As promised, this briefing updates you on the command options available to LEAD. Falcon 4.0 is stunning in many dimensions and WILL raise the bar for combat flight simulations this year.

While Janes F15 took the command structure beyond anything seen to date, Falcon 4.0 goes beyond Janes F15. The command structure is final, and there are layers of menus allowing you to communicate with your wingman, an element, a flight, the tower, AWACS, and a check in for FAC.

Above from an early beta..

When you first hit the W key you will bring up the COMBAT MANAGEMENT menu. This menu from the FLIGHT list (F key) is identical (commands are grey because I had no flight to command on this mission):

Hitting the W key a second time brings up the next page, MISSION MANAGEMENT:

The next page is formation management, which lists ten options including distance settings as well as the formation type you would like. The final page allows you to request your wingman to make smoke so that you can identify him if you are having trouble doing so.

Q brings up the AWACS contact menu, which has two pages as follows:

There are two commands on these lists above that may not be familiar to you. They are "RAYGUN" on the COMBAT MANAGEMENT menu and DECLARE on the AWACS menu.

RAYGUN broadcasts that you have locked up an unknown air-to-air target and want to know if it's a friendly. The expected response if you are the aircraft at that position is "Buddy Spike."

DECLARE is a radio call asking AWACS to ID a radar target as either friendly or enemy. The procedure is to lock up a target and then "declare" it to AWACS, who will now try to ID the target as hostile or friendly or unknown.

Collision Damage. Click for 1024 x 768.

General Impressions in the Campaign

I want to report some new impressions of campaign atmosphere and action. Enemy AI appears quite sophisticated; in fact its at least as sophisticated as Su27 1.5 and possibly beyond. Hopefully we'll have more info soon on the exact modeling, panic reactions, target fixation etc.

Not long ago I wrote about my surprise in the appearance of individually modeled infantry! I was cruising along minding my own business.... well, yes, I was technically AWOL and out of formation doing some sight-seeing (!!)... when I heard the crack of a rifle and a corresponding "TINK" on my airframe. I paused the sim to scout around the ground targets, and lo and behold I found some infantry!

This shot is from a RECON request in the campaign.

Moving your cursor over a particular map location or target will bring up any RECON information you have acquired. The listing is quite detailed and you can pan the photo around and zoom in and out.

Checking the arming of a particular flight en route, or attempting to change loadout prior to the flight brings up the Arming screen. In this shot you see that AIM-120 is listed in red. Unfortunately, even at this early stage in this campaign my shipment hadn't arrived!

I've heard quite a few new calls in the latest build and I believe COMMS are now complete. I've heard flights calling JESTER and WINCHESTER, and calling for BACKUP, in addition to a huge variety of other calls. Reports on engagement and enemy activity are given relative to the Bullseye unless you've selected "no bullseye" calls in SETUP. ATC is equally complete and will pleasantly surprise many of you!

As I mentioned I haven't flown each mission by the book, and I've taken advantage of incoming bandits over friendly territory to check out the enemy AI. Its quite impressive. Incoming aircraft with ground attack missions will completely ignore you until you give them your attention. They will then use tactics that are appropriate and sophisticated. I turned to lock up three inbound strike aircraft at about five miles. They promptly dove for the deck, making it very difficult to spot them and with the ground clutter it took my radar a bit to find them in ACM mode.

When I achieved lock and launched on the first bandit at four miles he did a wing over immediately while dumping flares and breaking hard. In the meantime the other two both broke left and right respectively. Wow....

Needless to say I missed! The other two bandits increased their speed and stayed low and continued toward their target. I waited to just over one mile to fire again on my target and scored a hit, but didn't take him down. He was obviously fighting for control and in a cheat outside view I could see his aircraft shaking and bucking and making smoke.

In the meantime another bandit managed to get on my tail. Just as I finished off the strike aircraft I took a hit from a gun shot. The white vertical streak is not a graphics glitch but rather the smoke trail from my victim. The pieces you see behind my aircraft and the black smoke are from the hit I took.

