This article needs to be updated.(May 2019) |
WarBirds | |
---|---|
Genre(s) | Combat flight simulation |
Developer(s) | Interactive Creations of Grapevine |
Publisher(s) | iEntertainment Network |
First release | WarBirds December 1995 |
Latest release | WarBirds: Dogfights 2016 2016 |
WarBirds is a series of massively multiplayer online and offline World War II combat flight simulation video games originally developed by Interactive Creations of Grapevine and published by iEntertainment Network in 1995. [1] [2] The game includes an air combat flight simulator as well as a simulator for tanks and other ground vehicles and inspired a fan cult and conventions, and a book titled WarBirds: The Story So Far. [3]
Following 1999's WarBirds II, WarBirds III was released for Mac and PC in 2002. [1] [4] [5] WarBirds III was a runner-up for GameSpot's annual "Best Simulation on PC" award, which went to Flanker 2.5 . [6] WarBirds: The Mighty Eight was released in 2007. A more recent version, WarBirds 2008, includes tanks, trucks, halftracks, new aircraft, and new graphics. [7] WarBirds: Dogfights was released in 2010. [8]
In 1999, some of the original development team, including John "Killer" MacQueen, Rodney "Hatch" Hodge, and Chris "Mo" Sherland, went on to form Cornered Rat Software where they developed WWII Online. Others followed Dale "HiTech" Addink to form HiTech Creations and develop Aces High.
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is a 2002 first-person shooter video game developed by 2015, Inc. and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Allied Assault is the third game in the Medal of Honor series. The game uses the id Tech 3 engine, with modifications from Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.², to simulate infantry combat in the European and North African theaters during World War II.
Battlefield 1942 is a 2002 first-person shooter video game developed by Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The game can be played in single-player mode against the video game AI or in multiplayer mode against players on the Internet or in a local area network. It is a popular platform for mod developers, with many released modifications that alter the gameplay and theme.
WWII Online is the very first massively multiplayer online first-person shooter (MMOFPS) ever created and holds three Guinness World Records. It is in active (continuous) development by Playnet, Inc.'s internal game studio, "Cornered Rat Software", and it was originally released on June 6, 2001 for Microsoft Windows, with a Mac OS version being released in 2002. WWII Online was re-released in 2006 under the new name of WWII Online: Battleground Europe.
LithTech is a game engine developed by Monolith Productions and comparable with the Quake and Unreal engines. Monolith and a number of other video game developers have used LithTech as the basis for their first-person shooter games.
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.
IL-2 Sturmovik is a 2001 World War II combat flight simulator video game and is the first installment in the IL-2 Sturmovik series. The release focused on the air battles of the Eastern Front. It was named after the Soviet Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack fighter, which played a prominent role in this theatre and is the single most produced military aircraft design to date. Along with its sequels, IL-2 Sturmovik is considered one of the leading World War II flight simulators.
Flight Unlimited II is a 1997 flight simulator video game developed by Looking Glass Studios and published by Eidos Interactive. The player controls one of five planes in the airspace of the San Francisco Bay Area, which is shared with up to 600 artificially intelligent aircraft directed by real-time air traffic control. The game eschews the aerobatics focus of its predecessor, Flight Unlimited, in favor of general civilian aviation. As such, new physics code and an engine were developed, the former because the programmer of Flight Unlimited's computational fluid dynamics system, Seamus Blackley, had left the company.
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.
Flight Unlimited III is a 1999 flight simulator video game developed by Looking Glass Studios and published by Electronic Arts. It allows players to pilot simulations of real-world commercial and civilian aircraft in and around Seattle, Washington. Players can fly freely or engage in "Challenge" missions, such as thwarting a theft or locating Bigfoot. The development team built on the general aviation gameplay of Flight Unlimited II, with more detailed physics and terrain, more planes, and a real-time weather system. Roughly half of Flight Unlimited II's team returned to work on the sequel, supported by new hires.
European Air War is a combat flight simulator developed and published by MicroProse and published for Microsoft Windows in 1998. It is a sequel to 1942: The Pacific Air War. It simulates the Battle of Britain, and the Allied Air offensives in Western Europe during World War II in 1943–1945.
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Combat Flight Simulator 3: Battle for Europe (CFS3), is the latest installment of combat flight simulators from Microsoft Game Studios, released on October 24, 2002 in North America and on November 15, 2002 in Europe for the Microsoft Windows.
Combat Flight Simulator 2: WW II Pacific Theater is a combat flight simulator game by Microsoft released in October 2000 for the Microsoft Windows. It is the sequel to Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator. The game takes place in the Pacific War and includes campaigns loosely based on historic air battles, from the American and Japanese perspective. A sequel, Combat Flight Simulator 3: Battle for Europe, was released in 2002.
Wings of Power is a set of two flight simulation video games released as add-ons to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004. They add vintage historical military aircraft to the game. Wings of Power: WWII Heavy Bombers and Jets was released in 2004, and adds 50 missions with some historical missions from real military pilot logs from World War II. Wings of Power II: WWII Fighters, was released on June 27, 2006. It adds five aircraft: Bf 109, P-51 Mustang, Spitfire, P-47 Thunderbolt, and A6M "Zero".
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.
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.
Jane's World War II Fighters is the 1998 combat flight simulation video game. Set in the European theatre of operations during World War II, it is part of the Jane's Combat Simulations franchise. The game was considered a commercial failure, and contributed to the end of the Jane's Combat Simulations line.
War Thunder is a free-to-play vehicular combat multiplayer video game developed and published by Gaijin Entertainment. Announced in 2011, it was first released in November 2012 as an open beta with a worldwide release in January 2013; it had its official release on 21 December 2016. It has a cross-platform format for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Oculus, and Vive. A spinoff game called War Thunder Mobile was released in May 2023 for Android, with an iOS version released in August 2023.