The Russians Are Coming: Flanker 2.0 in Review

Part I

Not since the long anticipated unveiling of Falcon 4.0 has the combat flight sim community witnessed such a quantum leap in technology and excellence. SSI has just released upon the post cold-war world its momentous Flanker 2.0.

And what a release it is! Flanker 2.0 is a splendor to behold. There's something here for everyone - not just the bleary eyed hardcore East Block fanatic that drinks Vodka, reads Cyrillic and lusts over Nagging Nadia's seductive voice till 5AM daily.

To really appreciate this punctuated quantum leap, and not just incremental evolutionary change, we should revisit the history of SSI's Su-27 Flanker.

A Blast at the Past

In 1995, SSI came out with the first Win95 compatible flight simulation to rival Falcon3 in fidelity, a hardcore simmers nirvana. Armed with 1 MB 2D graphics cards on the first generation Pentiums when Su27 (Flanker 1) arrived - this classic benchmark in flight technology was truly awesome and helped to define "hardcore."

Fast forward to the present day with the recent release of Falcon4 and Flanker2. Now running with at least P2 and P3s with 64-128MB RAM, 512KB CACHE, 16-32MB TNT and Voodoo 3D graphics accelerators, and V90/ISDN/DSL/Cable modem connectivity technologies - the bar for benchmark combat flight simulation is reborn.

While the East vs West block nations may appear to be in Glastnost, the war continues to to rage between Falcon4 and Flanker2. What a great time for us fans, the fight is definitely on! Talk about Win-Win, but peacefully co-existing? Nyet!

Su27 1.5

Su27 1.5

With the historical foundation set, and after paying appropriate respect to Falcon, we move on to take a closer look at Flanker 2.0 or "F2" as it is affectionately designated.

F2 was born running, and not plagued by crippling bugs as is all too common today. It is not perfect by a long shot, and in all fairness didn't try to be everything (including force on force real time active war as F4 attempts to emulate). As a result, I believe SSI showed great wisdom and restraint in not trying to one up F4 but to instead stick to perfecting the basic "gotta haves."

SSI chose not to follow the previous leader into the realm of quasi-finished production mega-code that may or may not prove to be a run away bug train. What F2 delivered is: awe inspiring flight model, cutting edge graphics, industry leading multiplayer stability, easy to master high quality mission editor, realistic 3D cockpit with unique padlocking and head movement views, land and sea based operations, narrated training, improved FM and radar over v1.5, phased campaigning, realistic 3D terrain, puffy clouds and fog, great manual - just to name the high points.

Again, what is truly spectacular about F2 is that in its first release, the multiplayer and overall code stability sets the new benchmark in the whole simulation industry. This is a crown worthy to be envied by all developers, and to the benefit of all customers.

The other expectation setting warning I have for the readers is that you WILL have to do your homework to get proficient at flying and fighting with the "Zhuravlik" (little crane). While you don't have F4's 600 page manual with its very detailed radar modes, you do have to learn a new set of weapons, HUD symbology and target designation concepts.

This actually is another very attractive aspect of F2, that being it represents the "other side" and with it the different aircraft and subsystem design concepts. If you're not the hardcore type and the idea worries you, don't pass over F2 too quickly because the narrated tutorials, top notch 260 page manual, quick reference cards and variable users options help bring F2 down to earth.

Furthermore, there are many already existing Flanker community add-ons that change the avionics symbology to English for the Cyrillic challenged (and you can go with English HUD via the preferences). For first timers I do strongly recommend that you go through all the tutorials and study the avionics explanations in the manual before getting into a battle, unless you want to go into the instant action "god" mode - but that's like driving a corvette into a parking lot.

No review of a hot simulation is complete without going through what I call the fundamental functions: Graphical User Interface (GUI), Flight Model (FM), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cockpit modeling style, Viewing system situational awareness (SA), Padlocking system (PL), Graphics and Sounds effects (FX), Mission Editor, Manual, and Multiplayer (MP). There are many more aspects to a sim, but these core ones should give the reader enough to get the big picture.

The GUI

F2's GUI is simple and intuitive in its layout, but rich in its feature offerings. If you are familiar with Su27 v1.5, you will be very comfortable in Flanker 2.0. There are graphical menu picks that make choosing between setup options, instant action, missions, network game play, and encyclopedia. From there you branch out into the details of each of these.

For example, the Options menu is designed very much like a MS Windows interface. By clicking on the plus sign, you expand the options below each category. In this way you can go through many user selections without going through screen after screen. Very efficient layout.

What is really powerful is the joystick and key mapping setup. There are three user defined options available: joystick configuration, button mapping and axis response customization. Joystick configuration allows you to reassign the functions of your stick depending upon what game combat mode you're in: BVR, CAC, NAV, HELMET (SHELM), A2G, and Longitudinal The button mapping lets you directly assign game functions to each of your controller buttons. The response curve tools let you customize the "feel" of your stick, throttle and rudders.

