F/A 18, like most serious state of the art simulations, is designed to
appeal to a wide variety of simulation fans. The serious simulation
flier, the one who will spend hours pouring over the manual and then
systematically learn every system prior to getting into the campaign,
will find a rich combat experience awaiting him. Neither will the
weekend flier be disappointed, since Jane's has built in configuration
options to allow the more casual pilot an equally rich and satisfying
experience.
How does a beginner get into a combat flight simulation of this
depth? Let's take a look at some approaches designed to bring the
casual flier up to speed and then ease then on through the F/A 18
campaign.
Choose Your Weapon
F/A 18E offers a number of preferences screens where the casual
pilot can set the simulation to take advantage of help features and
ease his initial work load. The most important of these is found under
Gameplay Options and is the "Cheat" screen.
F/A 18E offers two entirely new options to the casual flier,
listed under Navigation Cues and Targeting Cues: addition speech
prompts, and visual cues. The speech cues are relatively simple,
appearing in the form of a helpful nudge like, "The waypoint is to your
left," when you are not following the proper course. Similarly, the
speech targeting cues are as simple as, "the target is to your right."
Casual voice warnings can also be toggled on.
The visual cues appear in the form of arrows that point you to your
next waypoint or next target. Labels are another visual cue, and will
help ensure that your weapon is locked on to an enemy target rather
than a friendly one.
Start at the Beginning
Like the Mad Hatter said to Alice, the place to start is at the
beginning, so let's back up and get an overall perspective on gaining
experience in a brand new combat simulation. I recommend that you go
through the training missions, which are narrated as though you had an
instructor on the aircraft with you. Once you complete these roughly
fifteen missions, you should try some of the single missions.
If you have very little experience with combat flight
simulations, it isn't a bad idea to turn on Invulnerability and
Unlimited Ammo in the "cheat" screen. Otherwise, I recommend you leave
these options off.
In some simulations I recommend that beginners tone down the flight
options, but because the F/A 18 is such a stable aircraft, I recommend
that beginners turn all flight options ON with the exception of the
last two. This will help you avoid learning bad habits and will give
you a realistic appraisal of what your aircraft feels like and is
capable of.
There are two approaches to mission training for the casual flier
with regard to enemy AI. In the Gameplay preferences screen you can
select ENEMY and then choose one of four levels of sophistication for
ground and air units. For most casual pilots I recommend beginning with
the VETERAN level, which is one step up from NOVICE.
Some pilots, however, prefer to quickly move from VETERAN AI to ACE,
but then add INVULNERABILITY in the Cheat options. In this way they
quickly get an appreciation for the challenge level that is possible
and they also begin to learn some good habits of situational awareness.
One idea is to try a number of the single missions at both levels.
First, fly the mission with the AI at VETERAN. Then repeat the mission
with the AI at ACE or EXPERT and invulnerability set to ON.
I also recommend setting weapon effects to REALISTIC. Unless you
intend to play the game as an arcade game, it's best to start getting a
realistic sense of what weapons are capable of, and which to choose for
which targets.
Preparing for Flight
There are three other tasks that are necessary in preparation
for flight. The first is to configure your controller or build your own
configuration file (for CH, Saitek and Thrustmaster users.) The second
is to configure your controller within the game for the correct control
response. The third is to set the graphics options that will allow you
to maintain a fluid frame rate for 90% of your game action.
If you are building your own configuration file it's helpful to
start with a basic file. Others will be comfortable adopting a
pre-built file wholesale. You can download a basic Thrustmaster
configuration file for F/A 18 by clicking HERE.
If you use a programmable stick like the Saitek Cyborg or
Microsoft Sidewinder Pro, place the most used commands on one of the
programmable buttons. Some of the most needed commands will be radar
modes, weapon selection, master modes, countermeasures, and radar
range. Padlock, Eject, View Front and Speedbrake are also needed for
quick access. Finally, the TAB and SHF TAB key will be wanted by some
for quick access to radio menus.
Finally, you will need to configure F/A 18 for your individual system.
If you have a PII 300 or less you will want to run at 800x600 or lower
resolution and you will have to turn down the graphics sliders. You can
do this globally by grabbing the top slider and moving it to the
middle, and then you can tune individual options according to personal
preference.
If you have a state of the art system, (Pentium III or Athlon
600 or faster), you will be able to run F/A 18 at maximum detail.
Enjoy!
