Some men see the things that are, and ask why?
I dream things that never were and ask, "Why not?"
JFK

Its a time for dreams. New hardware is enabling designers to reach out into new dimensions to bring us new reality in the simulation experience. Graphics, frame rates, and features that we could only dream of a few years ago are finding their way onto desktops around the world. Its a great time to be a simulation fan!

But that doesn't mean we have found perfection yet. The reality and the ideal are running to greet each other, but have not yet met. F22: ADF is the most realistic simulation of the F22 Raptor to date, but lacking a dynamic campaign it also lacks something of the heart of a simulation like iF22. iF22, for all its problems and in spite of an uneven graphics engine, has some things ADF lacks.

But having said that, there is SO much here, and so much more yet to come. ADF could be one of the most awaited simulations in sim history, up there with Longbow 2 and Falcon 4, the stuff dreams are made of. Lets wake up the sleeper for a couple of hours and bring the unconscious into the light. As we do so I will rate ADF in five areas: graphics, gameplay, sound, intelligence, and fun.

• System Setup and Frame Rates
• Glide and D3d Graphics
• Quick Combat
• Single/Training Missions
• Tours of Duty: Being There
• Taking Flight: Avionics
• Targetting and HUD Modes
• AI: Wingmen, CPPs and Comms
• AI: Weapons, Damage Modelling and Flight
• Sound and Views
• AWACS and ACMI Components
• Multiplayer, General Comments and Summary

Install, Setup and Frame Rates

The box is packed with Allies and Adversaries, a custom made journal by World Air Power. Its a knockout, 160 page color journal loaded with information on aircraft and weapons systems you will meet in ADF. The journal kicks off with fifteen pages dedicated to the F22 then moves on to the Su-35, EF2000, MiG 21 and others. See the reference above for a review.

The manual for ADF totals 176 pages in the same format and size (same publisher) as Allies and Adversaries. The manual is better organized than the EF2000 manual but does contain a fair amount of repetition. No matter, it covers what you need to know with only a few small omissions.

For one, page 71 will lead you to believe that you can cue an AMRAAM by off board (IFDL) information and then launch while in EMCON 1. This is not correct. AMRAAM is disabled in EMCON 1 and you must switch to EMCON 3 minimum for a launch. However, you can launch the AIM9x in EMCON 1 and 2 using IRST cueing. Unfortunately, one flaw in this design at the moment is that if you experience radar damage your IRST targetting will also cease to work.

The other omissions relate to last minute changes as found in the readme file (a good place to look when you load up the sim!). Some of these changes include the ability to rearm and refuel just by landing and stopping on the runway in both single missions and tours (not yet in AWACS missions however). Changes to the avionics control include the ability to clear the shoot list (U key), declutter targets from the HUD, and targetting box info and kill boxes.

Install gives you options from 40 to 150 meg, and if you choose the large and TYPICAL installation you don't need the CD. This is great, since it means that you can run on a LAN without everyone having their own copy. However, the TOURS are not available in multiplayer, a feature that will hopefully change with TAW and the dynamic campaign and theatre commander components.

I have two systems for testing. System I is an AMD 233 with 64 meg of SDRam, 1 meg cache, CL Awe 64, and STB Velocity 128 3d. System II is a PII 266 running at 337.5 MHz on an ASUS P2L97 with Canopus Pure 3d and Matrox Millenium, and the Ubisoft Game Theatre 64, with surround sound generated by a Yamaha 200 watt system. This system also has 64 meg of SDRam and an Ultra DMA Quantum hard drive. I am running Glide 2.43 and the latest 3dfx D3d drivers.

System I will not run under Glide since Glide is a 3dfx specific API. Running under software only is not too shabby, however, since the Riva 128 chipset is quite fast in WIN95. With detail set to mid and at 800x600 resolution this system is running at about 15 fps. At 640x400 with max detail frame rate is about 20 fps. For some reason scrolling the virtual cockpit or outside views is much smoother than the frame rate would have one believe....Load times are quite fast; anything over 32 meg of RAM really helps on that score.

System II running under software only at max detail is around 30 fps, and under Glide begins at 50 but drops when action is heavy, down to about 25-35. I can't hold this system down with a trunk full of old engine blocks, so if you have a P233 or better you are should have plenty of horsepower to run at max detail. If you have more than 32 meg of RAM you will also appreciate faster load times, a bonus these days. And by the way, sometime when you load the sim click on DEMO and watch just how smart Smartview has become...=)

The first choice in OPTIONS is resolution. You can select any resolution to go with any detail level. Choosing 640x400 and then MEDIUM DETAIL, for example, will automatically deselect CONTRAILS and TRANSPARENT CLOUDS. But you can turn any individual options on or off according to your preference and the frame rate you are gunning for.

