Flight Sim advice

[ROVPariah]

My dad and I both work for the same company (Oceaneering International) where we both work on and pilot Remotely Operated Vehicles in the sub sea environment. When it comes to working on the systems - my dad is one of the best technicians on his crew; but when it comes to actually piloting the sub he doesn't do as well, where as I personally excel in the latter of the two tasks, mainly because of a wasted youth spent in front of some sort of video game. So my question is - what would be the best flight simulator to get for someone who is not very comfortable flying (preferably a helicopter sim since the subs handle much more like a chopper than a plane) and what control setup would you suggest. The control set up for our systems is a 2 stick set up - the first stick is the main control done with the right hand for all thruster controls as well as limited manipulator management, the second stick is for the manipulator control and is done with the left hand...however this control would not be necessary in a simulation game.

Any help you guys could give would be very appreciated.

ROVPariah

 

[oqvist]

to bad there is not really a good chopper simulation. Also would it be a military chopper with all kind of stabilizing systems or a civil model?

DCS: Black Shark google that one. It´s not out yet I think but it looks fantastic. Otherwise FS 2004 and FSX have some nice choppers that should help gettin the right mind I suppose. I must warn you though choppers is incredibly hard to control in real life and even more so in a simulation where you can´t feel G-forces and have as much peripheral vision. Choppers are like bumble bees they can´t really fly lol

 

[ROVPariah]

well the main reason that i stated about the helicopter sims is because the way our subs handle is very similar to the way a chopper handles...as far as its axis' of movement and the hovering and turning and such...our subs have 6-8 thrusters - 2 control front/back and turning, 2 control lateral movement (basically strafe) and 2-4 (depending on the model of sub) control vertical movement. in some of our newer systems they actually change the 2 for f/b/t and the 2 for lateral to 4 set on the corners in a vector setup so that all 4 work in conjunction with each other for all movement on or around the X-Y axis. not sure if this is making any sense either...lol sorry

 

[tuksonrider]

WWII combat:
IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946
The essential WWII war plane combat simulator

For everything else:
MS Flight Simulator X Gold

Then you can purchase a helicopter expansion pack:
Chopper Fever for MS Flight-Sim X

As for controls, check out http://www.saitekusa.com/
Their site is dog slow though. Anyway, they have a wide-range of controls at a decent price.

I personaly use Thrustmasters HOTAS, but I paid $200 not including rudder pedals ($35 on eBay). The only dissapointment I have in the HOTAS is that for a $200 controller, it comes with mediocre pots.

 

[tuksonrider]

Ya' know.. .i was just thinking. If you want some type of more realistic remote helicopter flight control, take a loot at this site:

http://www.xheli.com/

Here, for around $100, you can get an actual remote control helicopter complete with simulator software, and still be cheaper than MS flightsim, expansion pack, and controller.

For a beginner, I recommend a co-axial heli. A bit more stable for begineers, but still needs constant control to keep it steady.

http://www.xheli.com/coaxialmodels.html

The only downside is that flight-time on a fully charged battery run about 10-15min before it needs charging again.

 

[oqvist]

Expensive if you crash it ... I have crashed I don´t know how many times in FS never payed a single dime.

But well FS9 and play with the stock choppers. that is what 10$. then 20$ for a Saitek flight stick or what it´s. You need a joystick with twist rudder at least. I guess there is no real point in getting more "real" choppers since they will differ a lot anyway.

But I do think it´s good practise... You practise eye to hand coordination and you are forced to think ahead or you do get behind so to speak

 

[vsboxerboy]

our subs have 6-8 thrusters - 2 control front/back and turning, 2 control lateral movement (basically strafe) and 2-4 (depending on the model of sub) control vertical movement. in some of our newer systems they actually change the 2 for f/b/t and the 2 for lateral to 4 set on the corners in a vector setup so that all 4 work in conjunction with each other for all movement on or around the X-Y axis.

uh, that sounds badass and just downright [H]ard. Can you post a pic?

