Welcome to the club, DH! And come on over to
http://www.ww2fighters.net for downloads, discussions, silly off topic stuff, etc ... You can get improved FMs, new 3D models, user-made skins, utilities, missions, sound files, etc. there.
It's hard to compare/contrast WW2 Fighters to EAW and CFS-2. In my opinion, EAW and CFS-2 are very much alike in terms of graphics, gameplay, and cockpits; WW2 Fighters has a different feel, especially regarding the way the cockpits are rendered. If you've ever played FS:SDOE, it's kind of the missing link between EAW and WW2 Fighters ...
WW2 Fighter's great strength is its 3D cockpits which feel proportionate and natural (compared to EAW/CFS2's 2D panel or wierd fisheyed bubble 3D cockpits). You can adjust the seat positions for your comfort and look around with your mouse or HAT switch. If you want to deviate from reality, you can choose guages to appear as on-screen pop-ups and even fly with no cockpit (gunsight only). Second, it is capable of supporting very high resolution skins, rendered in 256 colors, so it can be a slick and pretty sim ... EAW tends to feel gritty and drab and CFS-2 is flat toned in comparison. Download and install some of the custom 3D models for a 1000% improvement, and you'll be running the best 3D models around, bar none. Third, ground-pounding is a lot of fun in WW2 Fighters: decent-looking ground vehicles to pick on, and you can see them burn and blow up in the target camera in the corner.
With EAW and CFS2 you're probably used to being able to add a whole bunch of new models and skins and managing them with some kind of utility. WW2 Fighters isn't quite as easy to mod out; most modifications work like a 'patch' would and have to overwrite something in the archives. You're also limited to the default number of planes and (worse!) their default loadouts.
Another weakness with WW2 Fighters is that there isn't much of a career mode, other than flying a bunch of scripted missions in a campaign. But at the site linked above you'll find a bunch of new missions and guys who like to fly dynamic campaigns, either online (Ardennes '44) or off (Virtual WW2 Fighters).
Remember, before installing any mods to WW2 Fighters please locate these files in your Jane's Combat Simulations/WW2 Fighters/Data folder and back them up to someplace else:
WW2.SQS
Terrain.SQS
Sim.elb
Right-click over each of these folders in their native location and use 'Properties' to uncheck the 'Read Only' option. This will enable the new mods to be written to these files. Keep in mind that there is no 'revert', only installing new items and pressing forward. I recommend Swiper's "Jane's Combat Panel" as a utility to manage installs and favorite setups.
