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What is your favorite simulator game? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by Zombiepirate@lemmy.world to c/games@sh.itjust.works
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Simulators are one of the earliest PC game genres, and remain compelling experiences to this day, even if they're not as popular as they used to be.

I like all kinds of combat flight sims; the MS Combat Flight Simulator from 1998 was something special, and I've had some similar fun in IL-2 Sturmovik. The newest civil air sims are pretty great too, I'll pop on a podcast and make a flight. They're particularly cool in VR.

I've also found the MechWarrior games to be fun, but I've only played 2 and 5. I got to play a bit of Steel Battalion with the full crazy controller at a con a few years back, and that's got to be a lot of fun once you really know what you're doing.

So what's your favorite sim?

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[-] paris@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 7 minutes ago

Oh my god I think this is one of the two games from my childhood that I first played and have not for the life of me been able to find

The other is some weird frog sidescroller platformer I got at Staples as a kid in the late aughts or possibly early 2010s

[-] gens@programming.dev 6 points 6 hours ago

Dwarf Fortress, aka drunken dwarf simulator.

[-] y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 6 hours ago

I definitely have the most time spent in Project Cars 2 on PS4, but I've since switched to PC sims and have been playing Automobilista 2 since it is the most similar.

I'd like to get into Assetto Corsa more but idk how to get the mods running on Linux / Steam

[-] Securus777@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago

Heavy Gear 1 and 2. So much fun when multiplayer ever worked.

[-] fmtx@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

Cultist Simulator. (half joking 😂).

Big fan of Cities Skylines in city simulator genre.

[-] Pacattack57@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

Not super in-depth like some of these other games but I love Snowrunner. I can count on 3 fingers the number of games I’ve spent over $100 on the game+ additional content in my entire life. Civ5, Civ6, and Snowrunner. It’s such a relaxing game but can definitely be difficult as well. Also i can play music at the same time and not miss any story because there isn’t really any story.

[-] This2ShallPass@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

Anything by Janes Combat Simulations.

[-] gorkur@lemmy.world 4 points 10 hours ago

My parents got me a copy of Harrier Jump Jet by Microprose one christmas. I can't even begin to imagine how many hours I spent on that game, both actually playing it and studying the manual for it. Still have the manual actually but the floppies are long gone.

After that I got every Microprose sim I could get my hands on, F14 Fleet Defender was probably my favorite after Harrier.

Then I kinda lost interest in simulators until Arma came along, spent years where I hardly played anything else.

Nowadays though ETS is pretty much the only sim I play.

[-] roserose56@lemmy.ca 3 points 9 hours ago

Euro truck simulator 2! I have lots of hours in this game, playing date and night. At some point I had a Logitech wheel with pedals and shifts, it was so damn good!!!

My routine was to get a long route through graphic and small roads, listening to radio for hours.

[-] elucubra@sopuli.xyz 6 points 15 hours ago

X-plane. Ms flight simulator is drop dead gorgeous, but X plane has a better flight engine.

[-] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago

You can do a lot to improve how it looks, too. There's a lot of custom terrain, and you can download meshes made from satellite photos.

It also works better in VR.

[-] helvetpuli@sopuli.xyz 12 points 18 hours ago

KSP 1

[-] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 6 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

I credit Kerbal Space Program for my ability to think in three dimensions. Without KSP, I would have been some kind of dumbass. I thought getting to orbit was just a matter of going up until I was like 18 years old

Have you ever pulled up an old save file to look at the stuff you used to design? I did that the other day and found out that I used to be good at this game. Folded space stations, massive mining rigs, Apollo Style landers, a beautiful SSTO that's braindead easy to fly, an interplanetary module that can dock to the back of said SSTO, I made fancy shit. Nowadays I just slap boosters and docking ports on fuel tanks and call it good enough

I gotta post pictures from that save file sometime

[-] Olgratin_Magmatoe@slrpnk.net 6 points 16 hours ago

2nding this, but also I'm looking forward to KSA, hoping it can be the true successor

[-] CodeBlooded@programming.dev 4 points 19 hours ago

VTOL VR

https://store.steampowered.com/app/667970/VTOL_VR/

[-] glinncor@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago

VTOL VR is incredible

[-] CodeBlooded@programming.dev 2 points 3 hours ago

I bought a VR headset solely to play VTOL VR; worth it!

[-] orochi02@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago

Swat 4 🤷‍♂️

[-] lordnikon@lemmy.world 33 points 1 day ago

Elite Dangerous and i also love old school mechwarrior 2

[-] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Elite Dangerous FTW. 🤘🏼

I haven't played since ~planetary landings/Mamba release (pre-TurdReich, IIRC?🤮), but back then, me & my Mur-der-Lance in Black Friday skin were proudly part of the anti-griefer brigade.

