Strike Fighters 2

[RyanC]

Link to Product Page

Strike Fighters 2, Strike Fighters 2 Vietnam, Strike Fighters 2 Europe, Strike Fighters 2 Israel all in one easy downloadable and installable package for only....$49!

Download is about 768 MB with a custom-built third wire installer/decompressor that unzips out to a 3.7 GB installation.

This offer is only good until the 28th.

Why get this if you already have Strike Fighters 1 series games?

Well, it now works on Vista/7; and there's an option that if you have a DX10 compliant card (like a NVIDIA 8800) that effectively doubles your frame rate through advanced shaders.

What Does It Look Like?

A F-8 Crusader engages a MiG over Vietnam

A-10A Thunderbolt swings in to engage Soviet Tank Column in Germany

Israeli A-4 cruises along -- note the extended jet exhaust to defeat IIR guided missiles!

Player Flyable Aircraft
• F-100D Super Sabre
• F-105D Thunderchief
• F-4B/C/D/E/J/F/M Phantom II
• F-8C/D/E/H/J Crusader
• F-15A Eagle
• F-16A Netz
• A-4B/C/E/F/H Skyhawk
• A-7A/B/C/D/E Corsair II
• A-10A Thunderbolt II
• Harrier GR.1/3
• Hunter F.6/FGA.9
• Kfir
• Mirage IIICJ Shahak
• Nesher

AI Aircraft (but can be made flyable with simple ini hack to alias a cockpit)
• MiG-17 "Fresco"
• MiG-19 "Farmer"
• MiG-21 "Fishbed"
• MiG-23 "Flogger"
• Su-7 "Fitter"
• Il-28 "Beagle"
• Tu-16 "Badger"
• Tu-22 "Blinder"
• An-12 "Cub"
• A-1H/J Skyraider
• A-6A Intruder
• B-52D Stratofortress
• B-57B Canberra
• F-84F Thunderstreak
• F-104 Starfighter
• Hunter
• Mirage III/5
• Mystère IVA
• Super Mystère B.2
• Vautour IIA

Terrains

Desert (Dhimar -- a made up middle east state for hypothetical campaigns for Strike Fighters 2)
Germany (For Strike Fighters 2 Europe)
Vietnam (For Strike Fighters 2 Vietnam)
Israel/Middle East (For Strike Fighters 2 Israel)

Campaigns

'59 Burning Sands (Fictional Middle East War)
'62 Red Thunder (European WW3)
'65 Rolling Thunder (Vietnam)
'66 Quick Sand (Fictional Middle East War)
'67 Six Day War (Israel)
'68 Red Hammer (European WW3)
'68 Rattle Snake (Fictional Middle East War)
'72 Linebacker I (Vietnam)
'72 Linebacker II (Vietnam)
'72 Desert Thunder (Fictional Middle East War)
'73 Yom Kippur War (Israel)
'75 Desert Fury (Fictional Middle East War)
'79 Red Lightning (European WW3)
'82 Lebanon War (Israel)

Add-Ons Available for SF2 (brief brief list)

F-107 Ultra Sabre
F-111A/B/C/D/E/F/K Aardvark (including USN version)
FB-111A Aardvark
F-22A Raptor
F-23A Black Widow II
J-10A Vigorious Dragon (PLAAF)
JH-7A (PLAAF)
Tu-128B/M FIDDLER

Admit it, what other flight sim lets you fly the Tu-128B/M FIDDLER, the largest interceptor ever built?

Right now, the focus in the SFP community seems to be on converting a lot of older First Generation (Strike Fighters Project 1, Wings over Vietnam, Wings over Europe, Wings over Israel) sim aircraft to the SF2 standards; so additional campaigns and maps have not yet been released in any significant number, other than enhancements to the stock SF2 campaigns.

Eventually though; Operation Tainted Cigar or "What if no one Blinked in 1962?" will be ported over, and we'll be able to take off in F-105Ds from Florida, fly a quick 90 miles, and bomb Cuba in preparation for an invasion.

Other campaigns/maps for SF1 include a Snowy Bering Strait terrain for nice WW3 action between the US and Soviet Union, which when combined with the "Long Cold Winter" campaign, let you fly F11F Tigers or Su-19s over an appropriately snowy landscape.

And of course a Taiwan terrain for the usual ChiCom/Nationalist fun.

There's also a number of projects Two Weeks (TM) from release; like:

F-108A Rapier

B-70 Valkyrie (no pics as yet)

F-103 Thunderwarrior

Avonics Modelling

This is not a detail sim, but more of a survey sim; which shouldn't be surprising, considering that Tsuyoshi Kawahito, the man behind Third Wire and the Strike Fighters series, was the lead designer for European Air War back in 1998.

There are different options for radars, you can have a simplistic arcade style mode, or a more realistic generic mode, which allows you to switch between Search Mode, Boresight Mode, Ground Map, and Terrain Avoidance Mode.