Incidentally, I'm also enjoying Instant Action mode. If you enter at a low difficulty setting your first dozen kills will be like shooting fish in the barrel. But then it starts to get a bit tougher, and MiGs show up with death on their minds.... If you stay alert you can achieve a high score, however, even on low difficulty.

The feeling within the campaign is extremely dynamic. You will have traffic all around you, both on ingress and egress, both over friendly territory and enemy territory. You will find yourself challenged attempting to clearly ID your target before you commit yourself, especially in the case of inbound strike aircraft since they will not act aggressively.

On the other hand, you will get AWACS calls to intercept or warning you of bandits after your tail. BARCAP missions in the north near the FEBA should be especially interesting =)

However, if you've grown accustomed to the stealth of an F22 or the extra large loadout of shells on EASY or MEDIUM settings in EF2000 or F22: ADF you are in for a surprise. There is no selection for UNLIMITED WEAPONS in the Falcon 4 campaign, and the few shells you carry disappear VERY quickly unless you sharpen your aim and conserve them carefully for very close range shooting.

For most of us, Falcon 4 will be like no other simulation we have ever flown on the PC. While there are parallels to elements of Falcon 4 in a variety of other simulations, no one simulation has ever brought them all together with this level of accuracy in one package. Falcon 4 will NOT be for everyone, but is destined to be an instant classic and will undoubtedly convert many middle level players (many of the EF2000 and F22 ADF crowd) into hard core fans who will never again be satisfied with anything less.

Ok, I promised some ATC material. Here are a raft of shots from this morning. The first few shots are at about 18:15 PM, and the second batch are from 19:00. All shots are available at 1024x768. Unfortunately, I can't show you the row of strobe lights in the upper center on this first shot although you can see the single white dot of the first one...

If you get the feeling that TAXING isn't an experience to be missed in this sim, you are right! You will receive the various clearances necessary as you reach the appropriate point, or if traffic is light you'll simply get the OK to takeoff. If you then sit on the runway twiddling your thumbs, you'll be asked to hasten your departure.

This second set of shots was taken on a flight departing less than an hour later, but as you can see this time airfield lights are up. I haven't adjusted the gamma so these small shots are a bit tough to see. Click the image for a larger version.

Take off with full afterburner will be a problem for some of us at first. You'll find yourself exceeding the structural strength of your gear and hydraulics systems very quickly. On my first take off this morning I didn't get my gear up in time and the gear doors would no longer close. Remember to kill your afterburner when you get off the ground.

Coming in for a landing after a naval strike mission was fascinating. The only discernible error seemed to be that I came in way high at 20,000 feet but no one ever told me to descend until I was on final approach.

At 30 miles out I notified the Tower that I was inbound. I received a response from a male voice: "Good evening, Shark 5-1, maintain heading for KIMPO."

At fifteen miles I requested landing. Then a female voice came over the radio:

"Shark 5-1, orbit for spacing. Turn right 20 degrees, maintain maximum forward speed, vectors to left base." About thirty seconds later the female voice came back:

"Shark 5-1, maintain 200 knots, turn right 360, vectors to left base." This message repeated about five times in the next four minutes. Then:

"Shark 5-1, descend to 2000, turn right 145, maintain 250 knots, vectors for final." This was a challenging one because of my altitude. A moment later the male voice came back again with a similar message.

Incidentally, cruising along at 32,000 feet in late evening I noticed I was leaving a vapor trail. Maybe that's why the AAA boys liked to try to light me up every few minutes!

The detail at every level in Falcon 4 will warm your heart. True, it may not have the same effect on your wife or girlfriend, er.. or maybe your husband or boyfriend. Hmm, I guess the female Viper pilots probably have a lot easier time getting their spouses interested in these sims!

Gamma increased on this shot..

Click HERE for a night shot over the city...