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The following are flight simulator software applications that can be downloaded or played for free . Several items are outdated. Please notice 'free' is not the same as open source. Free games may have limited options or include advertisements.
Red Baron is a combat flight simulation video game for MS-DOS created by Damon Slye at Dynamix. It was published by Sierra On-Line in 1990.
Aces High is a combat flight simulation and massively multiplayer online game for Microsoft Windows. It was created by HiTech Creations and originally released on May 8, 2000; the game is subscriber based. It features aircraft from both the World War II and World War I eras, as well as smaller numbers of ground vehicles and ships. In 2016, HiTech Creations re-released the game with improved graphics and sounds.
Combat flight simulators are vehicle simulation games, amateur flight simulation computer programs used to simulate military aircraft and their operations. These are distinct from dedicated flight simulators used for professional pilot and military flight training which consist of realistic physical recreations of the actual aircraft cockpit, often with a full-motion platform.
Aces of the Pacific is a combat flight simulation game developed by Dynamix for MS-DOS compatible operating systems and published by Sierra On-Line in 1992. The game takes place during World War II. Players can choose a single mission or a career path in United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, United States Marines, Imperial Japanese Army, or Imperial Japanese Navy. Dynamix followed-up the game with Aces Over Europe in 1993.
The Falcon line of computer games is a series of simulations of the F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft. The games, mostly published by Spectrum HoloByte, were noted for their high level of realism unseen in contemporary simulation games.
Fleet Defender is a combat flight simulator published by MicroProse in 1994. The game uses the F-14B version of the F-14 Tomcat even where anachronistic because the developers found the original, underpowered F-14A unforgiving and "not much fun" in an entertainment flight simulator. An expansion pack, Fleet Defender: Scenario, and a port for the PC-98 were released in 1995.
1942: The Pacific Air War is combat flight simulation developed and published by MicroProse for the PC on the DOS operating system in 1994. It is based on the U.S. and Japanese Pacific War conflict from 1942 to 1945. An expansion pack, 1942: The Pacific Air War – Scenario, was released in 1995. A sequel, European Air War, was released in 1998. Tommo purchased the rights to 1942 and digitally publishes it through its Retroism brand in 2015.
Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator: WWII Europe Series is the first version of all three combat flight simulation games from Microsoft. It was released on 28 October 1998 and it is set in the European Theatre of World War II. This game spawned two sequels: Combat Flight Simulator 2 in 2000 and Combat Flight Simulator 3: Battle for Europe in 2002.
Wings of War, by Andrea Angiolino and Pier Giorgio Paglia, is a modular boardgame collection published by Nexus Editrice and dedicated to air combat. A new edition is published by Ares Games as Wings of Glory.
Jane's Attack Squadron is a 2002 combat flight simulator developed by Looking Glass Studios and Mad Doc Software and published by Xicat Interactive. Based on World War II, the game allows players to pilot fifteen reproductions of that era's military aircraft and to carry out missions for the Axis or Allies. Although it contains dogfights, the game focuses largely on air-to-ground combat, hence the title.
F29 Retaliator is a combat flight simulator video game developed by Digital Image Design and published by Ocean Software in 1989 Amiga and Atari ST, 1991 for the PC, and for the FM Towns and NEC PC-9801 in 1992-1993. Its working title was just Retaliator. The game was developed during the end of the Cold War, based mostly on speculations on then-future aircraft that were expected to be in use by the year 2002, in particular based on the design of the Lockheed Martin F-22 and the Grumman X-29A.
Air wargaming, like naval wargaming, is a niche specialism within the wider miniatures wargaming hobby. Due to the relatively short time over which aerial combat has developed air wargaming periods tend to break down into three broad periods:
Wings Over Israel is a 2008 combat flight simulator computer game for Microsoft Windows covering the three major Middle Eastern conflicts of the 20th century: the Six-Day War (1967), the Yom Kippur War (1973) and the Lebanon War (1982).
Flight of the Intruder is a flight simulator developed by Rowan Software and published by Spectrum HoloByte in 1990 for MS-DOS, Amiga, and Atari ST. It was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991 with Imagineering as the developer and Mindscape as the publisher. The game is based on the novel of the same name and received as the successor of the first game of the Falcon video game series.
Knights of the Sky is a World War I combat flight simulator designed by Jeff Briggs and published by MicroProse in 1990 for MS-DOS. Ports to the Amiga and Atari ST followed in 1991.
A flight simulation video game refers to the simulation of various aspects of flight or the flight environment for purposes other than flight training or aircraft development. A significant community of simulation enthusiasts is supported by several commercial software packages, as well as commercial and homebuilt hardware. Open-source software that is used by the aerospace industry like FlightGear, whose flight dynamics engine (JSBSim) is used in a 2015 NASA benchmark to judge new simulation code to space industry standards, is also available for private use. A popular type of flight simulators video games are combat flight simulators, which simulate combat air operations from the pilot and crew's point of view. Combat flight simulation titles are more numerous than civilian flight simulators due to variety of subject matter available and market demand.
Top Gun: Guts and Glory is a modern jet flight simulation that was released in 1993 for the original Nintendo Game Boy in Europe and North America.