Options and Setup

Hitting ESC during the game brings up a list of MENUS on the top of the screen. Under Cheats appear these options:

• View. You may toggle g forces on and off for redout and blackout.
• Physics. Easy Landings (undercarriage damage limits).
• No Wind
• No Turbulence (especially noticeable at low level)
• Cannon: Easy Aiming On/Off
• Damage Level: Realistic and Invulnerable. Selecting 'Invulnerable' disables your ability to save your progress in the campaigns.
• Supplies: Unlimited Ammo On/Off. Unlimited Ammo also disables your ability to save your progress.
• Difficulty. Enemy Skill: Rookie, Novice, Average, Veteran and Ace. The default setting is Average.

Under the VIEW menu you can decide how the camera behaves. Normally it will shake at high velocity and during tight turns. This is most noticeable in the F2 virtual cockpit view and is similar to Longbow 2. You can also toggle g effects that will cause the pilots head to tilt.

A sub menu also allows you to configure whether or not flight information is super-imposed on the screen. It has three sections:

• HMD Radars:
  When checked, the active and passive radar displays from the MFDs are superimposed on the lower corners of the HMD.

• External HMD:
  When selected, portions of the HMD will be available to certain external views.

• Enable Messages:
  When selected, this displays text messages that complement the computer and radio messages into the cockpit. Examples of such messages are "Enemy Lock-On" and "Shoot"

Graphics Options Graphics options allow you to change object and terrain complexity to enhance performance, select certain graphics features in the game and add or remove some transparency effects during flight. Subtracting detail and features enhance performance at the expense of visual appearance. Detail Options allow you to add to or subtracts from the graphic detail of objects, such as aircraft, and terrain features, such as buildings and roads. It is divided in two: Object Complexity: A gradient bar that adds or subtracts detail from objects you see during flight, such as other aircraft. To alter the current setting, use the Up/Down arrow keys to highlight the selection and press Enter. Then use the Left/Right arrow keys to vary the gradient bar setting. Moving the bar to the right will add complexity; move it to the left to subtract detail. Terrain Complexity: This slider works in the same manner as Object Complexity. Use the Left/Right arrow keys to add or subtract from terrain detail. Terrain Objects: This slider detemines how many terrain objects should be drawn-none, only the trees, or all terrain objects. The Features menu allows you to choose effects and features which enhance the graphics, yet are not vital to the gameplay. Click for a larger image... Enable Lens Flares: Lens flares emulate the optical effect created by a camera when exposed to strong light sources, for instance from the sun or a rocket blast. When checked, these effects are enabled. Disabling the effects will improve performance. Enable Particles: When enabled, a particle system is used for rendering weather effects like wind and rain. This may reduce performance on slower computers. Transparency: Certain special effects in the game can be rendered with or without transparency. Though transparency may reduce the performance of the game, it may add to the visual appearance of the game. Some effects are handled separately, like smoke, shadows and explosions. The explosions in JSF are some of the best I have ever seen... Eidos suggests that players with less than a 166 Pentium experiment with the options in the graphics menu for the best performance. And by the way, the music in flight is very good....

While JSF is not meant to compete with the likes of F22:ADF or even iF22, some aspects of the simulation are still outstanding. The flight model feels very good, for example, and you will notice the difference in a heavy payload. Speed bleeds appropriately, and the two aircraft feel different from one another.

General Avionics and AI

This is a stealth fighter simulation, and so you are going to make heavy use of AWACS and the In Flight Data Link. Even before you leave the runway you will want to hit your SHF key and call to AWACS to activate your link. So far so good!

The problem is that while you have a fairly complete choice of displays, you will not have the control options that you have in iF22 or F22:ADF. The interface is streamlined for simplicity. So while you can go to your attack MFD, you can't call up info on a given bandit. You won't know his speed or altitude until you lock him up.

Similarly, JSF models radar but it doesn't model the sophistication of the LPI (Low Probability of Intercept) system that exists in the actual F22. On the other hand, you can select three different view modes: the plan view (normal), side elevation view (used to check relative elevation) and the cross section view (to determine enemy altitude and movement across your flight path). It would be easy to assume that because JSF isn't targetted at the hard core crowd that it lacks any depth in control. But as with the wingmen control, JSF has some surprises!

