The F-16, well-known for its dog-fighting capabilities and high
standards of performance and affordability was designed to be small,
lightweight and highly manoeuverable, capitalizing on a daring blend of
aerodynamic and system technologies. Nowadays, the worldwide fleet of
over 3,000 aircraft has surpassed five million flight hours.
Equally potent in air-to-air and air-to-surface roles, the F16 has opened many
avenues for tactical air power to the United States and its allies. A
total of 250 USAF F-16s flew approximately 13,500 sorties in the Gulf
War and maintained high results on missions, attacking Iraqi ground
forces in Kuwait, performing as killer scouts, knocking out Scud
missile sites and destroying military production and support
facilities, chemical factories and airfields in Iraq.
Some
months ago Digital Integration released F16 in the UK. This past week
iF-16 finally hit the shelves in North America. Why the delay? The
reasons may never be finally known, but rumor had it that further play
testing was underway. After a half day with the iMagic release,
however, it seems indentical in all but the manual and box.
The
box contains 4 items: the CD in a cardboard case, a Control Summary
card, the main manual (a few pages longer than the UK version), and a
tutorial guide. The main manual is one hundred ten pages, but its
brevity is compensated by the tutorial.
The
CD contains both DOS and WIN95 installs. Install went smoothly for
both, although my AWE64 doesn't seem to like the DOS configuration and
doesn't detect properly. I chose the medium install which asks for
sixty meg. The medium install leaves out some graphics files, but
having fast systems I didn't notice a problem. The large install asks
for 120(?) meg. Joystick calibration in WIN95 is automatic, based on
your system itself. I had no problems with my CH or TM gear.
Stated
system requirements are a 486 DX2-66. I suspect that with all the
graphics options off you could indeed get away with this, but I would
recommend a P120 or better. A friend of mine installed the sim on a
P133 with 32 meg, and with clouds off he is ALMOST happy.
So
what about the frame rate? With all detail maxed out INCLUDING clouds I
am around 10-12 fps. To me this is acceptable, but barely. Oddly
enough, the frame rate is the same for me in WIN95 or DOS. I also
tested with DX3 and DX5, and there is no difference. If the sim were
DESIGNED for DX5 frame rate would likely be about 30% higher. Note also
that your frame rate will improve if you do the large install (100
meg).
Max
resolution is 640x480. I suspect that many pilots will turn off the
cloud detail OR turn down the terrain detail if they are running less
than a P200. No problem, the sim will still be fun to play, and the sky
still looks great without clouds. See below for more info on texture
choices and frame rate.
I
also need to note that on USENET many complained about the WIN95
install with F16 FF. Apparently there are some issues here, especially
on older systems. Oddly, K6 owners seem to be free of problems
entirely. It could be that the iMagic release will see fewer WIN95
issues: time will tell!
Graphics and Detailing
If
you liked HIND you won't be disappointed. If you are coming away from
EF2000 you may be. Personally, even though my greatest number of flight
hours were logged in EF2 and Janes Longbow this past year, I am not
bothered by the graphics when detail is high. Object detail is even
better. An outside view of the F16 is about between Fleet Defender and
EF2000. The aircraft looks good, with squadron markings clearly visible
and weapons details similarly high. Take a look from the rear and see
the heat distortion effect of your afterburner.
Terrain
detail is surprisingly good. As a step up from HIND I don't think most
pilots will complain. Most of your flying will NOT be NOE, and when it
is its livable. Moreover, since your SEAD and CAS missions will utilize
a nice ground radar and/or LANTIRN, you won't have your eyes on the
scenery all that much anyway.
And
then there are the clouds! This is the largest point of departure from
HIND, with the corresponding graphics penalty. The clouds are best
comparable to EF2000. An overcast sky from the runway has me feeling
chilled and gloomy. Flying above the clouds leaves me in a peaceful,
dreamy state. It really is beautiful and a very nice change from HIND.
If you have the horsepower you will want clouds ON, but even without
the sky is attractive.
The
cockpit itself is very pleasing to the eye, and I like it much better
than the one in iF22. It integrates will into the graphical landscape,
and its a virtual cockpit so you can slew the views around using F1 to
F4, use a snap view system, or use the HeadLock view for air or ground
targets. Note: you can't headlock a ground target without having your
ground radar switched on, and you can't padlock missiles. More about
the padlock and views below...
