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I have now had about six hours in JANE'S F/A 18 beta, so it's time to share with you some first impressions.
In a word.. WOW! There is no doubt that the Skunkworks are about to
pull off another incredible bit of work. The overall quality shows
throughout. The graphics engine is fantastic. COMMS appear to be solid.
The use of additional voice cues is going to be a fantastic aid for the
novice.
I haven't yet had a chance to seriously test the AI; that will
come tonight and tomorrow. My goal has been to supply the demand for a
good look around while becoming familiar with the interface.
The mission builder looks to be incredible, by far the most
advanced one we have seen from JANE'S yet. I have taken all my shots at
1024x768 with all graphics options cranked to the max. I'm not certain
if ALL effects and objects are in place yet, but it looks to be fairly
complete.
Believe it or not, I have had only one lock up and no crashes to
desktop. The sim appears to be amazingly solid. My system is an
overclocked Celeron (558 MHz) running a Guillemot Xentor 32 (TNT2 the
slow version). Frame rate has been excellent so far, and it's likely
there is still some optimization to be done.
Zowie! (That's a complex journalistic term I learned
somewheres...) Bring up the large image and notice the dynamic light
reflection from the fire! Gulp!
Outa time, but yes, the FLIR looks great and have you seen how many kinds of weapons they mount on these birds???
Imagine F15 in high resolution. Now add clouds like WW2 Fighters, but
increase the complexity and variety of formations.
Next, imagine an entirely new terrain engine capable of detail beyond
that of WW2 Fighters. Then further develop the AI, increase the range
of wingman commands available, and add complete cooperative play:
single missions or in campaign mode.
Finally, add a mission builder that exceeds the power of Jane's
F15. Then add a host of new weapon systems, and carrier ops in all
kinds of weather. Welcome to JANE'S F/A 18 Super Hornet!
The Carrier's the Thing
Unlike Digital Integration's Super Hornet, you won't find a
fully populated deck in the JANE'S simulation. But you will find all
kinds of COMMS, and you will notice a pitching deck as you sit on the
cat. Hmm.. that adds a unique atmosphere of its own!
The first time I lifted off the deck I had images of Graphic
Simulations Hornet: Korea come to mind. The clouds in JANE'S FA18 rival
those incredible formations we saw back then. But the avionics in this
new simulation leave that earlier work far behind, and there are more
weapon systems in this simulation than ever seen in a single simulation
before.
After a series of cat launches, getting off the deck fully
loaded is considerably easier in JANE'S simulation than in DI's. This
is because the flight controls are handled by the computer until you
are off the deck. On the other hand, getting back ON the deck holds
plenty of challenge, and the FM feels very good once in the air.
Most people will be surprised, in either simulation, that a loaded
F18 Super Hornet doesn't accelerate like a drag racer in the sky. It
isn't the pig that the F15 Eagle is, but it's no rocket with wings
either.
On achieving some height I noticed a huge increase in the visibility
of carrier at distance in the JANE'S game. I think this is for a number
of reasons. First, reflectance. You will occasionally get the glint
from the deck when you are at the right angle.
Second, the scale of the carrier seems increased at distance in
comparison to DI, likely to compensate for the restrictions of a
computer display. Third, the wake is also modeled, and you will see the
wake before you can actually make out an object in the distance.
Generally you will spy the carrier up to 25 miles in good weather.
The Skunkworks have included a no cockpit view, a nice option that
helps to make up for the fact that you can't zoom the 3d cockpit into a
wide angle mode. Better still, the MDI function keys are still
clickable on screen!
The arming interface allows the kind of flexibility we are seeing more
often, with pre-built loadouts for typical missions as well as the
ability to custom arm all aircraft, and even build and save custom
loadouts.
The mission builder looks to be incredible, by far the most
advanced one we have seen from JANE'S yet. This module is going to
occupy many late evenings for the mission builders out there, and I
expect we will see some very complex campaign scenarios constructed.
The beta appears perfectly solid. My system is an overclocked Celeron
(558 MHz) running a Guillemot Xentor 32 (TNT2 the slow version). Frame
rate has been excellent over all, with some slowdown on deck with all
details to the max. It's likely there is still some optimization to be
done.
