Yes, the second coming has occurred - just in time for Christmas. After a 5
year development cycle, Microprose-Hasbro has unleashed what it calls the new
benchmark in military flight simming: FALCON 4.0. Pull up a chair and lets
go for a check out flight, and examine the online multiplayer features that
this next generation Falcon has to offer.
Many of the readers of CSIM are nuggets to this brother/sisterhood of
virtual
military flight simming. As for me, while I flew other flight sims
previously, Falcon3 epitomized what a hard core flight sim should look
and feel
like (circa 1991-93). We are talking back when 286 and 386 Intel
processors
with 4mb ram were the pinnacle, and players were stuffing 600kb of
program into the 640kb available of upper memory. This is back when the
visionary Bill Gates was quoted as saying that 640kb is all any program
would ever need!
So before we go on our F16-C Viper online multiplayer check flight, let’s first
pay our respects to Falcon4’s grand daddy Falcon3. Luckily, I still have my
old 486 computer in working condition with F3 installed (remembering that
QEMM stuff was a mind bender!)
By seeing where we have come, and then seeing
where we are, we can have a context to better appreciate what Falcon4 really
means to many of us veterans. While I eschew marketing hype that bends the
truth to get our hard earned bucks, I have equally little
patience for those who discount the release of an instant classic because of
a few bugs in it's infancy.
Just look at what was bleeding edge technology at the time. It took about
5 patches to get F3 to a state where it was a classic sim. With its modem
land-line and LAN multiplayer features, F3 was destined for the hall of plane
fame. The first wave of virtual squadrons and challenge ladders were
established because of this product; I remember paying long distance bills
to fly with buddies of mine. The Internet Era was a thing known only to the
engineering community at the time. So for those of you that missed F3,
you’ve missed the Orville Wright days of Multiplayer.
But F3 also paved the way
for the electronic battlefield concept and sported a MiG29 and F-18
Hornet with
carrier operations! Hmm, shades of Back to the Future! For those of us
that were excited when we saw the F3 demo in the stores back in the
early ‘90s, that same excitement is present with the arrival of F4,
only perhaps we have a little more perspective this time. Falcon 4.0 is
the Second Coming of a classic, the missile-mounting mountain come to
Mohammed, the pot of gold at the end... ok, let's get on with it!
So why do I pontificate that F4 marks a new beginning? Because not only is it
Falcon’s second generation, but what F4 offers in flight model, multiplayer
potential, detailed functional cockpit, high tech padlocking, full real time
war, ACMI recorder/player, add on planes, mission editing as well as top
notched graphics and sounds place it in a class of its own.
If you combine the best of Jane’s F15, Longbow II, and WW2
Fighters plus DiD’s TAW into one sim - only then would you be nearing
what F4 has attempted to accomplish with one title. F15 has awesome
wingmen comms, an excellent mission builder, and state of the art
avionics; Longbow II has fantastic multiplayer features, great graphics
and gameplay; Total Air War has a real time and fully dynamic campaign
system, complete with an AWACS command chair (of these simulations only
TAW offers ACMI, and it's far more limited than that of F4).
Now let’s combine the thickness of all those other manuals as
well! Good grief, F4 comes with a hefty 3 ring bound 600 page manual,
and none of this is pages on pages listing weapon systems or aircraft
statistics: that part is all online! While this may be terrifying for
the weekend flier, there’s really no need to be. F4 offers
invulnerability options to ease the learning curve, and can even be run
in easy/relaxed modes so that everyone can enjoy what this sim has to
offer.
As you have seen over the last months, CSIM has hosted a score of reviews on
the depth and breadth of what packs F4. So I’ll not go into
campaigning, mission editing, ACMI, pilot logbooking, etc. What I want to do
is take you on a pictorial ride with me in an online dogfight. This way I can
report on the aspect of this game that I have not seen anywhere to date and
address the question so many have: "does Falcon4 work online?"
Let me forewarn the reader. If you think you’re going to fly
this sim without
reading the manual and communications handbook, you’re setting yourself
up for
hurt. F4 is not really a game or simulation in the usual sense: it's a
faithful reproduction of a complex military platform called the F-16 C
Viper. Therefore, oh brave heart, do Thy homework. And how pray tell do
you digest a 600 page manual? Like the wise men say: the same way that
you would eat an elephant: one bite full at a time, and savor it. This
ain’t your little brother’s F-16 MRF!
