An era is coming to an end

[GrauGeist]

There's word that at the end of 2011, they're closing the Jane's WWII Fighters website & forums down.



It'll be a sad day for those who've brawled over the Wintery 1944 European skies in what has to be one the great WWII combat sims of all time.

If you still have the game and want to add any of the mods or patches, now would be a good time to get in there and update your goodies.

If you're a member of the site, jump in there and share your memories in LDF's thread "Salute" found in the General Discussion area.

And for those who need the link: WWII Fighters

[phatzo]

Fighter Ace folded mid last year too. WWII online flight (combat) sims are dying out.

[Pong]

Fighter Ace folded mid last year too. WWII online flight (combat) sims are dying out.

Seriously? That sucks, I played a lot of Fighter Ace II a few years back, one of the most enjoyable simulations I played before I switched to Il-2.

R.I.P, Fighter Ace and World War II Fighters.

[BombTaxi]

It seems that the IL-2 series is the main survivor these days. Sadly, I believe that time is running out here as well, with no development from 1C for some time, and a sequel not yet in sight

[phatzo]

Aces High is still developing somewhat but its still basicly a ten year old game engine. I think warbirds is on the slipery slope too.

[icepac]

Fighter ace pilots were absorbed by warbirds and aces high.

Targetware arenas are now down.

I seem to see the most development in freehost warbirds 2.77 and freehost's attempts at IL2 multiplayer and am hoping some of the innovations on server settings seen on tabahost warbirds 3 will end up being implemented in other sims.

It's been quite while since attending the 1994 air warrior convention at washington dc that gave rise to confirmed kill (warbirds) and I think blame for decreasing player base is due more to a change in gamer personalities than the obvious bad decisions made by the game and arena hosts.

Back in the day, gamers who desired to play multiplayer spent time configuring to thier wits end just for a few minutes play time.....because that was what was required to "game".

There was no plug and play or easy route to a game and this attracted people with skill sets and knowledge in a the right areas as well as the desire for something so new that few knew about it.

These people have moved on (most anyway) and the circumstances that caused this group of people to have the requesite skills and desire at that frame of time do not exist any more.

multiplayer gaming is now easy to achieve, realism has given way to eye candy, and "canned events" are now more common than not.

There will always be a small group who want accurate multiplayer flight simming but a profit can not be made hosting these arenas unless more users can be attracted.

I've flown since 1993 steadily and the best fighter simming I see is at warbirds or warbirds freehost but I might try the others again if they have gotten the flight, damage, and gunnery models as accurate as the are where I now fly.

I'm building a new rig and will celebrate it by delivering airframe pepperidge to any and all opponents in a lightning round of trying out all the multiplayer sims in a couple of months and then stick with the ones I like best.

If you fall victim to a supposedly inferior and least popular plane in the planeset that shows up with a huge altitude advantage, it may well be me.

Quisp (air warrior)
Icepac, Icepaq, shwing, and higgns in the others.

[phatzo]

The one thing about warbirds I really don't like is that the aircraft continues to roll after you have returned stick input to a neutral position, is the free server the same?

[icepac]

The free server is based on the wb2.77 release of many years ago.

Many feel it is more accurate than the wb3 and beyond.

I mentioned it because it is free and system requriements are low......but you will have to apply patches and such to make it work in win 7 or vista

[icepac]

Now at aces high to deliver pepperidge though the entire arena population pretty much only flies late war speed demon planes that somehow are able to also turn with a zero.

I've also not had a single spin which reminds me of the old "easy mode" or "relaxed realism" arenas of "warbirds" where finesse is not required......just up the best plane.

Thier early war and axis vs allies arena (2 week war with rolling plane set) sits completely empty while the late war arenas tonight had 350 people in LA7, Mustangs, spit XIV, and 190d planes.

[phatzo]

Icepac, on the clipboard, choose options>flight uncheck stall limiter. The stall limiter is a bit of an easymode for the newer players, you should have no trouble flopping out of the sky then. If you prefer more realistic settings try Friday Squad Opperations, your more than welcome to join 9GIAP for a run to try it out. MA is just practice. Look me up, same name in there.

[icepac]

Thanks for the suggestion.........I unchecked that right away but I did disable combat trim after your suggestion.

I'll look you up....thanks

I fly the mostly knights but will go to whatever side allows me to explore what I haven't already seen yet in game.

Still haven't spun a plane yet like warbirds 2.7 does.

Once combat trim is disabled, mapping trim to joystick axis is necessary if you want have the authority over your plane that many there have though I just trim up using the "K" key and fly with forward pressure when I find a fight and things got a lot easier.

They say the pulling through a blackout ends up relaxing elevator but it seems the full up elevator trim still works under those conditions and a lot of guys are able to maintain a tight turn using that.....not sure though.

I do like aces high and the mannable acks and tanking has been worth exploring but it seems nobody flies anything but late war speedsters.

That's probably why the amazingly cool terrains in the early war and Axis vs Allies arenas sit empty.

I'm concentrating now on killing b29s but will begin to start getting kills in early war non-uber iron.

[phatzo]

C-205 is my favorite midwar ride that sorts out all the uber planes. On the topic of the end of an era Oleg Maddox has quit flight sim developement

Oleg is leaving game development - SimHQ Forums

[icepac]

Oleg Maddox Quitting is very big news.

Aces High has been pretty fun and I have found the 205 to be pretty sweet.

I'm still mostly exploring but I've ferried a few 163s from the rear fields to the front by hopping from field to field with the wheels still attached and refueling.

Then it's off to make a big noise in the nearest enemy horde which brings accusations of hacking to which I answer......"what?...the 163 is enabled at our front line fields"

[phatzo]

lol, about three years ago seven of the Raw Prawns managed to get 163s to the front line, accusations of cheat and hack all over the place.

[Pong]

Man, I hope Oleg leaving doesn't mean the combat flight sim genre is screwed.....Though I guess all those nitpicky crap the flight sim community has thrown and Ubisoft have taken its toll on him. I wish him the best, after all he's given us one of the best simulators ever released.