The Golden Age of Flight Simulators

[dighost 25]

a flightsim for the Commodore Vic-20 in 1983

Wouldn't be this one would it? http://www.ebay.com/itm/IFR-Flight-Simulator-Ron-Wanttaja-Commodore-VIC-20-Academy-Software-1983-/360429676664?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53eb486878I remember my cousin got a Vic 20 and showed me my first computer flight sim. Those were the days!

[Gibbage 199]

Wow. Thanks for posting that. Brings back a lot of memories, but really shows how small simming has gotten. We went from having stores dedicated to sims, with a great selection of software, to just having 2 or 3.

[JasonD210 0]

For me the golden age was in the late 90s early 2000.I don't think PC games are dead, but rather the concept of a PC game has given way to the concept of a console game. There will also be PC games but I believe that mainstream game cores are now designed to run on multiple platforms - this is ok but it makes the input logic somewhat limited. I mean, consider FSX - there's literally hundreds of controls. Compare that with flight and you'll see there's not more than 20 or so.

[HiFlyer 9,343]

How true! Technology and games were evolving so quickly. My PC just had the internal speaker (horrible), then one day I went to the local software/computer store and they had this new thing called a soundcard. I think it was an Adlib card, and it was expensive but I went ahead and got it. That changed everything!If you ever played the game Wing Commander this sequence was jaw dropping. It might be the first cinematic game sequence ever?? Still gives me chills...

I think Wing Commander was simply superceeded by newer efforts until the final market implosion for those types of games. Fortunately, in some cases (Like Falcon) the fans, the modders, and interested individuals came together and continue the legacy of those old games, even enhancing them far beyond their original lives. (the power of enthusiasm!) :smile:One effort is the Freespace SCP, which is devoted to the continued existance of Freespace, A space fighter "simulater" game from 1999. Graphics have been updated, the engine tweaked to cutting edge standards, and uncounted totally free fan made missions and mods created. Amongst them is a Homage to the Wing Commander of old; a complete remake, in fact. Maybe some efforts along these lines is how FSX will find a way to live on one day, after many have turned off the lights.http://www.wcsaga.com/

Edited February 15, 2012 by HiFlyer'

[Glynn 405]

FSX is a failure, but maybe on a better PC it will shine..maybe..

HelloOn a better PC it does shine, certainly not a failure once you have it running correctly, you have much to look forward to