This way you can apply the appropriate amount of control surface pressure by the desired controller deflection. In this way you effectively can have a programmable controller done in software versus implemented in hardware like a programmable stick and throttle. Note that if would you rather use your programmable controllers programming, my TM F22Pro works fine with F2.

The Flight Model

The FM is the heart and soul of any simulator. SSI's Flanker has made its reputation on this component, and F2 surpasses v1.5 in fidelity and that right "feel" a 30,000 kg nimble fighter should have.

There are many simulation components that cause a game to fall into the categories of "arcade", "mid-level" or "hardcore"; but FM definitely is primary. In F2 what you get is a solid feel of speed like no other current flight sim. Just do a fly by at low altitude and you'll become a believer. No more slow motion action.

Next, start pulling some serious G's and you'll find yourself in hog heaven. Speaking of hogs, being that the Flanker is huge like the F15 Eagle, you will have to learn to apply stick with a soft hand else you will be low and slow and dead. In the right hands, the Flanker can turn with the best of them including the F16 Viper - which is why it is such a fearsome Soviet fighter.

Next try a take off and land. You will see the nose bob up and down over the characteristically rugged runways. The big bird will start to lift off and rise right on the numbers as the specs say. Now go try to land on the carrier. Yes, I said carrier. The Su-33 is a naval version with beefed up gear and landing hook (and other upgrades). Use the NAV mode, line up the ILS needles and land on the deck hitting the 3 wire. If you miss your approach angle, speed, descent rate, AOA, gear, flaps, hook or the wires you're a cooked goose.

A Flat Spin

If you're still not convinced, try dogfighting or doing acrobatics. Then you will see the power of the Force, Luke. In a dogfight, energy conservation ("E") is as key as is SA - especially in Flanker.

What you will experience is not only the heavy nature this bird, but also the power of the dual engines. As you pull high 9 G turns you will see slip, gravity, stall, spins (including flat spins) effects. Get some battle damage or even ingest some foreign objects (FOD), and you'll be flying a crippled bird. You can even set options to emulate system failures if you want to test your "what if" piloting skills.

Still not amazed? Ok fine, let's turn on the smoke from the wing tips or even go to high altitude where the contrails from your engines will show up. After going vertical to the point of stalling, go to F2 external view and watch your plane fall backwards and then nose over. Pull the stick and rudder hard to port and enjoy the sensation of a full on flat spin. Post stall departure modeling is superb in Flanker2.

Tail Slide

Part II

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - AI

As with Flight Modeling (FM), Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a primary indicator of the complexity designed into a simulation. None of us like to fly alone for long, or only against ground targets.

So what is AI? It's the complex software algorithms that gives the computer driven pilot its brains and weapons its smarts. AI provides us with challenging airborne enemies, missiles, wing persons, AWACS and tankers.

AI has always been a strength within Flanker, and it continues to be so. AI is employed in many facets of the environment to help bring it to life. It is the goal of the programmer to make the AI approach the HI (Human Intelligence), but in most cases that's just not possible. However in some other cases, I'd have to admit being out smarted by AI.

Virtual Pilot AI

The best use of AI is in enemy and friendly aircraft. To test this, I set up a 1v1 gunzo (guns only) mission scenario against an F16 Viper in expert mode. First I tried the no-brainer of going head on with him. I was rewarded with an face full of lead and a ride down the silk elevator. Lesson learned.

Next I tried the more appropriate angle off heads on. Being familiar with the Su 27, it's best to keep your speed nearest to the corner velocity (~740 KPH) and lead in your turn at the right time. Too fast, and you'll have a Viper up your six in no time. Too slow and you'll be wallowing low and slow and again a dead goose.

My lead turn was more of a downward slice. The Viper immediately went for angles (circle fight) and the fight was on. I made the rookie mistake of yanking the stick too hard and my speed bled so rapidly that the nose was beginning to get mushy, again great FM at work. So I chose to extend and get some speed back. I hit the cans into full burner and the Viper wasted a golden opportunity.

The next trick in my bag was to come back at him with lots of E and start high slicing low. My goal was to make him fight MY fight, not his in the horizontal. Sure enough, he went for me by going into the vertical. Nice move on his part. But never count a Flanker out when you go into the vertical.

Soon my Su-27 was up his six sharing 30mm cannons. Yes those precious 150 rounds. Talk about temerity. Soviet Flanker pilots are confident that that is all you'll ever need. Note that the radar guided pipper is not working properly, nor is the A2G CIIP. Thankfully, my WW2 simulator experience has trained me to conserve on ammo, and how to use lead gunnery. Using the targeting funnel instead of the pipper is just as good. Here is another area where SSI promises to patch the sim.

Now we could get real technical on how AI should or should not react. I figure if you can get into a scrape with AI, sweat bullets, find yourself complimenting the move that your AI adversary just made, then you have a great dogfight nad the AI is good in my book.

