Recent air combat sim recommendations?

OK, that new version of WOFF may be what it takes to get me to purchase/build a gaming PC plus accessories. I used to build a new system every year when I was reviewing flight sims for the magazines, but some time ago we turned into a console + laptops house.

Wonderful.

Are they still using CFS3 as the engine?

ĀÆ_(惄)_/ĀÆ Probably?

I seemed to have misplaced my copy of cfs3. I guess it doesnā€™t require it for install any more, but thatā€™s a bummer.

YEah that is a bummer, but yeah you no longer need a copy of CFS3 to install or run WoFF.

Losing a copy of CFS3 is no big deal, because EAW is for sale at GOG :)

Man, we got 3 classic sims all at once in 98 - EAW, CFS3, and WW2 Fighters. So spoiled.

God damn that was a good year.

It was more if it became an issue again in the future with WOFF. I guess I should install WOFF again and maybe get that platinum edition expansion, because the ultimate edition wasnā€™t enough. :)

Iā€™d not get anything until this new thing comes out.

My first review for CGW was a two page spread on strategy for WWII sims, using those 3 as the basis for the article. Iā€™d been writing for CGS+/CGM for a while and @Editer seduced me to come write for him and ā€œthe big boysā€ (Of course, Denny later went on to become the EIC at CGM!)

Those were glorious days to be a simmer. We had more sims to review than we had time to review them. And some really good ones too, many of which have been mentioned on here like the Rowan sims.

@Editer hired me on an 800-word stringer for games like Re-volt, the expansion to Wing Commander Prophecy, and a forgotten (literally - canā€™t seem to find it anywhere) F-15 arcade-style cheapy based on the Janeā€™s F-15 engine (whose name Iā€™ve also forgotten).

Good times :) CGW paid well per word, too. I needed some of those checks :)

Yeah, they certainly paid a lot more than CGS+/CGM, though I enjoyed writing for those people. And I was blown away by the artwork and layout CGW did for my article.

Good times.

Late '90s were a golden age for flight sims, only thing that sucked was forever fighting the upgrade warsā€¦::shudder::.

Once you had a Glide card ā€“ even the base Voodoo 1 ā€“ and a 300 Mhz CPU, you were OK for quite a while

The TNT2 kinda changed everything, but that was, what, 1999?

Ah, those were the days indeed. And VR was a distant pipe dream.

Yeah, I started updating or rebuilding my computer every year in order to review the latest sims. Of course, I did get a magazine to pay for one of my builds for a ā€œBuilding a computer for dummiesā€ type article. ;)

Thought Iā€™d re-post this question here in case some of you donā€™t venture into hardware sub-forum.

I decided I want to get a trackball mouse that I can set on a small barstool chair right next to me so I can do some mousing while Iā€™m in VR for my flight sims. Iā€™ve never had or used a trackball before and Iā€™m not sure what I would adapt well to. So far Iā€™ve looked at Kensington and Logitechā€™s but have no idea what would be best.

Iā€™ve owned both (as well as the late, great Microsoft trackball). Theyā€™re both good, itā€™s really a matter of picking a physical layout you like. Iā€™d say go for a center ā€œpoolballā€ design rather than one with a small ball designed for thumb manipulation. Iā€™d lean towards the Kensington because the larger ball offers more precise control.

OK, Iā€™m doing that. As I was looking at so many HOTAS setups I saw a lot of people with these tricked out seats that not only had spots for their HOTAS, but also a small mouse platform as well. But I canā€™t connect anything else to my chair without it toppling over from being so unbalanced. Some of the shapes of the setups Iā€™ve seen like this:

made me think about what I could do to replicate it. Remembered I have a foldable barstool downstairs so I think I can make this work for me. Will post a pic in a sec.