I was waiting for CFS3 to come out before deciding between it and IL-2. Based on all the screaming and gnashing of teeth over CFS3, I went the other way. Is there a forum here or somewhere where one can find out about basic things like patches (I know there have been some), hardware tweaks, etc.? Thanks.

http://www.netwings.org/Their CFS3 forum had me visiting daily prior to its release, and there's an IL-2 forum there too, and I like the site. SimHQ also has decent forums for each of the main simulators.IL-2 also has its own Web site and forums:http://www.il2sturmovik.com/

Thanks, Paul. May I ask what is your opinion about the two sims? It would seem that the troubles caused by CFS3 might be too much to save it in a comparison test.

I used IL-2 a few times, and liked some of the haze and various graphic effects that were well done--but I never really did understand why so many liked it so much. Perhaps I can't relate very well because I use these programs just as flight simulators, and don't care about combat and missions, etc. For some reason I found that the planes I flew would seem to go into spontaneous dives, and just be terribly hard to control--but on the other hand I've read many opinions that the flight models in IL-2 are really good. I also found the terrain, while well done, to be dull and repetitive--though it might be just that in that part of the world. But if so it would be a bit like flying over the Sahara Desert to me--there's not exactly much to see there.Still, there was evident care and polish associated with IL-2; with CFS3 I just can't say the same. My impression is that something went seriously wrong somewhere, and that they very probably ran out of time prior to a firm pre-Christmas release date. Anyway, for the same reason I'm very impressed with most of the LOMAC screenshots, I am unimpressed with CFS3: Its world appears anything but realistic to me, so I took it back to the store.Bear in mind that the Forgotten Battles add-on for IL-2 should be available soon, and some of the screenshots--of the water for example--are excellent. So if you get IL-2 you'll be able to add to it soon and you'll see a world that's a lot more realistic than in CFS3. But I personally think the real breakthrough in realism will happen when LOMAC goes on sale sometime next spring.