The F-16, well-known for its dog-fighting capabilities and high standards of performance and affordability was designed to be small, lightweight and highly manoeuverable, capitalizing on a daring blend of aerodynamic and system technologies. Nowadays, the worldwide fleet of over 3,000 aircraft has surpassed five million flight hours.

Equally potent in air-to-air and air-to-surface roles, the F16 has opened many avenues for tactical air power to the United States and its allies. A total of 250 USAF F-16s flew approximately 13,500 sorties in the Gulf War and maintained high results on missions, attacking Iraqi ground forces in Kuwait, performing as killer scouts, knocking out Scud missile sites and destroying military production and support facilities, chemical factories and airfields in Iraq.

Test System

System one:

• PPro 180, 32 meg EDO and 256 cache
• Matrox Millenium 2 meg
• 8x Toshiba EIDE CD
• WD 1.6 GB
• TB Tropez
• CH Fighterstick and Pro Throttle
• SUNCOM Talon

System two:

• AMD K6 233, 64 meg SDRam, 1 meg cache
• Matrox Millenium 4 meg
• 12x Plextor SCSI CD
• Seagate Cheetah SCSI-3 4.1 GB
• CL AWE 64
• Thrustmaster F22 and TQS, CH pedals
• CH Fighterstick and Pro Throttle

Installation and Sys Req

Some months ago Digital Integration released F16 in the UK. This past week iF-16 finally hit the shelves in North America. Why the delay? The reasons may never be finally known, but rumor had it that further play testing was underway. After a half day with the iMagic release, however, it seems indentical in all but the manual and box.

The box contains 4 items: the CD in a cardboard case, a Control Summary card, the main manual (a few pages longer than the UK version), and a tutorial guide. The main manual is one hundred ten pages, but its brevity is compensated by the tutorial.

The CD contains both DOS and WIN95 installs. Install went smoothly for both, although my AWE64 doesn't seem to like the DOS configuration and doesn't detect properly. I chose the medium install which asks for sixty meg. The medium install leaves out some graphics files, but having fast systems I didn't notice a problem. The large install asks for 120(?) meg. Joystick calibration in WIN95 is automatic, based on your system itself. I had no problems with my CH or TM gear.

Stated system requirements are a 486 DX2-66. I suspect that with all the graphics options off you could indeed get away with this, but I would recommend a P120 or better. A friend of mine installed the sim on a P133 with 32 meg, and with clouds off he is ALMOST happy.

So what about the frame rate? With all detail maxed out INCLUDING clouds I am around 10-12 fps. To me this is acceptable, but barely. Oddly enough, the frame rate is the same for me in WIN95 or DOS. I also tested with DX3 and DX5, and there is no difference. If the sim were DESIGNED for DX5 frame rate would likely be about 30% higher. Note also that your frame rate will improve if you do the large install (100 meg).

Max resolution is 640x480. I suspect that many pilots will turn off the cloud detail OR turn down the terrain detail if they are running less than a P200. No problem, the sim will still be fun to play, and the sky still looks great without clouds. See below for more info on texture choices and frame rate.

I also need to note that on USENET many complained about the WIN95 install with F16 FF. Apparently there are some issues here, especially on older systems. Oddly, K6 owners seem to be free of problems entirely. It could be that the iMagic release will see fewer WIN95 issues: time will tell!

Graphics and Detailing

If you liked HIND you won't be disappointed. If you are coming away from EF2000 you may be. Personally, even though my greatest number of flight hours were logged in EF2 and Janes Longbow this past year, I am not bothered by the graphics when detail is high. Object detail is even better. An outside view of the F16 is about between Fleet Defender and EF2000. The aircraft looks good, with squadron markings clearly visible and weapons details similarly high. Take a look from the rear and see the heat distortion effect of your afterburner.

Terrain detail is surprisingly good. As a step up from HIND I don't think most pilots will complain. Most of your flying will NOT be NOE, and when it is its livable. Moreover, since your SEAD and CAS missions will utilize a nice ground radar and/or LANTIRN, you won't have your eyes on the scenery all that much anyway.

