As you can see, it takes the F-16 quite a while to get to 250 knots loaded with max fuel only. Part of this problem is the fact that it takes the Novalogic Viper 5 seconds to get to afterburner. Performance at all altitudes is roughly the same. However, look what happens when I burned the fuel from the external tanks:

As expected performance increases dramatically. Interestingly, numbers are similar to those below with both tanks still on stations but empty. First indications that drag may not be modeled at all or modeled incorrectly.

Well right away you can see they have modeled weight. Times are lower by roughly 5 seconds in each category from loadout number 1-1. Numbers are identical to those in loadout 1-2.

Times are very consistent at all altitudes. One would expect performance to be little better at high altitude due to air lower air density. Times are very high due to the extreme weight to the loadouts. Max weight for the F-16 according to Novalogic is 37,203. The weight above is just 65 pounds short of that maximum. Lets see what happened when I dropped all munitions:

Again, we see the same numbers when the Viper is fully unloaded. Performance heavily effected by weight. I needed to again distinguish between weight and drag so for my last test I went all out on drag.

All times are even. Those 600 gallon tanks are HUGE and create a massive penalty on weight and drag. Lets see what happened after I burned the fuel out of the drop tanks while leaving them on the stations:

Times are not showing any drag penalty! Drag has apparently not been modeled. Times reflect those of an F-16 in a clean configuration.

Flight Modeling

After having performed maneuvers in the F-16 and finding them either way over-modeled or under-modeled, I decided to find out how the MiG-29 handles and get a benchmark. As many know the Fulcrum enjoys a great thrust-to-weight ratio and is very capable at slow speeds (below 250 knots).

I found that while flying the MiG-29 it also seemed to be over-modeled in tight turns. I estimated it was turning about 60 d/s at high speed and just like the F-16 it bled speeds like crazy. However, unlike the F-16, the MiG-29 didn't seem to lose that many d/s at slow speed. In the high-speed regime and assuming the Viper can hold his energy, he should be able to pull around on the MiG because like the F-15C, the MiG-29's airframe is not capable of sustained 9G turns.

However, it seems that Novalogic has decided to differentiate the two aircraft and make them really specific to different roles. Clearly, the MiG-29 has been made as a supreme dogfighter. In my estimation after dogfighting other planes in IBS, it seems almost impossible (unless the Fulcrum driver is an idiot) to beat the Fulcrum while sitting in the Viper.

While I was besting other F-16s regularly, I was never able to beat a MiG-29. When I left the arena and returned as a MiG-29, I was beating MiG's and Vipers almost without effort in WVR. At one point, I began to chuckle as a hapless Viper with no energy kept trying to out turn me. I could literally do a 360-degree circle and still pull back around on the Viper before he could pull my original 360 degrees. Neither fair nor accurate.

However, I did find that when flying in IBS the ability to evade missiles became a lot more significant as ALAMO's and AMRAAMS were always flying between the two sides. I did try to test Doppler Notching (aka beaming) accurately. When I fly on the real simulator, every time I lockup a plane (95%) I end up getting beamed and trying to give my FCR a good "paint" of the enemy plane.

When I flew on IBS and beamed my opponents, it did not seem to make much difference. Of course, hours and hours of detailed study could provide a more accurate answer but alas, I am not going to invest this much effort into something as complex as beaming when accurate modeling of the aircraft and radar system themselves are not right.

The Viper is hands down a better attack plane than the MiG. When I asked Novalogic which version of the MiG-29 they were modeling they responded with, "Mix between Fulcrum A and Fulcrum C". Hmmm…OK. Well, even the MiG-29S is still not much on ground attack even though some capability has been added (even limited PGM) so without question, the attack regime goes to the F-16. However, the disparity in the air should serve as a caution to all pilots. Don't expect to win much with the Viper versus a competent MiG-29 Fulcrum pilot.

Summary

Overall, both games are a blast to play and sport excellent graphics. I prefer the hard-core regime but want to distinguish that just because a game is not hard-core, it is some how a bad game. Definitely not! What got me a little perturbed was the comment by Novalogic about "authentic" flight models.

Of course, this is nothing new. All game companies seem to claim accurate flight models but very few have delivered (yet). As I flew in IBS, I saw numerous references to how "accurate" the flight models seemed with one guy even claiming he was an F-16 jock and that the flight and radar model was "right on". When I asked him a couple of technical questions he mysteriously disappeared.

As I mentioned, the graphics are outstanding and as long as you are not expecting realism, both games are a ball of fun. It can be difficult to find a good dogfight on IBS though, simply due to the masses of people there. Often I would be fighting someone when I would get fired at by another guy (or two) from 5-10 miles away and before I could finish the good dogfight already started, would die to the guys AMRAAMS or ALAMO's.

Customer support seems to be in superb shape. Since Thomas's review of MiG-29 went up he has already received a letter from Wes Eckhart who is the producer of F-16 MRF and MiG-29 Fulcrum. He was responding to Thomas's concerns with Internet multiplay and wanted Thomas to please work with them to find out if there was a potential flaw in the program or whether the problem was in his setup.

This is an example of outstanding support and communication. It is obvious to me that Novalogic plans to provide excellent service with these games. Direct feedback in this fashion should be the standard and not the exception. Big Kudos to Novalogic for great feedback support!

The biggest plus I see for Novalogic is the bang for the buck. Getting two games for the price of one is unbeatable. With unlimited multiplay to boot, this is one value that even a hard-core junkie like me has to take a second look! Expect a patch to fix small bugs sometime very soon!

SCORES

• Sim Sophistication Level - low to mid range
• Multiplayer Support 85% - Lacked MP mission editor Off-line support / Coop is head to head only
• Mission editor 85%
• Graphics 90% (95% running SLI at 1024*768)
• Cockpit 70% (Lack of clickable cockpit is almost unforgivable in this day)
• AI and FM details 50%
• Pucker/fun factor 90%
• Bang for the buck value 95% (Two games for one price = HARD TO BEAT)

Ed. Note: Only the lack of a clickable cockpit and the claim to authenticity really prevents us from giving Novalogic a Top Pick award. We intend to evaluate simulations according to their target audience. While we assess this sim as light to middle in terms of challenge and realism, we aren't clear that this is indeed the target audience.

Back to Part I.