As promised, this briefing updates you on the command
options available to LEAD. Falcon 4.0 is stunning in many dimensions
and WILL raise the bar for combat flight simulations this year.
While Janes F15 took the command structure beyond anything
seen to date, Falcon 4.0 goes beyond Janes F15. The command structure
is final, and there are layers of menus allowing you to communicate
with your wingman, an element, a flight, the tower, AWACS, and a check
in for FAC.
Above from an early beta..
When you first hit the W key you will bring up the COMBAT MANAGEMENT
menu. This menu from the FLIGHT list (F key) is identical (commands are
grey because I had no flight to command on this mission):
Hitting the W key a second time brings up the next page, MISSION MANAGEMENT:
The next page is formation management, which lists ten options
including distance settings as well as the formation type you would
like. The final page allows you to request your wingman to make smoke
so that you can identify him if you are having trouble doing so.
Q brings up the AWACS contact menu, which has two pages as follows:
There are two commands on these lists above that may not be
familiar to you. They are "RAYGUN" on the COMBAT MANAGEMENT menu and
DECLARE on the AWACS menu.
RAYGUN broadcasts that you have locked up an unknown
air-to-air target and want to know if it's a friendly. The expected
response if you are the aircraft at that position is "Buddy Spike."
DECLARE is a radio call asking AWACS to ID a radar target as
either friendly or enemy. The procedure is to lock up a target and then
"declare" it to AWACS, who will now try to ID the target as hostile or
friendly or unknown.
Collision Damage. Click for 1024 x 768.
General Impressions in the Campaign
I want to report
some new impressions of campaign atmosphere and action. Enemy AI
appears quite sophisticated; in fact its at least as sophisticated as
Su27 1.5 and possibly beyond. Hopefully we'll have more info soon on
the exact modeling, panic reactions, target fixation etc.
Not long ago I wrote about my surprise in the appearance of
individually modeled infantry! I was cruising along minding my own
business.... well, yes, I was technically AWOL and out of formation
doing some sight-seeing (!!)... when I heard the crack of a rifle and a
corresponding "TINK" on my airframe. I paused the sim to scout around
the ground targets, and lo and behold I found some infantry!
This shot is from a RECON request in the campaign.
Moving your cursor over a particular map location or target will bring
up any RECON information you have acquired. The listing is quite
detailed and you can pan the photo around and zoom in and out.
Checking the arming of a particular flight en route, or
attempting to change loadout prior to the flight brings up the Arming
screen. In this shot you see that AIM-120 is listed in red.
Unfortunately, even at this early stage in this campaign my shipment
hadn't arrived!
I've heard quite a few new calls in the latest build and I
believe COMMS are now complete. I've heard flights calling JESTER and
WINCHESTER, and calling for BACKUP, in addition to a huge variety of
other calls. Reports on engagement and enemy activity are given
relative to the Bullseye unless you've selected "no bullseye" calls in
SETUP. ATC is equally complete and will pleasantly surprise many of
you!
As I mentioned I haven't flown each mission by the book, and
I've taken advantage of incoming bandits over friendly territory to
check out the enemy AI. Its quite impressive. Incoming aircraft with
ground attack missions will completely ignore you until you give them
your attention. They will then use tactics that are appropriate and
sophisticated. I turned to lock up three inbound strike aircraft at
about five miles. They promptly dove for the deck, making it very
difficult to spot them and with the ground clutter it took my radar a
bit to find them in ACM mode.
When I achieved lock and launched on the first bandit at four
miles he did a wing over immediately while dumping flares and breaking
hard. In the meantime the other two both broke left and right
respectively. Wow....
Needless to say I missed! The other two bandits increased their
speed and stayed low and continued toward their target. I waited to
just over one mile to fire again on my target and scored a hit, but
didn't take him down. He was obviously fighting for control and in a
cheat outside view I could see his aircraft shaking and bucking and
making smoke.
In the meantime another bandit managed to get on my tail.