And then there are the clouds! This is the largest point of departure from HIND, with the corresponding graphics penalty. The clouds are best comparable to EF2000. An overcast sky from the runway has me feeling chilled and gloomy. Flying above the clouds leaves me in a peaceful, dreamy state. It really is beautiful and a very nice change from HIND. If you have the horsepower you will want clouds ON, but even without the sky is attractive.

The cockpit itself is very pleasing to the eye, and I like it much better than the one in iF22. It integrates will into the graphical landscape, and its a virtual cockpit so you can slew the views around using F1 to F4, use a snap view system, or use the HeadLock view for air or ground targets. Note: you can't headlock a ground target without having your ground radar switched on, and you can't padlock missiles. More about the padlock and views below...

Preferences in both sound and detailing are quite flexible. For example, you vary smoke lifetime and cloud density, shadows and object visual range as well as textures and shading. All these things will affect your frame rate so you can toy around to get what suits you.

The visual range preference is the most important of the visual detail settings. This option governs how far into the distance you can see from your viewpoint within the world, before distance haze "fogs out" the landscape. If you set this at three or lower you will effectively remove textures from the landscape. At four or five you won't see very far but your frame rate will improve...

Starting Out

When you first execute the sim you will be treated to a very cool animation of two F16 pilots taking on some MiGs. One of the best I've seen yet! In fact animations throughout the sim are very well done, about on the order of those from Janes. When you then select a particular campaign you will be treated to another animation that fits the context. I wont' spoil it by telling you any more... ;-D

Training missions offer two cheat options: Free Fire, limitless weapons; and no crashes. The selection of training missions is about as broad as the ocean between here and the UK, including Conversion, Nav & Recon, Landing, separate missions for every weapon system, formation flying and low visibility flying.

Cut to the chase! If you are an experienced pilot look over the manual, download my TM config files or load up your CH files, skip the training, go to Logs and Create yourself a pilot. Don't forget to choose your call sign! Every flight is logged, and when the mission is over you may choose whether or not to permanently record it. BUT if you crashed and died during the mission the specific log becomes inactive. You can also click on RETRY if you want to fly the mission again, and then the last outcome is discarded. (Note: RETRY isn't available in the campaign).

Now go back to Main and click on COMBAT. Click on CAMPAIGN and select a scenario of your choice: Cyprus, Israel or Korea. I suspect that difficulty in each is about the same, dependent on the difficulty level you selected under Prefs. If you have some solid experience under your belt I suggest starting about level six. Note that the difficulty slider affects enemy "awareness," accuracy, chaff and flare efficiency, dogfighting skill, and acceptable accuracy radius for your own mine laying and recon missions.

So, you select your scenario and in you go! Now you will have a voice and text briefing describing the background and present situation. Click on COMMIT and move to your mission briefing. Again, you will have both voice and text. Click on COMMIT here and you will get to the planning screen.

Interface and Mission Planner

The mission planner is solid and will almost outdo Tornado for detail and flexibility, except that you do NOT have the overall tactical control that you are given in Tornado. Here is a shot from the planner which should look familiar to some of you:

Click for a larger image...70 K

You must enable the planner in the Prefs screen, and then a MAP TOOLBOX appears at the upper right hand corner when you enter. The toolbox offers controls that allow you to study and modify your flight plan, change the appearance of the briefing screen, alter weapon loadout and request a weather report. To select a function you left click with the mouse. Here are some particulars:

• ZOOM: magnify an area of interest. Click and hold the left button while draggin the moust diagonally to define the area to magnify. When you release the button the area is scaled to fit the screen. Or the player can simply click on the the area of interest and it will zoom to a higher detail level at the pointer position. The window that appears may be panned, and you can even fly by specific areas and between waypoints.

• ROTATE: This function rotates the map around the screen center. Useful for orientation during the briefing.

• FIT: Clicking on any map position with the right button centers the map at said position. Useful especially for centralizing your flight plan on the map.

• WAY: This function opens the WAYPOINT window. Wayoints in the flightplan are listed in sequence, beginning with departure point A. Info on any waypoint can be displayed by first clicking on the waypoint and then clicking on INFO. The window will display the x,y map coordinate and altitude, the waypoint TYPE, the planned speed to the next WP, and the estimate time to the waypoint in hours, minutes and seconds.