 

[Litfod]

Along the lines of the R/C heli, there's RealFlight. It's not cheap (to say the least) because it comes with a dummy controller, but there are helis, even a blimp (that might be in an expansion, I can't remember) which might be quite good given what you're after. There are tutorial flights with commentary and stuff. It's actually really good fun even if you're not into R/C aircraft. There is a cockpit view, but it's not a "real" cockpit like in FS or whatever, since obviously it's supposed to be a model aircraft. But at least it's cheap to crash

 

[ROVPariah]

well my mom was actually looking to get him something that he can take with him while he is off shore that he can play on the lap top so space is a factor - especially with the controller. the rc idea is good and i think she thought about that - but again he cant take that with him when he goes off shore.

as far as a pic of our subs --

this is a MilPlus set up of ours

this is our big dog - the Maxximum...keep in mind the little blue bottle in the middle is about 2-2.5' long

we have several different types of subs - you can check out some cool videos of what we do at this link, however most of what we do is not nearly so glorious...usually just checking pipe line or riser for wells and stuff...

 

[H-street]

there are plenty of heli games, for what you're after probably doesn't need to be a strict sim (like DCS blackshark)..

some off the top of my head that would work..

Janes Apache, Long Bow2
Apache/Havoc
Team Apache
DCS Blackshark - you can buy it now but it is the russian version, English due out next year.
Enemy Enganged / 2
Commanche 4 (very arcadey)
there is one called GunShip too..

and one that some may overlook is the Operation Flashpoint/Armed Assault - while more of a military operations game/sim.. the heli part of the game is pretty good.


What you really might want to look at though is a sim called Orbiter 2006, even though it is a space simulator. I would guess the lander - space - attitude, yaw, pitch etc.. of a space style lander will match closer to what you are looking for than even a heli sim. and the best part is its Free.

http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/

 

[ROVPariah]

thanks for the info - my dad isnt a big gamer - he probably wouldnt play the game if it wasnt for the fact that it can help him with his flying of the subs...thats the main reason i was thinking about a flight sim...i am probably just gonna tell her to get the FSX from microsoft though - the hard part is gonna be finding a controller that is close to ours
oh - and for the space sim - the only prob with that is the fact you can roll completely over and with our subs you cant do that because of the foam block - it might get confusing to him...lol he doesnt have the greatest sense of direction or spacial awareness

 

[rls669]

If you want realism, get X-Plane and create a custom aircraft plugin that mimics your ROV's handling.

 

[oqvist]

Xplane is hardly better then FSX. ´But it get much credit for not being Microsoft and more indie .

FSX is very demanding so I would stick with FS9. Regarding chopper handling they are both quite unrealistic but that doesn´t matter much. But they are the best training tools for choppers I have found since they have civil model very light with no stability functions.

 

[ROVPariah]

x-plane sounds a bit too complicated for my dad - like i said he isnt a gamer so as far as creating a plugin for it i doubt he would be willing to do that but it does sound kinda interesting.

is FS9 still available in retail stores? if so then i will probably point her in that direction because his laptop is a bit older.

and ideas for controls? the main this i am looking for is a stick that has the X and Y axis as well as a turn function on the stick (i.e. you rotate the stick to turn the vehicle) and a POV joystick on the top if possible...you can kind of see what i am talking about in this picture

the stick on the right is our thruster control stick and it has a thumb stick on the top for moving around the camera.

 

[oqvist]

There is HOTAS like the Saitek X48 or X52 but they are quite expensive and is bulky of course. I would probably get this

http://www.webhallen.com/prod.php?id=68690

 

[SB1]

Keep it short since it logged me out and I lost everything I wrote.

Look into Saitek X48 or X52 also. X-Plane should be good, could he get help from the techies at your work. Check out x-plane.org. Also would recommend FS9 also, FSX wouldn't be good on an old laptop, or even a brand new one unless spent 1.5k to 2k+ at least.

 

[cytech]

Hi I use a software called easylfy and aerofly.

these are both RC plane/helo sims and kind of do that what you want.
easy fly came with a usb RC controler which is twin stick, not the same scale as you are looking but great for learning the fine controls needed for RC flying.

PS: i so envy your job lol