Take On Helicopters
I had bought the DVD version initially, and “right out of the box”, slow FPS rates were the first thing to attend.
Being a virtual pilot for many years on the MSFS series, it was quite natural to give TOH a shot.
Right from the beginning , FPS rates had to be “treated” using the intuitive menu settings (video).
Knowing all too well the finicky nature of FSX, and it’s frequent CTD’s caused by sliders too much to the right, and to the many checked boxes, this was all too familiar for me.
The results of those major reductions in all of the settings, including clouds effects and desabling anisotropic filtering, were a big improvement. That was obviously predictable, at the cost of some eye candy, and limited visibility.
– Real player with 82.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Open World Co-op Games.
I own this game quite a while, occasionally taking free flights in Seattle and i must admit - level of detail in envelopment is far beyond for any flight simulator game even today. There is probably thousand of different models for buildings, not only for landmark, but any major building have it’s own model and detailed texturing. Those also all collision enabled, meaning you can crash or land on. Even trees are crashable 3D models. You can even land and get out of your bird and start playing ARMAII in Seattle. Or in normal ARMAII maps - if you own it in Steam.
– Real player with 49.3 hrs in game
Euro Truck Simulator
As a person who has been a flight simulator addict for going on three decades now… ( I cut my teeth on a green screen IBM bootleg copy of Pilot trainer circa 1988 ) I have often been skeptical of the ‘ground runners.’ Trains, racing cars and boats all have the same singular fundementle flaw on the virtual stage. Primarily that no matter how much you REALLY want it to be true, you are NOT going to get a realistic perspective view of … well … ANYTHING. Land and city scapes will always be a generic reflection of what you just saw and are about to see again. SO; having established my rational for skepticesm, what am I doing here? To put it plainly. I’m cheap and my entertainment budget can be bought. In short for $20 I got the whole euro-truken-paint joben collection. You should too, hopefully here is why….
– Real player with 48.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Open World Multiplayer Games.
I’m torn on this one. There’s no neutral option, so I’ll go with thumbs up.
This is the second game by SCS that I’ve played, the other being 18 Wheels of Steel: American Long Haul. For having released only 8 months later, the improvements between that game and this one are incredible. I would go so far as to say that the graphics, the way the gameplay feels, and the detail of the in-game economy are all objectively better than the previous game. Trucks don’t randomly snap loose like in the previous game. You get fair warning before your character starts dozing in this game. AI traffic uses the right lane now, and it doesn’t turn right from the left lane anymore. The money you earn has more use in this game vs the last one; you buy business licenses to expand your operation into more countries, and you can buy hazmat permits to haul more dangerous (and thus more valuable) cargo. The road system has a more natural feel than the previous game, with smoother turns and smoother elevation changes. There are even subtle new additions like being able to hear ambient noise at certain places like farms and lumber mills.
– Real player with 26.9 hrs in game
X-Plane 10 Global - 64 Bit
Summary
A true sand-box flight-sim, X-Plane 10 offers a huge variety of options for virtual pilots. Be warned that X-Plane 11 now exists, so you may wish to check that first, if you want the latest version. But version 10 is still a solid offering.
Full review
X-Plane 10 is a first rate flight sim. It is not the latest in the series, as X-Pane 11 has now been released. However I’ve really enjoyed using X-Plane 10 and this sim deserves a positive review. X-Plane 10 may also still be preferred for older machines.
– Real player with 2155.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Open World Multiplayer Games.
I love it and am addicted to it.
Recommendation:
Under setting- rendering
Put number of roads to something higher.
(You get more roads where they exist in the real world)
Put number of objects to something higher.
(You will get generic boxes (buildings) at those roads)
Put detail distance to medium.
Unclick compress textures.
Put texture to high.
In the beginning I found the planes cockpits to be fuzzy.
Some really are fuzzy or they are meant to be used with 2d cockpits.
But mostly it was because by default the texture-settings where set low and where compressed
– Real player with 572.9 hrs in game
Microsoft Flight Simulator Game of the Year Edition
Do not buy this game unless you have an insanely fast internet connection and immense patience
Out of the 180.6 hours I currently have on this game, around 176 of those hours have been spent installing MSFS. To make matters worse, you can’t install the game using Steam- you have to enter an in-game installer that downloads incredibly slowly, if it even downloads at all.
