Has anybody noticed that at a time when civilian sims are (still) kind of scarce on the ground. War Sims, and most especially war sims/games (whateveh) focused on WW2 are so popular? Just in the last year we had Microsoft Flight (not technically a Warsim) focusing heavily on WW2 fighters.

 

This theme was continued with War Thunder, and continues further with Air conflicts, Pacific Carriers, Dogfight 1942 and Damage Inc. Added to that is the recently cancelled Cliffs of Dover which has now transmogrified to Battle of Stalingrad which is (you guessed it) yet another WW2 game.......

 

And I probably missed some.

 

So, uhm, whats up with WW2?

I guess because WWII was one of the last conflicts where dogfights were won by flying skill vs. today's computers (where often the enemy is never seen). The Korean War also had some jet on jet action that required flying skill, but the theater was limited and thus probably is not considered of great interest to the combat sim audience.

 

John

I dont know, it's fun and most of the populated multiplayer servers from the flightsim genre are ww2 so the developers keep feeding off that?

I guess because WWII was one of the last conflicts where dogfights were won by flying skill vs. today's computers (where often the enemy is never seen). The Korean War also had some jet on jet action that required flying skill, but the theater was limited and thus probably is not considered of great interest to the combat sim audience.

 

John

 

Maybe, but you have a bunch of developers willing to take just a slice of the pie. For it to be worth it, somebody must think its an awfully big pie......

Those developers are inspired to....

 

Those developers are inspired to....

 

 

I missed that. Were you trying to link a picture?

They all sound & look better then modern aircraft

 

 

I missed that. Were you trying to link a picture?

 

Oh it was Napoleon Dynamite saying 'Whatever I feel like I wanna do. Gosh!' LOL

Oh it was Napoleon Dynamite saying 'Whatever I feel like I wanna do. Gosh!' LOL

 

Never saw the movie, so I had to look up a clip. :blush:

 

I don't think that argument is likely to go down well with real millions on the line, though.......

Why is WW2 so popular a subject?

 

The largest and widest spanning conflict in human history with more nations fighting across more of the globe than any conflict before or since. Unlike wars that followed, WW2 was not a regional or proxy conflict, it was a total war where the only possibility of peace was by the total defeat of the enemy. WW2 was punctuated by some of the most famous and titanic battles in human history, fought by some of the most famous - and infamous - units in military history as well as the most famous and iconic machines. When the war was done it set the stage for world events for the next fifty years. In many parts of the world - especially Europe - WW2 is quite literally part of the scenery.

 

You're right WW2 is very popular in the flight sim genre - famous aircraft and pilots fighting famous battles without the overwhelming technology and lethal weapon sytems present today. The entry requirements for a new user to WW2 sims is far lower than something like DCS or even the PMDG NGX.

 

Not only flight sims, but many other genres of video games seem to produce lots of WW2 set games. Call of Duty started out set in WW2, as did the "Medal of Honor" series. The famous submarine simulator series Silent Hunter is set in WW2, as have been several other WW2 sub sims such as Aces of the Deep. Various WW2 tank sims have been produced over the years right up until the currently very successful MMO World of Tanks. Quite a few real time strategy titles are set in WW2, the most famous one being Company of Heroes. If you delve a little deeper into strategy games then you'll find classics such as Steel Panthers, Panzer General and Hearts of Iron. Delve even deeper into the grognard strategy genres published by the likes of Matrix and Battlefront and you'll find dozens of WW2 titles.

 

Not only video games, but also movies, books, TV series and documentaries have been produced in huge numbers about WW2 for the very reasons outlined above. As well as flight sims my other hobby is building scale model aircraft and I can tell you now the far and away most popular subject in that hobby is WW2 aircraft.

For me it goes in circles. In the past I enjoyed B-17 Flying Fortress, GATO, Silent Hunter Series, Medal of Honor, Combat Flight Simulator to name just a few of the many variety out there.

 

Lately my interests have been more with the Total War series with more historical strategy based warfare. Empire: Total War is the one I mostly go back to at this point. Other then that my GF and I play GTA4 and FarCry 3 after work in multiplayer for some fun, so not much WW2 for me lately. I would really like to see a Total War type strategy done in WW2 if there was some way to make that work.

For land and naval combat, I prefer the Napoleonic era. Silent Hunter (and Destroyer Command) were great for WW2 submarine combat. For air combat, WW2 has the most interesting options. For tanks and helicopters, modern all the way.

 

I've been wargaming since the mid 60s, and I was always dismayed to see Yet Another Obscure WW2 Battle. I almost prefer a more generic wargame like Blitzkrieg. When it was all cardboard counters and hexes, battles all tended to be the same anyway, just on different maps and with different movement rates.

