34 Years of Flight Simming

[MADLOU1]

These old games bring back such fond memories.   And to think most of us thought the graphics back then were amazing LOL.  I can't imagine what the state of sims will be like 100 or even just 50 years from now!

I guess we will eventually have real Star Trek like holodecks in our homes in which we could literally step into a virtual world without vr headsets and those virtual worlds would be so real they would be indistinguishable from reality.  We would be able to literally touch, hear, smell and taste things just like in the real world.

There was an episode of either Star Trek: The Next Generation or Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in which  Engineer O'Malley and Dr. Bashir (I think) used the holodeck to pilot Spitfires during the Battle Of Britain. They experienced exactly what the real pilots did in every detail.

If I could only live long enough to experience something like that . . .

[streakeagle]

On 2/18/2023 at 7:45 AM, Rifter said:

Start of my flight career on the ZX81 1982 - no high res graphics, not even colours. Literally flying by numbers!

I played on a Timex Sinclair 1000 w/16kRAM. Not too much later, the US equivalent to the Spectrum arrived, the Timex Sinclair 2068. I had Fighter Pilot (an F-15 sim) and Tomahawk (an AH-64 sim). Fighter Pilot was a little rough, but flew a bit like an Eagle. Tomahawk was outstanding.

[Glide]

LHX Attack Chopper started it all for me.

 

[Jayhawk1971]

This was my first "flight sim", 1984, on the C64:

Followed by:

 

[xoxen]

1 hour ago, Jayhawk1971 said:

This was my first "flight sim", 1984, on the C64:

Followed by:

 

I´m built in 1972 and had the same start. Gunship, I loved it a lot. Watching videos today let me ask why. We are pampered.

[fagulha]

I started with A.C.E. in my Timex 2068 with a monochromatic display, just black and green. I can say we´ve come a long way in simulation

[Coxy_99]

 

 

[Rebel28]

I started Flight Simulation prior to Computers this is where I started.

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Rebel28
added image

[Viper1970]

2 hours ago, Glide said:

LHX Attack Chopper started it all for me.

 

This is also one of those simulations that I played a lot back then. Especially the Osprey was a rarity in the hangar of simulations those days. I don't think they were in any other sim for a long time after that which had an Osprey. Then later in MS Flightsimulator 98 you could fly it again.

[Glide]

30 minutes ago, Rebel28 said:

I started Flight Simulation prior to Computers this is where I started.

Get them when they're young!

Edited February 22, 2023 by Glide

[MADLOU1]

10 hours ago, fagulha said:

I started with A.C.E. in my Timex 2068 with a monochromatic display, just black and green. I can say we´ve come a long way in simulation

Makes me almost ashamed of myself complaining now how I can't get xx fps in my VR with maxed out graphics..  What if there was no VR or the state of graphics was close to same as in the 80s and 90s? I don't remember ever complaining about anything back then.  How easy is it for us to become such spoiled brats!!!

9 hours ago, Rebel28 said:

I started Flight Simulation prior to Computers this is where I started.

 

 

I wouldnt mind having that Steve Canyon Helmet now! Wouldn't fit my big head but it would look cool on the shelf next to my flight sim rig.

[fagulha]

13 minutes ago, MADLOU1 said:

Makes me almost ashamed of myself complaining now how I can't get xx fps in my VR with maxed out graphics..  What if there was no VR or the state of graphics was close to same as in the 80s and 90s? I don't remember ever complaining about anything back then.  How easy is it for us to become such spoiled brats!!!

I wouldnt mind having that Steve Canyon Helmet now! Wouldn't fit my big head but it would look cool on the shelf next to my flight sim rig.

Indeed. Especially when i´m upset because sometimes games take too long to load (+- 10 secs) and then i recall back then when i must wait about 25 minutes for the tape load the game in my Timex 2068 and then show me the most common error: Load Type Error.... and i start the process all over again... 

[Rifter]

18 hours ago, Rebel28 said:

I started Flight Simulation prior to Computers this is where I started.

So you lucky devil startet with a sim pit and a projection system into your flight sim career.
I haven’t even reached that point nowadays…

[Lace]

21 hours ago, Coxy_99 said:

 

 

Countless hours playing that against my brother via a serial connection.  Belt-fed AMRAAMs FTW! 

[Top Jockey]

On 2/23/2023 at 12:25 AM, fagulha said:

Indeed. Especially when i´m upset because sometimes games take too long to load (+- 10 secs) and then i recall back then when i must wait about 25 minutes for the tape load the game in my Timex 2068 and then show me the most common error: Load Type Error.... and i start the process all over again... 