This will be especially useful for lower end systems or non 3dfx systems. At LOW DETAIL in medium resolution a P166 with 3dfx is 15-20 fps, but this will vary from system to system slightly, and throwing the Canopus Pure3d into the mix will increase the rate slighly overall and greatly in some circumstances. Remember to install without music on low end systems for a frame rate boost.

I had a problem centering my F22 Pro and so I finally made the jump to TMs ProPanel utility. I've avoided it because I have found DX5 to be picky about joysticks and didn't want to spend an hour debugging my HOTAS system and software. However, installation was quick and easy and solved my drift problem immediately. Go to Thrustmaster to download the utility if you experience the same problem.

Some pilots are also experiencing problems with the idle minimum. I'm not sure if there is a solution for this or not but will post it if I hear anything. Drop me a note if you find a way to get your idle setting below 60%. Furthermore, I cannot get ADF to recognize my gamma settings for 3dfx. If anyone finds a way to do this, let me know. At the moment its very difficult to see my MFDS in virtual cockpit mode.

The other choice you will need to make in the OPTIONS screen is difficulty level. If you are an accomplished pilot in Su27 or Hornet or EF2000 or some other intermediate to hard core simulation choose the MEDIUM level to start off. This will give you a chance to familiarize yourself with avionics and AI while improving the PK of your weapons and reducing detectability.

At low and medium difficulty levels you also have some additional help in terms of targetting. Targets that are required to be destroyed in order to complete the mission are shown with the letter "T" adjacent to them in the HUD display, but only on the Easy and Medium difficulty levels. Mission objectives can also be viewed from the in-game map by pushing the "DEL" key on the numeric keypad.

In addition, targets that are required to be destroyed are shown with the letter "T" in the target information on a MFD. The target information is shown when you position the mouse cursor over an aircraft symbol in the Situation, Defense or Attack displays. The flight call sign is also shown, as given objectives. And this brings up the first problem resident in the body of ADF.

HARD is VERY hard in some missions, for a variety of reasons which will be discussed later in this review. But its sometimes very bothersome to have to hit a particular target in order to have the mission rated as a success, a bit like looking for the needle in the proverbial haystack.

Whats the problem, you ask? In a real war a particular objective can be critically important. True, but then the objective is usually very CRITICAL. But at times in ADF one must hit the particular SAM or particular two tanks among twenty in order to be successful. You may kill 6 Su-35s, but miss the one defined as the mission goal. The fix is simple: rate the mission either by tactical signficant goals OR by a percentage of completion. With the dynamic engine arriving in TAW this will no longer be an issue, of course.

The On-Line Help is exhaustive, and some parts are even interactive. Call up avionics and call up MFDs and you can click on the MFD you want information on to bring up specifics. You can access help from your desktop for a good read without ever opening the program.

Glide Graphics Glory

F-22 Air Dominance Fighter currently supports the ATI Rage Pro AGP card, cards using the 3Dfx Voodoo chipset (Diamond Monster, Orchid Righteous, Maxi Gamer, Realvision Flash, Micro Hiscore, Canopus Pure 3D, Skywell magic 3D etc), and video cards using the 3Dfx Voodoo Rush chipset (Hercules Stingray 128/3D, Intergraph Intense 3D Voodoo, Deltron Flash AT3D, Jazz Adrenalin Rush etc).

ADF also supports the Nvidia Riva 128 chipset AGP cards eg. Diamond Viper330 and STB Total 3d AGP, and any 4Mb PCI cards with 8-bit palettised textures. The supported cards must have at least - vertex fogging, 16-bit screen mode, 4000000 bytes of video memory, perspective correct texture support and alpha texture support. Some notorious cards state 4Mb on their packaging though they have 3.5Mb of video memory.

Glide is the proprietary API used by 3dfx for their Voodoo chipset, so you need a 3dfx based board to make use of it. ADF supports a number of resolutions under Glide, but most of us will be running at 800x600.

This mode is simply astonishing in its beauty. Objects and terrain, virtual cockpit and MFDs are all rendered at this resolution. Many objects in ADF are somewhat basic in appearance, like ground vehicles, but all have their own unique sound file and special effects, like the dust following these vehicles and armor as they scooted along the road near the battle zone....Click any image for a larger cut shot...

Clouds in ADF come in many forms, far removed from the unending cloud bank of EF2000. Clouds come in multiple layers, and fog and haze and smoke effects are varied. Smoke comes in two varieties, but you'll see mostly black when you score a hit or take one yourself. Looking at clouds from underneath is much different than looking at them from above, and while I can't be absolutely certain of this, I am fairly sure that your IR resolution decreases under cloudly conditions as it should.

Another significant area of graphics improvement over EF2000 is in damage modelling. Multiple explosions will rock your aircraft if you take the wrong kind of hit, and these can be ongoing for a couple of minutes before you get a final warning and your aircraft explodes. In the same way you can watch bandits suffer the same fate. The explosions you see will sometimes result in pieces flying off the airframe. This means that if you are too close on the tail of your victim you can take collateral damage yourself. If you are using guns and your opponent explodes, pull hard left or right to avoid the consequences!