  Clicking on any waypoint button will cause the INSERT and DEL buttons to appear in the window. The player may INS or DEL waypoints with the exception of the first and last in the series. Obviously, you will want to check your waypoints against the latest intelligence regarding placement of AAA and SAMs, not to mention potential CAP flights.

• SAVE: Click here to save changes to your flight plan.

• TASK: Click here to adjust the flight plan of your wingmates. If you have modified your own flight plan you will likely want to change theirs also.

• PAY: This function brings up the weapon payload screen. Loadout can be modified but will remain symmetrical. Once the payload is accepted, weapons with a variable salvo size will be listed, and the player can adjust the number. When complete total aircraft weight is then displayed with the maximum permitted "g" for the chosen payload.

Since you do not have the Command ability given in Tornado, you cannot adjust the payload of your flight members. Unfortunate, since it really can be an advantage to carry a couple of extra IR missiles in exchange for a pair of AMRAAMs...

At your disposal, you will have a full complement of stores that you can load as you see fit (within weight, carriage and supply limits). The stores will include Sidewinders, AMRAAMs, Mavericks, HARMS, GBUs, CBUs, General Purpose and retarded dumb bombs, the CBU-89B mine dispenser and CBU-15 Durandal, rockets, fuel tanks and ECM pods. The radar and HUD work together to give you all of the cues needed to properly deploy these weapons. For air-to-air, you get the standard seeker and DLZ (Dynamic Launch Zone) symbology or your choice of EEGS (funnel), LCOS (Lead Computing Optical Sight) or snake for gunnery. Air-to-ground includes CCIP (Continuously Computed Impact Point), CCRP (Continuously Computed Releas Point), Dive/Toss and Strafe.

What else will you see in the environment? A10s, C130 Hercules, E3 AWACS, F14 Tomcat, F15 Eagle, F18 Hornet, AH1W Supercobra, AH64C Apache, UH60 Blackhawk, and a wide variety of ground vehicles and platforms including ships, artillery and even soliders! As I was panning around the battlefield with the F12 key I came across a solider running. As in Longbow, you will have to be on the watch for small arms fire and even shoulder mounted missiles.

For info on gameplay, AI, avionics, views etc. go to: Gameplay and AI

When I entered the Korean campaign the first time I was on a runway that was under attack! I scrambled and saw ground fire coming from AAA on the runway with enemy aircraft strafing another flight attempting to get airborn. When I exitted and re-entered the Korean campaign the opening mission was completely different. Obviously there is randomness here which will increase playability greatly.

If you have selected FULL effects under sound then you will get in cockput radio chatter. This will either drive you crazy or you will love it! It does add to atmosphere overall. I do wish that my wingman wouldn't use the same line EVERY time I lift off the runway: "Lets go kick some ass!"

As you will know if you frequent combatsim, I am on a hobby horse with regard to flexibility in wingman control. Why? I hoped you would ask! Without solid wingman control, many basic strategies become impossible. Head-on merges are not the best way to live through an initial contact! For example, standard two on one or two on two doctrine requires the ability to send your wingmen off to bracket on one side (preferably 2 of them while the third remains with you) while you and your wing bracket the other. This greatly increases the likelihood of a kill.

By the same token, to command two of your flight to watch a different sector of the flight path with RADAR gives you better situational awareness. SA is the sister to "lose sight, lose the fight." A sanitize or sector scan command enables this control. If you miss your target, (of course this NEVER happens to the rest of us), the ability to have your wingman take your target out could be crucial in cutting off supply lines or stopping that pesky SAM site from killing any more of your allies. Furthermore, separate and comprehensive control of wingmen gives the illusion of being an actual Wing Leader instead of just being a cog in the wheel of a computer run war.

I think you get my drift. How does Fighting Falcon fare in this regard? I'm sorry to say that on a scale of one to ten, with USNF being perhaps 9.0, F16FF scores around 3. You really can't do much with your flight, and they aren't the most incredible pilots anyway. I've been flying on a difficulty scale from six to eight so far, and only twice have I returned to base with a live team mate. Ok, so I take a few risks and go offensive down to my last cannon shell.. hey, this is an action oriented sim!