(Huge underbelly particle cannon + overcharged boost for baiting said ass-clowns into a 180° top speed yaw-slip one-shot kill trap = mmm, so good <chef's kiss>)

Even DIYed my desk chair w/ Vesa mounts to house a Warthog replica HOTAS, and ran an alt rig overhead for the Index to the battlestation (vs the default full room, standing set-up), et al.

Ahh... Those were the days. 🤩❤️‍🔥

p.s. Nowadays, I get close to reliving that nostalgia via my heavily-modded (250+) Starfield NG+, but am quietly & reservedly hopeful for the upcoming Osiris Reborn release... 🤞🏼😅

^ahem^ <glares @ No Man's Sky launch>

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[-] hydrashok@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

For me, my favorites are:

RAH-66 Comanche for flying sim.

Wolfpack (from Brøderbund) for submarine sim. I believe it is also free on archive.org. (Added link: https://archive.org/details/msdos_WolfPack_1990)

Euro Truck Simulator 2 for trucking sim.

F1 2019 for racing sim. But it pretty much requires a wheel and pedals if you want to get really good, which does add to the cost.

EDIT: added link

[-] clucose@lemmy.ml 6 points 19 hours ago

Wolfpack I played up and down 20 years ago. I may check it out again.

[-] Malix@sopuli.xyz 21 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I'm going to go with Euro truck simulator 2.

The experience of chill driving across europe and listening to podcasts is nice. The game isn't complicated enough to affect listening experience, but also engaging enough on it's own right that it stays interesting.

I have probably seen 80% or so of the roads and cities, bit they still feel fresh... Could be that I'm forgetting places faster than I'm getting familiar with them as well.

I do have a steering wheel and pedals, but they're just too cumbersome to get out and my wheel stand is made for someone at least 20 shorter than I am, so the experience is hampered a bit anyway. Because I'm lazy I've just resulted to driving witn mouse and keyboard combo.

Edit: typos. Typing on phone is butts

[-] brot@feddit.org 3 points 20 hours ago

It's a really great game and it's really relaxing.

[-] hydrashok@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago

Yep. I have all the map and special delivery DLCs too and it’s awesome.

I don’t get it why exactly, but it’s awesome just seeing the detail they put into the game. Getting all the photo locations is really hard!

And some of the achievements take a looooong time to get.

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[-] TimeNaan@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946

[-] blimthepixie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 1 day ago

Goat Simulator

[-] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

DCS (Digital Combat Simulator)

Tons of well-simulated combat aircraft. IL-2 is probably the closest simulator to it.

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[-] Almacca@aussie.zone 6 points 1 day ago

Assetto Corsa, hands down. The mod community have made it into something quite special. I've got pretty much every other driving/racing sim as well, but I keep coming back to AC.

[-] y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 6 hours ago

Any idea if there is a way to get the mods to work on Linux?

[-] Almacca@aussie.zone 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Not sure, maybe through Wine, but I'm almost certain it won't work with my Moza wheel and pedals, or VR.

[-] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Motor Town, Operation Harsh Doorstop, Easy Red 2, Sailwind, Hydroneer, Liftoff!, Shredders, Old Market Simulator, Cold Waters Dot Mod, Nebulous Fleet Command, From The Depths, Helicopter Gunship DEX and Out Of Ore are all great "sims".

I also consider extremely mechanically deep rpgs with realistic systems like Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead or Unreal World to be simulators and both are superb.

I am trying out Ships At Sea but don't have enough experience yet to give a thumbs up or down yet on it (Check out Sailwind!).

Sailwind is a "sailing simulator" as in actual sailing!

[-] theluckyone@discuss.online 3 points 5 hours ago

Check out eSail as well, if you like sailing.

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[-] Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 day ago

Elite Dangerous

[-] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 5 points 1 day ago

Sim Collector Simulator

[-] melroy@kbin.melroy.org 7 points 1 day ago

This has to be roller coaster. Period.

[-] melroy@kbin.melroy.org 6 points 1 day ago

Like the og Roller coaster tycoon 2 for example.

[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 hours ago

Is that a simulator game? I thought "tycoon" was a different category.

If it fits, I'm on board with it as the GOAT.

[-] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

B-17 (intellivision)

F19 (Atari computer)

Jumbo jet (Atari computer)

[-] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 7 points 1 day ago

Assetto Corsa

Amazing game, could have more varied maps in free access servers, but the game is old so it's ok

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[-] Hotzilla@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Apache longbow 2 from 1997.

Edit: got original mixed with 2

[-] christopher@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago

I like OpenTTD. Based off the old Transport Tycoon game

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this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2025
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