by Leonard "Viking1" Hjalmarson December 16, 1999

  Q. Tell us about the comms structure. What kinds of commands can we give to our wingmen? What kinds of information will they convey to us during flight?

A: There are all the commands from A-H carried over, such as the usual "Attack my target", "Return to base" and "Weapons free" etc., plus we have added a number of new commands for C-H. As mentioned above, you will be able to change formation and give the orders to bob-up and fire. You can now also request artillery strikes against your target area. In addition to this, your wingmen will give you more feedback on what they are doing.

Q. Do my wingmen grow in their abilities over time?

A: No, you arrive in country with fully trained pilots.

Q. The AI for enemy performance has also been reworked. What kinds of behaviours will we see... panic, stealth, hiding? Morale factors? Others?

A: Aircraft will be stealthier and, as mentioned before, helicopters will hide behind things. Other factors such as 'panic' have not really been considered, but since it is not yet finished then who knows?

Q. How many skill levels are modelled for enemy AI?

A: The three skill levels have been carried over from Apache-Havoc. The most noticeable differences between them are how quickly the enemy can lock onto you, and how often they fire at you.

Q. Does this also mean improvements in AI for other platforms? Will we see a difference in behaviour for jets over Apache-Havoc, for example?

A: Yes indeed. The flight model for jets has been re-written so that they can fly inverted and also fly in formation. As with helicopters, the main difference in the AI for jets is in combat. Jets will approach ground targets low, before climbing up and launching missiles from distance, or alternatively diving down upon their target with rockets or chain-gun. The sight of four SU-25s simultaneously launching salvos of rockets upon a group of tanks is quite spectacular!

Ground vehicles and ships have been given a complete overhaul, making them a lot less forgiving than in A-H. Plus artillery and MLRS are now fully operational, and will launch attacks on enemy units and installations up to 30km away.

As well as individual unit AI being upgraded, the overall campaign AI has been completely re-written. There are many more mission types to choose from, and they are created much more intelligently in order to keep the war progressing in a reasonable fashion.

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Q. The ground war was lacking in Apache-Havoc, in spite of the fact that this was a low to the ground simulation. As a result, immersion was compromised. What kinds of changes will we see in C-H?

A: The most obvious change to the ground war in C-H is that you will actually be able to see what your ground forces are up to. Whatever ground war there was in A-H was kept hidden from the player and so, like you say, immersion was compromised.

In Comanche-Hokum you will be kept informed of what your ground forces are doing, e.g. when they are advancing, when they are under attack, etc., via radio messages and a constantly updating event log. You will be able to see when things are fighting on the map, and have the facility to bring up detailed information on each group.

There will be more CAS and BAI missions for the player to fly so you can 'interact with' (i.e. destroy) enemy ground forces, and as mentioned above the artillery and MLRS now pose a significant threat to your side so there will be missions to seek out and destroy them.

In addition to this, more care has been taken when designing the warzones to ensure that opposing ground forces come into contact with each other much more frequently.

Q. GCI networks and the like have become very sophisticated. How do you model detection in C-H? Does detection modelling include sound? Does my IR signature change as I increase engine output, and does that affect detection?

A: In C-H detection is modelled via range and line-of-sight. The line-of-sight checks are very accurate and take account of the terrain and buildings. Sound and IR signature are not considered.

Q. Is terrain masking in place?

A: Yes, this applies to the player and AI aircraft.

Q. What will we see for weather? Wind? Ground turbulence?

A: All of the weather effects from A-H have been carried over to C-H.

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