“…They were FAST…they were DEADLY…they were OUTNUMBERED! They were the…SECRET WEAPONS OF THE LUFTWAFFE”

Thank you, comic book style cover.

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Novotny: nothing seems to agitate people quite like WW2 FS Flight Models.
First off, y’all are dealing with historical data produced under greatly varying circumstances of accuracy: in some cases, you’ve got aircraft being measured in ideal conditions: fresh off the line, worked on by factory mechanics, and so on. In others, they’re looking at captured equipment. Then each aircraft varies. And if you get two sets of test data, they won’t match. Now you’re looking to apply this to a videogame, which necessarily simplifies things (Q: How much CPU power does a good fluid dynamics simulation require? A: How much have you got?). Finally, you’re building for the overall effect, and that includes how the world is simulated. Any good online flight simulation will use the aircraft’s current motion and extrapolate it to ease over the up to 200 ms. (and beyond!) lag you might encounter and give the aircraft the impression of being in the same fight (this obvious technique is the basis of the patent that WB’s owner uses, or used, to shake down any number of online games). The predictive technique has its own drawbacks, namely that someone with an appropriate ping and creative reversal of control surfaces can appear to perform on other clients maneuvers (e.g., roll reversals) several times what the FM says it can. So many games dampen the controls beyond what they’re supposed to do.

For that matter, mapping an analogue stick to an aircraft with trim tabs is itself its own interpretation.

So, IL2 has a good flight model. So does Targetware, or Aces High. Warbirds isn’t bad, but it’s still a generation before (no prop pitch and a bunch of stuff tacked on). Once you get used to one of these FMs, all the others “Feel” like videogames. And the fanboys descend and bicker endlessly about something they think has a factual answer. The Russian and RAF fans will complain that US planes in WB have an edge. The Americans bitch that IL2′s Soviet aircraft are overmodeled. And the Luftwhiners, well, they complain in every flight sim since SWOTL, and I don’t think they were happy with that one either. In truth, it’s a matter of interpretation, artistry and game design more than hard facts.

History doesn’t give answers, only arguments.

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Exceptional Beg:: Please remake Tie Fighter, Lucas Arts peeps. We might even forgive George a bit.

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I remember playing this back in the day 56k modems were all the rage and the game came free with some awful ISP. Wasn’t bad actually.

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