It's even better if he is not predictable every time you meet the same type of aircraft. I find F2's AI semi predictable. They have a deep bag of tricks, but in time you learn them. But heck, most online pilots I fight are the same way, even to their peril, and even after you warned them about it.

Friendly AI and Tactical

Another AI application is in wingman behavior and commands, and this is where F2 is undeniably lean. With a very basic set of wingman commands, you are limited to sending your wingmen out to attack your target and controlling them to get back into formation. Just the basics- nothing fancy. The obvious cost is a lack of control in your environment. What you do get, however, is wingmen who do just that, and do it well.

Here F2 could be improved a lot. My understanding is that Soviet fighter tactics are such that they are very much controlled by Ground Controllers (GC). As such, it would be much more immersive if you had more GC chatter and direction. There should also be commands to interact with the GC.

If current Soviet doctrine is more akin to the West, then it would be appropriate to have more commands for the flight leader to control their package. I find the appropriate use of AI wingmen is to get them to deal with interceptors or to provide CAP. You don't have to write letters to AI mothers in the case of their untimely demise. In F2, they deliver the goods in spite of their limited control.

Weapon Modeling

The last AI item I will focus on is the weapon behavior. I am not an expert in the Soviet missiles and targeting systems, so I will be brief on my input here. What I have done is to employ as many varieties of the A2A and A2G ordnance as I could.

Remember that the Flanker is an all purpose fighter/bomber, so making cooperative missions with fighters and bombers makes F2 even more versatile. As for A2A missiles I had to rely on the specs in the manual (page 162 - with its funny editor's notes still there). Playing solo and not online, I found the ranges to be reliable.

In fact the F-Pole concept must be employed to have better PK (probability of kill). This means that basically your ship's speed and aspect works in conjunction with the missile's to get to the target before theirs gets to you. You also have to be aware of whether or not your missile needs your ship's radar locked on the target for its entire flight or not. Semi-active missile systems are more work. Many people think the SARAH missiles are fire and forget and as a result, they miss their target.

As for SAMs, I have found them to be very formidable and that you have to learn to use the vertical along with beaming techniques if you plan to survive long. Making use of countermeasures, chaff and flares, and Sorbita ECM jammer is a must. Where F2 needs to improve is in missile padlocking, notching (or beaming), and the appropriate flight behavior of some A2G and SAMs. It was also found that A2A missiles become ineffective over time during online multiplayer sessions.

The good news is that SSI has assured me that they know of these issues and plan to deal with them in a series of patches. To sum it up, F2 has very challenging AI aircraft, limited but responsive wingman behavior, and believable weapon envelopes with some remaining anomalies to be ironed out. I recommend the training missions as a way to familiarize yourself with the nature of these Soviet weapons deployment systems.

COCKPIT, PADLOCK AND SITUATIONAL AWARENESS - CP, PLCK & SA

The next three core aspects of a simulator have to do with the fighter pilot's environment. The huge challenge to both the sim developer and virtual pilot is how to take a 3D real world environment, visual, tactile, and audible senses, and present an immersive and realistic 2D representation. The fighter's cockpit, the ability to track moving targets and the viewing system all combine to give us Situational Awareness (SA). The TopGun fighter's axiom: "Lose sight, lose the fight" is at issue here.

The cockpit in F2 is implemented in a 3D fashion only. That means while you don't get a flat 2D cockpit like F4 and F15E with all the mouse clickable gadgets, you do get a very good looking cockpit that provides a low frame rate hit. Furthermore, the avionics are all active and very readable.

The work load of keeping your head down in the cockpit is minimized and the burden is placed upon the button commands. This is probably why F2 does such a good job of joystick button mapping to sim functions in the setup options menu. Note that I said button mapping (game function to button), and not keyboard command mapping (keystroke to game function).

  If you are new to Soviet cockpits, you will see that they are Spartan in their layout, with basic navigational avionics along with a radar warning receiver and radar display in a powder blue console. The more modern Flankers and MiGs have digital MFDs like the F16 and F18, but that is not the variant modeled in F2.

Thanks to the very talented artwork of Dave "HAM" Hamilton, nice touches like Cyrillic cardinal axis in the ball compass and the pilot's reflection in the radar tube can be added. (Look very closely at the radar MFD in the picture provided). The one flaw I found was the failure of the landing hook indicator to let you know if it's in the up or down position, which makes a big difference in carrier landings.

The Padlock

Padlocking (PLCK) is the mechanism whereby the virtual pilot simulates keeping his/her eyes glued to the object of interest. Typically the object being padlocked is your air or ground target, wingman, or incoming missile. In the early days of combat sims there were primitive padlocking systems that would magically lock on at any distance and even through mountains.

