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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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[-] Almacca@aussie.zone 3 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

OMG, I can't believe no-one's mentioned BeamNG.drive. The stuff that game simulates is off the charts. It's been in 'early access' forever, but if you're even remotely interested in driving simulators, it's the gold standard for a realistic driving experience. Crashing in VR in this game is the most visceral thing ever. It'll change you.

Here's a clip of me driving a RHD Piccolina around one of my local roads a kindly modder added to the sim until I crash catastrophically.

[-] msage@programming.dev 2 points 2 hours ago

BeamNG.drive

Starsector

Dwarf Fortress

Dota 2 (psychological warfare simulator)

[-] jonesey71@lemmus.org 5 points 4 hours ago

Carmageddon. It taught me everything I needed to know about the role of pedestrians while driving.

[-] aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 3 hours ago

I think this is the first time I've EVER seen carmageddon mentioned. Great game

[-] trslim@pawb.social 2 points 4 hours ago

XWing Alliance will probably always be my favorite, but Elite Dangerous is up there. If Elite had story missions and a singleplayer campaign to elaborate on the world building, it probably would be my favorite.

[-] paris@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 5 hours 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 9 points 11 hours ago

Dwarf Fortress, aka drunken dwarf simulator.

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

I bought that game just because I watched the Noclip documentary series on the developers. I haven't played it yet, and I'm not sure I ever will, but goddammit I vicariously love those two men.

[-] msage@programming.dev 1 points 2 hours ago

It's not a simulator, it's a parallel world.

[-] fmtx@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

Cultist Simulator. (half joking 😂).

Big fan of Cities Skylines in city simulator genre.

[-] Pacattack57@lemmy.world 4 points 13 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.

[-] y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 11 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 12 hours ago

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

[-] This2ShallPass@lemmy.world 3 points 14 hours ago

Anything by Janes Combat Simulations.

[-] roserose56@lemmy.ca 4 points 15 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.

[-] gorkur@lemmy.world 4 points 15 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.

[-] helvetpuli@sopuli.xyz 15 points 23 hours ago

KSP 1

[-] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 7 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 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 7 points 21 hours ago

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

[-] elucubra@sopuli.xyz 6 points 20 hours ago

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

[-] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 1 points 14 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.

[-] CodeBlooded@programming.dev 5 points 1 day ago

VTOL VR

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

[-] glinncor@lemmy.world 5 points 21 hours ago

VTOL VR is incredible

[-] CodeBlooded@programming.dev 4 points 8 hours ago

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

[-] lordnikon@lemmy.world 37 points 1 day ago

Elite Dangerous and i also love old school mechwarrior 2

[-] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 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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[-] Malix@sopuli.xyz 26 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

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

It's so good in VR. I call it a rubbernecking simulator. You're missing most of the game without it imo. I spend most of my time looking out the windows at the views.

[-] brot@feddit.org 3 points 1 day 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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[-] hydrashok@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 21 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 1 day ago

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

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

Swat 4 🤷‍♂️

[-] blimthepixie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 1 day ago

Goat Simulator

[-] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 13 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 7 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.

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

For example, here's a clip of me driving a Ferrari 32PB around Targa Florio from dawn to dusk. Almost everything in this clip is a mod.

[-] y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 11 hours ago

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

[-] Almacca@aussie.zone 2 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

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

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

IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946

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this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2025
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