How it all started for me

[Scott - A2A]

I remember LHX: Attack Chopper - that was a great game. The smoke used to be transparent circles, but it did the job.

My friend and I used to fly simulations together, one acting as pilot the other as weapons officer. Just for fun on our way into enemy territory, we would jokingly give the Abrams tanks a little burst of our cannon just to say, "hi."

Scott.

[Snuffy]

I remember the stick figure flight sim that came with MS DOS programs ... (CRS got me ... I'm sure it was with the DOS brand of OS) ...

[GlennC]

For me, it was Flight Sim Version 2, about 1986. It was the first program I bought for a Sanyo MBC775 (if I remember right). That was a 30 something pound arm stretcher of a "portable" computer available only in Japan where I was stationed at the time. The OS was MS-Dos 2.2, 7 inch CGA screen. It came with two 5.5 inch floppies. I swapped one for a 20 meg hard drive.

Now you know . . .

Glenn

[Stuntie]

I have fond memories of Dawn Patrol and Pacific Air War.

PAW was fantastic with it's carrier battle mode. No game has redone such as suberb system, which I find baffling.
You really felt like you mattered in it. A good torpedo or die bomb run and you could tip the scales.
Same with fighters - taking out that incoming kate could save the Enterprise from a fiery doom.
And protecting the avengers meant torp hits and a battle won rather than just a kill score.

Basically you got your fleet/s on the map and somewhere out there was the enemy.
You needed to scout for them and then lauch attacks. Of course they were doing the same.
Lovely trade offs - Lots of scouts and you find em easy - but lack attack aircraft as they are all out scouting.
too few and you can miss the enemy and find yourself under attack from out of the blue.
Also you needed to set CAPs. So hopefully had some fighters up when they came for you.
Of course that meant fewer fighters to escort your strike.....
You could play it from the ploting board as the admiral would, or you could jump in on strikes, caps or any other encounter.

Some nice real life tricks you could do too such as sending out armed Dauntlesses as scouts - spot the enemy and dive in - could end up with a damaged flatop right at the start.
Get whacked from nowhere but survive - send your strike off in the same direction as the enemy retreated and see if you find their carriers there.

Nothing better than tipping over and lining up on that big red spot on a Jap flight deck.
I yearn for a game like that but despite CFS2, Pacific Fighters and so many other flight sims - nothing has re captured that feel.

Sometimes I think we have gone up in graphics and flight models but backwards in gameplay.

[8thFG]

Loved PAW and EAW. WWII Fighters was good, especially the interview videos with the Greats like Gabby, Bud Anderson, and Gunther Rall. Great Stuff !!