Those days are long gone, and F2 takes a very realistic approach to padlocking. If the object is not within range of what they believe is discernible to the eye or targeting system, then you cannot lock on to it. I believe the visual range for object identification is about 10 NM or so on average. Beyond this you will have to track the object with the radar or IRST Infrared.

Within this visible range you can use the SHLEM or helmet mounted target lockon and tracking system (even then, only within the range of the pilot's head movement.) To further qualify Flanker's modeling, you will have to visually lock your eye onto the target and then slew the SHLEM monocle over the target and acquire it as you would in the real system.

What you gain for all this work is an appreciation of the work involved in having to manually scan the skies and slew the radar antenna, plus the realistic ability to terrain mask or hide from radar by hiding behind the geography. The only problems I've seen here is that the clouds don't attenuate the padlocking or acquisition systems, and the lack of being able to lock on incoming missiles. Again, SSI knows of these and considers them hot issues.

How does one keep SA when you're trying to stay alive in a hostile theatre? Trying to keep your eyes on the skies around you is a real chore in a 3D world viewed with only a 2D monitor's perspective.

Worse, unless you use virtual reality goggles you lose the sense of orientation when your view leaves the cockpit or HUD. In the real world your eyes are attached to your head, and your head to your body through your neck. This direct tactile feedback allows a real pilot to know the relationship between his own ship and the target that is out of the top of the canopy.

Vertigo or lack of orientation is a very common symptom in flight sims. One of the way you can alleviate vertigo is to have some sort of indicator that links the pilot's eyes to the cockpit or HUD reference point. This is done in F2 by 2 methods: first, the "mini-HUD", and secondly by the cockpit visual cues implemented in the avionics and helmet reflections on the glass canopy.

You can see in the accompanying pictures that we have both systems in view. Add to these the SSI provided cues which are some ingenious lift line and right/left indicators that were crafted by John "Crunch" Hillman. When combined together, you have the ability to even fly the plane without ever looking forward through the HUD. On top of all these, Mark "STINGER" Shepherd has produced a quality PADLOCK TRAINING narrated tutorial that can be integrated right into the training GUI.

Mini-HUD and Lift Line

So let's get acquainted with the "mini-HUD" and the concept of a "lift line." The mini-HUD is a smaller version of the main HUD's pitch, bank, speed and altitude indicators that follow wherever you slew your viewing perspective. It is also important to understand that the placement of this mini-HUD is always closest to the main forward HUD. SSI could have had a big ugly arrow pointing towards the HUD, but this method is a much more informative and immersive device.

And what are lift lines and cockpit reflections used for? Your lift vector is an imaginary pole sticking out of the top of the canopy, and this is the lift vector that gives lift to the plane. By placing the enemy along the lift vector, and pulling him down along the lift line towards your main HUD, you are bringing him into a weapons solution for the kill.

Reflections including lift line.

So to answer the question, these visual cues are just reference markers to aid the virtual pilot in knowing what position you're viewing with respect to the cockpit and forward HUD view. The reason why the one that is central to the top of the canopy is called the lift line is that it runs along the long axis of the plane's canopy, and it's along this line that you want to see your bogey during a turn fight.

With a little practice, you will use your COCKPIT, PADLOCK and view slewing to gain the necessary SA to bring your weapons to bear on the enemy. This is a skill that separates the hunters from the hunted. Note too that if you have AWACs airborne, it can provide you with a picture of the aircraft around you. The F10 key function also does this, but is considered a cheat in competitions and can be disabled in the mission editor options menu.

Flanker2 provides a rich combination of COCKPIT, PADLOCK and viewing to give a realistic SA environment. Adding missile padlocking will only further aid survivability.

Never fly straight and level for more than 30 seconds at a time. Why do you think fighter pilots wear silk scarves? To keep them from chaffing their necks with all the scanning they do. So check six, and 9, and 12, and 3 and high and low continuously.

Part III

In this last of our three part journey through SSI's Flanker 2.0 we now proceed to the last of AV8R's sim Top Ten core aspects: Special Effects, Mission Editor, Documentation, and Multiplayer.

In parts 1 and 2 we have seen that F2 is chock full of features, and captures that "right feel" of flight like no other sim before it. On the other side of the balance sheet, while Flanker 2.0 is very stable it has its warts. So without any further adieu, let's suit up and kick the tires and light the fires.

SPECIAL EFFECTS:
Graphics and Sound

The graphics for Flanker1.5 were a child that only Mother Russia could love. While 1.5 afforded great frame rates, the drawbacks were in lack of immersion, navigation, target ID, and linear perspective. Oh, how many times I crashed into mountain ridges or slammed the runway due to lack of graphical detail!

Flanker2.0 does not suffer from any of these shortcomings as you can see for yourself. Whether you are 6000 meters high or just a few meters off the hard deck, Flanker is great looking with its non repeating terrain graphics.

