FLANKER 2.0 E3 by Dan Crenshaw
	The Mission Editor The Mission Editor is still one of FLANKERS strongest suits in my opinion. Working within the limitations of what the sims functionality parameters are, you can do anything you want with any functional unit. Missions can be built quickly, easily and with a bit more detail than the original. A logical evolution. Not much more can be said about the enhancement of one of the best mission editors in a flight sim ever. I expect to be involved in the network testing of 2.0 and will be able to delve deeper into the mission editor. I am sure there are testers that have a much better understanding of this area than I do at this point. Mission Builder. Click for 1024x768. Training in 2.0 will also be enhanced. There is a TRAINING UI screen with various common areas required. The plan includes voice over in this area to talk you through the maneuver. Based on the success of the JANES LONGBOW series-training syllabus with the actual instructor on board, this should be very helpful for new pilots to FLANKER, easing the learning curve. I hope they can get someone with a voice that you aren't so inclined to point a 9mm at after the first few reprimands. While weapons specifications for the Eastern weapons is not as easily accessible as their Western counterparts, based on the available data I would venture to say that the weapons are modeled better than any previous simulation. Real life parameters and tactics will definitely play an integral role in this sim. Pk and maneuvering abilities seem pretty accurate as well. I need to play with this area a bit more, but expect my impressions to be confirmed and more entrenched. Click to continue		Avionics Upgrades Since I am no expert in the SU-27 avionics package, I can only truly compare it to the package in the original FLANKER. It has all of these features and a few more as well. There are a few moved gauges and such on the panel, but all the data is here just like before. The cockpit is semi-intuitive and will be quickly mastered by former FLANKER pilots. Multiplayer Okay, you knew I would get to it sooner or later … multi-player. FLANKER 2.0 plans to sport a full complement of multi-player functionality including cooperative multi-play in the campaign and mission editor created sorties. It looks like it will sport at least the same abilities as 1.5. The 209th was able to get 14 in a LAN session in 1.5 in a 48-hour mission that was built by 6 people and merged. It appears 2.0 will be as user friendly to 3rd party applications as the original. Expect add-on campaigns and utilities to enhance the experience here. Carry Me Away! The flight sim community has been crying for a hard-core sim with carrier ops. 2.0 delivers by adding the SU-33 into the mix for carrier ops. Remember the Russians do not use catapults, only the "ski jump" nose carriers. This is a new and unique challenge for those of us used to catapult launches. It is a tense and exciting launch that can be mastered with a minimum of difficulty. Click for 640x480 shot of Kuznetsov. But no matter how many launches you make, each one makes you do the little "come on, come on, come on" chant. I only managed one landing on deck so far (my call sign is CRASH after all), but the voice over training sessions will help newbies. While the aircraft are virtually identical in all other aspects, the addition of the 33 gives you the carrier operations that are so greatly sought after. Go to Part III
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