Preferences
in both sound and detailing are quite flexible. For example, you vary
smoke lifetime and cloud density, shadows and object visual range as
well as textures and shading. All these things will affect your frame
rate so you can toy around to get what suits you.
The
visual range preference is the most important of the visual detail
settings. This option governs how far into the distance you can see
from your viewpoint within the world, before distance haze "fogs out"
the landscape. If you set this at three or lower you will effectively
remove textures from the landscape. At four or five you won't see very
far but your frame rate will improve...
Starting Out
When
you first execute the sim you will be treated to a very cool animation
of two F16 pilots taking on some MiGs. One of the best I've seen yet!
In fact animations throughout the sim are very well done, about on the
order of those from Janes. When you then select a particular campaign
you will be treated to another animation that fits the context. I wont'
spoil it by telling you any more... ;-D
Training
missions offer two cheat options: Free Fire, limitless weapons; and
no crashes. The selection of training missions is about as broad as the
ocean between here and the UK, including Conversion, Nav & Recon,
Landing, separate missions for every weapon system, formation flying
and low visibility flying.
Cut
to the chase! If you are an experienced pilot look over the manual,
download my TM config files or load up your CH files, skip the
training, go to Logs and Create yourself a pilot. Don't forget to
choose your call sign! Every flight is logged, and when the mission is
over you may choose whether or not to permanently record it. BUT if you
crashed and died during the mission the specific log becomes inactive.
You can also click on RETRY if you want to fly the mission again, and
then the last outcome is discarded. (Note: RETRY isn't available in the
campaign).
Now
go back to Main and click on COMBAT. Click on CAMPAIGN and select a
scenario of your choice: Cyprus, Israel or Korea. I suspect that
difficulty in each is about the same, dependent on the difficulty level
you selected under Prefs. If you have some solid experience under your
belt I suggest starting about level six. Note that the difficulty
slider affects enemy "awareness," accuracy, chaff and flare efficiency,
dogfighting skill, and acceptable accuracy radius for your own mine
laying and recon missions.
So,
you select your scenario and in you go! Now you will have a voice and
text briefing describing the background and present situation. Click on
COMMIT and move to your mission briefing. Again, you will have both
voice and text. Click on COMMIT here and you will get to the planning
screen.
Interface and Mission Planner
The
mission planner is solid and will almost outdo Tornado for detail and
flexibility, except that you do NOT have the overall tactical control
that you are given in Tornado. Here is a shot from the planner which
should look familiar to some of you:
Click for a larger image...70 K
You
must enable the planner in the Prefs screen, and then a MAP TOOLBOX
appears at the upper right hand corner when you enter. The toolbox
offers controls that allow you to study and modify your flight plan,
change the appearance of the briefing screen, alter weapon loadout and
request a weather report. To select a function you left click with the
mouse. Here are some particulars:
ZOOM:
magnify an area of interest. Click and hold the left button while
draggin the moust diagonally to define the area to magnify. When you
release the button the area is scaled to fit the screen. Or the player
can simply click on the the area of interest and it will zoom to a
higher detail level at the pointer position. The window that appears
may be panned, and you can even fly by specific areas and between
waypoints.
ROTATE: This function rotates the map around the screen center. Useful for orientation during the briefing.
FIT:
Clicking on any map position with the right button centers the map at
said position. Useful especially for centralizing your flight plan on
the map.
WAY:
This function opens the WAYPOINT window. Wayoints in the flightplan are
listed in sequence, beginning with departure point A. Info on any
waypoint can be displayed by first clicking on the waypoint and then
clicking on INFO. The window will display the x,y map coordinate and
altitude, the waypoint TYPE, the planned speed to the next WP, and the
estimate time to the waypoint in hours, minutes and seconds.
Clicking
on any waypoint button will cause the INSERT and DEL buttons to appear
in the window. The player may INS or DEL waypoints with the exception
of the first and last in the series. Obviously, you will want to check
your waypoints against the latest intelligence regarding placement of
AAA and SAMs, not to mention potential CAP flights.