What this affords the F2 pilot is the ability to fly dead reckoning, or by actual terrain recognition - seat of the pants flying. Flanker 2 models a relatively small theatre of operations, the Crimean Peninsula, using actual satellite mapping and a new graphics engine.

My only issue is with the objects like buildings, roads, rivers, etc that literally pop up before you as you fly along. Depending upon your computer's power and the option settings, you do have a handle on how close to you this happens. You can also use the commands Ctrl-D or Shf-D to affect this popup behavior. While this detracts from immersion, it does afford F2 an excellent sensation of speed - one of those very tough developer tradeoff decisions.

Going on to other FX qualities in F2, we have: lighting, cockpit reflections, rear view mirrors, fire and smoke, flying objects from damage, moving flight surfaces, explosions, missile trails, individual tarmac wheel marks, wingtip smoke, contrails, high-G vapor compression condensation, clouds and fog, wind and turbulence, sun glare, "Nagging Nadia", engine growl, and wingman responses, to name the most noticeable ones.

None of these are unique to F2 alone, except for lovely Nagging Nadia's voice, but the combination of the whole helps to build that "being there" immersive environment. For those of you not familiar with "Nagging Nadia", let me be the first to introduce you to this Soviet seductress.

"Nagging Nadia" is the "Bitching Betty" of USAF fame gone over to the Dark Side. Her purpose in life is to give the pilot audible voice cues such as gear down, low altitude, stall speed warning, damage report, etcetera, all in Russian accented English. If she bugs you too much, or with her incessant nagging, just hit the "M" key (M for mute). Thanks to some ingenious efforts (see add-on links below) by Phantom Dave, you can also have Nadia speak in her native Russian tongue.

If I were pressed to say what I think were F2's strongest suits, I would have to say it is flight model and graphics. We could argue all day about the AI and FM shortcomings, but this author knows that flying around in F2 is heavenly. There is a cockpit mode that moves the viewer's perspective as your head would normally move while in turns. This innovative feature just adds to the fluidity of the sensation of flight.

The other captivating aspects are in the graphics and special effects. As I said before, the previous incarnation of Flanker's graphics were drab. But the graphics in F2 show the quantum leap in this department. Fly low and near any populated town or city and you are treated with highly detailed buildings, roads, rivers, bridges, trains, radar installations, trucks, parked aircraft, armored vehicles, factories, etc.

Here's a fun trick. Fly slowly through the high tension power lines. Your plane will register a slight slow down and you'll hear the "zap" as you cut through them. Look externally and you'll see the sparks fly. This shows high level of detailed programming. Go on to high altitude and you can fly through puffy clouds and look down and see most of the land mass very vividly.

If you have the CPU power, try this. Turn on a high level of fog density and try a carrier or land based landing where you are forced to trust the ILS and instrument landing techniques. Don't forget to pop your drogue chute (Su27 only) or drop your hook (Su33 only) so you don't over run the landing strip.

As I've said before, there is something here in F2 for everyone, not just for those who want to engage in mortal combat. If F2 had added more interactive voice communication chatter (other than just "Roger"), more wingman control and active ground objects, the immersion factor would have been totally captivating.

Missiles and Evasion

For those who fly where only eagles and Flankers dare, F2 delivers hard pounding effects. This atmosphere can be had either in solo or multiplay. In solo game play what you can do is set yourself up in an A2A guns or missile mission. There are plenty of scenarios in the Missions folder supplied in F2.

In a BVR (Beyond Visual Range) missile engagement watch as you launch your missiles. The missile will drop from its rail before the rocket motor ignites with a glowing flash and smoke trail. Switch to missile view and you can watch it reach out for its target in lead trajectory. As the initial rocket engine thrust is spent, it will continue to puff smoke as it pulsates and compensates in its final adjustments. Then Kaboomski! Watch the bandit burst in a ball of light, flames, smoke and fumes; simply spectacular.

Now on the receiving end of the stick, when the opponent fires their missile at you, it is important that you remember the direction that your radar warning receiver says that you are being painted from. This will aid you as you pan the skies for the thin rocket motor smoke trail as the missile seeks to ruin your caviar. Put this missile on your 3 or 9 o'clock position.

What I also recommend that you do is make sure your ECM jammer is on and that you start pumping chaff and flares to spoof the oncoming missile. Both chaff and flares are rendered nicely in F2. If you want to have the best opportunity to out turn the missile you must keep your speed near the corner velocity (approximately 740 kph instantaneous or 810 kph sustained). At that magical moment what separates a fighter pilot from fodder is to make that break turn just before the missile strikes you at Mach 4 or greater.

This is a skill that you will undoubtedly have to practice over and over until you perfect it. Using F2's mission recorder feature will help you to examine your break timing as you review the video. To be bluntly honest, I can survive 2 or 3 missiles in a row. But a fully loaded "missile boat" enemy will eventually destroy me.