Perhaps I need to qualify this by saying that I've only flown a dozen missions with the release version, and none on the highest difficulty rating. Some dynamics will change as I improve in the sim and the difficulty increases. I also need to confess that I've only made it back to base myself in seven of my twelve missions! But then, I'm only a beginner in the F16....

Now what about the command options? Here they are:

• Wingman go home
• Formation go home
• WIngman follow me
• Formation follow me
• Wingman attack my target/help me
• Formation attack my target/help me
• Wingman resume flight plan
• Formation resume flight plan

In addition to these commands for your AI buddies, you are also given a list of scripted messages to use in net play: ten in total, that are transmitted by text but will be heard by you in voice. These commands add a few commands that are needed in the sim for your AI wingies, including break right/left, break off, etc.

What about enemy AI? At the higher difficulty levels there will be few complaints. I've found them fairly quick to engage and flexible in maneuvers. Ground based SAMs and AAA can be deadly, and don't disregard foot soliders and the machine guns mounted on BMPs and tanks! As in HIND, the ground war is integrated fairly well and includes these smaller details.

In fact, this simulation probably models more weapons platforms than anything else out there. Under the Allies category, you may see:

• 8 fixed wing aircraft
• three helicopters
• the Vulcan AAA and Patriot SAM launcher
• six armored vehicles
• two artillery types
• five infantry weapons including an antitank weapon and mortar
• eleven types of ship
• seven other vehicles including a diesel locomotive and Leopard bridgelayer

And for enemy platforms you will see twelve fixed wing aircraft including F16s (Cyprus)eleven types of armored vehicle including the T-80, five types of artillery, nine infantry mounted weapons, fifteen ships including lifeboats.... get the picture? Diversity is the name of the game here.

Here are my two complaints: when you hit an enemy aircraft, they may still fly, in which case they will continue to show on your radar. However, if you make a kill, they simply disappear.. vanish into thin air. I think this modelling needs some work. Secondly, cannon tracer fire is so small that you have to squint against the brown background just to see the 1 pixel size tracers. I dont' know if this was a move to realism or not, but it is a challenge to accuracy! To DI's credit, the ground impact can be seen when you are extremely low and the impact area is larger. AI overall is a complex issue and my experience is still limited, I'll try to provide an update on AI issues soon.

Avionics and Flight Modelling

Radar

The sim IS action oriented, and you will know that from the start. The music score is lively and I like it, and it suits the sim very well.

Lets start with the radar and LANTIRN modules. These detection systems really lie at the heart of the simulation.

Click for a larger image...

DI has chosen to simulate the LANTIRN equipped variant of the F16, consisting of two pods which are mounted under the air intake. With this advanced equipment the aircraft has the capabilities of a forward-looking IR sensor and terrain following radar. This means the pilot may also access a TV image on his MFD. The targeting pod contains the FLIR tracker and a laser designator/ranger which allows designation of targets at night using laser guided ordinance. Using the LANTIRN equipment the pilot can fly with radar off allowing for greater stealth.

This F16 is the Mid-Life Update which includes color CRTs. The new radar, similar to the APG 68, gives enhanced detection capabilities and better cluster resolution, letting you know if that blip you are tracking is one aircraft or a whole flight. The Harm Targeting System will let you take on the F-16's new Wild Weasel role. In this move toward modernization, much like the F22, the cockpit design is greatly simplified with the intention of decreasing the pilot's workload.

Radar is nicely modelled, definitely increasing your visibility to detection equipment and with an appropriate resolution delay. Its complex enough to give you flexibility and simply enough to learn in a few hours of play. The radar is nowhere near as complex as the actual F16 systems, and not nearly so intimidating therefore as the modelling in B2B. For the average pilot this is a big advantage since it allows one to concentrate more on the action and eases the learning curve.