SAVE: Click here to save changes to your flight plan.
TASK:
Click here to adjust the flight plan of your wingmates. If you have
modified your own flight plan you will likely want to change theirs
also.
PAY:
This function brings up the weapon payload screen. Loadout can be
modified but will remain symmetrical. Once the payload is accepted,
weapons with a variable salvo size will be listed, and the player can
adjust the number. When complete total aircraft weight is then
displayed with the maximum permitted "g" for the chosen payload.
Since
you do not have the Command ability given in Tornado, you cannot adjust
the payload of your flight members. Unfortunate, since it really can be
an advantage to carry a couple of extra IR missiles in exchange for a
pair of AMRAAMs...
At
your disposal, you will have a full complement of stores that you can
load as
you see fit (within weight, carriage and supply limits). The stores
will include
Sidewinders, AMRAAMs, Mavericks, HARMS, GBUs, CBUs, General Purpose and
retarded dumb bombs, the CBU-89B mine dispenser and CBU-15 Durandal,
rockets, fuel tanks
and ECM pods. The radar and HUD work together to give you all of the
cues
needed to properly deploy these weapons. For air-to-air, you get the
standard
seeker and DLZ (Dynamic Launch Zone) symbology or your choice of EEGS
(funnel),
LCOS (Lead Computing Optical Sight) or snake for gunnery. Air-to-ground
includes CCIP (Continuously Computed Impact Point), CCRP (Continuously
Computed
Releas Point), Dive/Toss and Strafe.
What
else will you see in the environment? A10s, C130 Hercules, E3 AWACS,
F14 Tomcat, F15 Eagle, F18 Hornet, AH1W Supercobra, AH64C Apache, UH60
Blackhawk, and a wide variety of ground vehicles and platforms
including ships, artillery and even soliders! As I was panning around
the battlefield with the F12 key I came across a solider running. As in
Longbow, you will have to be on the watch for small arms fire and even
shoulder mounted missiles.
For info on gameplay, AI, avionics, views etc. go to:
Gameplay and AI
When I entered the Korean campaign the first time I was on a runway
that was under attack! I scrambled and saw ground fire coming from AAA
on the runway with enemy aircraft strafing another flight attempting to
get airborn. When I exitted and re-entered the Korean campaign the
opening mission was completely different. Obviously there is randomness
here which will increase playability greatly.
If you have selected
FULL effects under sound then you will get in cockput radio chatter.
This will either drive you crazy or you will love it! It does add to
atmosphere overall. I do wish that my wingman wouldn't use the same
line EVERY time I lift off the runway: "Lets go kick some ass!"
As you will know if
you frequent combatsim, I am on a hobby horse with regard to
flexibility in wingman control. Why? I hoped you would ask!
Without solid wingman control, many basic strategies become impossible.
Head-on merges are not the best way to live through an initial contact!
For example, standard two on one or two on two doctrine requires the
ability to send your wingmen off to bracket on one side (preferably 2
of them while the third remains with you) while you and your wing
bracket the other. This greatly increases the likelihood of a kill.
By the same token,
to command two of your flight to watch a different sector of the flight
path with RADAR gives you better situational awareness. SA is the
sister to "lose sight, lose the fight." A sanitize or sector scan
command enables this control. If you miss your target, (of course this
NEVER happens to the rest of us), the ability to have your wingman take
your target out could be crucial in cutting off supply lines or
stopping that pesky SAM site from killing any more of your allies.
Furthermore, separate and comprehensive control of wingmen gives the
illusion of being an actual Wing Leader instead of just being a cog in
the wheel of a computer run war.
I think you get my
drift. How does Fighting Falcon fare in this regard? I'm sorry to say
that on a scale of one to ten, with USNF being perhaps 9.0, F16FF
scores around 3. You really can't do much with your flight, and they
aren't the most incredible pilots anyway. I've been flying on a
difficulty scale from six to eight so far, and only twice have I
returned to base with a live team mate. Ok, so I take a few risks and go offensive down to my last cannon shell.. hey, this is an action oriented sim!