You can use the map zoom feature in mission planning to get a close
up of any area you like. If the mission has targeted a fixed structure,
then you can use the targeting button to get an instant close up, or to
alter the selection of targets for any flight member.
In spite of the fact that this looks to be a fantastic game, involving
and flexible according to the whim of the player, I miss the interface
from iMagic's iF18 Carrier Strike Fighter. Getting the briefing in a
briefing room, then clicking on the door, which would swing open as you
head for the flight deck, was a nice way to increase immersion via the
interface. No matter, JANE'S is bound for more glory with F/A-18.
F/A 18: Comms and Control
I've covered the interface and offered a few dozen screens. It's time
to look at COMMS and wingman control and interaction. I'll outline the
functions first, then next up will be a step by step mission report.
First, some quotes from our interview:
"We greatly expanded the capabilities of the ground FAC. We
also added airborne FAC's to the game. One of the cool aspects of the
FAC's is that they can put smoke on targets for you and, if the ground
FAC has a laser, they can designate for you.
"You can communicate with your immediate flight, but also with members
of the package (like SEAD and Sweep escorts). We've added additional
commands along these lines since F-15. There are several new wingman
commands. A couple of examples are of SEAD commands and also the
ability to tell wingmen how many weapons to put on targets. And several
new AWACS commands have been added.
Sounds good so far. Let's have a look at the actual command
structure. The TAB key accesses the RADIO 1 command structure, while
SHF TAB brings up the RADIO 2 Menu.
Next we look at the FLIGHT menu. This one is also accessed via the Radio 1 Menu with the TAB key.
Radio 1: Top level menu.
The flight menu gives you access to a host of pre-combat commands that
aren't found on the Wingman and Division menus. From here you can order
ECM on, radar to silent mode, sorting of bandits, formation changes and
RTB. The Status command and Formation command bring up other sub-menus.
Flight Sub-Menu
Status Sub-Menu
Formation Sub-Menu
With control options exceeding F15 considerably, you are going to need
to look at some serious options for handling your communications. There
are really only two ways to go with this: a programmable pad, or Game Commander.
My initial experiments with Game Commander haven't been as successful
as in other sims, likely because of the additional demands of the AI on
the CPU, especially with all graphics options hiked to the max. I was
frequently getting misreads beyond two levels.
For example, I have FORMATION programmed as TAB,4,8, but often only TAB and 4 is read and 8 is skipped.
This leaves two solutions. First, two levels as in the FLIGHT command
(TAB,4) or AWACS command (SHH+TAB,1) work quite reliably, so I could
make some of these two stage commands, programming FLIGHT and then
various formation commands such as "V FORM" (8,3) and "Wedge FORM"
(8,4). Second, I could program my Quickshot Masterpilot
as I have for Falcon 4, with the base level commands up one side (TAB
plus 1-4) and then number keys around two legs with hot key commands on
the bottom.
COMMS III
Personally, I am into streamlining wherever possible. Ideally, using
both Game Commander and the Masterpilot is useful. Any commands that
don't need immediate access (nav commands and many systems like flaps
and gear) can be programmed into a pad like the Masterpilot. (Note:
There is an issue with the Masterpilot on some BX mainboards that will
not allowing the programming software to work.)
Any commands that need quick access or realistically apply to a
voice system I prefer to use within Game Commander. After adjusting
volume and the command delay, reliability went way up and I am getting
95% accuracy or better, quite acceptable!
As promised, I am offering this mission report on the first campaign
mission. I flew this mission twice in order to complete it. The
briefing above gives the scenario: "Fly along the Russian border to
induce surface-to-air radars to illuminate you. Intel will use this
information to plot the location of air defense systems around
Murmansk."
On my first flight I had two problems: lack of familiarity with
the offensive and defensive systems of my shiny new airplane, and lack
of familiarity with the COMMS structure, hampered in part by the
problem I was having with Game Commander.
This wouldn't have been any problem at all, except that a batch
of MiG 29s decided I looked like a novice and came at me like hungry
wolves. I took out two, but lost my wingman. Incidentally, I had enemy
AI set at one step up from novice.