This is why the Soviets carry so many BVR missiles. They hope to overwhelm any opponents before they ever have to get into a CAC (close air combat) situation. Where F2 needs some serious attention is in the missile logic in that they can do uncanny things like: go through mountains and make some hairpin turns (SAMS). Being able to actually padlock the incoming missile would also make a good user option that would aid in survivability.

Graphics and Extendability

The remaining item on graphics that I want touch on regarding F2 is its extendibility. You can alter the cockpit art, the canopy reflections, and the skins. One of the really great features I enjoyed about Su27 1.5 was that you could pick different camo skins for your plane for individual or team visual identification. What was extra nice about this feature is that it wasn't just seen by you as with Jane's F15E, or forcing you to be in DOGFIGHT mode within Falcon4.0 to get this feature.

SSI has chosen to allow players to have access to the graphics files so that the outcomes are unlimited. You have several options here. You can simply select the from the built in camo choices within the mission editor, manually edit out the su27.bmp file with your favorite graphics editor (like Adobe or Print Shop), grab the work done by others (see add-on links), or go for the Cadillac of Camo tools: Eric Joiner's Game Tool Technologies (GTT, see add-on links) Flanker2.0 Camo Commander.

GTT Camo

In this review you can see my enhanced version of GTT's "Acrobatic Team" air show camo. The F2 Camo Commander gives you several new designs and even improves the MiG29's appearance as well. As you buy, make and trade camos with buddies, you can use this tool to load the camos automagically. Note that any user altered camos must be selected in the F2 mission editor as the "European1" selection to show up in the simulator.

MISSION EDITOR:
The Mission Editor and Campaigning.

Missions within F2 come in several flavors: instant action, single, and branched campaigns. Instant action missions provide you with a quick mechanism to get into the fray without having to actually go into the mission editor itself. The available choices allow for all the multi-role combinations as well as choosing what kind of enemy and skills you will encounter.

Instant action also changes the time and enemy strength to mix things up. Probably the most valuable use for Instant Action is to use the automatic padlock and simple radar model mode. This combined with invulnerability will give the novice the chance to live long enough to learn how the new targeting and tracking systems work. Apart from that, IA gets old real quick for the experienced Flanker pilot.

Instant Action GUI.

Single missions are both viewed and customized with the Mission Editor. If you have a powerful mission editor, you can extend the life span of a sim indefinitely. If you only have canned missions, after you've flown them all the sim itself gets canned. F2 comes with both a large complement of canned missions and with the ability to make your own missions.

The canned missions come in 4 types: Pilot, Squadron, General and Track or recorded missions. The difference between the first three types reflects how the missions were made and what impact the individual pilot has on the overall success of the mission. The Pilot mission's outcome depends upon the individual pilot to achieve his/her specific target goals. The Squadron Leader mission's outcome depends upon the leader's ability to achieve the goals through the squadron's success.

The General mission's success is dependent upon the overall success of his/her resources compared to the enemy. Note that it is optional if the General even flies in the mission itself, since he/she may choose to play as an observer.

The Mission Editor itself in F2 is a very powerful tool. Its strengths are in its ease of use, a single interface for both solo and multiplayer, and full control of the mission objects and their placement by the designer. Its weaknesses are that it bogs down when 50+ object densities are reached, poor cursor control if you use a Voodoo card (soon to be patched), and multiplayer host/guest user model.

What is powerful about the Mission Editor is that it is packed with lots of goodies. It is designed around three mechanisms to run it: pull down menus, icons, and function key commands. The GUI is built upon a 3D graphics approach. What that gives you is a very attractive theatre map with colorful objects and menus.

Here is where you not only build your missions and campaigns, but also the mission briefs, flight package loadouts, video editing of mission track files, meteorological settings, survivability, and system failure programming. What mission track files do is allow you to replay your mission and see what you did right or wrong, as well as a means to prove competition claims.

Where track files have an advantage over a simple ACMI recorder is that you can take over and refly a mission or even edit the viewing for training purposes. These are excellent features for virtual squadron purposes! When in multiplayer mode, you can use a chat window to talk with other players BEFORE the mission begins as a way to synch up flights and objectives.

On the other hand, the mission editor requires each online player to add their own flight, routes, and objectives. This inability to have guests or clients simply add their pre-built mission data to the host or master's makes the pre-flight work load a chore, and if the master has a network disconnection then all is lost.

It is a possibility that the ability to have clients add their missions to the master's may be an upgrade feature in a follow on to Flanker2.0 because this requires a rewrite of the mission editor itself. Again, note that it is here in the mission editor that one can enable the player's custom camo skins by choosing the "european1" color scheme. This is a great feature for virtual squadrons because these camos can be seen by others online if they also have your camo loaded on their system.

Campaign Structure, Pilot Records

Campaigns in F2 are not the dynamic force acting upon force as was the current trend in contemporary deep play simulations. This is both a pro and a con.