Perhaps I need to
qualify this by saying that I've only flown a dozen missions with the
release version, and none on the highest difficulty rating. Some
dynamics will change as I improve in the sim and the difficulty
increases. I also need to confess that I've only made it back to base
myself in seven of my twelve missions! But then, I'm only a beginner in
the F16....
Now what about the command options? Here they are:
Wingman go home
Formation go home
WIngman follow me
Formation follow me
Wingman attack my target/help me
Formation attack my target/help me
Wingman resume flight plan
Formation resume flight plan
In addition to these
commands for your AI buddies, you are also given a list of scripted
messages to use in net play: ten in total, that are transmitted by text
but will be heard by you in voice. These commands add a few commands
that are needed in the sim for your AI wingies, including break
right/left, break off, etc.
What about enemy AI?
At the higher difficulty levels there will be few complaints. I've
found them fairly quick to engage and flexible in maneuvers. Ground
based SAMs and AAA can be deadly, and don't disregard foot soliders and
the machine guns mounted on BMPs and tanks! As in HIND, the ground war
is integrated fairly well and includes these smaller details.
In fact, this
simulation probably models more weapons platforms than anything else
out there. Under the Allies category, you may see:
8 fixed wing aircraft
three helicopters
the Vulcan AAA and Patriot SAM launcher
six armored vehicles
two artillery types
five infantry weapons including an antitank weapon and mortar
eleven types of ship
seven other vehicles including a diesel locomotive and Leopard bridgelayer
And for enemy
platforms you will see twelve fixed wing aircraft including F16s
(Cyprus)eleven types of armored vehicle including the T-80, five types
of artillery, nine infantry mounted weapons, fifteen ships including
lifeboats.... get the picture? Diversity is the name of the game here.
Here are my two
complaints: when you hit an enemy aircraft, they may still fly, in
which case they will continue to show on your radar. However, if you
make a kill, they simply disappear.. vanish into thin air. I think this
modelling needs some work. Secondly, cannon tracer fire is so small
that you have to squint against the
brown background just to see the 1 pixel size tracers. I dont' know if
this was a move to realism or not, but it is a challenge to accuracy!
To DI's credit, the ground impact can be seen when you are extremely
low and the impact area is larger.
AI overall is a complex issue and my experience is still limited, I'll
try to provide an update on AI issues soon.
Avionics and Flight Modelling
Radar
The sim IS action
oriented, and you will know that from the start. The music score is
lively and I like it, and it suits the sim very well.
Lets start with the radar and LANTIRN modules. These detection systems really lie at the heart of the simulation.
Click for a larger image...
DI has chosen to
simulate the LANTIRN equipped variant of the F16, consisting of two
pods which are mounted under the air intake. With this advanced
equipment the aircraft has the capabilities of a forward-looking IR
sensor and terrain following radar. This means the pilot may also
access a TV image on his MFD. The targeting pod contains the FLIR
tracker and a laser designator/ranger which allows designation of
targets at night using laser guided ordinance. Using the LANTIRN
equipment the pilot can fly with radar off allowing for greater
stealth.
This F16 is the
Mid-Life Update which includes color CRTs. The new radar, similar to
the APG 68, gives enhanced detection capabilities and better cluster
resolution, letting you know if that blip you are tracking is one
aircraft or a whole flight. The Harm Targeting System will let you take
on the F-16's new Wild Weasel role. In this move toward modernization,
much like the F22, the cockpit design is greatly simplified with the
intention of decreasing the pilot's workload.
Radar is nicely
modelled, definitely increasing your visibility to detection equipment
and with an appropriate resolution delay. Its complex enough to give
you flexibility and simply enough to learn in a few hours of play. The
radar is nowhere near as complex as the actual F16 systems, and not
nearly so intimidating therefore as the modelling in B2B. For the
average pilot this is a big advantage since it allows one to
concentrate more on the action and eases the learning curve.
The two primary
modes of the new radar are TWS (Track While Scan) and ACM (air combat
mode). TWS allows automatic id and tracking of airborne targets up to
35 nm. Targets are represented by color coded triangles: the triangles
point down if headed toward the pilot, and up if headed away. The radar
automatically designates the closest enemy aircraft and superimposes
cross hairs on the target triangle. The display shows the altitude of
the current target, target type and bearing in degrees. Closing speed
is also shown.
