What is a sim, what is not...

[Rattlehead]

If we're talking about a game ie software used for entertainment purposes, then I would say a sim is a game that tries, as near as is possible, to accurately replicate the subject content.

To me, it is more about the idea than the actual execution. Like the old Il-2 for example, is most definitely a simulator for me because the idea behind it was to make a sim that was as close to real life as was possible at the time.
Sure, with many more years of coding and advancement in computing power it could have been more realistic, but at it's heart it tried to be as close to 'the real thing' as was possible without spending an obscene amount of money and time on it.
They still had to make it work within the context of a video game.

By contrast, a game is not particularly bothered with being as close to the real thing as is possible as long as people have fun with it. The entertainment value far outweighs the need to accurately replicate the subject content.
Some aspects may be fairly accurate to the real thing, like for example the 3D models, but the fun factor is king.

[ACE-OF-ACES]

As icarus and others have pointed out..

By definition..

There all simulations..

With that out of the way..

That leads to the next question..

How 'realistic' is the simulation?

Problem with 'realistic' is it means different things to different people.. That is to say ask ten people what it means and you are likely to get ten similar but different answers.

For me the first question about realism has to do with how 'accurate' are the planes performance simulated

One would think that would be an easy question to answer, what with all the WWII performance tests to compare too, but you would be suspired how even that can be debated

If you think that is hard..

Try and debate how realistic the immersion is! Good luck! Because that is a very subjective area that can mean different things to different people. Or better yet, try and debate how realistic the 'handling' of the aircraft is.. Those are the ones that tend to give me the biggest smiles!

In summary.. there is an easy rule of thumb test you can do to tell if it is a simulation or not.. Basically check to see if 'it' is running on a PC.. If it is, you can bet it is a simulation! From that point on, the only questions left is how 'realistic' is that simulation.

Just my 2 cents on the subject

Dont spend it all in one place