The last two are sort of not really useful (yet) in the game; since other than CCIP; there are no computer-assisted bombing modes available, which makes the F-111 add-on and planes like the B-52/B-58 not fully immersive as a player.

You can increase or decrease the radar range settings, lock onto targets in the radar; and the like.

What you can't do is change the antenna search pattern, or radar PRF/etc like in more detailed "detail sims" like Falcon 4.0.

It works sufficiently well enough.

Summary

It's pretty much what Combat Flight Simulator failed to achieve (due to the total change in file formats between CFS2 and CFS3) -- basically being Flight Simulator with a "fire" button.

 

[Spinners]

Nice report Ryan! I've been playing this game since early last year and my love of 'what ifs' has led to a thread on the 'What If' modellers website

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,18821.0.html

I also enjoy modding the stock aircraft and have made quite a few available for download;

http://combatace.com/files/category/415-spinners-what-if-hangar/

 

[Colonial-Marine]

Me want, I just need to pick up a good joystick first? Any suggestions for somebody looking to not spend a ton of cash?

 

[Spinners]

Link to my 'what if' hangar updated.

http://combatace.com/files/category/415-spinners-what-if-hangar/

 

[saintkatanalegacy]

Me want, I just need to pick up a good joystick first? Any suggestions for somebody looking to not spend a ton of cash?

hmmm...

Saitek X52:
http://store.gameshark.com/viewItem.asp?idProduct=3249&idCategory=173

or if you can afford it... X65-F perhaps

 

[Avimimus]

Any cheap joystick with a hat will do - although it really helps to have two hats (one for controlling radar, one for controlling view).

Alternatively, you could use a cheap stick and TrackIR (or freetrack or face track if you want to save money). These devices give you the ability to control where you look using your head (while using your fingers for the avionics).


The Strike Fighters series is very good for reveling in the glory of early Soviet interceptors, and you can download addons (such as one which replaces the ground vehicles with infantry for COIN operations). They are also very satisfying for using first and second generation missiles (even if the avionics are simplified).

Flaming Cliffs 2 / Lockon Platinum has better modeling of ground attack and avionics (as does the DCS series from the same developers - although the Ka-50 is hard to fly and it may be a little too complex). In terms of historical analysis Oleg Maddox's simulations have really revolutionised how some parts of air combat are understood, and encompass a wide range of WWII era technology. Rise of Flight has some of the best sensation of flying a light WWI era aircraft. I tend to avoid combat and just enjoy flying in this last one.

 

[X-39]

And now here we have the (relatively) recent "successor" of the SF Series: Strike Fighters Modern Combat! With over 300 aircraft from several airforces spanning historical time periods, from the Vietnam War to modern day. Available on Android, iOS and PC.

Pros:
-Great variety of aircraft belonging to nations around the world; United States, Canada, United Kingdom,Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Japan,Netherlands, Poland, Russia, South Korea, North Korea, China, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Iran, Isreal, People's Republic Of Vietnam, etc.

-Also different classes of planes ranging from light fighters, heavy fighters, CAS aircraft, fighter-bombers, heavy bombers to stealth fighters(F-22- F-35- SU-57), modernized fighters (F-15EX) and experimental prototypes that did not reach production (YF-23, MIG 1.44, Su-47).

-Realistic data stats taken from real life values. Variable performance and speed depending on altitude. Just give the MIG-31 Foxhound a try and tell me how long it takes you to make a turn. SPOILERIt handles like an absolute PIG.

-Diverse weapon loadouts and scenarios that are generated randomly.

-Active Twitter activity and frequent updates & fixes by Author:


Cons:

-PC edition of the game costs $29.99 USD. There is absolutely no reason anyone should bother buying it when it's free on mobile.

-It may be free to play, but it's also Pay to Win. Some types of aircraft like Heavy Bombers and Prototypes, and most historical planes are not unlockable by grinding unless you enter your credit card info, same thing with weapons and custom maps.

-Slightly downgraded graphics compared to Windows version.

-No cockpit view, only one based on the starter plane (F-16, that you must pay to get too)

-Level restrictions and Ads that tempt you to get rid of them by giving $$$ to the Dev.

-No Storyline, so after a while it can become a little bit boring.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall it's a fairly realistic fun game compared to most crappy " X whatever Air Combat" type games found on Google Play, but it's outrageous and scummy having to pay $5 for every feature that combined amounts to 3/4rds of the game.

Strike Fighters

Free modern jet air combat flight game app for Android and iOS mobile devices

strike-fighters.com

Strike Fighters Modern Combat - jet fighters air combat flight game for Windows 10

Dominate the skies! Modern jet fighters combat flight game for Windows 10/8/7!

store.thirdwire.com

https://twitter.com/thirdwire?lang=en