Multiplayer Features
F4 only supports TCP/IP protocol, and not IPX. This does not
mean that you cannot run multiplayer over KALI or a LAN, because both
support TCP communications. All you need to have to get MP running is
to get a buddy’s IP address and have a 28.8kbs connection, and use the
TCP connection option.
On the social simming community side of things, KALI supports TCP and you can successfully
launch the sim from that environment using the LAN connection option. People
were having success with 2 players using 28.8kbs, and some were able to even
run COOP missions if they had V90, Cable, ADSL and ISDN bandwidths. Hardware
wise, I’ve heard success stories with people running P166 CPUs with 32mb RAM
and Voodoo2 Glide accelerators. I didn’t get more than 3 or 4 players in a
dogfight and only 2 players in a TACTICAL mission. Campaigning never worked
for me online.
After firing up Falcon4 (note: falcon.exe -hires issued on your START/PROGRAM
command line with double the external graphics resolution, assuming your
hardware can handle it, and -g2 will give you more detail options) you set up your graphics, sound, controller and pilot
options. You should go next to TACTICAL ENGAGEMENT to get familiar with the
cockpit and general flight procedures. (Note: there are stick files in the
F4 installation, but CSIM also has some HERE for downloading). The next place for me was to check out the multiplayer features.
Let’s move on to running the GUI and on into the cockpit, shall we? In this
review we will handle only the DOGFIGHT setup, and briefly outline the COOP
TACTICAL MISSION procedures.
Once you invoke the sim and get past the movie
intro, you are in the main GUI window. From here it depends on whether you are
hosting or joining a DOGFIGHT MP session. If you are hosting, its best if
you go to COMMS before going into the DOGFIGHT mode. That way you can chat
with those that are interested in your session and see if the connection is
correct before you setup a dogfight scenario. From here the host picks the
connection type and speed and starts the MP session.
The handbook does recommend that all players set their connection rate the same
at 57kbs and work it down as needed to get the best game play (i.e. least
amount of warp - erratic positional displacement of the aircraft). My
recommendation is to let the fastest CPU computer serve that also has the
fastest connection rate (i.e. bandwidth, like Cable). Then lower the host’s
bandwidth setting in F4 until you reach the least warp due to unequal data
overflow to slower systems. This is an iterative process if you want to tune
the best setup. No one said making a virtual LAN (or internet WAN) was going
to be without its challenges!
Next the host picks the DOGFIGHT mode button and selects the SAVED tab. This
is where the host can pick from: FURBALL, MATCH PLAY, TEAM PLAY or any of
these with all of the options saved to a new name. Highlight the SAVED game
type, pick the load out and starting position. Punch the commit button and this
will bring up the ROE (rules of engagement) window. This is where you choose
what the conditions of the engagement will be: flight model, avionics, weapon
effectiveness, autopilot mode, padlocking, and other realism settings. Hit
the COMMIT button and you’re hosting the dogfight session.
Dropping a Flare
Those players that are just joining the DOGFIGHT session go to the
COMMS interface to establish the online connection, then select the
DOGFIGHT button. Next go to the ONLINE tab under the DOGFIGHT mode
window and highlight the active games shown. Lastly punch the COMMIT
button (i.e. the group of planes at the
lower right) to begin the session. Fill out the rules of engagement
options
and hit the COMMIT button again. And the fight is on!
The connections I tried had cable and v90 over TCP direct play, and TCP KALI.
Both worked well for 2 and 3 players with no noticeable warp affecting game
play. I did see crashes when closing the PHONEBOOK window with the log out
button, and when I used the views a lot. There are still some bugs to be worked out.
But when it came to smoothness of flight, flight model, cockpit padlocking,
avionics and radar detail - this sim shines big time. Beware that the glance
back view only works while in the virtual cockpit mode. If you want to see
more on the radar employment or padlocking views, I recommend you read our
earlier articles on these topics via the F4 Index.