If the designated
target on the TWS display is a formation of aircraft (shown as a solid
triangle), the pilot may zoom in and designate individual targets. This
feature is called RCR, "Raid Cluster Resolution." The radar will then
display ONLY the formation and will designate a target within the
formation.
TWS also allows a
choice of three scan modes. The scan pattern may be slewed horizontally
(azimuth) and vertically (bar setting) in order to point the radar at
the area of interest. Scan mode 1 allows 120 degrees azimuth, 3 degrees
vertically, and 35 nm range. Scan mode 2 allows 60 degrees azimuth, 6
degrees vertically, and 25 nm range. Scan mode 3 alows 30 degrees
azimuth, 9 degrees vertically, and 15 nm range.
The ACM mode works
quite differently and allows a broader horizontal sweep pattern, and a
boresight mode which may also be set to lock the nearest bandit
automatically. ACM mode automatically arms your missiles and tracks the
nearest enemy, slewing and zooming the radar to keep the target on
radar as good as possible. You can leave ACM mode active but turn off
auto tracking if you wish.
The ground radar can
be set to either GVT (Ground Vehicle Track) or FTT (Fixed Target
Track). GVT mode represents a plan view of the area ahead of your
aircraft, showing ground vehicles ONLY. Maximum range is ten miles.
With the exception
of radar-equipped enemy vehicles, the ground radar is not capable of
distinguishing between allied and enemy equipment. However, if your TWS
systems detects enemy radar transmissions from SAM, AAA or mobile EWR,
this info is used to prioritise target designation on the radar
display. If the target type is known the name will be confirmed on the
display, although it is recommended to confirm the target id with the
LANTIRN display before firing. Note: the LANTIRN zoom function (<
and > keys) appears broken.
A radar HOLD mode is
also available. This allows you to freeze the radar picture and turns
off the active radar. The display will remain static and a dotted line
will appear to show your position relative to your current target,
enabling you to approach the target with radar off. Pressing "H" again
resumes radar operation and unfreezes the display. FTT mode displays
only fixed targets like buildings and bridges.
Of course, the
cockpit display also contains a passive Threat Warning System which
graphically represents the different types of radar scanning the
aircraft in both a warning indicator system as well as the typical
directional display. The appropriate symbol appears on the display for
a quick appraisal of your situation, triangles for aircraft borne
radar, diamonds for EWR systems, etc. There are also separate warning
lights for various threats: IR and Radar missiles, Ground tracking
radar, etc.
LANTIRN
LANTIRNs greatest
advantage is in use with radar off, but you can also employ these
abilities in conjunction with air to ground radar. The only advantage
in this case is that you can then VIEW the selected target at various
levels of zoom using the LANTIRN FLIR mode on the opposite MFD.
WIth your target
selected, on the right side of the HUD you will see the range scale and
the estimated missile time to target. The laser designator will be
automatically slaved to the radar target.
Using LANTIRN with
radar OFF, however, increases your stealth. If the target is a vehicle
then the pilot should select the FLIR AUTO mode. This gives automatic
recognition and designation of ground vehicles and is primarily used
for ripple firing maverick missiles against armored vehicles. You can
zoom the view with the < and > keys so long as you have selected
the FLIR display. You can also cycle through available targets using
BSPACE.
This system works
very nicely in F16FF. Employing the ripple fire method, remember to
space each shot a couple of seconds. If your first missile makes a kill
the LANTIRN will automatically designate the next target and the second
missile will change course. But you must continue flying toward the
target until all weapons reach their destination.
If the target is not
a vehicle, you will need to use FLIR MAN (manual) mode. This mode is
usually used for laser guided bombs, but you can use laser guided
mavericks for the task also in manual mode. Get the target in your site
and steer the designator manually using the ALT and cursor keys (or
joystick). Zoom in or out as above and use fire button to lock the
sight, then FIRE again to launch.
If you carry the
AGM65G (IR) type of maverick missile things get simpler, because this
missile is fire and forget. Either manual or automatic mode of the FLIR
can be used. When the last weapon is away you can turn away from the
target area.
