On March 30th of this year I began speculating on the next sim to come out of the Skunkworks. Here is what I wrote at that time:

Now, I know that Andy Hollis hasn't said a WORD about F15 II. And even if it was already in the works, we wouldn't likely hear about it until the summer. But can YOU really believe that co-op multiplayer hasn't been seriously considered for this sim? Think about it a moment...

We've already seen this happen with Longbow original. There was a great deal of work in that first release, yet somehow it begged for something more. Look at it this way: you spent two years building an incredible sportscar and dropped an eight cylinder single turbo engine into it. The engine itself was custom built and a lot of work, but nothing compared to the car itself. And then a buddy came along and told you that he would help you install a 12 cylinder, dual turbo dual OH cam engine he was working on into the same machine, adding 50% more horsepower and more value to your car... wouldn't YOU do it?

F15 is a fantastic sim. All the avionics are finished. The AI is pretty solid. What does it lack? High res, complete V2 support, pilot records, real time mission generation and dynamics, wind and turbulence, mission planning and multiplayer. Are you seeing the picture?

This is essentially the same state Longbow was at on its first release. Would you be upset if F15 were issued as F15 II in December of 1998 or early in 1999? Would you object to paying another $50 for the features above plus front seat/back seat multiplayer? Of course you would! But then you'd go out and buy it like the rest of us. $20 says we see it next winter. You saw it here first.

So.. that was then, this is now. I've checked in with Origin's PR department, and they confirm that they have no knowledge of anything like F15 II, so let's be clear that this article is strictly a dreamland thing for me. Pure speculation.

But think of where graphics engines have come and are going post F15. Longbow II gave us a glimpse of the future. But now take the graphics engine of WW2 Fighters, and drop in the avionics and systems of post patch F15. F15, after all, is limited to Glide only 3d acceleration, effectively shutting out all the current and HOT D3d boards. Can you imagine F15 in the WW2 Fighters graphics environment? Can you imagine F15 II at 1024x768 and higher, with even more special effects, maybe even volumetric clouds? I know you can!

And now Longbow II sits on the shelves, with an excellent fully dynamic campaign system. Hmm. Lets graft that puppy onto F15 too. After all, they are both primarily ground combat sims. Let's make some adjustments and improvements, because there IS air to air combat in F15.

Finally, to round out this picture, we need the FULL multiplayer features of Longbow II: in our dream world F15 II we'll have front/back seat multiplayer and coop campaign capability. After all, Janes has this great combatnet ready to go. What better way to boost attendance??

Yeh.. it's a natural. The only thing that would REALLY round out the picture is the ability to fly the F15C in the same sim. Then Janes could appeal to the mud movers AND the air combat fans in one fell swoop. That's another reason for taking the campaign dynamics of Longbow II and reworking them. I can just imagine myself in an eight ship strike force with F15Cs and Eagles. That combination would have me reloading F15 real quick!

How else can we bring F15 with us into the future? Let's add multi-monitor support under WIN95/98. Yeah! The price of 14" monitors is so low I hear you can trade them for copies of IAF these days. Who wouldn't love to run their F15 radar on one screen while placing their cockpit and instruments on the main display?

Don't get me wrong. F15 was not a bad sim. It was groundbreaking in many ways, a lot of fun, and was and is a great sim.

But F15 didn't have the same level of involvement and immersion as Longbow II. No matter, you are I are rebuilding F15 and giving it longer legs. In this scenario F15 would be around another couple of years at least. In fact, if Janes does F15 II along the lines mentioned here it would be another instant classic. I would love to see it; I vote yes!