| Game News April 26th, 1999 |
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Mike Brand has spent the last few months developing an internet voice comms program for gamers called Flight Comms. He originally started writing Flight Comms before he had heard of Battlefield Communicator or Roger Wilco, wanting something suitable for his own use. The end result actually works well, offers variable voice quality (higher quality requires more bandwidth), supports a group of four users conversing together and doesn't require installation or uninstallation. Once it was working, he decided to release it on the internet as freeware. The current version works with EF2000 (win95 version), F22 ADF/TAW, Jane's F15 and Falcon 4.0 among others. Flight Comms has its own home page at http://www.brand.dircon.co.uk/fltcomms. 404th KAMIKALI Tactical Fighter Wing ends first Tour of Duty The 404th TFW, operating the F-16 via Microprose' Falcon 4 and communicating using internet voice comms has completed its first operational tour of duty. By systematically testing different methods of obtaining reliable internet connection for Multiplay, the Squadron has now achieved a high level of success in flying Internet based two pilot tactical engagements. Summary statistics are as follows.
Mission debriefs are logged via the 404th TFW website, where results are sent to a Microsoft Access database for analysis and updating of Pilot records. Apache-Havoc Patch Update Currently in A-H there isn't any capability to do scripted missions, the whole game was designed around the dynamic campaign engine. Razorworks is almost finished coding a new scripting language for Comanche-Hokum that will allow pretty complex missions to be designed. It should allow nice Single/Training missions and enable enthusiasts to create their own games. The Wingman issues are being worked through and Comanche-Hokum will sort this out. Razorworks reports that rain is missing under Voodoo2 because 3DFX broke their line drawing capabilities in the shipped drivers making rain, pylon cables and other fine object details disappear; downloading the latest drivers should sort it out. The 1.1d patch will fix the VNE problems and the retreating blade stall. Maximum speeds will drop accordingly. The hoverhold Razorworks designed to do basic 'station-keeping' when flying with a throttle device (to allow proper bob-up) and full 'hover-hold' when flying on keyboard. The 1.1d patch includes the option of full 'hover-hold' for throttle users. Strange keyboard behaviors with TM gear can usually be solved by lowering the sample rate in the configuration file. |
 Ka52 Team Alligator We last reported on GT Interactive's Ka-52 Team Alligator about eight weeks ago. Team Alligator places gamers in the seat of the Ka-52 Russian helicopter gunship. Developed by Simis, creators of Team Apache, Ka-52 Team Alligator puts gamers in the Ka-52 Alligator over war-torn Eastern Europe. Players fly more than 10 aircraft and command over 60 ground units, complete with full character animation. The following information is courtesy of Simis: The Ka-52 is a two-seat development of the Ka-50 Chernaya Akula (‘Black Shark’) close-support helicopter. The Ka-50 program came out of a late 1970’s specification designated V-80 (or Vertolyet: Helicopter for the ‘80s.) The Kamov design bureau built three prototype aircraft, the first of which first flew in June 1982, and put them through a testing program through to the mid-1980s. A series of comparative tests were run against the Mil bureau’s competitor, the Mil-28, which were completed in August 1986. The Ka-50 was first reported in the West in mid-1984, though US publications appear to have been confused by its role (even in 1991, the US Army’s Field Manuals defined the Ka-50 as a helicopter primarily with an air-to-air role.) There may have also been some confusion due to Soviet disinformation; the early prototypes had a fake rear cockpit painted on them. In the early 1990’s, two development aircraft were built: one named ‘Werewolf’ and one ‘Black Shark’. In 1994-95, the Ka-50 beat its rival Mil-28 into Army acceptance and the first pre-series aircraft were delivered. There had been plans to produce one production aircraft per month through 1997, but this has not yet occurred. A night attack version of the aircraft, the Ka-50N (Nochnoy: night), with a FLIR system mounted in a nose turret, has been undergoing development.
The Ka-52 (NATO designation: Hokum-B) project was first revealed to the West in 1995 at the Paris Air Show. The first flight was on 25 June 1997. The airframe was 85% similar to the Ka-50, with the front fuselage redesigned to accommodate two crew side-by-side. Various avionics changes were also made. From its description as an "Intellectual Support Helicopter", it seems that the role of the Ka-52 (nicknamed ‘Alligator’ for the export market) is to support the ‘Black Shark’ and command and designate targets for formations of single-seat Ka-50s. The intention is to use two 1,838 kW Klimov TV3-117VMA-SB3 turboshaft engines in the production version. The engines have air intake dust filters and exhaust heat suppressers. Two primary fuel tanks, filled with reticulated foam, are situated inside the fuselage box beam. The transmission system remains operable for 30 minutes after an oil system failure. Go to Page two
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