Su 27 has a reputation as a military simulator that is unique in its class. In short, its flight modelling has been second to none, and weapons modelling and AI have been up there with the very best.

With the version 1.5 revision, AI achieved new heights. Enemy aircraft became much more aggressive and more intelligent in their tactics. A pilot who attempts 1v2 will have a difficult time as the enemy perform a bracket. Enemy AI is dedicated to keeping you away from their base … at all costs. ACM manouvers are diverse, unpredictable, and appropriate.

So whats all the noise about version two? Simple! Put some very solid multiplayer action together with great flight avionics and weapons modelling, toss in new textured mapped terrain based on de-classified data from Russian satellite imaging, and a dynamic campaign system, improve the avionics and AI even further.... presto! A new and completely state of the art sim!

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Flanker 2.0 will feature a fully dynamic campaign system plus a mission editor/generator. If you like to create your own missions to share or fly with friends, you can continue to do so. If you want to fly in an unpredictable campaign under standard military doctrine a la F4 and imf22, you'll have it.

In fact flexibility seems to be the name of the game in 2.0. SSI intends to offer choices in realism this time around. Padlock choices will be in place, as well as choices in avionics options. This will mean flight modelling superior to 1.5 at the high end, but selectable to a simplified model for beginners. The simplified options will likely extend to radar and targetting as well.

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  The shots included here are taken from a system running 3d hardware. All shots were taken at 800x600 and 32,000 colors. The sim will also run at decent rates without 3d hardware, and in fact is being designed to reach down to the low end Pentium system at 640x480 in 256 colors. Detail levels will be selectable along a number of axes, allowing users to configure according to installed hardware and the frame rate they consider best.

WOW. Object detail is stunning, just as in the screens we have seen. The carrier was the most detailed I have seen in any sim anywhere. But it should be given the hardware we have these days. A simulation engine should be designed for extended life so that the hardware six months from now can be fully utilized.

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Watching the aircraft in flight at E3, it was silhouetted against some of the best looking terrain ever seen. The terrain rivals that in F22: ADF in Glide at 800x600, but in fact is more detailed when low. The early alpha was laboring under some hardware difficulties and so we didn't see very much flight.

You may have wondered how and why Su 27 1.5 was able to break the ground it did, with some of the most realistic flight and weapons modeling yet seen. One reason is the Russian connection. Another is that Nick Grey, one of the producers of this simulation, has himself flown the Su 27 and performed the cobra manouver.

Nick and Anatoly Kvotchur are pictured above. Anatoly at left is an Su-27 est pilot, the man that crashed the MiG29 at Le Bourget, the man that made the first deck landing in a Flanker. He's part of the Eagle Dynamics team to make sure that the flight model is up to par. Nick is actually Director of The Fighter Collection, an organization dedicated to the restoration and preservation of war birds.

Nick told me about a recent air show in the UK where there were THIRTEEN fully restored Spitfires in the air simultaneously! This is a first since the end of WWII. The coming Legends Air Show on July 4th and 5th will be at Duxford and will feature many of these same aircraft. The Fighter Collection takes care of many of these treasure, and the people involved are obsessed with detail, history, and flight. They LOVE warbirds!

Mission Editor. Click for 1024x768. 260K

That has to be GOOD NEWS when talking about simulation design. In fact, Nick told me that the goals set for flight modeling, weapons modeling and AI in Flanker 2.0 will indeed surpass version 1.5 considerably. But thats not all!

There are a number of dimensions of expansion for 2.0, and all of them have a high DROOL factor. First, the mission editor looks incredible. You can run it at 1024x768, and some of the details have still not been revealed. But when you bring up the large image above, with the pop up window lower right that shows your route relative to an actual relief image, you begin to get the idea.

Second, the AWACS component. Apparently the AWACS module in 2.0 will take on a dimension of tactical control, mirroring the ability of the real world platform. Now we will have not only the gods eye view of the world but actually vector intercepts and take command of the air battle. We will also see more wingman control in 2.0.

Third, we are going to see inter-operability soon after the release of Flanker 2.0. Initially this will mean a MiG 29 addition to the world, but it doesn't stop there and SSI have major plans in this area, some of which will be known soon.

For excerpts from our interview see Flanker 2 May 3rd Update