Quote Originally Posted by Dutch_guy
Have a question for you all.

I'd like to know if the MP is any good in flight sims, particulary in Il-2 Forgotten battles, without the expansion pack.

It's been lying on my desk for the past 6 months, and I thought I'd give it a go - especially the MP, which I've never done before with the game.

The MP with IL2 is great fun. Stable, easy to connect and, where I played, a low shmuck-to-gentleman ratio. You might have a hard time finding good games that allow you in without the expansion pack. Most people have it and want the variety. Mind you, the expansion and Pacific Fighters can both be had very cheap and they offer incredible variety to the sim so they are well worth buying.

I've been tooling around with my new sim, Falcon 4: Allied Force, for the past few hours. I forgot what an absolute bear this sim is to fly. The manual is 716 pages and there are over 400 cockpit commands.

F4:AF to Lock On is like chess to checkers. Mind you, the F4:AF graphics, though improved, still look five years old. But the sim (this is no game!) offers a level of depth that is almost unprecedented. There is little easy in this sim. At full realism, it's a 42-stage process just to start the engines and get ready to taxi. (I don't fly at that level.) Mastering the radar on this F-16 sim on full realism (which I haven't yet) is a weeks long process and requires lots reading and practice. But the rewards outweigh the complexity and lack of eye-candy. Running a successful mission, especially a SEAD (Suppress Enemy Air Defence) mission, gives you a great feeling of accomplishment.

If you can handle the Mission Editor, which is not easy, you can build scenarios that are insanely realistic. Also, the dynamic campaign is unprecedented. It's not just a flight sim - it's a war sim. You'd have to be in a NATO air ops center to approach this level of depth and realism.

If you're an old hand to Falcon 4, this is a must buy. If your new to flight sims, approach with caution, the learning curve is very high, the realism is almost painful, and the graphics are pure 1999.

But the rewards are worth it if you can get past the complexity. The old saying about Falcon 4 is true: Falcon 4 isn't a game - it's a way of life.