Besides being a fully functional mission editor, this is where you also determine the computer's AI ability. AI in FS:SDOE has five slider variables: Skill, Aggression, Loyalty, Morale, and Sanity. These variables are not truly a general AI, but represent how the computer pilots will react within the design of your mission. Design it poorly and the AI may not do what you expect based on other factors or variables you have not clearly defined.

The mission designer will require a major investment in time to master. I suggest you start small and as you become comfortable, expand into more complex mission designs. On the Internet there are already several areas where created missions are available. You might want to take a look at one of these in the editor and see what that designer did to make it work.

Plainly Open

One of the features that gives FS:SDOE it's greatest potential is OpenPlane®, the ability to create from scratch your own planes, ground units, new structures, maps, pretty much anything that the designers of the program could do. WARNING: The documentation that comes on FS:SDOE's CD, explaining OpenPlane®, is not a program or an editor, but the tools and notes you'll need as a competent programmer to design your own editor to do this type of thing.

Although ParSoft has given all that is necessary to do this on your own, it is not for the casual gamer, but geared more for the professional programmer. I expect that there will be a torrent of editors soon from the talent that is available on the net, but right now, a lot of people are scratching their heads over OpenPlane®.

Is Anyone Home? Online Play

Online game play is also a glowing feature of FS:SDOE. It is easy to use and simple to start up an online game. When a game is started, the host has the option of setting up a Full speed game and a 1/2-speed game. Full speed is for systems that can sustain 20fps or more and 1/2 speed for all others. This allows slower machines to compete online without being edged out by the faster machines.

Some individuals, like AMD owners with fast processors, may still be forced by the program to fly at the 1/2-speed settings. This can be worked around by adding two lines to your sdemons.ini file: NetRTHWMin=10 and NetRTSWMin=10. This will let you play online at full speed regardless of your computer horsepower. This workaround will not give users of slower systems any added benefit however and may even put them at a severe disadvantage vs. faster systems.

Although the game ships with the ability to play with up to 8 players, the engine is capable of handling more. By adding NetMaxPlayers=16, to your .ini file you can increase it beyond the 8 players. Be warned, if you choose to increase the default multi-player settings to 16, be sure all the players have fast systems and good connections, or stability will suffer.

If players take all plane slots, you can decrease your chance of problems. The host systems computer will fly all slots not taken (as AI aircraft) and unless you have a strong system, it will cause connection issues as your system must process not only your plane but the AI's planes as well. Experimentation will be required to find the happiest medium for you. I found 10-12 to be a good setting on my K6-2 333 system.

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Summary: Aim for Perspective

Too much pre-release hype and emphasis on the recreation of real-world flight and physics modeling was this products Achilles heel, and ActiVision and ParSoft have only themselves to blame. So, if you're into suspension of disbelief, you'll love FS:SDOE. If you're a fan of real-world accuracy you will still be impressed by the sim, but your hopes will certainly be dashed if you believed all the pre-release promises.

Fighter Squadron makes me feel like I'm actually in a dogfight - and actually at risk of getting killed - more than any flight sim I've ever flown. That feeling comes from the game's ability to color the mechanics of the sim with meaning and its ability to connect with my imagination. In my experience that's very rare. It is the strength of the fighter pilot role and conviction that this is real that is critical to my enjoyment - not the intricacy of the sim.

Perhaps this is why we're seeing some people go nuts over this game, while others are not that impressed. The people going nuts are connecting with the game in a way that's rare for interactive products, and that's because it's connecting with them in an emotional way instead of merely an intellectual one. Maybe for the first time they're actually feeling like they're IN the cockpit - which is something they've always dreamed of.

The cockpit from the co-pilot's view.

My fervent hope is that at some point the game will become polished enough for everyone to get into it, and suspension of disbelief and real-world accuracy will merge into the promise. Then you'll feel what I feel when I roll out at 20,000 feet in my P-38 and bear down on a flight of German fighters below. Because when I do that I'm not playing a game.

Recommended System

For non-3Dfx users I recommend a PII 266 with graphics turned down, or a higher speed CPU if you want it all. For 3Dfx users the box says 200Mhz, but I would recommend a 233 with graphics turned down. Otherwise, you will need a 266 or better with graphics turned up.

Note: the minimum install is 285 meg, and full install is just over 600 meg. The documentation provided with the sim is in error.

Ed. Note: Send us your custom missions! Click HERE. Please send as a zip file attachment.