What I also liked about dogfighting online is that you can team up against or with AI aircraft which can be Allied or
Soviet models. The teams have very attractive paint jobs and make visual
identification the best I’ve seen since SSI’s Su27 Flanker custom camo
options.
Let me say this very clearly: dogfighting online with Falcon4 is
fantastic! Too bad we cant get up to 8 online players like I’ve had in
Jane’s F15E. But by adding AI planes, you can get the furball much more
intensive. The AI is on par with the best sims out there (F15E, WW2F and
Su27).
Now that we’ve seen that DOGFIGHTs work reasonably well, let’s go on to how
does one do COOP (TACTICAL ENGAGEMENTS). I have successfully hosted a few of
these, but only 2 players could ever connect. It is also more prone to
crashing out than is the dogfighting MP code. So if you have fast hardware
and bandwidth, here is a procedure that improves upon what is given in the
COMMUNICATIONS HANDBOOK. It was emailed to me by SU27-ANGIE, and was written
by RED-10 from the KALI FLIGHT server. (Thanks guys, you’re the best!)
How to Host Tactical Engagement (Custom Mission) In Multiplay:
1) Launch Falcon4
2) Click on Tactical Engagement(YOU WOULD SEE 3 TAG HERE
TRAINING/SAVED/ONLINE)
3) Click ONLINE that would active F4 Phonebook(click on internet pick
you bandwidth click connect)
4) Click on SAVED TAG UNDER Tactical Engagement Highlight you custom
mission and click on plane or planes(commit)button
5) Then click on comms to active chat and wait for players to join in
How to join Tactical Engagement(Custom made Mission) In multiplay:
1) Launch Falcon 4
2) Click on Tactical Engagement(YOU WOULD SEE 3 TAG HERE
TRAINING/SAVED/ONLINE)
3) Click ONLINE TAG highlight mission listed with +sign
4) After you highlight the mission Click on Plane or Planes
button(commit)you should start receiving Data and may take awhile
5) After receiving data CLICK ON COMMS TO ACTIVE CHAT WITH HOST
6) DONT GO INTO THE GAME WITHOUT ESTABLISHING CHAT WITH HOST
You can also make a simple (few active objects) with the mission
editor and connect with a squad mate for a fun formation or even a
rally flight. Here is a picture of how close I was able to form up
behind my leader without being
warped to death. This is a great way to view terrain and to practice
your form
and communication skills.
To be able to text chat online, you and your
flight members need to be on the same COMM1 channel. Then use the SHIFT-T
command to have the text chat line pop up. Again, here’s another place for
improvement, the text font on a 15 inch screen is barely readable. And all
the gauges, switches, displays and levers are all functional in the
cockpitm, even the knee board has the mission brief and a moving map. F4 is
as fun for non combative flights as it is for combat.
The multiplayer GUI (graphical interfaces) for F4 are not as intuitive
as they
could be. Sims like Jane’s F15 and DiD’s TAW have GUIs that don’t leave
you
guessing what comes before what. Do you open a DOGFIGHT or TACTICAL
ENGAGEMENT mode before or after opening a COMMS session? What is the
difference between the SAVED and ONLINE tabs under these two online
modes? What does UNINITIALIZE game mean? Why are some players having no
problems, while others are threatening to take the game back? These are
all
valid concerns that need to be addressed by the developers of F4’s COMM
code
and manuals.
The short of it is that it appears that Falcon4’s communication
(ie.
multiplayer) code is not without problems. The additional
COMMUNICATIONS
HANDBOOK that comes along with the manual is not very helpful for
running
TACTICAL ENGAGEMENT missions. Apparently while we all heard that F4 was
multiplayer from its inception, the small multiplayer pamphlet,
ambiguous
connection procedures, and the beta like COMMS code suggest that F4
multiplayer testing was not completed before shipping. The good news is
that Microprose is very aware of the issues and will have the first
patch out within a week.
So is F4 the coveted holy grail? No, but it is by far the most detailed and
realistic jet flight sim ever crafted. Let’s see how many times it takes you
before you land her perfectly! When F4’s multiplayer code and documentation
gets perfected, I can easily see Falcon4.0 becoming the next classic flight sim
unseating all other competition .... including Falcon3.