When I first bought this game at release, my installer was bugged and I couldn’t actually complete the download (I always got an error message at random times throughout the download) . I had contacted both Steam and Microsoft support to fix that issue but they both didn’t help at all. A couple months after I’d given up I decided to try and install it again after I saw there was an update and for the first time it actually completed the download. This took several days and effectively commandeered my computer as you can’t close the MSFS launcher without losing all your download progress, and you can’t play other games as the download is very resource intensive. Additionally, despite having internet that’s usually about 20-50mbps down, the download speed for MSFS is more often than not around 3mbps, if not lower.
– Real player with 180.6 hrs in game
I do not recommend this game for two reasons. First, and main reason, is that this game is completely server dependent. Without good quality broadband internet connection, you will not be able to even open the game after a few days. Second, Microsoft and Asobo force what seem like work-in-progress and poorly tested upates/content onto their customers. The sim looks amazing under ideal circumstances, but my overall experience to date has been that of a beta release product. It just comes across as corporate greed, trying to save money by not hiring enough testers, instead getting their customers to do all the testing and bug feedback for them. All the while charging for the game as if it was a finished product. I have wasted countless hours trying to fix whatever bugs they’ve introduced each update cycle, just to have new bugs introduced the next time around, and its beyond frustrating at this point. I do not support this system of development and deployment. All I want is for Microsoft/Asobo to make all updates and additional content optional, even if opting out of updates would disable all online functionality of the game.
– Real player with 166.1 hrs in game
Evochron Mercenary
Ok i bought this game during the summer sale and so far I like it!
The Good!
Open world.. You can do what you want to do if you have some imagination!
A large mapped out universe with safe systems.. Not so safe systems.. And just down right Angry systems!
Even more systems that arn’t mapped out… Not sure how many so far, I have only found a few of them and their hard to find which is a good thing! Remember Space is a big place so it shouldn’t be to easy to find everything!
You can Generate space stations in locations you chose that arn’t to close to other stations.. Gives you a tactical advantige or a trading benifit, howerver you wish to use it! Thats kinda up to you to figure out!
– Real player with 318.5 hrs in game
Probably the best space sim I will ever play. Evochron Mercenary is an amazing achievement because it excels at its primary purpose: putting you in the cockpit of a wide-open universe. And I do mean wide open. While there are a jump-gates, jump-drives and other, more-exotic means of travel, the universe is a continuous whole. You could drift from one side to the other given enough time. . . though I am not sure if there are sides or just an infinite extension of the void. There are also hundreds of systems – yes, HUNDREDS – in the game many of which have yet to be discovered. Also you can land on planets (or burn up in their atmospheres).
– Real player with 85.6 hrs in game
The Count of Monster Disco
Bought this game on the recommendation, nay the insistence, of a friend who has become a huge Train Simulator enthusiast. It was half-off during the Halloween sale, and even at full-price it is much less than the original game. It is a great introduction to the unique gameplay. As my friend said, explaining the gameplay makes it sound boring, so suffice to say, it is a fairly relaxed experience, with the simple controls, simple objectives, and observation of the camera angles and maps. It is not exactly easy, with different resources to manage, but it is a slow paced game that gives you time to ponder the nature of transportation by rails.
This is a fun and well done I wish they would do another one for Halloween 2021 and other times of the year would be great. I have also bought Christmas themed add on’s but there haven’t been any new add on’s like these for a long time it’s too bad I would buy more if available
Evochron Legacy SE
I am a newcomer to 3D space and flight games, so I will start by explaining what I liked about a different space game, which inspired me to seek out Evochron Legacy. In Endless Space, I shoot across a 2D galaxy in custom-built ships, turn by turn, exploring solar systems. Each one is like a Christmas present as I approach, and the red, yellow, blue and white stars are the bows on top. When I get there, a window opens up revealing multiple planets. It is possible to guess beforehand what types of planets are in the system based on the type of star, but there is no accounting for the variety of anomalies, resources and conditions that each planet might reveal. Each one is a present unto itself, filled with envisioned potential. In times like that, I think someone should make a whole game just about this. Well, Evochron Legacy is almost that game.
– Real player with 180.9 hrs in game
Edit 10.9.2019
My house is now the rest of my ship. While flying to the Red Circle, I can cook, do laundry, and wash dishes while contemplating how to take over the sector with my fleet.
Been flying for 2 years now, I’ll be in my bunk.
Edit 4.15.2017
After almost 40 hours it felt like time to update this. In short, this game has sunk it’s teeth really deep and it’s still biting hard. None of the wow factor outlined previously is gone…in fact, it has increased the longer I’ve played. Bear in mind I’m in no hurry to complete anything, get the best gear or ships, or become dirty rich - and I’ve stayed away from tutorials as much as possible. I think this is where this game really shines for me - it rewards patient exploration of it’s mechanics, and they run deep…I only just became a good enough pilot to win my first race!