The two primary modes of the new radar are TWS (Track While Scan) and ACM (air combat mode). TWS allows automatic id and tracking of airborne targets up to 35 nm. Targets are represented by color coded triangles: the triangles point down if headed toward the pilot, and up if headed away. The radar automatically designates the closest enemy aircraft and superimposes cross hairs on the target triangle. The display shows the altitude of the current target, target type and bearing in degrees. Closing speed is also shown.

If the designated target on the TWS display is a formation of aircraft (shown as a solid triangle), the pilot may zoom in and designate individual targets. This feature is called RCR, "Raid Cluster Resolution." The radar will then display ONLY the formation and will designate a target within the formation.

TWS also allows a choice of three scan modes. The scan pattern may be slewed horizontally (azimuth) and vertically (bar setting) in order to point the radar at the area of interest. Scan mode 1 allows 120 degrees azimuth, 3 degrees vertically, and 35 nm range. Scan mode 2 allows 60 degrees azimuth, 6 degrees vertically, and 25 nm range. Scan mode 3 alows 30 degrees azimuth, 9 degrees vertically, and 15 nm range.

The ACM mode works quite differently and allows a broader horizontal sweep pattern, and a boresight mode which may also be set to lock the nearest bandit automatically. ACM mode automatically arms your missiles and tracks the nearest enemy, slewing and zooming the radar to keep the target on radar as good as possible. You can leave ACM mode active but turn off auto tracking if you wish.

The ground radar can be set to either GVT (Ground Vehicle Track) or FTT (Fixed Target Track). GVT mode represents a plan view of the area ahead of your aircraft, showing ground vehicles ONLY. Maximum range is ten miles.

With the exception of radar-equipped enemy vehicles, the ground radar is not capable of distinguishing between allied and enemy equipment. However, if your TWS systems detects enemy radar transmissions from SAM, AAA or mobile EWR, this info is used to prioritise target designation on the radar display. If the target type is known the name will be confirmed on the display, although it is recommended to confirm the target id with the LANTIRN display before firing. Note: the LANTIRN zoom function (< and > keys) appears broken.

A radar HOLD mode is also available. This allows you to freeze the radar picture and turns off the active radar. The display will remain static and a dotted line will appear to show your position relative to your current target, enabling you to approach the target with radar off. Pressing "H" again resumes radar operation and unfreezes the display. FTT mode displays only fixed targets like buildings and bridges.

Of course, the cockpit display also contains a passive Threat Warning System which graphically represents the different types of radar scanning the aircraft in both a warning indicator system as well as the typical directional display. The appropriate symbol appears on the display for a quick appraisal of your situation, triangles for aircraft borne radar, diamonds for EWR systems, etc. There are also separate warning lights for various threats: IR and Radar missiles, Ground tracking radar, etc.

LANTIRN

LANTIRNs greatest advantage is in use with radar off, but you can also employ these abilities in conjunction with air to ground radar. The only advantage in this case is that you can then VIEW the selected target at various levels of zoom using the LANTIRN FLIR mode on the opposite MFD.

WIth your target selected, on the right side of the HUD you will see the range scale and the estimated missile time to target. The laser designator will be automatically slaved to the radar target.

Using LANTIRN with radar OFF, however, increases your stealth. If the target is a vehicle then the pilot should select the FLIR AUTO mode. This gives automatic recognition and designation of ground vehicles and is primarily used for ripple firing maverick missiles against armored vehicles. You can zoom the view with the < and > keys so long as you have selected the FLIR display. You can also cycle through available targets using BSPACE.

This system works very nicely in F16FF. Employing the ripple fire method, remember to space each shot a couple of seconds. If your first missile makes a kill the LANTIRN will automatically designate the next target and the second missile will change course. But you must continue flying toward the target until all weapons reach their destination.

If the target is not a vehicle, you will need to use FLIR MAN (manual) mode. This mode is usually used for laser guided bombs, but you can use laser guided mavericks for the task also in manual mode. Get the target in your site and steer the designator manually using the ALT and cursor keys (or joystick). Zoom in or out as above and use fire button to lock the sight, then FIRE again to launch.

If you carry the AGM65G (IR) type of maverick missile things get simpler, because this missile is fire and forget. Either manual or automatic mode of the FLIR can be used. When the last weapon is away you can turn away from the target area.

