No, this is not a riddle about a flight simulator. What this article will point out is the difference between a flight simulator and a flight sim game like Aces High, the wildly popular combat simulator which has led the way since 2000.
The first type of flight simulator.
Would you like to learn how to become a pilot, actually train so you can fly an aircraft? If so, eventually, after all of the classroom training, you will be taught how to operate a training machine called a flight simulator. This is a computer-generated simulation which perfectly portrays you, the student, in the cockpit of an airplane. All of the controls you would find in a real aircraft are in the simulator, and on the screen before you, you will see what looks like a real airfield runway. You will be taught how to actually takeoff and land the aircraft, and how to work all of the instruments on the instrument panel. Once you have shown proficiency with the simulator, your instructor will finally take you into a real aircraft and you will, for the first time, takeoff in a real aircraft.
The gaming flight simulator.
But there is another type of flight simulator, and that is the gaming simulator, of which there are many products available. In a gaming flight simulator, you will operate a simulated aircraft and fight in simulated battles. Most of these gaming flight sims will have battles from a particular war, and their aircraft will be replicas of aircraft from that war. For example, our own Aces High is a World War 2 flight simulator, so everything in our game replicates what you would have seen during World War 2.
Our computer-generated aircraft have instrument panels, just like real aircraft, and you will learn how to operate your plane, do maneuvers with it, and do battle with it against other flight sim gamers from around the world in a real-time battle of flying aces.
Try a free two-week download of Aces High.
Does it all sound complicated and confusing? We have heard that from beginners for years, and that is why we offer a free two-week download of our game, a chance for you to learn our game and how to operate your aircraft for free. We don’t want you spending money on a game and then wasting valuable time on learning how to play that game. We want you up and running once you actually pay your $14.95 subscription fee. By the way, we are one of the very few games which offers a free trial period, and we’ve done this since our inception in 2000.
A final word about Aces High.
Back in 1999, while we were beginning to write code for Aces High, we wrote out our mission statement, and in that statement we decided to make one game and one game only, and to devote all of our talents and time into making that game the absolute best combat flight simulator on the market.
We believe we accomplished our mission. Strap on your flight helmet and fly the skies with Aces High.
If that article title doesn’t have your attention, we don’t know what will to the trick.
Aces High has been one of the most popular combat simulator games since the year 2000, and it has always been our policy to offer a free two-week download of our game, no credit card required. During those two weeks you will have full-access to the game, to the tutorials, to the forums, everything. If, at the end of two weeks, you decide not to subscribe with us, that will be the end of it, and we will wish you well on your way.
Strap on your flight helmet and fly the skies with Aces High.
This week after Veteran’s Day is perhaps a good time for this post. Our combat simulator, Aces High, was, in part, developed in honor of the servicemen who served our nation during World War 2, so we thought we would give you all a secondhand account of what it was like to be in the U.S. Army during that war. Perhaps it will give you all a better understanding of what it was like to fight in the last World War.
Aces High is our wildly popular flight sim game, first developed in 1999, and providing thousands of hours of enjoyment for gamers since then. Try our free two-week download of Aces High, no credit card required.
Now, let’s talk about World War 2.
My father’s accounting of an Iowa farm boy thrust into action.
This writer’s father entered the war in 1942, right out of high school, penniless, one of the millions of casualties of The Great Depression. Although he was far from excited about going into war, he still thought of it as an adventure and, in his words, anything would be better than standing in bread lines looking for a handout.
His basic training was in St. Louis, and before being shipped to Europe he had brief stints at Fort Hood and Fort Lewis. He served in the supply department at those bases until he received his orders to go to Europe, at which time he was shifted to infanty.
His overall recollection of being an infantryman was hundreds of hours of boredom interrupted by weeks of intense fighting and serious fear. He loved being a part of a unit, loved his fellow soldiers in his unit and, when his big moment came in Italy, he had his first taste of being afraid.
He was part of the Italian Campaign, took part in the Invasion of Anzio, was in the Battle of Rome; all told he was in five major confrontations. He would not speak of specifics. Did not want to talk about the killing, nor would he talk about friends lost. The most vivid recollection that he would share was arriving at the beach of Anzio in a landing craft, hearing bullets whiz through the air, and praying he would make it to the beach alive. He often told me there are no atheists in a foxhole, something he found out, firsthand, making that Anzio landing.
He came out of the war unscathed physically, with an intense hatred of sleeping in tents and authority figures. I have no doubt he suffered from PTSD although he would never have verbalized that fact. Back then, in the 50’s, you simply did not talk about things like that and, even if you did, there were no resources to deal with it.
A final word about Aces High and HiTech Creations.
We hope you found that interesting. Our respect of servicemen, and women, knows no bounds. They are doing a tough job, a dangerous job, and in our opinion they deserve nothing but respect and whatever resources they need to arrive back home whole.
Aces High salutes our military!
What was that movie called, with the weird car that could take you . . . Back to the Future . . . we think of that every time we sit down to play our combat simulator, Aces High. We come as close as possible to transporting you back in time to World War 2.
Our aircraft, our ships, our ground vehicles, we have replicated them to the finest details. We put you in the cockpit of a WW2 fighter jet and turn you loose to fly missions over enemy territory circa 1943. And you do battle against the best flight sim gamers on the planet.
Try our free two-week download and see for yourself just how real WW2 can be.
We apologize for that. It was our intention to post last week, honoring veterans, and we ended up getting sidetracked on our posts. Mea culpa, and we mean that sincerely.
When we first set out to develop an online game, back in 1999, the natural genre, agreed upon immediately by the partners, was combat flight simulator, and in addition we wanted that flight sim game to be set in World War 2 because, well, we so greatly admired the servicemen who served during that terribly important war.
So, in a very real sense, our game, Aces High, honors veterans day in and day out.
Thank you, Veterans!