– Real player with 127.8 hrs in game
OMSI 2: Steam Edition
This is still the best bus simulator. It is a good improvement on OMSI 1.
MAPS/VEHICLES: The Spandau map is much extended with a new chronology function where you can see the routes/fares and most importantly the Berlin reunification/fall of the Berlin wall between 1986 and 1994. Two maps are included the fictional test map Grundorf (one route, the 76) and Berlin Spandau (routes 92 (137), 5 (130) and also two night routes. Two new buses come with this game the articulated (bendy) bus MAN NG272 (GN92) and the MAN NL202 (EN92). The two double deckers from OMSI 1 are improved and the MAN SD202 has two new variants; the D90 and the D91. There are new AI cars including ambulances with working sirens. There is also much more trains in OMSI 2.
– Real player with 3171.6 hrs in game
OMSI is a deeply odd and divisive creation, it is at once both an abysmally dire example of horrendous software design, while also one of the profoundest delights available to those with a passion for buses.
Learning the many arcane processes for getting this simulation to work is no small feat. Don’t bother trying to suck-it-and-see - there is no realistic chance of you fully getting to grips with OMSI inside the 2-hour limit for refunds - it requires an enormous commitment of time and energy to achieve a working understanding of OMSI. (In that respect, I suspect it’s not unlike actually learning to drive a real bus).
– Real player with 839.3 hrs in game
Train Simulator 2022
Preface
As some people don’t seem to be getting this, the reason why I have “played” this game for 2000 hours is twofold. The first is that I like trains. They’re great. This game is a pretty old game and I’ve owned it since about 2009/2010. I’ve probably clocked some 3-400 hours of playtime on this, as I have developed my own routes and driven trains up and down the existing routes. That still leaves 1700 hours. This is due to a glitch in the earlier game. It used to leave a process running that I never noticed that told steam that I was still “in-game” even when I was sleeping or out at uni/work. This wasn’t patched until very recently.
– Real player with 2818.9 hrs in game
Train Simulator. I don’t really know where to start on the game. I have owned it since Rail Simulator back in the days and when it realeased, it was a good game! However, over the years, the game has been upgraded and features have been added. The development of the game has been taken over by DTG that released it as Train Simulator 2012 and offered free updates over the years. And that is where the problem arises. The game was upgraded with new features that clogged the main engine.
You might think, “Hey, new features, that’s nice!” but think again. Most features means more use of resources which, in this game, are pretty scarse. Since the engine is still from Rail Simulator, it is 32-bit, pretty inefficient and it means when you get over 3,4GB of memory (and trust me, you can hit that limit pretty easy!) it runs out of memory and the game crashes in a tempdump, if it hasn’t crashed already in a random crash, which happens quite often.
– Real player with 2654.2 hrs in game
DCS World Steam Edition
I wish steam had a third recommendation option: “Kinda, but…”
This game, and it’s very much a game, is awesome. I’ve had over a thousand (and likely to grow) hours of fun, with some frustrations in-between. Thing is, at its core, DCS is a giant steaming piece of garbage. Nearly everything with the exception of the aircraft themselves is some flavour of “unfinished,” “half-baked,” and “broken.”
A note on the pricing: I’ve spend more money on DCS than on any other game. Though not as much as it might seem, if you do it smart you can get all important modules for 250 dollars. And it isn’t like you’ll be buying modules more than one at a time, you can get literally hundreds, even thousands of hours of gameplay from just one. I recommend you always buy on sales and choose your modules wisely. Do not buy flaming cliffs, or any of the flaming cliff aircraft, those are extremely outdated and “simplified” (though as you would quickly learn, the shortcut “shift+rctr+home” is much harder to remember than the location of the switch labelled “right engine start”, so “simplified” might not be the best word to use here).
– Real player with 1560.4 hrs in game
This game is fantastic, and I’m talking about the 100% free Su-25t simulator you get by downloading this program right here, DCS, for FREE.
The Su-25t isn’t just one plane to fly in a game like War Thunder, it’s a complete old-school single player simulator. You get ten or so training missions covering every important function of the aircraft.
You get another ten or so individual mission scenarios, + again that number of quick missions and on top of all this you get a full campaign.
Along with that full campaign you can also find additional campaigns online, really high quality player made campaigns.
– Real player with 1143.4 hrs in game