Its in the manual
FLIR mode that you will begin wishing for a solid autopilot control, or
better yet, terrain following autopilot. True, the F16 is fairly stable
and you can let go of your stick for a little while, but if terrain is
especially rugged, or if you are flying at night, this gets tricky. Its
great to see the LANTIRN capabilities modelled, but the lack of an
autopilot is a real let down.
Flight Model
Flight feels
excellent. Digital Integration has obviously been doing some good work
in this area. Having never flown a serious F16 simulator, the only
question I am left with is: is it really this hard? This airplane seems
much harder to control than my previous serious sims in F14 Fleet
Defender and EF2000.
For the first couple of hours I found myself struggling to make crisp
turns and smooth realignments, constantly over and under correcting.
Inertia and weight
is modelled nicely, and stores make a huge difference in performance.
Yanking and banking is NOT an option. The aircraft bleeds speed quickly
in high G turns, especially with a full fuel load. Getting off the
ground with a heavy payload even on full AB can take almost the length
of the runway. Note also that turbine lag is well modelled, and it
takes a few seconds to spool up engines or to shut them down.
Damage modelling is
incredibly varied. Airbrakes and flaps can fail or incur damage that
inhibits flight, gear can fail or get stuck (controlled crashes ARE
possible), and engine damage of various severity may be incurred. Fires
and cockpit pressurization problems are also possible, as are hydraulic
failure. MFDs can fail as can LANTIRN pods, radar, ECM equipment and
radio. You can lose or jam your gun, pylons can fail to release
weapons, and your TWAS can quit. You can lose your electrical
generation ability, and your HUD system can blank out. Whew!
While we are near to
the subject, getting off the runway is an exciting task when you have
failed a mission or two! This usually places you within range of enemy
aircraft and/or tanks and artillery. There can be explosions ripping
around you, and/or small arms fire. So you get clearance and put the
throttle to the wall and hear those burners ignite! It would have been
nice to hear the wheels complain as they separate from the pavement,
but sound is very well done, from the threat warnings to the engines
and voice. Really it can't get much better. Now lets consider the views
and padlock.
Views and Headlock
View options are
good, from the panning views in the virtual cockpit to the traditional
snap views. Using the function keys for the panning threw me at first,
but if you are going to program them to a stick anyway, whats the
difference? Incidentally, I didn't care much for the config files
provided and you can give my F16 thrustmaster files a peek.
The headlock system
in F16 is excellent. I have seen at least one complaint on the net, but
I don't think that the pilot understood how to control the system. The
view is activated with key "6" and simulates the pilot's head tracking
a target as long as the target remains in the physical field of view.
When you activate the head-lock view on your current target, a number of
things will happen:
The cockpit will, usually, lower slightly and start to 'float' gently as
your view becomes centralised on, and then slaved to, the target.
A secondary aiming reticle will be superimposed over the target showing its
distance from your F-16, together with an aspect carat indicating your
relative headings as described in the Air-to-Air HUD modes in Chapter 5 of
your manual.
A data box will be placed at the top of your view at such times when your
complete Head Up Display comes close to moving off-screen.
The data box comprises the following symbology: (File 'readmef5.gif'
shows a snapshot of the head-lock view)
A large, outer 'Range of movement' box, representing the sphere of view
around the F-16 through which the pilots may physically move their heads.
A small, inner 'Field of view' box, representing your current direction
of view within the pilot's range of movement.
A pointer and vertical scale at the right of the Range Of Movement box
indicating the current pitch of your aircraft.
A horizon reference line at the center of the Range Of Movement box
indicating the current roll of your aircraft.
Airspeed and radar altitude readings at the top of the Range Of
Movement box.
The identity of the currently *viewed* (not necessarily the currently
*designated* target) above the centre of the Range Of Movement box.
As your head turns to track the target, the Field Of View box will move
appropriately within the Range Of Movement box. Movement range is
approximately ninety degrees upwards and thirty down, and 135 degrees left
and right. If the target moves out of the pilot's range of movement, view
returns to standard in-cockpit view until such time as the target re-enters
the pilot's range of movement. This could drive some people nuts but is a fairly good simulation of reality.
The headlock acts as
a toggle between normal "look ahead" view and "target track" view. If
you activate the headlock then switch to an external view, later
pressing F5 (cockpit view) will put you back into the head-locked
target track.