At this point things became interesting, with a MiG quickly
manouvering onto my tail as I attempted to respond to my wingman who
was requesting that I radio SAR. While manouvering to keep the MiG off
another proceeded to launch on me. I managed to get a call in to SAR
and another one in to AWACS requesting assistance. In the meantime, I
heard my wingie call that he was laying low as a result of heavy enemy
activity. Unfortunately, I took a hit a moment later and my aircraft
became difficult to control, so I hit the silk. I never heard whether
SAR reached my downed wingman.
This gave me the opportunity to try the mission again! This time I was
better prepared. When we made contact with the enemy I ordered my
wingman into a bracket manouver. We too out two aircraft quickly before
things started getting hot.
No reason to play the hero, I called for backup and was
rewarded with the Alert 5 aircraft off the deck in about sixty seconds!
That was a bit surprising, but put it in the context of this response
from Matt Wagner of Jane's Combat Simulations:
"You're much more likely to receive fighter and SEAD support in
F/A-18 than F15 for two reasons. First, more such flights are in the
missions. There is generally at least an alert 5 ready to go. Second,
the conflict area is generally smaller than in F-15. The determination
of getting support is based on distance, on whether they're tied up,
and on weapons/fuel load."
Not only were my squadron mates in the air in record time, but
they engaged the enemy within another thirty seconds, taking the load
off my flight. We managed to complete the mission as a result, with
neither of us taking any damage.
It was quite interesting listening in on the Alert 5 flight as
they engaged and interacted with the AWACS flight. It also complicates
things considerably, as you begin to receive comms from additional
sources. I was getting messages from my wingman, from the carrier, from
AWACS, and from the Alert 5 flight. I was also sending some messages
during that time. The comms channels really start to hum!
These two engagements taught me quite a bit about F/A 18. Here are the lessons learned:
You aren't alone out there! You can usually rely on your squadron for backup.
You had better know your callsign!
You will be responsible for calling in SAR.
Even low levels of enemy AI can be dangerous.
Standard missile evasion techniques will work as expected.
Conserving energy even in the Super Hornet is critical.
Man can this platform mount a lot of missiles!
Incidentally, when you fly in bad weather you will see both forked lightning and sheet lightning. It's quite impressive.
I know that some of you are going to want my Thrustmaster files, so here they are:
JANE'S F/A 18 for F22/TQS. This zip file includes a WORD '97 file you can print out.
HARM Training Debrief
F/A 18 comes with a full suite of training missions, including voice
narration prior to the mission and an instructor guiding you through
essential steps within the mission. Click HERE to listen to the briefing from the HARM training mission.
Clicking on the lower left icon brings up the planner screen. From here
you can get a close look at your flight path as well as zoom in to the
target area.
There seem to be no real limiations on the zoom level and you can go in much closer than this if you prefer to do so.
This shot was taken about sixty seconds after entering the mission.
The instructor had already told me how to bring up the EW Page on my
the Up Front Display. I then selected the SEMI automatic setting for my
ALE-47 electronic warfare system to place the unit in RECEIVE mode so
that threats would be jammed when necessary. This leaves dispensing of
chaff and flares in my control.
I also switched my left MDI to the SA (situation awareness)
display so that my datalink would give me immediate awareness of any
threat aircraft in the area. The SA display also shows targets detected
with your own sensors. Other information includes waypoint and distance
information, command altitude, airspeed and heading.
A moment after the shot above was taken I got a good lock on a
SAM radar and let fly with a single HARM. The radar went dead about ten
seconds later so it's likely that I would not get a hit.
The SAM site locked and launched on me, and in the next shot
you will see that I began a turn to place the radar lock on my beam.
The shot immediately following is a zoom view of the EW Page. Note the
critical threat icon and bearing line contained in the gold box I added
for emphasis.
The goal is quite simple; to turn the aircraft until the critical
threat line is contained within the Beam manouver cue on either side of
the display (the doubled lines at 3 and nine oclock). "Beaming" the
threat gives the greatest likelihood of successfully defeating the
threat.