Just as I finished off the strike aircraft I took a hit from a gun
shot. The white vertical streak is not a graphics glitch but rather the
smoke trail from my victim. The pieces you see behind my aircraft and
the black smoke are from the hit I took.
Incidentally, I'm also enjoying Instant Action mode. If you
enter at a low difficulty setting your first dozen kills will be like
shooting fish in the barrel. But then it starts to get a bit tougher,
and MiGs show up with death on their minds.... If you stay alert you
can achieve a high score, however, even on low difficulty.
The feeling within the campaign is extremely dynamic. You will have
traffic all around you, both on ingress and egress, both over friendly
territory and enemy territory. You will find yourself challenged
attempting to clearly ID your target before you commit yourself,
especially in the case of inbound strike aircraft since they will not
act aggressively.
On the other hand, you will get AWACS calls to intercept or
warning you of bandits after your tail. BARCAP missions in the north
near the FEBA should be especially interesting =)
However, if you've grown accustomed to the stealth of an F22
or the extra large loadout of shells on EASY or MEDIUM settings in
EF2000 or F22: ADF you are in for a surprise. There is no selection for
UNLIMITED WEAPONS in the Falcon 4 campaign, and the few shells you
carry disappear VERY quickly unless you sharpen your aim and conserve
them carefully for very close range shooting.
For most of us, Falcon 4 will be like no other simulation we
have ever flown on the PC. While there are parallels to elements of
Falcon 4 in a variety of other simulations, no one simulation has ever
brought them all together with this level of accuracy in one package.
Falcon 4 will NOT be for everyone, but is destined to be an instant
classic and will undoubtedly convert many middle level players (many of
the EF2000 and F22 ADF crowd) into hard core fans who will never again
be satisfied with anything less.
Ok, I promised some ATC material. Here are a raft of shots
from this morning. The first few shots are at about 18:15 PM, and the
second batch are from 19:00. All shots are available at 1024x768.
Unfortunately, I can't show you the row of strobe lights in the upper
center on this first shot although you can see the single white dot of
the first one...
If you get the feeling that TAXING isn't an experience to be missed in
this sim, you are right! You will receive the various clearances
necessary as you reach the appropriate point, or if traffic is light
you'll simply get the OK to takeoff. If you then sit on the runway
twiddling your thumbs, you'll be asked to hasten your departure.
This second set of shots was taken on a flight departing less than an
hour later, but as you can see this time airfield lights are up. I
haven't adjusted the gamma so these small shots are a bit tough to see.
Click the image for a larger version.
Take off with full afterburner will be a problem for some of us
at first. You'll find yourself exceeding the structural strength of
your gear and hydraulics systems very quickly. On my first take off
this morning I didn't get my gear up in time and the gear doors would
no longer close. Remember to kill your afterburner when you get off the
ground.
Coming in for a landing after a naval strike mission was
fascinating. The only discernible error seemed to be that I came in way
high at 20,000 feet but no one ever told me to descend until I was on
final approach.
At 30 miles out I notified the Tower that I was inbound. I
received a response from a male voice: "Good evening, Shark 5-1,
maintain heading for KIMPO."
At fifteen miles I requested landing. Then a female voice came over the radio:
"Shark 5-1, orbit for spacing. Turn right 20 degrees, maintain
maximum forward speed, vectors to left base." About thirty seconds
later the female voice came back:
"Shark 5-1, maintain 200 knots, turn right 360, vectors to left base."
This message repeated about five times in the next four minutes. Then:
"Shark 5-1, descend to 2000, turn right 145, maintain 250 knots,
vectors for final." This was a challenging one because of my altitude.
A moment later the male voice came back again with a similar message.
Incidentally, cruising along at 32,000 feet in late evening I
noticed I was leaving a vapor trail. Maybe that's why the AAA boys
liked to try to light me up every few minutes!
The detail at every level in Falcon 4 will warm your heart.
True, it may not have the same effect on your wife or girlfriend, er..
or maybe your husband or boyfriend. Hmm, I guess the female Viper
pilots probably have a lot easier time getting their spouses interested
in these sims!
