Multiplayer and Avionics Report #1

My spider senses are tingling... I know there is a serious simulation nearby, loaded with many weekends of intense military gaming!

After close to ten hours flying the F/A 18 beta, I am astonished by the depth in this simulation. To place a rough value on the expansion of gameplay as compared to F15, I would guess we have between 150 and 200% of the game value here. Oh.. did I mention I am having great fun?!

The comms structure is actually more extensive than either F4 or F15, and the comms structure in multiplayer is more extensive yet. Last night Limech and I connected briefly to check out the ease of connection and stability, and didn't have a single problem. Furthermore, it enabled my discovery of an expanded comms structure compared to the single player game.

Compare this to the single player menu:

The sub-menus for the multiplayer comms are also expanded and differ from the single player game. Here are two sub-menus, beginning with the flight reports sub-menu.

You can tell that Jane's is indeed taking multiplayer co-op very seriously with this release. This is also supported by the full-featured FAC component. A player can act as an FAC for another player, dropping smoke to mark a target area. A ground based FAC can use a laser (if he has one) or smoke to mark the target.

Ready to go against a Russian SAG.

Last night I flew a strike mission against a Russian naval force, and barely survived to tell the tale. Air cover was supplied by other aircraft, and my sole concern was to put Harpoons on target.

I discovered a number of features in F/A 18 in the process. First, a Harpoon can be programmed to fly at three different altitudes, and if you choose high or medium altitude approach, you can still program the missile to skim for its final approach. Not only that, but you can save your preferred program in the onboard computer for instant call up later!

Click to continue

Second, I discovered the usefulness of pre-programmed jettison stations. While inbound to the target I programmed for a high approach and then sea-skimming to the target. I also programmed my center station for quick jettison (330 gal tank) as soon as it went empty (#1 Figure 3).

Figure 1

Figure 2

As soon as I reached cruising altitude of 30,000 feet I went nose cold and ordered my flight to the same, relying on AWACS for bogey warnings. When I had exhausted the fuel in my center tank I jettisoned it and prepared to lock my first target. (#2 Figure 3 shows only 200 pounds of fuel in the external.) Click on Figure 1 for the full cockpit, showing Radar in silent mode (4) and HARM "TOO" lock (3).

Figure 3

For some reason the Russian surface action group wasn't as thrilled about my presence as I was thrilled about being there. The moment I switched on radar and locked my first target at about 55 miles they proceeded to launch all kinds of nasty weapons at my four ship (radar is not strictly necessary for Harpoon launch since it has its own search radar, but accuracy is heightened by pre-launch lock - R/BL vs BOL mode.)

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