Simviation Forums

I've never used any combat simulator and thought it would be cool to fool around with one. I currently have FS9 and will be getting FS10 for x-mas. I've also upgraded my pc to this:

intel core 2 duo e6600
Nvidia 680i SLI chipset
750w power supply
2gb DDR2 800
2x 250gb hard drives, Raid 0
Nvidia 8800gtx graphics card

How intense of a program is CFS3? Is it as demanding on the system as FSX? Will my system run this game pretty good?

Sorry, but I also have some random questions. Can you take off and land the planes? I think i remember hearing that on the earlier versions you couldn't. How does the online gaming work? That sounds pretty interesting. I've never been into video games so I'm not familiar with how it works. With the online gaming, are add-ons compatible?

Looking at the CFS3 site, it almost looks like you play a character, so it's not just about flying. Is this the case? If so, that seems pretty cool.

I appreciate any responces!

CFS3 has been out since 2002. Advanced as it was at the time (similar to how far ahead FSX is now) the rig you've got will be more than capable of handling it.

You can take off and land the planes. In all versions of CFS you start the mission on the runway. You can choose whether to land though as you do get a debrief option on completion of all the mission goals. This will take you to the debrief screen and skip the landing. However you can ignore this prompt, or cancel it and land by yourself.

Online is quite complicated. The aircraft avaliable are strictly limited by what the host has on his computer. So any addons that the host has will be avaliable in the match as long as the game isn't set to stock aircraft only. If you have an aircraft that the host doesn't have then you won't be able to use it. Also, the game recognises different aircraft by the .dp or weapons file. So if there have been any changes to that then it will become a different aircraft in the eyes of the game and won't be avaliable for multiplayer games unless the host has exactly the same tweek to his aircraft.

How the campaigns in CFS3 work is you create a character who you will be for the duration of the campaign. The campaign map is most of western europe, England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany etc. Also, the campaign is not made up of pre made missions. You select an area of the front line which is shown on the map and you will be given a list of missions and targets. Select one and a mission will be generated. Depending on the importance of the target you will effect the war effort to various lengths. For example, destroying a convoy of ships will generally have little effect. Attacking an artillery position or squadron of tanks may cause the front line to move forwards. Attacking an several armaments factorys will cause the enemy to run low on supplys and weapons which will increase the chances of any offences undertaken by your side. You can fly for either Britain, America or Germany and the campaign lasts from between 1943 and the end of the war or 1947, which ever comes first.

On top of that there are also single, prefabricated missions to fly, plus a free flight and quick combat mode.

3rd party addons may seem slim at first. However there are a few huge freeware expansions that you can install which are basically stand alone sims run off CFS3 as a base. There is a Korean version, I forget it's official title. Then there's Over Flanders Fields which is WWI based. And finally, there is MAW. Med Air War, the first part of which will hopefully be released around christmas time. As I said, these are massive expansions and are freeware. After M$ decided to axe the CFS series it was left to the freeware community to produce CFS4 by themselves and I believe that MAW will come pretty close to doing that.

Aside from that there are numerous freeware aircraft, missions, skins, effects etc to download. Mostly from www.avhistory.org, www.sim-outhouse.com and www.groundcrewdesign.com


Regardless of the bad press CFS3 got when it was released I, and may others believe it to be the finest combat flight sim avaliable and is well worth getting.

I've never been into video games so I'm not familiar with how it works.

It's only as much of a video game as FS9 is.

Fundamentally it's a flight simulator, but with weapons and damage modelled in. The AVHistory flight model is much more realistic and reliable than the stock Microsoft aircraft, and it suffers in that the multiplayer engine allows some fairly unrealistic aerodynamics (like appearing to fly through the ground  ::) ). Multiplayer can still be fun despite this.


The upcoming MAW release (when it does come) will be a great add-on, based on the achievements of the contributors to date. www.groundcrewdesign.com have also produced some stunning stuff to go with it.

i've read some opinions that CFS2 is better than CFS3.... which do you guys think I should get?

It's all a matter of personal taste, but I don't have CFS2 installed any more. Shows you which I think is better.

I got them both, and must admit i use cfs2 a lot more maybe because i've a lot of europe combat installed.

If you chose cfs3 (its good, no doubt) then pay attention to Woodlouse remark by creation a character. If you dont, you will not be able to get into campaign.

Furthermore, Skysurfer, if you are flying fs9 and really want to fly an airplane, try this j35 draken out:
http://flightsim.bookmark.se
You are into hard work, read the manual carefully, and you will see, a real aircraft can be done in a sim.
Try also this Viggen made by Ridgell at:
http://www.rbdesign.se/
Maybe i'm out of topic.

I ended up picking up CFS3 today along with the Saitek x52 joystick. I already have the CH yoke, pedals, and throttle quadrant but I don't think it would feel right flying a p51 with a yoke!

I'm going to uninstall FS9 soon and install CFS3! I'll let you guys know what I think.

Quick tip for the P51. Before you do a free flight or a quick combat in the P51 be sure to put the fuel down to 50% Otherwise the centre of gravity will be wrong and you'll stall like crazy. This is realistic. And annoying if you forget.

Skysurfer. Why uninstall fs9?

Skysurfer. Why uninstall fs9?

because the PC i have right now is a laptop with a 20gb hard drive that only had 1gb of free space! i have a custom built PC on order that will be shipping on the 18th, so i can live without FS9 for a few days until it arrives.

i'm having problems with CFS3 crashing. no error messages or any signs that it's going to crash. i've only been able to fly the plane twice so far for just a few short minutes.

this program can't be more intensive than FS9, can it?? i had a decent amount of settings on FS9 maxed out and it ran pretty good. i can't figure out why it's crashing.... anyone have any ideas??

It is not. If you ran fs9, cfg3 should be ok. Go into start, programs, msgames, cfs3, config. In overrides you may have to uncheck the dual pass render and check high resolution z-buffer.
One idea to start with.
You have a problem with the lack of space on the hd. If you cant make a defrag then bye bye.

i'll try the config files later. i do have enough space now on my HD though. after i deleted FS9 and installed CFS3, i have 5gb of free space on my HD left. that should be more than enough space. and like i said, FS9 ran pretty smooth.

i haven't had the time to play with the settings yet. hopefully i will tonight.

How much RAM have you got? CFS3 likes RAM.

YES.
And shut down your running programs.