Its in the manual FLIR mode that you will begin wishing for a solid autopilot control, or better yet, terrain following autopilot. True, the F16 is fairly stable and you can let go of your stick for a little while, but if terrain is especially rugged, or if you are flying at night, this gets tricky. Its great to see the LANTIRN capabilities modelled, but the lack of an autopilot is a real let down.

Flight Model

Flight feels excellent. Digital Integration has obviously been doing some good work in this area. Having never flown a serious F16 simulator, the only question I am left with is: is it really this hard? This airplane seems much harder to control than my previous serious sims in F14 Fleet Defender and EF2000. For the first couple of hours I found myself struggling to make crisp turns and smooth realignments, constantly over and under correcting.

Inertia and weight is modelled nicely, and stores make a huge difference in performance. Yanking and banking is NOT an option. The aircraft bleeds speed quickly in high G turns, especially with a full fuel load. Getting off the ground with a heavy payload even on full AB can take almost the length of the runway. Note also that turbine lag is well modelled, and it takes a few seconds to spool up engines or to shut them down.

Damage modelling is incredibly varied. Airbrakes and flaps can fail or incur damage that inhibits flight, gear can fail or get stuck (controlled crashes ARE possible), and engine damage of various severity may be incurred. Fires and cockpit pressurization problems are also possible, as are hydraulic failure. MFDs can fail as can LANTIRN pods, radar, ECM equipment and radio. You can lose or jam your gun, pylons can fail to release weapons, and your TWAS can quit. You can lose your electrical generation ability, and your HUD system can blank out. Whew!

While we are near to the subject, getting off the runway is an exciting task when you have failed a mission or two! This usually places you within range of enemy aircraft and/or tanks and artillery. There can be explosions ripping around you, and/or small arms fire. So you get clearance and put the throttle to the wall and hear those burners ignite! It would have been nice to hear the wheels complain as they separate from the pavement, but sound is very well done, from the threat warnings to the engines and voice. Really it can't get much better. Now lets consider the views and padlock.

Views and Headlock

View options are good, from the panning views in the virtual cockpit to the traditional snap views. Using the function keys for the panning threw me at first, but if you are going to program them to a stick anyway, whats the difference? Incidentally, I didn't care much for the config files provided and you can give my F16 thrustmaster files a peek.

The headlock system in F16 is excellent. I have seen at least one complaint on the net, but I don't think that the pilot understood how to control the system. The view is activated with key "6" and simulates the pilot's head tracking a target as long as the target remains in the physical field of view.

When you activate the head-lock view on your current target, a number of things will happen:

• The cockpit will, usually, lower slightly and start to 'float' gently as your view becomes centralised on, and then slaved to, the target.
• A secondary aiming reticle will be superimposed over the target showing its distance from your F-16, together with an aspect carat indicating your relative headings as described in the Air-to-Air HUD modes in Chapter 5 of your manual.
• A data box will be placed at the top of your view at such times when your complete Head Up Display comes close to moving off-screen. The data box comprises the following symbology: (File 'readmef5.gif' shows a snapshot of the head-lock view)
• A large, outer 'Range of movement' box, representing the sphere of view around the F-16 through which the pilots may physically move their heads.
• A small, inner 'Field of view' box, representing your current direction of view within the pilot's range of movement.
• A pointer and vertical scale at the right of the Range Of Movement box indicating the current pitch of your aircraft.
• A horizon reference line at the center of the Range Of Movement box indicating the current roll of your aircraft.
• Airspeed and radar altitude readings at the top of the Range Of Movement box.
• The identity of the currently *viewed* (not necessarily the currently *designated* target) above the centre of the Range Of Movement box.

As your head turns to track the target, the Field Of View box will move appropriately within the Range Of Movement box. Movement range is approximately ninety degrees upwards and thirty down, and 135 degrees left and right. If the target moves out of the pilot's range of movement, view returns to standard in-cockpit view until such time as the target re-enters the pilot's range of movement. This could drive some people nuts but is a fairly good simulation of reality.

