Modern Bomber simulation games

[JasonPratt]

^I think there is a video on Youtube of a guy doing that mission. I'm not sure if its the one, but he rapidly drops altitude at one point to just a couple hundred feet above sea level.

That's what I recall, too. The rate of descent has to be fast enough, and you have to get low enough quick enough to simulate a crash. You shouldn't turn on the transponder at all for that -- you're stealing a unique test-bed craft, turning on your IFF is a BAD idea!

[mikeck]

 So which one of you enterprising guys is going to design a new B-1B simulation?

[jomni]

That's pretty detailed.  Lots of clicking.

[mikeck]

For some reason I imagine a modern bomber sim would play like a modern boomer sim. Goal of avoiding all contact until payload can be dropped / launched

That said you position it like a stealth sim (Thief...in the sky or underwater)

I don't know....I think if the game simulated 1980's era conflict it might be fun. The B-1 was designed to fly over the North Pole, drop down to less than a few hundred feet and haul ass to the target. You would have to set up routes based on air and SAM threats, use the defensive electronic station to "mistify, mislead and surprise" (there is a dedicated station for this), setting up weapon approach and dropping.

Dunno...the interesting part wouldn't be the actual bombing or ECM stuff. I would envision a deep and detailed system for planning your route to all of your targets based on known threats and "alleys" opened up in air defense by SLBM missile strikes. Strategy stuff vs tactical

Wouldn't be DCS SU-27 vs F-15c but I think it would be pretty damned entertaining

[DoctorQuest]

That's pretty detailed.  Lots of clicking.

The DCS fans should love it.

[Lowenstaat]

F-117 Stealth Fighter (I know. It's not titled bomber, but it functioned as a bomber.) 2.0 is available on GOG and Steam. It's an old Microprose sim that features a career mode that spans several time periods, global hotspots, and missions flown during cold war, limited war, and total war conditions. The Lockheed model flys realistically for an early 1990's PC flight sim. Mission planning and detection avoidance are important when flying against veteran or elite opposition forces. The Microprose model is more of an arcade game with less stealth and more air to air capabilities. Plus, if you're interested in modern military aviation the PDF manual is worth a read even if you never play the game.

[Staggerwing]

There's an older Tornado sim from Digital Integration/Spectrum Holobyte that allows for a lot of bombing and related air-to-ground ordinance delivery:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_(1993_video_game)
http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/tornado



It has a very detailed mission planner:



Weapons station:




And there was even a Desert Storm add-on released:

[Millipede]

The Tornado sim is available for download from the same site that Jarhead posted above for the Megafortress download.

[JasonPratt]

I think the Dogs of War site has a lot of modding for Tornado. Yep, here we go: http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/board,50.0.html

[Jarhead0331]

Wow. Not sure if that is impressive, or sad. lol. So much work put into such a dated game. God bless...

[bobarossa]

I vaguely remember that Tornado's mission planner was so good that it was used by some country's (canada?) military.

Well I was close.  See David Marshall's comments from the game manual near bottom of page.
http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/home.html?http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/tor/MissionPlanner.html&content

[Staggerwing]

The Tornado sim is available for download from the same site that Jarhead posted above for the Megafortress download.

Good to know. I have no idea where my disks are, or if they are still any good. As I recall, the manual that came with them was full of the typical Spectrum Holobyte goodness.

[DennisS]

For some reason I imagine a modern bomber sim would play like a modern boomer sim. Goal of avoiding all contact until payload can be dropped / launched

That said you position it like a stealth sim (Thief...in the sky or underwater)

I don't know....I think if the game simulated 1980's era conflict it might be fun. The B-1 was designed to fly over the North Pole, drop down to less than a few hundred feet and haul ass to the target. You would have to set up routes based on air and SAM threats, use the defensive electronic station to "mistify, mislead and surprise" (there is a dedicated station for this), setting up weapon approach and dropping.

Dunno...the interesting part wouldn't be the actual bombing or ECM stuff. I would envision a deep and detailed system for planning your route to all of your targets based on known threats and "alleys" opened up in air defense by SLBM missile strikes. Strategy stuff vs tactical

Wouldn't be DCS SU-27 vs F-15c but I think it would be pretty damned entertaining

For about a 12 year period, 1978-1990, I was very heavily involved with marrying weather data with weapons sensor data, to provide the attacking craft (and planners) both target acquisition, and target lock-on ranges. There were a tremendous number of variables that went into this data set. Two separate sets of data, target area/weather, and weapon sensor types and capabilities. I love this stuff!