 

Hello,

Same experience here (with some games / tapes, not all of them), in the long gone '80s, with my father's ZX Spectrum 48k !

 

I believe the most common message was: "tape loading error" or something, but when it worked it were hours of pure enjoyment.

[t_hedlund]

I had hundreds of hours playing this one.....TAS: River Raid "Fastest Completion" by Lord Tom - Bing video and this one....F-19 Stealth Fighter - My Abandonware

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by t_hedlund

[fagulha]

5 hours ago, Top Jockey said:

 

Hello,

Same experience here (with some games / tapes, not all of them), in the long gone '80s, with my father's ZX Spectrum 48k !

 

I believe the most common message was: "tape loading error" or something, but when it worked it were hours of pure enjoyment.

Yeah was something like that... gave me nightmares until today 

So, nowadays no game takes too long to load for me

[rato65]

This brings up many memories...

I started with MS FS back in 86 on a Hercules card and loved it... today I am blown away who realistic it has become, but I skipped it because of the annoying updates and overloaded user interface.

18 hours ago, fagulha said:

So, nowadays no game takes too long to load for me

Cannot agree on this one for the MSFS2020. I deinstalled it for now.

One reason why I play DCS, after Gunship, Strike Commander, Longbow, Lockon and all DCS versions since. And, of course, helicopters!

[Hog_driver]

Anybody tried this one?

That's where I shot my first German plane back in 1985 or 1986. We (especially the owner of the Commodore  ) were all very surprised that I managed to hit the plane at all

 

[Blackjack_UK]

This was my start... (not my picture though)

Fire the Phantom up a fishing line from the catapult on deck, watch it turn round and try to get it back on the deck neatly. Oh, and it lowered a hook as it turned. Can't remember if there was actually a cable or not.

Slightly more relevant, it was then B1 Bomber on the TRS-80, which was a text based flight sim. Yes, really. It wasn't terribly immersive...

Then Chuck Yeager, E-Falcon (which was the improved version of Falcon in EGA), LHX and Red Baron...

[fagulha]

21 hours ago, rato65 said:

This brings up many memories...

I started with MS FS back in 86 on a Hercules card and loved it... today I am blown away who realistic it has become, but I skipped it because of the annoying updates and overloaded user interface.

Cannot agree on this one for the MSFS2020. I deinstalled it for now.

One reason why I play DCS, after Gunship, Strike Commander, Longbow, Lockon and all DCS versions since. And, of course, helicopters!

I bought MSFS a week ago and i´m loving it no issues with loading times (more or less like DCS in my case) but i know that experience may vary. It´s great to learn new things, to practice and to take a break from bombs and from military stuff. So far so good i already downloaded some AFB´s, scenery, airports, liveries, etc.

[rato65]

53 minutes ago, fagulha said:

It´s great to learn new things, to practice and to take a break from bombs and from military stuff.

Good point and I totally agree! In DCS I am fascinated by the helicopter flight physics and sling loading, and the aircraft visual. However, I will try MSFS again when my interent connection has improved. I meant the upgrade loading times - it took me 4-6 hours each time they release an upgrade without any possibility to postpone the download and simply play the game. The daily game loading is ok, I agree. And the visuals are simply stunning.

Edited March 6, 2023 by rato65

[fagulha]

34 minutes ago, rato65 said:

Good point and I totally agree! In DCS I am fascinated by the helicopter flight physics and sling loading, and the aircraft visual. However, I will try MSFS again when my interent connection has improved. I meant the upgrade loading times - it took me 4-6 hours each time they release an upgrade without any possibility to postpone the download and simply play the game. The daily game loading is ok, I agree. And the visuals are simply stunning.

 

Ah got it. Well, sooner or later it will happen to me too. Not being able to postpone it it´s a bummer. 

Let´s see how it will be on my side when time comes. The installation (167 GB or something) took me around 2 hours.

 

"And to take a break from bombs and from military stuff"... first thing i did with MSFS? searched and downloaded military AFB´s and military liveries

 

[dawgie79]

First one I played was TFX - Tactical Fighter Experiment. Predecessor of EF2000. 

 

[ex81]

All you Windows veterans may not know that there was also a whole series of flight sims on the MAC. I started in about 92 with Hellcats over the Pacific. Then came Hornet from Graphics simulations and the warthog sim. Last one I tried on a Mac was Falcon 4.0. All are still (in)active on numerous ancient Macs. I play them once or twice in winter.

Lucky me I have enough space to store all the original boxes.