've played most of the sims mentioned here, and for some reason, one of the oldest keeps drawing me back - European Air War. It has awesome campaigns, and is now at version 1.28E which is vastly improved over the original (as well as earlier 1.28 releases). Just check the "European Air War" forum (here at SimHQ) and read the "1.28E Release" thread. Also check the terrain picture on page 2 of the "How a real 512x512 terrain looks" thread...not bad at all.

My other favorites are "Over Flanders Fields" (a separate purchase/add-on for Combat Flight Simulator 3), Combat Flight Simulator 2, and...dare I say it..."Wings of Prey", but I hate the timed missions, no mission editor, arcade approach that is used, etc. but its graphics are FANTASTIC; all these issues are discussed at length in its own forum topic.

Hey Chuck and welcome great advice by all so far.It's a great forum with a huge base of knowledge on this particular area.I reckon some of these guys have been simming since before Galland met Bader

All i would add is this. I would start somewhere middle level in learning curve like EAW. It is an immersive game although graphically older than many other titles.Extremely easy to fly straight out of the box starting on easy settings ( i used to get narky if i did not get 8 or more kills a mission) and ramping it up as you get the feel for it.Keeping the game 'clean' (although do install the first basic patch) and not worrying about addons until you can get the hang of how to fly and fight,adjust stick settings,get used to the view system etc.Once you are comfy you can look at the basic file structure of the game and see how basic addons work for it.Download far better flight models , skins , terrain,sound packs (a must) campaigns and heaps of other goodies that will just 'dump' into the main game directory.

Another way of doing that is to use a Game addon manager like OAW where you can change all of the above within a fairly neat gui.EAW is also still active online and there is a great bunch at the EAW forum here that will help you through from the basic install to understanding where it is now with all of the addons , there a huge amount that's been made for it over the years and it can look daunting at first.That's where programs like OAW come into there own for organizing your skins,terrains,campaigns etc downloads and letting you select what you want to fly,who with,where,in what season,what year and much much more with a few simple clicks.

To ramp it up a bit there is the IL2 series.A sim that has a larger learning curve with more options out of the box such planes with prop pitch control,several stage blowers,water methanol injection,gyro gun sights on certain models and even Norden type bombsights that once mastered are a great feeling of accomplishment .Skip bombing and torpedoing is also brilliantly done and great fun.Taking off from carriers in heaving seas and rainswept decks and then breaking out into sunlight above the storm clouds knowing that you have to find that carrier again in the murk is a killer.Like EAW there is a million skins,single missions,campaigns and other mods to incorporate into the game but with the 1946 version you would not really need to delve into that stuff too early as it is fairly complete sim.That said there are some simply stunning skins that can simply be dropped into the correct folder that will immediately enhance it, and like EAW it has simple settings right up to 'full real' as we call it.Locked in pit with no outside views and all noobie options off Thats where a device like TrackIr becomes indespensible, once you have flown with it you cannot go back.Truly.Its a beautiful thing.

IL2 is also still very active online and there are plenty of squads you could join that would take you under their wing and definitely improve your skill level.

Il2 will need some research on your card settings and also looking at and changing a certain conf.ini file (located in the game folder) to get the most out of it and as with EAW there is an excellent forum here that will cater to all of your questions regarding any help.

Hope that is all pretty clear and of some help.

cheers