The pro is that F2 does not suffer the processor overhead loading it takes to manage a real time virtual war. Along with this comes game stability and fewer bugs for the developer and the customer to suffer. The cons are that you lose the immersion factor and the lasting effects of losses and damage.

Missing also is the concept of pilot career and statistics. For the solo player, this is a big hole in the armor indeed. Campaigns are implemented in a conditional branching structure. What this means is that the outcome of each mission, or phase is contingent on a set of pre-assigned conditions.

Depending upon whether or not certain conditions are met will determine if the player can advance to the next phase in the campaign. Depending upon how much planning is built into the success or failure conditions, there are many different branches in how the campaign can be played out. In theory, you could design an infinite number of outcomes, but it's totally within the control of the campaign designer as to the complexity and the locus of possibilities.

DOCUMENTATION:
Manual, Reference Cards, and the Encyclopedia

The Su27 and Su33 are all purpose fighter bombers. This means the beginner has the challenge of learning not only how to fly it, but to dogfight, mud move, carrier ops, SAM avoidance, BVR radar intercept, helmet mounted targeting system (SHLEM) and other Soviet weapon systems. For the beginner this can be a very daunting barrier. Throw in the Cyrillic symbology and its enough to scare novices away.

What SSI has done to make this learning curve more manageable is to provide training missions with narrated instructions. Then to make it even more extensible, this GUI can have users make their own recorded mission with voice narrations (See STINGER's padlock training add-on in links provided). Next throw in the capability to choose between English or Cyrillic symbology, and user add-on cockpit labels and reflection lift lines, and what you get is a very user friendly flying environment.

Flanker Encyclopedia

Some say that a good measure of the quality of a product is in its breadth and depth in documentation. I tend to agree - to a point. Having a 600 page manual for Falcon4.0 pleased a techno-geek like myself to no end. But it probably scared a lot of others away from even buying or firing up the sim because the average weekend warrior has enough to do already.

Flanker2.0 has several means by which to educate everyone from novice to the hardest of hardcore simmer. The 257 page manual teaches you the avionics suite, the basics of flight, the weapons and their targeting systems, BFM tactics, SAM killing and avoidance, the mission editor and multiplayer. And when you're flying and in the thick of a mission, SSI supplies you with a single ringed set of quick key and system usage laminated reference cards. Great for your kneeboard, if you use one!

Flanker Docs

Manual and quick reference cards are great for learning the sim. But having an interactive method of learning the specifications, identification, and capabilities of the objects you will encounter in your missions is a great way to conduct ground schooling. This is implemented in F2 with computer based training in a system they call the Encyclopedia.

From here you can learn the skill of visual ID, which is critical in obtaining mission objectives, before it's too late. If you are into designing custom made camo skins, you can also use this tool for zooming and panning around to view your artwork. The combination of manual, reference cards and encyclopedia gives the pilot a comprehensive set of documentation. Add to this the narrated training, the training track missions, and instant action; the virtual pilot has everything he/she needs to get up to speed on Flanker.

MULTIPLAYER:
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

The last major aspect to Flanker2.0 that we will examine is also my personal favorite aspect to flight sims: online game play or multiplayer. For me, if a sim doesn't support MP, then it's not complete. MP is what brings a sim to life, literally.

No matter how good enemy and friendly AI can be programmed, it's never as unpredictable, challenging, maddening or rewarding as it is when you fly with human friends and foes. It is also where the biggest warts in any sim show up because that's where unforgiving demands of Internet or LAN require efficient code to be written and tested.

Online flight is also where you test your mettle as a fighter jock, or become another ball of fire and smoke. Wimps need not apply, both for sim developers as for the sim fliers alike.

Multiplayer Interface

The story of F2's MP sit rep falls into the good, the bad, and the down right ugly categories. As I have said in Part I of this review, Flanker2.0 is the most stable multiplayer code I've ever witnessed, especially in its unpatched state. By stable I mean how good the flying stability is when you get online and fly with others. We have had 12 players on various forms of internet connectivity flying together in one online mission, and very little if any "warping" was noticed.

Multiplayer Session Takeoff.

By warping, we mean the phenomenon where you see other piloted planes slewing or jittering around the skies in an abnormal sense. This is due to the ability of the sim's network code to deal with the many bandwidth and packet losses that are inherent to life on Internet. I have heard from those that have set up a LAN, (local area network as opposed to Internet which is a WAN or wide area network), and have had 16 - 20 players working with very little warp or plane jumping.

F2 does also have some bad things here, but they aren't show stoppers. For example, while it's a great improvement over Su27 1.5 to have text chat, the in flight text chat window prevents you from using game keyboard commands until you close the large window. Another nasty is difficulty in seeing incoming missiles makes both multiplayer and solo survivability a bear.

In multiplayer, it's great to have wingmen because they can help to call out incoming missiles, but you are unable to lock missiles and the smoke trails are very faint and hard to see. And the wingmen do not audibly call out the incoming threats.