The headlock acts as a toggle between normal "look ahead" view and "target track" view. If you activate the headlock then switch to an external view, later pressing F5 (cockpit view) will put you back into the head-locked target track.

Head-locking slaves the view to the currently designated target but is otherwise unconnected to the target designation systems. Once locked, the view will slave to the target UNTIL the view is deactivated with a second press of key 6, or until you choose to view another available target. When the target leaves the range of movement, view returns to normal in-cockpit viewing but the target is remembered. If it re-enters the pilot's range of movement, the viewpoint will swing around and re-acquire the target.

While in head locked view the pilot may cycle through viewable targets with the hash (#) key. Available targets are those within 3 miles of your F-16. If the current target is destroyed, the next available target is selected automatically. So far I have found the system well designed and user-friendly. I'll try to get a screen shot up today or tomorrow...

What about other physics issues? Missile inertia seems appropriate, with appropriate cruising ranges that change according to your own altitude and air speed. Blackouts are about the best modelled I have yet seen, and if you have blacked out once you are at higher risk for the next while. So far as I know, this is very accurate. Moreover, blackouts may come on suddenly but don't clear up suddenly, and are DEFINITELY dangerous to your health! I haven't seen a red out yet and it could be that the AI has a glitch in that area.

Afterburners are modelled for FIVE stages. Nice! You can monitor your level with the analog guage on the right side of the cockpit display.

Click for a larger image..

After your mission, debriefing is via detailed text overlay (who shot whom with what and when) over your original planning screen and also a voice message that tells you how well you did or chews you out if you blew it...

F16FF offers a two-player option of either leader or wingman or head-to-head combat. Net play supports up to 16 players in Deathmatch or Capture the Flag missions. Unfortunately, campaign play is not available in either two player or network missions. But worse yet, the multiplayer features seem to be broken.  

North American release finally happened about October 13 as iF16. In theory iMagic chose to delay the release after complaints about bugs in the DI release, but there doesn't seem to have been any substantial changes. Frame rate is still challenging to the best systems if detail is full on. On the other hand, a patch is in the works that will apply to both the UK and US versions and hopefully will address multiplayer issues as well as frame rate.

SUMMARY

In a mid beta there were detailed autopilot controls in F16FF: heading and altitude hold, attitude hold, track (may be used WITH terrain following), and terrain following. The Track mode allowed following the preset waypoints. An early/late time display could be brought up to enable speed adjustment so as to arrive at the next waypoint at the assigned time. This can be critically important when ground targets are moving rapidly and when support aircraft are timed to allow you air cover for a ground attack.

The terrain following mode was to be selectable only if the LANTIRN was fitted. With the TF system active the ap manoeuvers the aircraft to a radar altitude preset by the pilot. Ride height would be selectable from 100-500 feet and to 1000 feet.

For some reason this excellent AP system did not make it into the UK release, degenerating into a simply Autoland option. I hope that enough players will complain about this loss that DI will consider a patch. After all, the code was already in the works and probably wouldn't require a great deal more time to complete. And after all, this is part of the LANTIRN package.

The other area that begs for expansion is wingman interaction. F16 has followed the path of Apache and Hind and kept things far too simple. With this addition the sim would appeal to even hard core fans, and the immersion and depth added would really add life to the sim. While the voice overlays from other pilots helps add depth, its really a substitute for the "real" thing: ability to comm and control with your wing in a way that enhances tactical ability. I still haven't yet seen the laser designation of targets by troops, although this kind of action is noted in the manaul. Perhaps this didn't make it to the final release. CH users have noted that the UP position on the hat doesn't work. Hopefully this will be quickly fixed.

Overall, I think this sim is worth purchasing unless you are looking for solid multiplayer action. Although it lacks a dynamic campaign system, the campaign FEELS dynamic and the action and avionics are great. I don't hesitate to recommend the sim, especially for those who felt lost with B2B but want a high level of realism with some great action. If you have a low end Pentium you might want to have a look over the shoulder of a friend before your purchase. On the other hand, when 3dfx support is added and the connection abilities fixed, it might make a "best of 1997 list" yet!

NA Producer: Interactive Magic

My TM Config Files: F16