I was quite interested to see what kind of success I could have
with jamming only when placing the threat in the Beam manouver cue, and
I didn't release chaff or flares. That gave me an opportunity to get my
first close up look at a SAM.
I had a chance to briefly padlock the incoming missile using the F3
key. I expected I would probably be hit and was about to begin a dive
and a jink when the missile did indeed hit me. I had an air bleed in
the left engine but no other damage.
I was about to shut down my left engine when the second missile
missed about five seconds later. But a third one got me, knocking out
my right engine and some of my avionics. All the following shots were
taken at the same time.
On my second try I used better technique, including chaff and flares
(duh!). This generated some nice screen shots and a "mission success."
Zoom View of the Shot Above Notice the SAM launch trail.
Did You Know?
That the AIM 120 has a fully active mode so that it launches with internal radar active?
That the AIM 7 has a "Home on Jam" mode that is useful against enemy jamming?
Multiplayer and Avionics #1
My spider senses are tingling... I know there is a serious simulation
nearby, loaded with many weekends of intense military gaming!
After close to ten hours flying the F/A 18 beta, I am
astonished by the depth in this simulation. To place a rough value on
the expansion of gameplay as compared to F15, I would guess we have
between 150 and 200% of the game value here. Oh.. did I mention I am
having great fun?!
The comms structure is actually more extensive than either F4
or F15, and the comms structure in multiplayer is more extensive yet.
Last night Limech and I connected briefly to check out the ease of
connection and stability, and didn't have a single problem.
Furthermore, it enabled my discovery of an expanded comms structure
compared to the single player game.
Compare this to the single player menu:
The sub-menus for the multiplayer comms are also expanded and differ
from the single player game. Here are two sub-menus, beginning with the
flight reports sub-menu.
You can tell that Jane's is indeed taking multiplayer co-op very
seriously with this release. This is also supported by the
full-featured FAC component. A player can act as an FAC for another
player, dropping smoke to mark a target area. A ground based FAC can
use a laser (if he has one) or smoke to mark the target.
Last night I flew a strike mission against a Russian naval force,
and barely survived to tell the tale. Air cover was supplied by other
aircraft, and my sole concern was to put Harpoons on target.
I discovered a number of features in F/A 18 in the process.
First, a Harpoon can be programmed to fly at three different altitudes,
and if you choose high or medium altitude approach, you can still
program the missile to skim for its final approach. Not only that, but
you can save your preferred program in the onboard computer for instant
call up later!
Second, I discovered the usefulness of pre-programmed jettison
stations. While inbound to the target I programmed for a high approach
and then sea-skimming to the target. I also programmed my center
station for quick jettison (330 gal tank) as soon as it went empty (#1
Figure 3).
As soon as I reached cruising altitude of 30,000 feet I went nose
cold and ordered my flight to the same, relying on AWACS for bogey
warnings. When I had exhausted the fuel in my center tank I jettisoned
it and prepared to lock my first target. (#2 Figure 3 shows only 200
pounds of fuel in the external.) Click on Figure 1 for the full
cockpit, showing Radar in silent mode (4) and HARM "TOO" lock (3).
Figure 3
For some reason the Russian surface action group wasn't as thrilled
about my presence as I was thrilled about being there. The moment I
switched on radar and locked my first target at about 55 miles they
proceeded to launch all kinds of nasty weapons at my four ship (radar
is not strictly necessary for Harpoon launch since it has its own
search radar, but accuracy is heightened by pre-launch lock - R/BL vs
BOL mode.)
Multiplayer and Avionics II
With that kind of range, I had time to lock and launch all four of my
Harpoons before breaking at 90 degrees to the target area. My ECM unit
was on semi-auto, but I had to use chaff and flare to break the locks.
My flight had to get even more aggressive defensively. My number two
jettisoned his entire A2G stores, and number three deployed the ALE 50
decoy in tow.
On an earlier excursion I wasn't quite as successful, and after
taking a SAM hit had to limp home with most of my systems out. After
two fly throughs of the Alpha Strike single mission I decided to try a
different tactic. I entered the mission planning screen and
restructured the mission.