However, if you practice enough, you are able to learn to effectively dodge missiles. You should train for this offline before going into battle where it counts and can ruin your and your wing mates day. I recommend PaleRider's missile training track files, or the Iron Hand training found on Papa Doc's web page (see links).

Multiplayer Chat Interface.

The ugly bugs that ruin multiplayer show up once you introduce A2A or SAMS. There seems to be faulty missile logic code that rears its ugly head while online and not while in offline or solo game play. If you fly a COOP mission against enemy AI planes or even just with SAMS, then both your own and AI missiles will miss. (Note that this doesn't seem to be true for the master, just the clients).

If you fly against just other human enemies with missiles, you will see a gradual decline in the ability of the missiles to find their mark. This is not a simple problem, and I imagine it will take a patch or two to get it right. But the good news is that SSI is aware of it and has stated that it is a high priority. This ugly bug reduces multiplay flight to little more than sight seeing and guns only battles.

Currently, Flanker2.0 is at its best when you get a package together and you fly with your buddies. If you can get Roger Wilco (included with the sim) or any other compatible voice comms running, fighting guns battles or just cross country navigation in formation is superb. Not only are you flying a hardcore sim, but just the feel of flight while online is top notch.

Cockpit View in MP

Nothing spoils immersion in multiplayer flight worse than when see your wingies jumping all over the skies. Or even worse, when they ram you because of warping as you try to fly tight formation. F2 is rock stable in this respect like no other sim. Now if SSI can fix the missile logic, then MP will be awesome and Flanker 2 will be King of the skies.

SUMMARY AND RATINGS

With Flanker 2.0 we have a great Soviet fighter simulator. We have gone through AV8R's Top Ten Flight Sim Commandments to wring this product out. While it sports cutting edge graphics, sounds, flight model, cockpit, documentation and multiplayer stability, it suffers from some maladies in the artificial intelligence, A2A and SAM missile logic, mission editor robustness, and campaigning depth offerings.

No current military combat flight simulator comes close to what is in Flanker 2.0, save Falcon4.0, even in its unpatched condition. Comparing it to patched versions of Falcon4.0 or even FlankerV1.5 is not comparing apples with apples.

In my conversations with SSI's Carl Norman, (Executive Producer), I am assured that they know of the critical issues and are going to Russia to plan their priorities and implementations. If Su27's maturing into FlankerV1.5 is any indication of their patching commitment then we can all expect good things to come for Flanker2.0. Personally, I give Flanker2.0 a hearty two thumbs up with the understanding that prompt and critical issue stomping patches will soon arrive, and long before the Su39 release.

In short, Flanker2.0 is positioned to be an all time classic surpassing even Su27 1.5; but it is now in the hands of SSI to deliver the goods and complete the great start that they have made. Let's hope that Flanker 2.0 ends on a high note and doesn't fall to mediocrity.

Till we meet in the virtual skies, Check Six.

Ed. Note: All images in this article are copyright of COMBATSIM.COM™

Ratings:

• Core: 90
• Gameplay: 85%
• Graphics: 95%
• Sound: 90%
• Intelligence/AI: 75%
• GUI/Mission Planner: 80%
• Fun Factor: 90%
• Learning Curve: 5 hours for basic gameplay, continued education to master

Overall Rating: 85% (unpatched, 100% or Classic if critical issues are patched)

System Requirements:

• Win95/98 (DOS not supported)
• Pentium 200, (P2 300 or greater recommended)
• 32 MB RAM, (128 MB or greater recommended)
• 600 MB Hard Drive (for full game installation)
• 8X CDROM (24X and greater recommended)
• Video cards: DirectX compatible 3D cards (TNT AGP cards work best, PCI and Voodoo cards supported but not optimal until patched)

Reviewer's System:

Win98, Intel P2 400, 128 MB RAM, 300 MB Static Swap, 32X CDROM, 16 MB CL Blaster Riva TNT1, resolution set to 800x600 with all game options to medium level.

FLANKER2.0 RESOURCES:
Links and Downloads

• SSI's Flanker2 website
• Redshift's Unofficial FAQ for Flanker 2
• Su27 Flanker Challenge Ladder
• GTT's Flanker2 Camo Commander
• Stinger's Su27 Flanker FBO
  (Padlocking and A2G targeting in game narrated training addons and trk files)
• Phantom Dave's Flanker Front Page
  (sounds, skins,cockpit,missions,joystick files)
• Paul SCOUT Seifer's all english cockpit addons
  (gives English labels to replace Cyrillic ones)
• PretzelWorks' Su27 Flanker to F18 Blue Angel conversion kit
  (Fly the Flanker with Hornets clothing)
• The Flanker Gateway
  (Flanker2 web site ring)
• Papa Doc's Flanker2 Voodoo Texture Replacements
  
• SAM avoidance IRONHAND.ZIP tutorial
  

• CD Access.