Terrain varies widely, even in the desert. The greatest variation is between the Saudi landscape and the greener parts of Eritrea, however. Coastlines can be quite beautiful, and so can skies. ADF doesn't quite compare in the beauty of its dawn and dusk settings to FA18 Korea, but the sky is at least as nice as EF2000 and possibly a bit prettier. Here is a shot from the Eritrea Tour:

Attention to detail shows up in graphics engines quite quickly, and you won't be disappointed by ADF in this regard. Its possible to land without gear in ADF, and the sparks, noise and smoke generated by such a landing will give you reason to consider using the silk method the next time! In the same way, the parachute looks great, and you can even steer it using your joystick. But unlike EF2000, the man in the gear (you!) is modelling in 3d this time around. For a chute shot go to F22 Screens Page 2.

All thats left to say regarding graphics is that the lighting is not up to Longbow 2 standards, but is great nevertheless. Get hit by a missile at dusk or at night and you will be blinded by the flash (see "Being There" below for screens). Launch at night or watch an explosion and the flash is brilliant. When all is said and done, more gets said than done, but DiD has done it right in the graphics department and I rate graphics in ADF as 95%.

Quick Combat

F22: ADF is one of the most sophisticated simulations ever released for the PC. However, there are times when you just want to dive in and engage some enemies, and for that reason ADF includes a Quick Combat interface.

Quick Combat is an intense and lengthy mission lasting five hours. You must follow the waypoint route destroying targets as you find them, and then renewing your weapons. At each waypoint you will find a target on the ground which must be destroyed, while ever more dangerous waves of enemy aircraft and SAM's will rise to attack you along the route.

At each waypoint, you will find a ground target that carries a high points score for destruction. Points are awarded by a points multiplier system; i.e. the more points you earn the more the points multiply. However, should you hit your own side there will be a corresponding loss of points.

In general, higher points will be given for higher score targets; e.g. a tank is worth more than a truck, but a greater score will be given for a specified ground target within the mission. The highest scores will be displayed in the Quick Combat Hi Score table. Fuel will be limited to what you can carry externally, and a refueler will stand-by before the last waypoint - just in case. One weapon of each type carried will be automatically replaced every thirty seconds.

Is it challenging? As the above implies, the challenge increases over time. After an hour I was starting to sweat. There will be plenty of challenge here for most pilots and it should be fun getting into the scoring race as we did with EF2000. Doc-Ace Chmura and Papa Doc will be battling for the lead with a hundred other pilots before Christmas if all goes well!

Still, I miss the configurable quick mission structure of EF2000 which really allowed one to develop those one on one or one vs two skills. JSF has been released with a "DOGFIGHT" mission option that is less flexible than that built into the final release of EF2, but at least the component is there. It also would have been great to have an invulnerable setting so that those who want to just blow things up and/or learn the ropes while not having to start over again could do so. In ADF we will have to make do with the training scenarios provided. More on single missions below....

Single/Training Missions: Being There

Being There

Flight feels great, much better than EF2000. A full six DOF is modelled and it certainly shows. Inertia, the effects of thrust and torque, speed bleed on high g turns, gravity and payload are all factored in. With a light load the F22 is a rocket with wings; with a heavy load its quite different. Departure from normal flight on this basically unstable airframe is limited by the flight computer. Take damage to that system and you are really flying a large bomb.

I did some runway tests and this too has improved over EF2000. If you have ever taken off in a small jet you will recognize the sound and the feel. The increasing resistance and bounce of the tires as you approach TO velocity is there. The sense of speed on the runway itself is very good, the textures too have improved over EF2000.

Objects are numerous and far more care has been spent on modelling. The hangars, tower, and aircraft around the base all look great. There also seems to be more air and ground activity. And collision detection is present on the ground, so watching for other traffic and obeying the instructions from the tower has suddenly become more important! This is fitting since interaction with other aircraft and with ATC has moved miles beyond EF2000.

The effects of torque are modelled individually for the engines. I had a calibration glitch in my rudder pedals in the last mission I flew and was taxiing to the runway. I couldn't turn right as rapidly as I needed to so I tried shutting down the right engine. WOW! I found myself turning right on a dime! I was a bit surprised to see this modelled.

Attention to detail has been a hallmark for Digital Image Design since their first TFX simulation some years back. In EF2000 we saw the ante increased considerably, and the terrain had evolved to where we really FELT like we were flying over Norwegian turf...

Attention to detail continues with F22: ADF. You've seen screens revealing contrails and varied damage modelling. We got con trails out the yin-yang! Even your check six view will show vapor flowing off the wing tip, especially on high g turns at high altitude. You can see them on other aircraft as well, and sometimes your first visual indication of a bandit might be a con trail. In many of the single missions you will lack an AWACS link and you'll have to rely on the Mark 1 eyeball as well as your passive sensor systems.