| Total Air War by Leonard "Viking1" Hjalmarson |
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When you spot a mission on the list that is not restricted, you can select it and proceed to the mission planner. Here you can adjust waypoints, customize your loadout, and even adjust waypoints and loadout for any other units in your group. Yes, that means customizing the loadout of those F16s and F18s. Nice touch! If you choose to play the tactical game from the AWACS interface, you will also want to monitor a couple of other screens. Every hour or so you should return to the War Room and check the STRATEGY briefing that supplies an assessment of current enemy movement. If you read that the enemy is currenly targeting C4 installations, you will want to ensure you have CAPs not too far from these sites, especially if they are near to the border. Simply select the C4 button in the War Room and you will light up these sites so you can see their locations. In the same way, if the enemy strategy is to take out your runways, you can select AF to light up your bases. Of course these sites are more likely to be defended and they are also capable of scrambling fighters for an active defense.  Click for 640x480. There are two other ways to take flight in Total Air War, however. The first is the one I've preferred to date. While in the War Room you simply click on SCRAMBLE and whenever a priority mission is generated involving one or more F22s, you have the option of flying as LEAD. This is a cool way to stay involved, and its also a way to rack up points quickly, because if there are hordes of enemies you can take them on, then flee back to base to re-arm and take em on again! The other way to fly is to keep an eyeball on the little screen top right in the War Room. This list is constantly changing and will tell you the current frag order. Of course, as mentioned earlier, you can't fly ALL of these missions until your rating is high, but you will know what is available and you will get a feel for what is likely to be open to you after a few hours of play. If you see a mission that interests you, simply click FLY on the bottom of the War Room screen and you will be vaulted into the next screen. Here you can check out the action plan, take a look at the location of your base, your target or waypoints, and relative location of enemy bases and EWR sites. If you see a mission you like and you have the required rating, you can select the mission and enter the mission planning interface.
Volumetric Clouds I've had a significant amount of mail asking about other enhancements. There have been other small changes in Total Air War, but they aren't hugely significant. Volumetric clouds have been added, and graphics seem slightly enhanced in some areas of terrain detail, but overall the graphical environment mirrors that of ADF with the prominent exception that Direct3d support now mirrors the speed and quality of Glide. The flight model may have been tweaked slightly, and I find myself getting A2A kills more easily when in close. |
Volumetric Clouds SUMMARY
The genius of Total Air War is the sum of four factors: 1) a relatively light learning curve, 2) a fully dynamic campaign system; 3) the integration of the Theatre Command and AWACS modes; 4) real time gods-eye view of the action. Total Air War simulates virtually all of the F22s actual systems, yet its learning curve remains relatively light compared to something like F15, because the F22 is designed that way. You can exercise a great deal of control while interacting with ATC, FACs, AWACS and your wingmen in a dynamic and continually changing Universe. If this sounds like fun, you're right, it is! The immersion factor of Total Air War is quite high. When your Escort engages in front of you, you will hear them making the calls if you are tuned to any COMMS channel other than 1. Even in the AWACS interface you will hear the various calls as flights engage, call for help, or report their status. And the graphical environment is superb, rivalling anything else out there. Are there any drawbacks? Of course! The interface is not as logical as it could have been, and the strategic dimension could have been further developed. There exists the odd nagging AI issue relating to Intercepts and Escort flights. As in ADF, ordering your wingmen to engage usually results in all three wingmen breaking formation to take on that lone MiG 27, and you will sometimes find a SEAD flight returning from a target without having fired a single shot. Furthermore, the scale has been removed from the AWACS map, making it impossible to judge distances. And you will sometimes find aircraft in roles they would not be assigned in real life, like an F15E on a CAP. Goals and rating for individual missions can be annoying: you may kill ten aircraft, but landing at a non designated base will rate your mission a failure. Unfortunately, your wingman will be refueled when you are, but not re-armed... I heartily recommend Total Air War to all virtual pilots. Its another great effort from DiD and will likely see continuing add-ons, perhaps even allowing coop missions in the campaigns. We will establish a rating for F22 when we receive the boxed copy with manual. Although DiD claim no definite plans, we will hopefully see at least one patch release to address some niggling issues. Note: the author of this article also beta tested this simulation for DiD. "Infogrames will offer a $15 rebate to existing ADF owners. To receive the rebate, they’ll need to mail to Infogrames the back cover of their ADF manual, the UPC code from the back of the TAW box, the original purchase receipt, and the TAW upgrade coupon. The upgrade offer has an expiration date of Jan. 31, 1999. Furthermore, those that purchase TAW also will receive a coupon good for $10 off the purchase of Independence War. Go to TAW Mission Report Tactical briefings are linked in the TAW Index
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