Bought a Saitek X52 Flight Control System, what games/sims to get?

[blinblue]

So I found a very good condition Saitek X52 at Goodwill the other day for $6 (honestly surprised how cheap it was, their other cheapy joysticks were priced at $5, and this one had two parts and looks expensive).
Here's the item http://www.amazon.com/Saitek-X52-Fli.../dp/B00030GSJY

Anyway, its in perfect working order but I'm not sure what games I should look into to get the most out of it.

I've downloaded and tried FlightGear which is free and pretty nice, but its geared very much towards straight up simulation, and I'd prefer something a bit more arcade-like.

I'd also love some combat games too for it. Anyone know if its worthwhile to use something like this on Battlefield 2/BC2 for their jets/helicopters?

Any input would be very much appreciated

 

[CVSiN]

Lock-on
BlackShark
DCS-A-10C Warthog

all from same publisher.
http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/

Oh wait.. you said more arcade =/

well not sure then.

 

[ibex333]

IL2: Sturmovik, Falcon 4.0 ; )

 

[Anteaus]

Depending on how decent your hardware is, FSX is a must buy for all but combat. Even so, if your just wanting to fly combat aircraft and not necessarily fight in them there are some amazing aftermarket combat aircraft for FSX.

Otherwise, the ones posted above are very good.

 

[gorcorps]

Geeze... how come my Goodwill never has awesome stuff like this

 

[nvidiaintelftw]

I run a big thing a couple times a week on Flight Simulator X where we fly online and do flights with commercial airliners. Its pretty fun, we fly from state to state, continent to continent, etc

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Independence War 2, X3

I always found that any joystick more advanced that your Logitech Wingman / MS Sidewinder was just too much trouble for Battlefield games.

 

[fatpat268]

Arcade like? I dunno, maybe Wings of Prey. By default the planes will have arcade handling characteristics, but if you bump up the difficulty, it'll be much more sim-like.

 

[wuliheron]

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron has always been my favorite, but its getting old. It will run in XP, but doesn't like 64 bit os. Hopefully someone will make an updated version. Battle for Naboo is great too, but the same problem.

 

[shortylickens]

SNES Pilotwings!

:awe:

 

[Karstein]

Mechwarrior 4!

 

[queequeg99]

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron has always been my favorite, but its getting old. It will run in XP, but doesn't like 64 bit os. Hopefully someone will make an updated version.

+1 on this. I LOVED this game but I could never get it to work on XP Pro. There are some instructions out there that involve some modifications to the executable that I was never able to follow. I haven't even tried on Win7 Ultimate 64 bit.

 

[Cerb]

What about drivers? I've been tempted to get a X52 off eBay, before, but Win764-bit support seems iffy (that hack driversdon't work much of the time, and w/ no added drivers, you can't use all the functionality).

Also, Mechwarrior 3, Freespace 2.

 

[DucatiMonster696]

I miss the days of space ship pew pew games with decent stories like Freespace1-2, Wing commander and Privateer of whom made owning a flight/joy stick fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfdMLcD01pw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfAoVX_VWWs&feature=related

 

[makken]

another vote for freespace 2 if you're looking for something a little more arcade-like. Definitely one of the best space combat sims out there, and with the SCP (source code project) enhancements, the graphics are still decent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6VhyMzu12c

 

[Illyusha]

Cliffs of Dover

http://www.pcworld.com/article/223945/check_this_il2_sturmovik_cliffs_of_dover_launch_trailer.html

 

[blinblue]

What about drivers? I've been tempted to get a X52 off eBay, before, but Win764-bit support seems iffy (that hack driversdon't work much of the time, and w/ no added drivers, you can't use all the functionality).

Also, Mechwarrior 3, Freespace 2.

There are drivers and software for Win 7 64bit that work perfectly for me, all buttons/toggles/displays/etc work as they should. http://www.saitek.com/uk/down/drivers.php and select "Joysticks" on the right, not "Pro Flight" on the left, as that only has the X52 Pro.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll have to start looking through those soon.

 

[wuliheron]

+1 on this. I LOVED this game but I could never get it to work on XP Pro. There are some instructions out there that involve some modifications to the executable that I was never able to follow. I haven't even tried on Win7 Ultimate 64 bit.

They're pretty much hopeless in 64 bit and even emulators won't work. Evidently the developers, Factor 5, used some pretty fancy voodoo to adapt the games to the N64.

 

[Cerb]

There are drivers and software for Win 7 64bit that work perfectly for me, all buttons/toggles/displays/etc work as they should. http://www.saitek.com/uk/down/drivers.php and select "Joysticks" on the right, not "Pro Flight" on the left, as that only has the X52 Pro.

Good to know, thanks. The last time I looked was when I realized that my old Sidewinder 3D was a doorstop.

 

[Sureshot324]

IL-2 Sturmovik and change the settings to be as arcadish as you want. Any real arcade game is not going to play well with a flight stick though.