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Enemy Engaged: RAH-66 Comanche vs. KA-52 Hokum - Part II
By Zero-G and Kurt "Froglips" Giesselman Ready To Fly
I admit it, I was not a rotor head before Enemy Engaged RAH-66 Comanche vs. Ka-52 Hokum. I am converted. The rush of flying at thirty feet and 90 knots is unsurpassed. The cockpit is fully detailed. I initially missed a clickable cockpit. I do not now. Razorworks has done a thorough job of mapping everything to the keyboard in such a flexible way that I can call any display up on any of four MFDs when flying in either helicopter with ease. My twin Master Pilots have all the MFD functions and display modes mapped to them. The intuitiveness and ease of use of the cockpit is as good as any simulation I have ever loaded on my hard drive. My Saitek X36 USB with its three modes is programmed to the max. According to my command list I have over 180 commands programmed to the Saitek and that does not include any Wingman/Flight/Base commands or View commands which all go through Game Commander. I have my screen resolution set to 1280 X 960, Terrain and Object detail are set to medium. Cockpit detail is set to High. I am not using the 32-bit graphics command line option. I get very smooth graphics with these settings (PII 400mHz, 384 MB RAM, Diamond TNT2 Ultra, Voodoo 3 3000 PCI, Voodoo 2 12 MB, TBS Montego I sound card). I could not see any significant differences between the TNT2U and Voodoo 3 in resolution or smoothness. The Voodoo does not support 32 bit graphics (come-on Voodoo 5 PCI).
Fig. 1. View from the Comanche CP/G's seatFor a real rush, after you are in flight, look down at your feet, press your rudder pedals one way and then the next and watch 'your' feet. Personally, I do not think I will ever tire of the animated crew. It is spooky in some ways to select a TADS mode then watch your co-pilot/gunner reach over and press a button on the MFD or lean forward to look through the periscope (Hokum). This brings a simulation to a whole new level of immersion for me. In fact, this is why I prefer to fly the Hokum. The side by side seating in the Ka-52 means I see my CP/G out of the corner of my eye all the time.
Fig. 2. Hokum's pilot seat
