It seems that combat sims fall into two distinct categories
Ultra Hard (SSI's Su27 Flanker) or Ultra Easy (Jane's
Fighters Anthology). The Middle area has remained gray with
some simulations allowing some customization to fit the
player skill level and available time. Non-combat sim
pilots thinking about trying a combat jet fighter
simulation for the first time or even if you have tried
others, have no doubt heard the hype surrounding Falcon 4.0
and its high levels of realism in the areas of flight,
avionics, and war modeling. This usually translates into a
hard and difficult to master flight simulation for those
that just want to shoot something out of the sky and have
fun doing it. I feel your pain.(Pointing my thumb biting my
bottom lip, tightening my jaw) This article is for you.
I am hyping the other side of Falcon 4.0. It's kinder
gentler side.. In hopes of showing those that want to know
that this sim is a lot of fun and can fit your playing
style regardless of what skill level you are. I consider
myself a hard-core flight sim driver, I like my flight
simulations complete and very realistic. This often means
the simulation is very hard and very challenging.
Falcon 4.0 will set new standards in this area of hard-core
simulations. The simulation, set at it's highest levels of
realism will require a commitment to learn and years to
master. This is fact. The hard-core flight sim community
will have its prayers answered with this awesome simulation
of the Second Korean War featuring the F-16C Block 52.
But what about the non-hard-core crowd.. You guys/girls
want a Simulations that is complete and that follows the
Newton's Laws of Physics. You deserve that much. You guys
outnumber us hard-core guys by at least 5 to 1. You all
also are the core of the flight sim market. So Will Falcon
4.0 appeal to you? The answer is hell yeah it will appeal
to you guys. Falcon will fit anyone interested in flight
simulations. This means the people that are into great sims
like Microsoft's Flight Simulator, Flight Unlimited,
Novalogic's Flight Simulations, and Jane's Combat
simulations will like Falcon 4.0 because it allows you to
customize virtually every option in the sim, from Flight
Model to Vehicle Magnification.
------------------------- My Inspiration for writing this.
-------------------------
The reason I am writing this article is because of an
actual event that happened while testing the sim. "The
Boys", my squadron (The 808th) and I have been flying
Falcon on MAX REALISM. Just working this sim, amazed by
it's realism. So what inspired me was my Dad, one day as I
was doing my Falcon thing, My Dad asked me what was that I
had on screen. I told him Falcon 4.0, a new F-16 sim. My
Dad remembering the Falcon title from both my Amiga and
Falcon 3.0 days, said let me try that thing. A little
background on my Dad: He is a Flight Sim nut, enjoys flying
big heavies like the 747-400 He is into civil aviation Ex
Air-Force (Lucky Weasel!! @ age 23 met Chuck Yeager) P-51
fav Prop Plane F-15 Eagle is fav Jet fighter Loves to watch
Wings! Loves Airshows Without any changes, I let him have
at it. This first thing he asked me was "What do I do to
lock him up?" My Dad was ready to open some whip-ass from
the get-go!. As I explained the Radar and complex HOTAS
finger exercise. The Jet was hit!!!! I laughed as he caught
a SA-9 and damn near jumped out of his seat because it
scared him.
Realizing that my dad was to green to handle the sim at
this level, I made my dad a pilot file and set the options
to fit his newbie style:
Flight Model : SimplifiedAvionics : Easy Weapons :
ExaggeratedPadlocking : Enhanced Magnification : 3 Enemy AI
: Rookie
With out reading the Manual, and some assistance from me,.
He had full authority over the simple control set. He was
able to employ the systems and the jet effectively. With
theses simple keys assigned to buttons on the Thrustmaster
gear my Dad was ready to go. He was able to down some
bandits and kill some ground targets, All in a very short
amount of time. Keys need were: -------------------- Lock
Target Next Target Previous Target Select Weapon AA/AG Fire
Weapon Views My Dad loves the challenge of flying and
landing an airplane, he put the flight model on accurate so
low speed handling would be realistic. Things got
interesting to say the least.. What really floored my Dad
was the navigation and real ATC. As he panned around the
cockpit I pointed out to him all the systems he ad control
over. I pointed out the cockpit layout and the back up NAV
system . Which was very familiar to him because of the
similarity to NAV systems in Flight Sim. I showed him that
he could manually set course and heading and follow the
deviation bars to his destination. This just add to his
first experience with Falcon 4.0 making it a good one. By
the way his first landing was a bit rough on the gear. :-)
Many combinations of Realism and Easy are possible...
Just say you know you are a good pilot and can handle the
realistic flight model of the F-16 But you don't have the
time to sit and learn the systems of the jet and all the
weapons delivery modes. You can customize the simulations
to fit your level of commitment, time and skill level. Best
of all you will be able to grow with this simulations as
your skills improve. One by one you will be able to inch
toward realism OR you can find a level that is good for you
and stay there. Keep in mind that NEWTONIANS LAWS OF
PHYSICS are followed in every mode: so the ballistics in
the sim are not effected. This makes Falcon 4.0 unique.
Simple mode doesn't equal "Magic" weapons and Faketonian
Laws Phyics.
Method 1: Slew the target designate cursor over a red
dot and press target select Method 2: Press the lock target
on nose key. The systems will pick the target closets to
the nose of the airplane with in the radar's line of
sight..
In Air to Ground Mode:
Method 1: Slew the Target Designator cursor over the red
dot and press target select. Method 2: Slew Weapons Camera
over the target and press target select. If you have
Maverick or Laser Guided bombs selected, you will see what
you have locked up in the weapons camera on the MFD.
What's really nice about simple avionics was that the
technique was the same for both Air to Air and Air To
Ground Target selection. This option allows you to get the
job done.
My Final observations:
Using my Dad as my example of one type of non-hard-core
combat flight simulation guy, who is into complex
navigation, good flight models and graphics. I feel he
falls within that core FS98 and Flight Unlimited group.
Since there are so many levels of non-hard-core sim people
it is kind of hard to identify all the levels. Also I don't
pretend to know what YOU WILL like. That's not the purpose
of this article. This is intended to ease any fears that
might come about from hearing all the talk about HOW HARD
this sim is. This sim is hard but as I hope this article
has shown it has another side to it.
Summary
As a final example of Falcon's flexibility and
Inclusiveness, all levels of players can fly in the same
networked session. This allows people that are into ultra
realism to team up and/or fly against folks that want to
just fly and shoot up stuff. Finally a combat simulation
for everyone. Those that want some quick fun shooting down
and blowing up stuff, Falcon will provide that to you.
Those that want a sim that will require you to seek advice
from Real F-16 pilots, Falcon 4.0 will give that to you.
Because of this sims high level of customization options,
Falcon will allow you to have the sim your way. Falcon will
provide anyone that wants to fly an F-16 simulation with
the proper level of challenge mixed with a heavy dose of
FUN, that's rare for a simulation this complex... but its
true!!!