It is not normal for a four ship flight to take on an entire SAG
group. Rather, there would usually be a SEAD mission preceding to take
out most of the fire control radars. Since the Alpha Strike single
mission is optimized as a multiplayer mission, the SEAD mission is left
out. I added them back in to increase my chances of success.
To listen to a RealAudio clip from my carrier take off on this mission, click FA 18 Takeoff - 750K. Be warned that this was recorded from a stereo speaker on to a walkman then transferred back to digital via a small mike.
Air to Ground Report
Yesterday I flew a practice mission on ground targets. I loaded up with
a diversity of weapons solely for the sake of checking out systems and
employment.
The Super Hornet can haul an incredible payload, and an incredible
diversity of weapons. In this screen you can see that I have added both
types of FLIR, rocket pods, MK77 incendiary, a pair of Mavericks, a
pair of MK20s, not to mention the standard 20mm cannon rounds and the
ubiquitous AIM9X. Note that the Super Hornet does not require balancing
stores per wing since the FLCS is capable of adjusting for unequal
weight and drag.
The image above shows the FLIR NAV camera superimposed on the HUD
for superior low light vision. The left MFD shows the AGM65G Maverick
selected and we are drawing an image from the weapons onboard camera.
Next is an uncompressed zoomed shot of the FLIR HUD.
In the above image I have gone to A2G mode, reflected by the change
in the right MFD with ground radar now on. The Advanced Targetting FLIR
has now been selected in the Up Front Controller. The A/GATFLIR
consists of four pointing modes in addition to an Autotrack mode. The
target designation laser is also part of the ATFLIR pod, and is always
slaved to the current FLIR image.
The four pointing modes are divided evenly between ground and aircraft
stabilization. A gound stabilized display means that the ATFLIR pod
tries to remain pointing at the same spot on the ground regardless of
aircraft motion. An aircraft stabilized display maintains the current
azimuth and elevation settings for the pod while the aircraft manouvers
(also called a "snowplow" mode).
Next I selected EXP3 mode to zoom in the ground radar and obtain a
better defined look at the target area. I then slewed the TDC (cursor)
onto a target of interest
and designated. The target popped up in the maverick camera in the left
MFD.
I could also have used the AT FLIR for this purpose if I didn't have
Mavericks. In the image below I have broken lock with ground radar to
show you the EXPAND mode in the right MFD.
The next image following shows ground radar in MAP mode. Then the
next image shows the radar with target designated and a new target
selected. The cockpit is slewed downward slightly which produces a
slight distortion of the MFD images.
The small box you see in the radar screen above pops up after you
select the EXP 3 mode (the highest level of focus.) You then slew the
box like a cursor and designate the area you want to focus and zoom the
radar.
To listen to a RealAudio clip from a carrier take off in F/A 18, click FA 18 Takeoff - 750K. Be warned that this was recorded from a stereo speaker on to a walkman then transferred back to digital via a small mike.
I made a second run at the target practice area to learn how to use the
AT FLIR component. First, I called up the display in the up front MFD.
Then I went from black hot to white hot mode by clicking where you see
the BLK letters. Next I slewed the display down from its default
boresight setting to locate the target area.
Next I clicked on the TGT button at screen right to go to Ground
Stabilized mode. Then I slewed the target reticule over some white dots
and then zoomed the display from WIDE to Narrow view.
Next I went to extremely narrow view so that I could choose an
individual target. Note that all this can be done on the display itself
and I have programmed the cursor control on my TQS to the SHF ARROW
functions. You can also adjust the brightness of this display using the
LVL and BRT indicators you see at the left.
Note the diamond over the target.
Once the + symbol was over the target I used the designate (ENTER)
function to lock the target. I was rewarded with the AUTOTRK
designation in the display. I could now engage the laser if I had
guided bombs, which I wasn't carrying. Instead I had Mavericks on the
rails. If you bring up the larger image above you will see the red
diamond in the HUD also indicating the target.
Next I swapped to another target and used the AT FLIR to
designate for a Maverick launch. The hardened target didn't respond to
my single Maverick!
Note that you can use radar to designate for the AT FLIR, or you can
designate directly. In this next shot I had the AT FLIR pointing along
my Velocity Vector on some distant objects. I adjusted and slewed the
display to get a better look.
