By: Pierre 'Papa Doc' Legrand
Date: 1997-04-10
by Pierre (Papa Doc) Legrand
A Player's report on Su-27 Flanker
The Russian Made Simulator Su-27 Flanker by SSI/Eagle promises on the box to be the definitive military flight sim for the PC. Could it be the replacement for Falcon, long held to be the definitive Hardcore sim? Might this be the SVGA Falcon that many of us wished for? For many of the hardcore, Falcon 3, with all of its flaws, was THE definitive Jet Combat Sim. Does Su-27 Flanker scratch the itch that you might feel for an-in-your face SVGA Flight Sim......?
I should identify myself as one of the Falcon Faithful, call sign PAPA DOC. I flew with Damage,Inc in last years Inter TAC F3 H2H competition so you know I took Falcon seriously and worked hard at learning to fly F3. To give you a hint as to my current feelings, Falcon is deleted from my hardrive! It was hard, for sentimental reasons, but easy for practical reasons. I have better....Su-27 fulfills its promise! Though strangely, in a parallel to Falcon 3, it had its own birthing pains.
Installation
The CD for Version 1.1 of Su-27 contains both the Win95 and DOS versions of the game. Recently SSI released a patch that brings the version up to 1.2a. This patch, available for download, slays the dreaded stutter and improves the BVR and local AI. These improvements and fixes are only for the Win95 version of the sim. A DOS patch may be released.
Installation of the WIN95 version is quick and painless since it doesn't require that lovely innovation from Mr.Bill, Direct X. Upon starting Flanker the player views no splashy cut scenes or fancy avi movies, instead he dives right into the most powerful mission editor available for a sim released in the last year.
To some the dive is akin to a dive into a very cold dark pool....they are left bewildered
by choices. This is not a sim for the manual challenged, as they will be left wondering
what happens next. The sim does not take you by the hand and lead you to the promised land,
instead its blank face stares at you and asks silently "Where do you want to go today?"
In a welcome departure from sims released recently the sim provides both an online and a paper manual. (The paper manual being especially useful for those boring moments at the in-laws). In addition this is one of the best supported Sims on the net with plenty of resources available to the player who needs more answers and missions.
The Mission Editor
That the mission editor is powerful is a good thing because Flanker's biggest weakpoint in some players eyes is the lack of any type of dynamic campaign. Instead it comes with a large set of missions that allow for varying degrees of overall control of resources and strategy based on the classification of the mission.
With the mission editor the player can set up any variety of scenarios controlling virtually all the action both on the ground and in the air. As a mission designer he is in control of all the different types of active objects aircraft, ships and sam's . The designer is also provided with a large variety of static objects, ships,aircraft, ground vehicles, and radar stations, allowing the designer to embellish his creation without overloading the computer.
Though the static resources are inactive they can be designated as priority targets for purposes of designing large, interesting missions. Then the designer can classify it with a password limiting the viewing or modification of forces by other players and because even the largest missions are quite small in size zip it up and E-mail it to a friend. Unfortunately, the ground forces and ships do not move, but the active ones do defend themselves vigorously, probably more vigorously than some would want...but all can be defeated by the studious Pilot.
All altitudes, speeds, actions, and waypoints of aircraft can be controlled by the designer of the mission. Sometimes days or weeks can be spent in preparing especially large and complex missions. I once spent a week without flying (a very long time for me) because I was so facinated in setting up and viewing one of my larger missions, trying to get the balance of forces just right to achieve the desired chaos for my BVR mission. My wife did not understand how I could just sit there and watch the action unfold... but to me it was a marvel. Here was a flight sim that I didn t have to fly to have fun!
The after action debrief is a revelation as it shows every shot taken by every active object
and the results. After you see the Flanker debrief I predict that all sims without this type
of extensive debrief will irritate you....they irritate me!
SU27 comes with a set of training missions that serve the purpose of learning the basic's of flying Russia's best fighter. The training missions for combat though can best be described as graduate level training. As a counterpoint to the limited campaign many ingenious Flanker Pilots have created WEB sites with a wide variety of missions available for download. Including missions much better suited to rookie training than the graduate level course included on the CD. Check the end of the review for a section about the significant Internet resources available to the Rookie and Vet Flanker pilot.
All game and flight setup takes place from the mission editor screen. There you can set options and preferences varied enough to be able to recommend this sim to anyone willing to take some time to learn. Even serious beginners can configure this sim well enough to have fun.
The options available to the pilot before taking to the Crimean Skies of Pain will astound most players. In Failures, the player can choose from a selection of 13 systems on his jet, ranging from HUD failures to engine out to ACS (fly by wire) failures. This lends an entirely new dimension to the entire flight sim experience as these can be configured to fail at various times. In addition any of these systems can fail during combat due to damage. In Skills & Survivability he can set his damage tolerance (by setting it high the rookie can live long enough to understand why he is going to die.... (VBG), allow hard landings and disable outside views.
