Simviation Forums

im a big videogame player and also a big fs user. I every once in a while come across an article or post that some how hints about the superiority of flight sims as opposed to videogames. Also that gammers as my self play non intelegent games like first person shooters that reqquire little skill or intelegence and gammers them self are stupid. whats up with that. flight sims are made by video game companys by videgame programmers and the like. although in game play its different but its still a video game at heart. im just saying that people need to remember where this software is coming from. videogames deserve just as much respect. with out them flight sims wouldent look as nice thay would still be bland simple traning tools    

I think a lot of it is a perception thing. Simmers don't view themselves as gamers as they're doing a "real life thing" which takes both skill and knowledge whereas Doom just takes an itchy trigger finger!
So simmers tend to look down on gamers as the great-unwashed. I have to say very few of my students are simmers (in fact the only one who was is now training to be a pilot for Malev) whereas the dozens of gamers are spotty herberts with a reality problem...... maybe there is something in it afterall

hay videogames are hard in comparison. flight simming is some of the easiest stuff i do on my computer and its not just first person shooters i play alot of stratigy games and games like sim city.
if there is anythig the simmers are getting wrong is the level of difficulty of these games they are hard and in most cases take just as much knowledge and skill. aside from that i have ran into my fair share of stupid mouse potatos. you do have a point about the student in your class. but im shure that a number of those game playing students will move on to have sucessfull carears. in any case its better than sitting in front of a tv  

So what you're saying is running around cutting peoples heads off with a lightsaber in Jedi Academy is intellectual? Heck I just do it to unwind

So what you're saying is running around cutting peoples heads off with a lightsaber in Jedi Academy is intellectual? Heck I just do it to unwind

Normally, I would use the lightsaber to light a cigarette and decapitate anyone who would try to jump me.

I think it's the same with combat flight sims, too. As soon as weapons are involved, it's looked upon as immature and childish, as if there's little-no skill in actually shooting at something!

I myself have no desire to pilot a 747 across the Atlantic. I don't find it at all appealing, although I may see why some people do. However I find it much more fun (after all, if you don't enjoy it, what's the point?) and challenging to fly a combat sortie over Russia, in Lock On: Flaming Cliffs! It's not all about just pointing your nose at the enemy and pulling the trigger.

Plus, the flight models in LO:MAC/FC are far superior to those in the MSFS series. That sells it for me as much as anything, especially if you're at the controls of a MiG-29!

I sometimes wonder if we "Great Washed.... ..." get much too involved in this "Pretending-To-Fly-Aeroplanes" malarkey, and join the "Great UnWashed... 8-)...", and load up a different Video Game now and again just to prove that we are not obsessed with our dubious Flying Skills... .... ...!

Every now and again I drag myself, kicking and screaming, away from Flight Simulators, and load up one of the zillions of "Other" computer/console games which I have accumulated over the past 36+ years.... ...!

There is life after Mr Gates....trust me... ...!

LOL... ...!

Paul...Computer Game Fanatic, (and unwashed)....1970 - ..... 8-)....!

I still use my PS2 on a regurlar basis. Not as much as FS9 but I still like to race in Gran Turismo, snowboard in SSX or shoot some bad guys in Socom.

And yes, you're right a flightsim is a videogame. Nothing more, nothing less. It's just so much more versatile than the other games. In which game can you travel the whole world? None that I have on my PS2.

Crash

Every once in a while I relax my nerves by shooting a few Nazi's and Monsters in "Return to Wolfenstein's Castle"!!  Also do a little " Call of Duty" and " Battlefield 1942 ".   I also like Gran Turismo on my Daughter's PS2.

Sims and video games are different for one key reason: one is meant to imitate reality and the other is meant to be fun.  Both can be challenging, both can take skill.  I enjoy the reality aspect of simming: it helps you learn about real life, and once you've learned you can then critique the quality of the sim's approximation of real life.

I would classify myself as a hard core sim nut.  I love anything sim.  I play racing sims like GTR, Grand Prix Legends, Richard Burns Rally.  I play shooter sims like Rainbow Six and Amerca's Army.  I play flight sims like MSFS 9 and Falcon 4.0 AF.

I have only a passing interest in non-sims.  I've dabbled in racing games like GT2,3,4 for the various Play Stations.  I've dabbled in shooter games like Call Of Duty and Far Cry.  I've not yet found a flight game compelling enough to dabble in yet.

From the racing sims I've learned a lot about car control and setup which I apply in real life autocrossing my Miata (and soon bringing it to the track).  I haven't learned anything applicable from shooter sims except how stunningly unrealistic the Rambo movies are.  :)  And someday I'll finally get around to taking real flying lessons to put my flight sim knowledge to work.  Can't do any of that with a mere game.

The thing I find different about video games (like shooters, and RPG's) and flight sims is that last part of the title for example Microsoft Flight [glow=yellow,2,300]Simulator[/glow]. In a game like Battlefield: 1942 your not going to learn any thing that you can use in real life, because there just meant to be played for fun. As with a flight sim while its meant to be played for fun, it can also be used as a training aid in learn to fly in real life, and it teaches you somethings can use in real world flying. Like in Battlefield: 1942 its not going to tell you how to load and fire a M1 rifle or drive a Panzer tank, but in a flight sims you have to learn how to fly the plane and about what systems do what like what flaps do in flight or what stall angle is for the plane your flying. So I think that there is a difference in between a flight simand a video game.

The thing I find different about video games (like shooters, and RPG's) and flight sims is that last part of the title for example Microsoft Flight [glow=yellow,2,300]Simulator[/glow]. In a game like Battlefield: 1942 your not gooding to learn any thing that you can use in real life, because there just meant to be played for fun. As with a flight sim while its meant to be played for fun, it can also be used as a training aid in learn to fly in real life, and it teaches you somethings can use in real world flying. Like in Battlefield: 1942 its not going to tell you how to load and fire a M1 rifle or drive a Panzer tank, but in a flight sims you have to learn how to fly the plane and about what systems do what like what flaps do in flight or what stall angle is for the plane your flying. So I think that there is a difference in between a flight simand a video game.

Take a real plane out, and I bet it won't feel the same as it does in Flight Sim.

The thing I find different about video games (like shooters, and RPG's) and flight sims is that last part of the title for example Microsoft Flight [glow=yellow,2,300]Simulator[/glow]. In a game like Battlefield: 1942 your not gooding to learn any thing that you can use in real life, because there just meant to be played for fun. As with a flight sim while its meant to be played for fun, it can also be used as a training aid in learn to fly in real life, and it teaches you somethings can use in real world flying. Like in Battlefield: 1942 its not going to tell you how to load and fire a M1 rifle or drive a Panzer tank, but in a flight sims you have to learn how to fly the plane and about what systems do what like what flaps do in flight or what stall angle is for the plane your flying. So I think that there is a difference in between a flight simand a video game.

Take a real plane out, and I bet it won't feel the same as it does in Flight Sim.

I know!! I've actually stopped flying FS since I started flying for real, its hard to describe...but theres a huge dimesion of it which you just don't get sitting at a computer.

I know!! I've actually stopped flying FS since I started flying for real, its hard to describe...but theres a huge dimesion of it which you just don't get sitting at a computer.

Better frame rates, even with all the sliders max'd.  :)

I know!! I've actually stopped flying FS since I started flying for real, its hard to describe...but theres a huge dimesion of it which you just don't get sitting at a computer.

Better frame rates, even with all the sliders max'd.  :)

No blue screen of death either  ;D

Matt