JSF also models the synthetic overlay capability of the the new stealth fighters. The JSF carries an onboard terrain database; together with information from other platforms, it can generate a synthetic terrain overlay on the HMD. Basically, the terrain overlay is a computer generated 3D image of the terrain that helps the pilot fly the aircraft in poor visibility. "STO": Toggles Synthetic Terrain Overlay on/off. "SOO": Toggles Synthetic Object Overlay on/off. (Turning on STO however, gives a frame rate hit).

The HMD is able to add colour coded velocity vectors to all targets registered by the aircraft's weapon systems (active radar, FLIR, GPS, AR). In effect, this will show the movement direction of all targets in true 3D space. The colour codes are the same as those used by the Attack MFD and the Offensive MFD. Naturally, night vision ability is also modelled.

VOCOM voice modelling is also in place. When the on-board computer detects a situation that is of great importance to the pilot, it can call attention to the pilot by displaying text on the HMD or activating warning lights. This is sometimes not enough to get the pilot's attention. The designers therefore put in an another way of notifying the pilot, called automated voice computer messages or VOCOM. The VOCOM is a female voice that tells the pilot about certain incidents. The VOCOM is female because research has shown that this is the voice pilots focus on easiest =) Warning tones are in place to tell you of radar locks and launches.

I didn't notice any glaring problems with wingman or enemy AI, and in fact if you select expert levels of play for your enemies you will have your hands full trying to survive, much less complete your mission! You'll come up against F-16s, the Mirage, MiG 29s, Su-27s, Su-35s and a host of other aircraft. Objects are nicely detailed and you won't lack for good ground targets either! In fact, this simulation is really aimed at the mud movers.

JSF AutoPilot In today's combat environments, pilots experience enormous pressure and huge workloads. They must maintain high situational awareness while communicating, monitoring aircraft systems, monitoring and evading missiles, positioning their aircraft, etc. Research on easing pilot workload has resulted in a number of sophisticated Flight Assistance Systems, all present in the JSF aircraft. Click for a larger image... Almost all modern aircraft are equipped with an autopilot (a computer able to fly the aircraft). To activate the JSF's auto-pilot, press A. To deactivate its autopilot, press A again. The complete autopilot system is available on the Control MFD / AUT, and operates in 4 different modes. You can alter the data used by the autopilot, such as heading, height, speed, according to the situation requirements. Mode 1: Waypoint In waypoint mode, the autopilot directs your aircraft to the active waypoint, with the selected height and speed. Useful when you want to study the MFDs, fly with accelerated time or just to enjoy the view. Mode 2: Heading When selecting heading mode, the autopilot maintains the selected heading, at the selected height and speed. Mode 3: Tracking The tracking mode maintains the speed of the active air target. Perfect for lining up a cannon kill, or if you want to maintain a constant distance from a target. Mode 4: Auto-Throttle The auto-throttle mode helps the aircraft maintain a constant speed. This is selected by the pilot on Control MFD / AUT. Perfect for situations requiring constant speed, like landing and dogfights. Terrain Avoidance System Too many deaths of fighter pilots are not the cause of an enemy missile, but of their own inattention leading to an encounter with a hard surface - like the ground. This has especially been the case when flying at low altitudes. The designers of the X-32 and the X-35 therefore decided to include a Terrain Avoidance System in their planes. This system continually monitors the state of the aircraft, and adjusts the direction of the plane if there is a Crash Situation. While using the autopilot in waypoint mode, the avoidance system is always on. This ensures that you will not crash while studying your MFD's. In all the other autopilot modes and when the autopilot is off the terrain avoidance state can be set in the Control MFD / AUT / TRA. If you get tired of hearing that warning and having your ac pull up by itself just turn off the TRA. Note: The Terrain Avoidance System is automatically turned off when you extend the landing gear. Terrain Following Box Sometimes it is preferable to fly terrain hogging without using the autopilot. In such a case you should take your gear in, turn off the terrain avoidance system, and a small box, called terrain following box, will appear on the HMD. If you keep your velocity vector inside this box you will fly safe at low altitude. You can adjust the height of the terrain following box on the Control MFD / AUT / TRA up and down, as you can for terrain following waypoints. The recommended terrain following height depends on what kind of mission you are on, the terrain and how many wingmen who join your flight. Level Function If you lose control over your plane, press the level button to recover your flight. Your flight computer will then level your plane, and ensure that you gain speed if necessary. Level operation will cancel when you touch the throttle or stick. You can also cancel the operation by pressing the level button again. The level function is invoked with the L-button. By the way, JSF also does a decent job of modelling GPS targetting systems!

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