I consider myself a serious sim player. I have a fortune invested in my equipment. I am a stickler for realism, generally. I don't use cheats or simplified modes when they are available. F4 is STILL on my hard drive ;)

BUT... I like USAF. There, I said it. I feel better already.

Don't get me wrong... standard disclaimers apply. USAF isn't perfect. I'm a bit annoyed at the cowboy atmosphere. The wingman AI needs some work. USAF detected my system fine but detects Athlon systems incorrectly, and crashes most of the time when I exit. I tried a head to head mission on Jane's combat.net and it worked fine; I tried a single mission and it was no go. Yes, USAF needs a patch.

Mission Playback

But no sim is ever released completely bug free. The issue I want to address here is the tendency of serious (read, "hard core") sim players to judge all military flight sims by the same standard. It just ain't fair.

Shades of Grey

We need more color in our world. Some of us need to get out more. Some of us need to leave the confines of our desktops permanently and apply for our local air force. But generally, we need to give developers a break. If they sell it as a camel and it is a camel, more power to them!

Tactical Display

USAF is a mid level simulation, and a good one at that. It allows me to fly a nice batch of aircraft, and even different aircraft in the same mission. It allows me a god's eye real time view of the battlefield. It has a powerful mission recorder, and an equally powerful mission editor (UME). The graphics are excellent, and the action is quite good. I like it.

USAF has a lot going for it, and as such it can do a lot of good for our hobby. These days I find myself too busy to keep my skills to the level to allow me to enjoy F4. What's a guy gonna do? Not fly at all? Perish the thought! Rather, I want to play something that doesn't require constantly reading a manual and spending 15 hours a week in the air to stay current.

Mission Editor

Further, and equally important, USAF allows me to introduce my friends, who are as busy as I am and generally intimidated by Falcon 4, to the sim world. THAT is a good thing for our hobby, gentlemen! And will I be disappointed if they never "graduate" to Flanker 2 or Falcon 4? Not at all! I need to have some guys to play with when I have the urge to fly a stealth fighter.

I want to push the hardcore crowd on this. The hardcore guys should buy the best of the mid core sims as a way of supporting the hobby. And quit complaining so much.

Should we complain about bugs? Yes. Should we complain about advertised features that don't appear? Yes. Should we complain that a mid core sim isn't hard core? Depends.. do you complain that your wife doesn't look like Jenny McPherson? Might as well complain that the north pole is north and not south. Old native proverb: "he who spits in the wind spits in his own face." Watch later today for a first look at USAF.