In Met Rep the player can select weather conditions which allow the player to call on, for instance, crosswinds for landings sever enough to cause anyone without access to a set of rudder pedals much difficulty landing. Its also possible to set different levels of turbulence at different altitudes, as well as setting the direction for the winds in the sim. Levels for cloud cover can be set within a somewhat limited range. Unfortunately the cloud cover would be called partly to scattered cloudy in a real life weather report. Overall the options given are a significant plus for the player with the winds, turbulence and failures being the best implemented of any sim I have played.
But the point is "the plane boss, the plane", yes indeed the plane and it is here that Flanker soars so high. Simply put The Flanker Team put most of their considerable talent into the feel of the aircraft. To my mind they have succeeded where so many have either failed or only come close. Notice though that I didn't say that the flight model is super realistic. Why not? Well not because it isn't realistic but mainly philosophically I disagree with those who are willing to tear apart sims for small inaccuracies in the flight model. To me feel of the aircraft is crucial. Flankers feel is well beyond most sims and on par with the best such as A-10 and Back to Baghdad.
Winds and Flight Modelling
Crosswind landings bring out some of best aspects of the feel of Flanker as the wind feels thick around the plane bringing the immersion factor up past most sims, also enhancing the immersion is the pilot dancing on the rudders trying to bring his heavy beast of an plane home. Pray that you dont have an engine out or such, then its so difficult as to force you to see, just a little bit, why people who know are so impressed by real life pilots bringing damaged birds home.
Bleeding speed is another area that flight sims in general seem to have a hard time modeling, not in Flanker! In Flanker the visual cues such as the nose moving erratically or the controls becoming sluggish signal the need to find some E in a hurry. Energy in a Head to Head gun fight will bleed so rapidly that the Flanker pilot who doesn't heed the visual and control cues will find himself flying around in not much more than a stuck pig of an airplane just dying to fall into a spin. Should the opponent get a lucky hit and damage the ACS (fly by wire) the unlucky Flanker pilot may have the opportunity to practice his spin recovery caused by exceeding the AOA limits usually kept in check by ACS.
In another testament to the fidelity of the flight model spins upright and inverted are recovered from in the standard accepted way of actual aircraft. Be aware you will need rudders or very fast sensitive fingers on the keyboard for recovery. In other testaments to the flight model, roll control degrades significantly as speed drops with the corresponding inability to avoid the slings and arrows of your opponent, high altitude flight also degrades the Jets performance significantly.
In guns fights at high altitudes one of the most important items in being a good all-around Flanker pilot is brought home with a vengeance: the Su-27 does not suffer yanking and banking gracefully. When considering adding this sim to your collection ( I highly recommend that) you must be willing to relearn most of what you have done in the past. Smoothness is the key to this sim and the unlucky pilot who cant break the habit of jerking the stick around will be rewarded with plenty of opportunity to practice either spin recovery or his ejection sequence. One final note about the overall flight model. There has been an informal competition to see who could achieve the highest speed and the highest altitude. The record for the highest altitude was just broken by someone who figured out that the Jupiter (air show flanker) was lighter, he didn t stop there though, he went further and released all chaff and flare and fired off all the cannon rounds. Thats how finely the sim models the Su-27.
The view system for Flanker consists of fixed views in combination with what may be one of the best virtual cockpits in existence for a PC flight sim. The items that make it the best in my opinion: limited field of view and the fact that you must find the bandit in the fixed views before you can padlock him. This causes almost all new players difficulty. The vets on the listserv can count on hearing from rookies how the padlock can be improved by eliminating the limited field of view and making the padlock automatic. All I say is that a padlock shouldn't find a bandit automagically, and it shouldn't see bandits that are underneath and behind you!
In Flanker the old fighter pilot adage "LOSE SIGHT LOSE THE FIGHT" is brought home with finality in Match play, as losing tally on the bandit will cause extreme discomfort. Flanker forces the player to think in 3 dimensions to have any chance of regaining tally on a bandit, and isn't this how it should be....? As an aside in the recently released patch 1.2a the padlock has been subtly improved by allowing it to track the bandit selected somewhat easier.
AI
The AI for flanker version 1.1 was a mixed bag. The BVR behavior was without exception not very good. The AI would fly straight and level releasing chaff and flare, gleefully taking missile shots in the face. Recently though SSI released a patch bringing Flanker to version 1.2a.... can you say "run for your life?" The behavior of the AI in BVR is now more than a match for most average players. But above average pilots will still find room for improvement in the AI. For instance when tasked with an intercept mission the AI will avoid missiles fired at them (unlike in V1.1) but if armed with active radar missiles they will suddenly turn dumb after getting into range and launching their own. Its an admirable quality, the determination of holding lock until impact, but if not followed by the prudent tactics of slowing down and being aware of F-Pole the AI will suddenly find itself with a face full of unpleasantries. But it should be noted that this will be only of concern to the pilots who themselves make use of the common long range missile tactics.
To the pilots not studious enough to read material like FIGHTER COMBAT by R.SHAW the AI will be very tough indeed. The close in combat AI has always been very good...SSI though thought it could be better and in Version 1.2a its better. Again, like the padlock improvements, its a subtle item that is seen best in my favorite warm up 1vs4 Su-27's guns only set to excellent skill. All of a sudden its not the easy warm up it used to be but a real bottom clincher where one or two errors will kill you.
