Flight Sim Question

[RedArgo]

Hi,

Recently my 8 year old boys discovered my old Combat Flight Simulator 2 game and have been playing it quite a bit. Now they want to design and fly their own planes. I'm not aware of any games that allow that, but I really don't pay that close of attention.

Anyone heard of anything like that? I know you can mod CFS2, but I'm sure that is well beyond me and probably my boys too.

Thanks,
Bill

[V22 Osprey]

I think there is a program called X-Planes that allows aircraft creation.

[Hertston]

Indeed, X-Plane. However, you need to consider what you are buying and who is using it; it would be truly exceptional 8 year olds who could use the design tools without a lot of help. A degree in aeronautics isn't required, but some knowledge of aerodynamics is.

[TonyE]

Right on Hertson, X-Plane isn't exactly drag and drop aircraft building [;)]

A much much more basic approach is FMS, http://www.flying-model-simulator.com/ , the requisite plane building tutorial is at http://rcp.web.infoseek.co.jp/Rc_hp2/fm ... uoia_e.htm

imho X-Plane is an awesome way to go if you have the patience to fail a few times before you succeed.

[RedArgo]

I'd never heard of that. The designer looks great, but it says no combat, so it probably wouldn't hold their interest.

Thanks though.

[sabre1]

I don't know how many of you guys remember, but if IIRC there was a program put out by Domark and it allowed you to build/design your own aircraft.  It was a DOS (may dos live forever) program.

[TonyE]

ORIGINAL: RedArgo

I'd never heard of that. The designer looks great, but it says no combat, so it probably wouldn't hold their interest.

Thanks though.

Ack, forgot about that part and got too excited about X-Plane [:(] and totally forgot about my favorite Fighters Anthology with the FA Toolkit for customizing your own planes!

Amazon even seems to have some old copies, http://www.amazon.com/Fighters-Antholog ... B00002EPYG

Also take a look at http://farc.3synergy.net/ to see if editing is within the realm of ease that you will require.

If you make it to the point of giving it a go, it runs great on XP (you may have to run the game with disk 2 in the drive instead of disk 1) but I've had some hiccups with Vista64, though it is working.

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: RedArgo

Recently my 8 year old boys

Are they twins?

Anyways flight sim games can be complex, and simplier ones are unlikely to have any capabilities for custom content. But for wargames (in and out of computers), there are some where custom aircrafts can be built within set of rules. BattleTech is one such game (tactical level miniature wargame), and rules for aircraft (+ spacecraft and airship) construction are in TechManual

[RedArgo]

Yes, they are identical twins. I enjoy playing these historical games with them and they love to learn about history. I guess I'd better enjoy it now as they will probably quit talking to me once they become teenagers .

We actually play Mech Warrior 4 sometimes and they do really like that. I think a board game would be a little slow for them right now, but maybe in a few years.

I'll have to check out the Fighters Anthology and see if it looks OK. WWII is nice because they can just fly and shoot machines guns without worrying about all the jet age technology.

Thanks for the ideas,
Bill

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: RedArgo

We actually play Mech Warrior 4 sometimes and they do really like that. I think a board game would be a little slow for them right now, but maybe in a few years.

Excellent! I recommend you to check out Leap Into the Action!!! page. There is enough free PDF material to get started, and Quick-Start Rules are very easy and fast to learn & play. From more extensive rules, there is free PDF version of the Introductory Rulebook. Explore the site, and Downloads page in particular. You'll find that BattleTech is great miniature game, and relatively cheap.