When I first interviewed the team working on Microsoft Combat Simulator I realized that they were FAR more serious about the project than I had assumed. As a result I've been looking forward to some stick time with the beta. Yesterday I finally had my chance, and I can now confirm that this will be a great sim!

My first impression of a few hands on moments is memorable: a sense of realism and response in flight that has promise for hours of fun. And graphics and avionics modeling that live up to my rather high expectations!

My first task, of course, was to crank detail and realism to the max. I actually chose to boost resolution only slightly on my default Matrox MGA G200 setup: to 1280x1024. (With the exception of interface screens, images on this page can be clicked to bring up 1280x1024 screens, around 400K). I then chose a single escort mission and jumped in to fly.

Stunning. The terrain is far beyond MS Flight sim, as promised. And at high resolution and 16 bit color, its drop dead gorgeous. You can actually run in 32 bit mode, and I'll give that a go soon. Picture the great terrain of EAW but at four times higher resolution! The sense of speed down low at high resolution is almost nauseating!

The feeling of flight was fabulous. The jitter of the gauges and rich engine sounds, the stick response felt perfect. Engine lag is modeled and you can watch the turbo boost kick in at higher RPMs.

There are simple orientation cues provided, cockpit toggles from virtual to fixed, and a standard snap view system (although the view system is not on the F keys- an option would be nice here, although you can remap to your hearts content). If you want the utmost realism you can even choose to manage mixture settings yourself.

A word to Voodoo 2 devotees... its great for some things, too limited here. At 1024x768 under D3d everything looks just fine... until you kick in D3d under Matrox at 1280x1024. Suddenly the 3dfx image looks washed out. I find myself wishing I had a 21" monitor instead of 19! Oddly, my frame rate with the DX5 driver at 1024x768 V2 was about the same as Matrox at 1280x1024, and I suspect this may be reflecting the use of large textures.

Speaking of frame rate under Direct3d, at 1280x1024 I have seen from 6 fps to 25 fps with cockpit on, maximum detail. Turn off the cockpit and the frame rate almost doubles in most situations. Here is the summary: cockpit on at altitude with few aircraft around, I'm 24-28 fps. At medium alt with a few more aircraft, usually around 13 fps with cockpit on. Get fifteen or sixteen bombers in the scene and I've seen as low as 6 fps. Remember: this is FULL detail and this is a beta. But running this high you will want a minimum PII 300, and you may have to deselect some graphics options. However, if you have a PII 400 you could probably run at this resolution in any situation.

Click for 1600x1200. See Checklist detail below.

If you recall Fighter Duel, the cockpit was revolutionary. You could watch the guages jitter in response to engine vibration. This cockpit is no different, except it looks even better since resolution is higher. Starting your engines give you the biggest jolt, and you will see the horizon shift when the engine catches. Naturally, at full realism you will also have to apply some rudder to counteract the torque and stay on the runway.

Checklist. You can toggle four different lists including Cruise, Descent, and Landing.

Engine sounds, as I mentioned, are fantastic. I have a digital wave file of a Merlin engine and Microsoft has captured the Merlin very well. Machine guns sound great, and cannons have a suitable THUMP. Damage is also appropriate. I was on the tail of a JU88 and not having much effect, then closed the distance slightly and fired my cannon. I watched the JU88 come apart in short order!

While taking on some Spitfires in a Focke-Wulf a bit later, a Spit got on my tail as I took a piece out of another one. Pulling up hard and applying full rudder I managed to shake him, but I had taken damage and suddenly found that right rudder had little effect. Later I got into a spin and barely pulled out around four thousand feet.

Voice and chatter are here, nicely done and appropriate. Wind is modeled, and I believe weather may be present in limited ways though I haven't seen it yet. The manual has no reference to either in the index, but I've seen the setup for wind in the single mission interface.

Click for 1600x1200

Click to continue

Display options abound, as they do in Flight Sim '98. The beauty of these features is that they are selectable and configurable to your liking. If they bother you, don't use them. If you like the additional SA, turn on a few extra windows and set them up as you prefer. You can place and size these new windows however you like. I prefer a chase view window in the screen top right. Note that if you have the right hardware Combat Flight Sim will allow you to place different views in multiple monitors!

Click for 1280x1024

The tactical display, which is a situational awareness cheat, is on by default. I leave it in the top left or turn off. Its a very unobtrusive display, as you can see from the screen shot above. The display is actually transparent and in the shape of a square. Your aircraft is the yellow icon in the center, and friendly aircraft are yellow dots. Enemy aircraft are indicated by red dots. Here is a zoom in of the tactical display from the upper left corner of the shot above...

The following status display comes on when you use the no cockpit view. Its logical and informative, check it out:

To my delight, Microsoft has offered a full set of narrated training missions! For those who are unfamiliar, Janes pioneered this route in Longbow. You will find yourself in the seat of a particular aircraft, with the instructor speaking to you as if he is in the seat behind you. The instructor guides you as you make the manouver, from a manouver as simple as landing to the complexities of air combat moves.

The manual itself devotes a large amount of space to flight basics and combat manouvers. For example, aerial combat is broken into five stages: 1) Detecting; 2) Closing; 3) Attacking; 4)Maneuvering; 5) Disengaging. Learning to master each stage will improve your ability to make the kill and survive to fight another day. The manual also includes tips, like not firing your guns until the enemy aircraft fills your sights (a good tip but requires some solid flying ability without over-running your target!)

The manual, like the interface for the sim itself, does a nice job of creating atmosphere. It opens with an acknowledgement for the WWII cartoonist/pilot George Rarey (his cartoons appear throughout the book), and then proceeds to biographies of some of the more successful allied pilots, including Ian Brodie, who acted as an advisor to Microsoft. Bios are sprinkled thoughout the manual, including a photograph of D.S. Gentile (The Debden Gangsters).

A brief word for the artists working on sims these days: WOW. The quality of work being done, from EAW to Reb Baron II and here in MS CFS... is awesome. Interface and information screens are gorgeous and contribute greatly to the sense of period.

Since this is a beta, I won't comment on typical beta issues, though I found this beta very stable. My only disappointment with the current development of the sim is that you will not fly as a squadron leader, and you cannot issue commands to other aircraft. Unless this comes as a later add-on, the limitation will remain.

The big question that I can't address in this brief first look is AI. First, I need more time with the sim. Second, this a beta and its likely that the AI is still being tweaked. In spite of that, I'll fly some more missions over the next few days and try to return with a second report and a look at the level of challenge you will face at veteran and ace levels.

In our next preview we'll also take a closer look at the campaign mode, which is where most of us will be flying after we complete some training. And we'll experiment on the new STB V4400, a Riva TNT based board, to see how much we can improve the frame rate at high resolution... = )

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Go to the original preview: Combat Flight Sim