Su 27 has a reputation as a military simulator that is
unique in its class. In short, its flight modelling has
been second to none, and weapons modelling and AI have been
up there with the very best.
With the version
1.5 revision, AI achieved new heights. Enemy aircraft
became much more aggressive and more intelligent in their
tactics. A pilot who attempts 1v2 will have a difficult
time as the enemy perform a bracket. Enemy AI is dedicated
to keeping you away from their base … at all costs.
ACM manouvers are diverse, unpredictable, and appropriate.
So whats all the noise about version two? Simple! Put some
very solid multiplayer action together with great flight
avionics and weapons modelling, toss in new textured mapped
terrain based on de-classified data from Russian satellite
imaging, and a dynamic campaign system, improve the
avionics and AI even further.... presto! A new and
completely state of the art sim!
Click for 800x600
Flanker 2.0 will feature a fully dynamic campaign system
plus a mission editor/generator. If you like to create your
own missions to share or fly with friends, you can continue
to do so. If you want to fly in an unpredictable campaign
under standard military doctrine a la F4 and imf22, you'll
have it.
In fact flexibility seems to be the name of the game in
2.0. SSI intends to offer choices in realism this time
around. Padlock choices will be in place, as well as
choices in avionics options. This will mean flight
modelling superior to 1.5 at the high end, but selectable
to a simplified model for beginners. The simplified options
will likely extend to radar and targetting as well.
Click for 800x600
The shots included here are taken from a system running
3d hardware. All shots were taken at 800x600 and 32,000
colors. The sim will also run at decent rates without 3d
hardware, and in fact is being designed to reach down to
the low end Pentium system at 640x480 in 256 colors. Detail
levels will be selectable along a number of axes, allowing
users to configure according to installed hardware and the
frame rate they consider best.
WOW. Object detail is stunning, just as in the screens we
have seen. The carrier was the most detailed I have seen in
any sim anywhere. But it should be given the hardware we
have these days. A simulation engine should be designed for
extended life so that the hardware six months from now can
be fully utilized.
Watching the aircraft in flight at E3, it was silhouetted
against some of the best looking terrain ever seen. The
terrain rivals that in F22: ADF in Glide at 800x600, but in
fact is more detailed when low. The early alpha was
laboring under some hardware difficulties and so we didn't
see very much flight.
You may have wondered how and why Su 27 1.5 was able to
break the ground it did, with some of the most realistic
flight and weapons modeling yet seen. One reason is the
Russian connection. Another is that Nick Grey, one of the
producers of this simulation, has himself flown the Su 27
and performed the cobra manouver.
Nick and Anatoly Kvotchur are pictured above. Anatoly at
left is an Su-27 est pilot, the man that crashed the MiG29
at Le Bourget, the man that made the first deck landing in
a Flanker. He's part of the Eagle Dynamics team to make
sure that the flight model is up to par. Nick is actually
Director of The Fighter Collection, an organization
dedicated to the restoration and preservation of war birds.
Nick told me about a recent air show in the UK where there
were THIRTEEN fully restored Spitfires in the air
simultaneously! This is a first since the end of WWII. The
coming Legends Air Show on July 4th and 5th will be
at Duxford and will feature many of these same aircraft.
The Fighter Collection takes care of many of these
treasure, and the people involved are obsessed with detail,
history, and flight. They LOVE warbirds!
Mission Editor. Click for 1024x768. 260K
That has to be GOOD NEWS when talking about simulation
design. In fact, Nick told me that the goals set for flight
modeling, weapons modeling and AI in Flanker 2.0 will
indeed surpass version 1.5 considerably. But thats not all!
There are a number of dimensions of expansion for 2.0, and
all of them have a high DROOL factor. First, the mission
editor looks incredible. You can run it at 1024x768, and
some of the details have still not been revealed. But when
you bring up the large image above, with the pop up window
lower right that shows your route relative to an actual
relief image, you begin to get the idea.
Second, the AWACS component. Apparently the AWACS module in
2.0 will take on a dimension of tactical control, mirroring
the ability of the real world platform. Now we will have
not only the gods eye view of the world but actually vector
intercepts and take command of the air battle. We will also
see more wingman control in 2.0.
Third, we are going to see inter-operability soon after the
release of Flanker 2.0. Initially this will mean a MiG 29
addition to the world, but it doesn't stop there and SSI
have major plans in this area, some of which will be known
soon.
