Sim Speak: Welcome to My Garage

Who wants to spend dozens of hours poring through a 500-page manual just to learn how to start the engines on a USAF warplane, or worse, drop hundreds of dollars on peripherals in order to wrestle a modern F1 car into submission? Isn't PC gaming nowadays all about a mouse and a keyboard (with a basic WASD control scheme) or gamepad, happily blasting away at anything that moves?


Sorry, but not from my seat. I've been a hardcore sim fan for longer than I care to admit -- let's just say I've been around a while -- and those of you who've read my reviews and columns through the years in PC Gamer (as well as publications past like PC Games, PC Accelerator, Gamesmania, and CNET GameCenter) know where I stand on this. Through a real-world 17-year racing career in the amateur, semi-pro, and pro Formula Ford, GM Motorsports, and Formula Atlantic classes, followed by decades of flight-sim fanaticism to scratch that unrelenting itch to slip Earth's surly bonds and drop smart bombs on unsuspecting pixels, I came by this passion honestly. I typically need my sims to be as authentic as possible because I want them to convince me I'm racing a real car or flying a real plane.

Still Simmin'

It wasn't an easy task 15 years ago, and it isn't an easy task now, but I'm still impressed on a regular basis. Clearly, the simulation genre no longer enjoys the sort of big-bucks publishing support it did back in the 1990s but, like any threatened species, it's learned to adapt and reinvent itself. We may not see half a dozen big-budget releases each year from the likes of Microsoft, Microprose, Ubisoft, Papyrus, Dynamix, and Spectrum Holobyte, but in their place we have constantly evolving franchises like Eagle Dynamic's DCS air combat series and iRacing's obscenely authentic online racing platform to consistently mesmerize and consume us. What's more, most of these have advanced so far -- technically and graphically -- from their 1990s forebears that comparisons are redundant.


It doesn't end there. Back when I was reviewing A-list releases like Falcon 4.0, Red Baron 3D, Grand Prix Legends, Jane's F-15, and Longbow 2, there weren't enough hours in the week to experience all that each title had to give. No sooner had I mastered the skill of setting up a CCIP bombing run in Jane's F-15 when I had to hit the ejection handle for a session at Nurburgring's Nordschleife in Grand Prix Legends. The silver lining to today's dramatically reduced release schedule is that there are fewer distractions to pull me from the task at hand, which ultimately lets me savor and enjoy the great ones more completely.

The sim community has also done its bit to keep the flame alive. While it's easy to point fingers at all those loudmouth river-counters who bitched about every perceived inaccuracy and permanently drove hard-working developers from the message boards with their vitriol, kudos must go out to the dedicated group of enthusiasts who quietly went about the business of modding and patching their favorite simulations -- even those long-since abandoned by their original creators. Through their efforts, classic sims like Falcon 4.0, rFactor, FlightSim X, and Silent Hunter III and IV have continued to thrive and attract new users.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

This column won't just be about ultra-realistic flying and racing simulations. As an ex-racer, I'll test drive any steering wheel and pedal game they throw at me, from EA's Need For Speed series to the latest offerings from Atari and Codemasters. If it's a fun driving experience, I'll give it a thumbs up and if it's crap I'll be the first let you know. Ditto for arcade dogfighters and less-than-realistic flight games. Even hardcore sim aficionados have to take a break from reality occasionally and, if some pyrotechnically over-the-top WWII aerial shooter can paint a grin on my face, I'll pay it forward here.


Looking back over the past year, I can point to about a dozen-and-a-half newly published sims, freshly modded classics, significantly patched or updated recent releases, and in-progress betas that have kept sim fans (and this sim fan in particular) pulling g's, locking brakes, firing torpedoes, and living the dream in a high-speed driving or war machine of their choosing. There's also so much on the horizon right now -- rFactor 2.0, DCS: P-51D Mustang, Project CARS, as well as a myriad of new mods, updates, and as-yet unrevealed surprises -- that the year ahead looks even more fruitful. Navigate your browser to this space every month and I'll share everything I discover.

I've been a regular contributor to GameSpy since 2002 and it gives me tremendous pleasure to keep the sim flag flying on a site supported by some of the best writers and editors in the business. Hop aboard and place your seatbacks and tray tables in any position you want, and for God's sake don't turn off your electronic devices! The ride's already begun.


Spy Guy says: There's no bigger sim expert on the planet than Andy Mahood. You name it, he's simulated it -- in fact, there's a fairly good chance that if your stoner friend is right, and we're all just living in a giant, Matrix-like simulation of reality, Andy's the guy running it. Let's hear it from the sim gamers! What're some of your favorite sims you're playing these days?