Microsoft never intended their FSX program to be a combat simulator, preferring to offer their old Combat Flight Simulator (CFS) products to fill this void. Of course, there have been plenty of other combat sims out there which have enjoyed varying success, but Microsoft's flagship flight simulator program has remained relatively unchanged from the original concept of flying non-combat roles. Until now!

Long-time add-on producers Captain Sim have developed an add-on for FSX which will allow frustrated combat pilots to engage various targets with a variety of weapons. "Weapon for FSX" has been released as a "pilot developed" add-on which, according to the Captain Sim web site, will only undergo further development if sales indicate that the product has a future.

Installation

This add-on is only available for FSX. Purchase and installation from the Pilot Shop are very easy. The installation program installs all files in to the relevant folders within FSX.

Once installed, activating weapons for any aircraft is as simple as starting the application, choosing either the fixed wing or rotor aircraft option, and then selecting the desired aircraft from the automatically populated drop-down menu. Once the effect has been applied to that aircraft, a green reticle symbol and the words "WEAPON INSTALLED" will be displayed below the picture of the selected aircraft.

   

All that is left now is to load the desired aircraft in FSX and go "weapons hot"!

Visual Features

When you install Weapon For FSX onto a selected aircraft, you will find that you have access to the Weapon control panel, and a couple of additional panel/HUD views.

The panel includes a master arm/disarm switch (I don't have to explain this one, right?) and a weapons select switch which allows you to choose between guns, aerial rockets, air to air missiles or "dumb" bombs. Another switch lets you swap between air to air, and air to ground modes. This switch will also change the HUD display accordingly. An illuminated digital display shows how many rounds of your selected ammunition are remaining. Two rotating dials allow you to change the HUD display mode to select between Nav, TACAN and ILS displays, and adjust the RADAR active range between 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 200 nautical miles. Another illuminated digital display shows range to a selected target. This only works for targets that you are actively tracking with a weapons system. Finally, two warning lights are included to show when you have an active track on a target and a "SHOOT" cue when you achieve a weapon lock.

Included in the package are multiple weapon effects such as missile contrails and gun tracer rounds, and explosion/smoke effects. However, users are also given an additional bit of "candy" in the form of dynamic scenery. The developers have included a variety of "period" AI aircraft models for a number of airports throughout the world which are activated only if you select a flight in that area within the time period those aircraft are active. Some of the AI models include B2 and B52 bombers, a variety of Russian Cold War aircraft, and various other combat and transport models in fictitious markings.

All of the airports with active AI, and the time periods they are active, are listed in the Weapon For FSX manual.

Please note, I am not associated with product designer, and do not offer technical support for their products. Any emails to me for assistance will be politely returned referring you to the designer in the first instance.

The Verdict

For the frustrated fighter pilots among us, this add-on is a lot of fun. The fun however, is limited. I was unable to test this package online, so I do not know if the damage effects will apply to the aircraft flown by other users to allow for online dogfights. Having said that, the array of weapons platforms available in this package allow pilots to practise their skills and see results within FSX. Installation and removal of the package on to any selected aircraft is easy. Overall, I found this a great start and I hope it continues to develop as a legitimate third-party add-on package in its own right.

At $22 I think Captain Sim's "Weapon For FSX" offers good value for money and is certainly an add-on I will continue to use when I want just a little more from FSX.

Test System

FSX Acceleration & DX9
AMD 64 X2 Dual Core 4600+ 2.4 GHz
2 GB RAM
Saitek X52 stick & throttle

Scott Woodford
welly616@gmail.com

Learn More Here

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