Super Hornet Interview by Leonard "Viking1" Hjalmarson
	CSIM: What kind of enemies will we see? Is the DI team aiming to include the latest Soviet aircraft like the Su 37? Tell us about other allied aircraft. What else will we see in the theatre? Will we be flying escort for B1s? B2s? James: A full gamut of allied and enemy weapon systems will be modelled, which will vary according to warzone selected. Enemy: A-50 Mainstay AWACS , An-12 Cub-A ,MiG-21, MiG-27 Flogger , MiG-29 Fulcrum , Su-24 Fencer D, Su-25 Frogfoot ,Su-27 Flanker, Sea Harrier, Su-30, Jaguar , Mirage 2000 , Tu-16 Badger ,Tu-95 Bear, Tu-22 Backfire, Mil-17 Hip, Mil-24 Hind-E. For ships: Viraat CV , Kashin Class DD, Leander Class FF, Tiblisi CV , Kirov CG, Krivak FF , OSA missile boat. Allied: F14 Tomcat, F15 Eagle, F16 Fighting Falcon, F/A 18 Hornet, A-50 Mainstay AWACS , E-2C Hawkeye , Seahawk , AH1W Supercobra, AH64C Apache, UH60 Blackhawk. Allied Ships: Nimitz class CVN, Ticonderoga Class CG , Spruance Class FF), OHP Class frigate , LHA Tarawa assault ship. CSIM: Tell us about weapons systems. Will we see the JDAM and LOCAAS in SH? Will the Russians use the latest missiles like the Vympel? James: The latest weapons systems will be modelled, including SLAM, JDAM, JSOW and ALE-50 towed decoys. MM Intro. Click for larger image. CSIM: Interaction and flight control were limited to one wingman in F16. How many wingmen will we see in a flight in SH? James: Super Hornet will allow up to seven wingmen in your flight, and you will have control of four squadrons of eight aircraft. CSIM: Tactical control in Janes F15 has pushed the envelope beyond anything yet seen on the PC. How much control will a flight leader have over his wingmen in SH? James: Levels of control are beyond F16 but not as detailed as Janes recent release. For example, we don't allow control of individual wingmen. CSIM: Tell us about the command structure for a flight? How does it work? Will it be hot keyed or menu driven or both? James: Both. The actual command structure has yet to be finalized. CSIM: Will we be changing radio channels to communicate with ATC, FAC, AWACS etc? James: Yes, we have modelled air traffic control, forward air controllers and the AWACS interaction. Obviously, with more traffic in our simulation than in others seen out there to date we have to provide more control interaction via radio. Flight vectoring from AWACS is also a necessity. CSIM: Net play puts special demands on comms systems. How will comms innet play be handled? James: Our network comms will be Direct Play compatible CSIM: Sims like A10 Cuba and the coming FS:SDOE from Parsoft have taken physics modelling to new dimensions. What will we see in SH in this respect? Will each part of the aircraft be modelled separately? James: All of our sims model different parts of the aircraft, but all weapon systems take account of gravity, wind speed and other factors of a physical world. The physics model should keep pilots happy. Click to continue . . .		MM Intro. Click for larger image. CSIM: Janes has pushed the boundaries by modelling objects and weapons in terms of physics and realism. Will we see moving turrets, rotating antennae, etc? James: Yes. Our object modelling has kept pace with other work out there, and you will see fine attention to detail in these areas also. CSIM: Damage modelling has been another big growth area as CPU power has increased. What kind of damage modelling will we see in SH? Will damage in one system affect another? James: Yes, a full damage system has been modelled. Different parts of the airframe can take damage, as well as engines and avionics. The damage system will be as detailed as F16 or more detailed. CSIM: Tell us about the graphics engine. Is this the same engine used in F16 FF? James: No, this is a different engine. We have light sourced shading and dynamic coloured lighting, and we will support Voodoo boards. We are planning full D3d implementation, but no proprietary support is planned. Maximum resolution planned at the moment is 640x480. USNavy Photo. CSIM: Frame rate is often a snag for the newest simulations, but with Voodoo 2 and other new 3d technologies in the offing SH is touching down at a good time. What will be the recommended system? James: The machine spec is a P166 or higher with 32Mb or more memory, 40Mb of free hard disc space, PCI SVGA graphics card with 2Mb or more memory, 8x CD-ROM, Mouse, sound card. Recommended: 3DFX 3D graphics accelerator, Joystick. CSIM: Will we see a wind model in the sim? Turbulence? James: Both wind and turbulence. These factors contribute to immersion in surprising ways, especially for those who have actually flown = ) CSIM: What about weather? Will we see multiple cloud layers? James: Multiple weather effects will be implemented. The cloud system is a single layer. CSIM: Other than suspension of disbelief and dynamics the area that keeps virtual pilots coming back for more is identifying with the pilots they fly. How will Super Hornet seek to involve the player personally? Will there be detailed pilot records? Will our wingmen get promotions? James: We have built in a detailed pilot log, with promotions and medals. In addition, mission success and kills are recorded. RAF Photo Continued on Page 3
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