Head-locking slaves
the view to the currently designated target but is otherwise
unconnected to the target designation systems. Once locked, the view
will slave to the target UNTIL the view is deactivated with a second
press of key 6, or until you choose to view another available target.
When the target leaves the range of movement, view returns to normal
in-cockpit viewing but the target is remembered. If it re-enters the
pilot's range of movement, the viewpoint will swing around and
re-acquire the target.
While in head locked
view the pilot may cycle through viewable targets with the hash (#)
key. Available targets are those within 3 miles of your F-16. If the
current target is destroyed, the next available target is selected
automatically. So far I have found the system well designed and
user-friendly. I'll try to get a screen shot up today or tomorrow...
What about other
physics issues? Missile inertia seems appropriate, with appropriate
cruising ranges that change according to your own altitude and air
speed. Blackouts are about the best modelled I have yet seen, and if
you have blacked out once you are at higher risk for the next while. So
far as I know, this is very accurate. Moreover, blackouts may come on
suddenly but don't clear up suddenly, and are DEFINITELY dangerous to
your health! I haven't seen a red out yet and it could be that the AI
has a glitch in that area.
Afterburners are
modelled for FIVE stages. Nice! You can monitor your level with the
analog guage on the right side of the cockpit display.
Click for a larger image..
After your mission,
debriefing is via detailed text overlay (who shot whom with what and
when) over your original planning screen and also a voice message that
tells you how well you did or chews you out if you blew it...
F16FF offers a
two-player option of either leader or wingman or head-to-head combat.
Net play supports up to 16 players in Deathmatch or Capture the Flag
missions. Unfortunately, campaign play is not available in either two
player or network missions.
But worse yet, the multiplayer features seem to be broken.
North American
release finally happened about October 13 as iF16. In theory iMagic
chose to delay the release after complaints about bugs in the DI
release, but there doesn't seem to have been any substantial changes.
Frame rate is still challenging to the best systems if detail is full
on. On the other hand, a patch is in the works that will apply to both
the UK and US versions and hopefully will address multiplayer issues as
well as frame rate.
SUMMARY
In a mid beta there
were detailed autopilot controls in F16FF: heading and altitude hold,
attitude hold, track (may be used WITH terrain following), and terrain
following. The Track mode allowed following the preset waypoints. An
early/late time display could be brought up to enable speed adjustment
so as to arrive at the next waypoint at the assigned time. This can be
critically important when ground targets are moving rapidly and when
support aircraft are timed to allow you air cover for a ground attack.
The terrain
following mode was to be selectable only if the LANTIRN was fitted.
With the TF system active the ap manoeuvers the aircraft to a radar
altitude preset by the pilot. Ride height would be selectable from
100-500 feet and to 1000 feet.
For some reason this
excellent AP system did not make it into the UK release, degenerating
into a simply Autoland option. I hope that enough players will complain
about this loss that DI will consider a patch. After all, the code was
already in the works and probably wouldn't require a great deal more
time to complete. And after all, this is part of the LANTIRN package.
The other area that
begs for expansion is wingman interaction. F16 has followed the path of
Apache and Hind and kept things far too simple. With this addition the
sim would appeal to even hard core fans, and the immersion and depth
added would really add life to the sim. While the voice overlays from
other pilots helps add depth, its really a substitute for the "real"
thing: ability to comm and control with your wing in a way that
enhances tactical ability. I still haven't yet seen the laser
designation of targets by troops, although this kind of action is noted
in the manaul. Perhaps this didn't make it to the final release. CH
users have noted that the UP position on the hat doesn't work.
Hopefully this will be quickly fixed.
Overall, I think
this sim is worth purchasing unless you are looking for solid
multiplayer action. Although it lacks a dynamic campaign system, the
campaign FEELS dynamic and the action and avionics are great. I don't
hesitate to recommend the sim, especially for those who felt lost with
B2B but want a high level of realism with some great action. If you
have a low end Pentium you might want to have a look over the shoulder
of a friend before your purchase. On the other hand, when 3dfx support
is added and the connection abilities fixed, it might make a "best of
1997 list" yet!