Thankfully the improvements in padlock even up the odds somewhat. Wingmen AI is good as long as you follow strict guidelines for their orders. They are deadly when used correctly and dumb as a rock when used incorrectly. Wingmen weapons loadouts are controlled by the player as long as the mission is not classified, if it is classified then their loadout will mirror yours.
Now all this fun wouldn't be half the fun without some type of recorder to allow the player to view the action, while having a beer to put out the flames. Flanker comes thru on this account by offering a video recorder that allows the player to watch the action from many different vantage points. The video recordings called .trk's are small and exert no noticeable strain on the system so its wise to have it on most of the time. Because they're small and portable a most excellent way of bragging about ones prowess has developed on the net where sites have .trk's available of some remarkable performances by experienced Flanker Pilots from around the world. Recently SSI even sponsored the Christmas Turkey Run where pilots had to fly a specific course below a certain altitude. The pilot who had the trk that showed the lowest total time won $100.00....as I understand it. Also during any trk the player can take the controls and continue the mission.
Graphics
Graphics: with all the beautiful sims recently released where does Flanker stand? For some the graphics are terrific and for some they are a throwback to earlier sims. Keeping in mind that the sim was produced almost 2 years ago the graphics are an excellent compromise between detail and frame rate. There are no texture maps in Flanker its all polygons, and they are not even Gouraud shaded (version 1.5 out in April will bring that to the table) then what is so great about the graphics?
Details details details, if the saying is true that God lives in the details then this is a very religious sim. Details that make constructing extremely large missions a pleasure. Details like watching the missile launcher on a Cruiser dip down for more missiles after launching the first volley. Or ships using their gatling guns in last ditch missile defense. Details like being able to fly thru streets between buildings below street lamp level. Or learning how to barrel-roll around the power lines that are scattered around the countryside.
That is not all, the graphics allow for an astounding amount of action to be going on in the players field of view without a significant hit on the frame rate. This counts for a lot as you haven't really been in a fight in a jet combat sim until you have attempted to attack a ship with a furball of over 60 planes going on around you....you fly as low and quietly as possibly in the usually vain hope that no one will notice. Mid-Air collisions are a reality in furballs of this size, and its just as likely to be someone your not involved with but who is fighting for his cyber life and runs into your jet in the vain attempt to escape his fate.
Connections
Network play is limited in versions 1.1 and 1.2a to 2 players and however many Cyber Pilots the type of connection will stand. Options for online play are modem to modem using the Win95Plus Pack, Kahn/Kali and Network. Modem to modem is rock solid with nary a warp to be seen when using 33.6 modems. To old H2H Falcon pilots this is a revelation. Kahn/Kali was solid in version 1.1 but may be less so in 1.2 though the jury is still out at this time. Some are reporting good connections with V1.2a and some are not.
Online flying with Flankers flight model brings home all the lessons learned in " Fighter Combat" especially in BVR head to head fights. The current Flanker Head to Head Ladder is almost 65 strong with participants from around the world. Overall the online experience is one of variety and action, with the player nearly always able to find someone to shoot at, fly formation with, or fly co-op with.
On to the Future!
An object from v. 1.5
The next version of Flanker due out in April is version 1.5. This will bring a whole host of improvements to the table, the most exciting being these:
- 16 player network play
- Gouraud Shaded objects
- an even more powerful mission editor!
- missions that can continue for days
- overall improvements in AI
- Support for hardware 3d acceleration!
- This will be a Win95 product only.
For more info on 1.5 see Jason Anderson's Preview
Overall Su-27 is a very deep and challenging sim that exposes itself slowly. If it strikes your fancy as it does mine...you will find yourself forever trying to find that last little bit of performance, trying to refine your feel of the aircraft to capture the perfection of a certain turn or landing. Or finding yourself staring at the screen watching from different viewpoints large battles unfold trying to figure out how to limit the losses of the attackers or defenders. The best testament to a sims flight model or feel is how much fun is it to fly, just fly, no bombs, no guns, just fly.....Flanker is the very first sim I have flown that I ever spent weeks flying....only aerobatics.
The odd thing is I still haven't stopped. After over 11 months of flying I still take my beast up every now and again for a tumble around the wires, or a series of loops with touch and goes on the airbase. Its that good.
Ok. So you wanna fly Flanker but you dont want to be a helpless target like most are when first flying the plane I call "the beast." Then follow these resources to some of the best, but certainly not all of the best (you have to do some work you know) Net resources for Su-27 Flanker. In addition to the addresses below there are other web sites supporting Flanker that you will find links to from each of these pages. Or you can join the Flanker Listserv to subscribe to an email service that links Flanker Pilots from around the world in discussions about out favorite sim!
Resources:Su-27 Flanker Online the starting point for most Flanker Pilots NW Link
The 62nd Fighing Falcon-Flanker Michael Barnes 62nd
The Unofficial Su-27 Flanker FAQ you must have this.... Unofficial SU27
Chris Bonnets RADAR LOCK PAGE Radar Lock
The Flanker Ladder....most excellent place to become humble..... Flanker Ladder