The "Cat" person you're referring to is...me. Dude, I cannot even believe that Combatsim.com still has all those old posts.
Rereading that stuff was funny. I was such a freaking grognard/whiner, wasn't I? I'd probably have banned myself nowadays
.... In those days I was flying about 30 hours a week, some of it on the online ladders (up to about 1998), and writing reviews for Womengamers.com. I'm lucky if I fly that much in six MONTHS nowadays, and I'm much less "into" the simming community. I haven't flown online in years.
I absolutely HATED Typhoon. I did finally break down and buy it, like a total idiot. I also go rid of it rather soon after. It was a new low in cockpit presentation. I still think that a working cockpit is critical to simulation immersion. TK knew that when he did SF, that is one reason that SF has hung on. Look at the Lock On fans. Part of their love for the game is the onboard immersion. And don't get me started on Falcon 4.0.
I love TAW, it is the only sim that lasts when I change over computers. It's been installed on every one i have had since it came out. Why on Earth they didn't simply build on the source for EF2k or TAW I will never know. It's such a shame that WARGEN 3 was wasted on Typhoon. That game made me think more of "Crimson Skies" than any serious combat simulation I've ever flown.
Miao, Cat