 

Why WW2 air combat? It was up close and personal, with aircraft with some decent performance. WW1 was up close and personal, but the planes were a bit slow. Modern air combat is a bit impersonal.

 

Yeah, I owned every F-16 sim up to Back to Baghdad, when I decided $99 was just too much. That means I had Falcon 3.0, but not Falcon 4.0 or anything later, so I know modern air combat. The best time I had with modern air combat was in the original Harpoon with an addon that allowed carrier ops, and I spent my time in an Orion airborne command post directing the battle. Unfortunately this wasn't a 3D world, but there wasn't anything to look at anyway.

 

Edit: forgot first person shooters. Anything, WW1, WW2, modern, fantasy. Operation Flashpoint was good.

 

Hook

Lately my interests have been more with the Total War series with more historical strategy based warfare.

 

I'm a big fan of the Total War series. I remember the first Shogun: Total War about ten years ago and enjoyed it immensely. Ever since each release in the TW series has been an instant purchase for me. I currently have Medieval 2, Empire, Napoleon and Shogun 2 installed with various mods. I find myself going back to Medieval 2 the most to play mods such as Stainless Steel, Bellum Crucis, Third Age (Lord of the Rings conversion) and Rage of the Dark Gods (Warhammer conversion). I'm really looking forward to Rome 2 this year and fervently hope the next title after that will be Medieval 3.

 

I also really enjoy the Paradox grand strategy series like Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings, Victoria and Hearts of Iron. A lot of people have commented if Paradox could team up with Creative Assembly to make a game with Paradox turn based strategy and Creative Assembly's real time battles you'd have the Holy Grail of strategy games.

 

I've been wargaming since the mid 60s, and I was always dismayed to see Yet Another Obscure WW2 Battle. I almost prefer a more generic wargame like Blitzkrieg.

 

Check out the Hearts of Iron series. Pick a country - any country - choose a starting point from 1936 onwards and away you go. Turn based strategy where you control economy, diplomacy, technological research, armaments, military operations, espionage, etc.

 

The best time I had with modern air combat was in the original Harpoon

 

If you head over to Matrix Games they have a package called Harpoon Ultimate Commander's Edition which is a compilation of the most popular versions of the game including the streamlined Commander's Edition and the full-on Advanced Naval Warfare. All updated to run on modern operating systems.

 

Also check out a free game called Global Conflict Blue which is a theatre level naval and air combat sim: http://www.gcblue.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

 

You might also be interested to hear that Matrix have announced the next title in the Commander series which is called Commander: Modern Air/Naval Operations: http://www.matrixgames.com/news/991/Matrix.Games.and.WarfareSims.Team.Up.for.Command:.Modern.Air/Naval.Operations

WW2 saw (over the period) the largest techniclogical advance ever and with a large number of people who can relate and appreciate the technoligy and recreate that in the simulations available now is it any reason why. Clasic War Bird aviation world wide brings in thousands, in years to come it will be Tornados, F18's, F16's that bring in the crowds (if the CAA & FAA allow private companies/indaviduals to operate those types of aircraft AND there is tech backup to keep them flying - henc why the CAA (campain against aviation) wouldnt allow anyone to operate Buccaneer's or Mach 2 Lightnings in the UK). WW2 aircraft are relitvley easy to maintain and similate. WW2 keeps us in the UK speaking english so until I can fly a Accusim Vulcan, Tornado or Harrier WW 2 rocks. Also so many men and wonen gave their lives so we can be free, we all owe them a great deal. If I can (through flight simulator) get 1% of what it was like to fly and operate their front line fighters and bombers im keeping them alive because they should never be forgotten.

 

WW2 warbirds fit well into FSX and companies like A2A bring them to life like never before. Ive got a PPL & CPL but I will never be able to fly a P51, Spitfire or B17 but with them I can. I look forward when FS20 can bring us Tornado's and alike in the enviroment that they deserve.

Why WW2 air combat? It was up close and personal, with aircraft with some decent performance. WW1 was up close and personal, but the planes were a bit slow. Modern air combat is a bit impersonal.

 

This is true, in some of those passes the pilots used to say they could see the colour of their opponents eyes (or so it seamed) LOL

After World War 2, air combat could never be the same, except for the few Israel Air Force missions in the late 1940's with the Mustangs or the last used Mustangs in Korea.

 

I'm really looking forward to Rome 2 this year and fervently hope the next title after that will be Medieval 3.

 

I would really like another Medieval release as well. The only reason I don't go back to that one is because the commands are all different then Empire and later releases. I guess I could reassign the keys but haven't. I should try to make that work. Rome looks awesome as well as the latest Shogun (and Napoleon) never really got me as hooked as Empire did.