Click on any image for its larger counterpart. All screens are 1152x864.

Falcon 4 is still pre-beta, but word is that its getting VERY close to beta: good news! Press materials are obviously being prepared; I received a very nice colorful folder to go with the new CD. This should be an encouragement to those who have been doubting whether we would EVER see this sim!

I've spent half an hour cruising about in the new alpha, and the changes are substantial! There is far more voice interaction, and some finishing touches really increase the depth. In the shots on this page (all taken running on a PII 300 with Matrox Mystique G200 16 meg) you will see some of the changes I have seen today.

First, canopy reflections are OUTSTANDING. Not only are they beautiful, I have felt for the first time ever on my PC that I looking through an actual canopy! Yes, these shadings look great; better yet, they will help with your orientation in a dogfight. The effect is subtle and loses a lot when the images are resized, so click one of these to bring up the larger version.

Clouds and the sky now rival the best out there: FA 18 Korea. I have a feeling that sunsets are also going to be gorgeous. While I was taking some of these shots I was rapidly approaching a ground engagement. I noticed some impacts a few miles distant, and I saw a number of glints in my canopy from the flash of an explosion. Oddly, Hypersnap didn't capture these! But if you can imagine a small greyish cross fading in and out at a few points to the right just below the horizon, you would have a sense of what I saw.

Notice also the clouds and haze. At 1024x768 and higher F4 becomes as good looking as anything out there, even rivalling Microsofts Combat Flight Sim. In fact, actual terrain detail is superior in Falcon 4, likely securing its spot as king of the hill for 1998. Combined with an incredible sense of "presence" and immersion and interactivity, F4 will be hard to beat!

In Flight. 1280x1024 wallpaper. 205K

More wallpaper: 1024x768. 500K

Tactical Reference

Its difficult to believe that the hardware has reached the state where these dynamic reflections are possible, but we'll also see these in MiG Alley and WWII Fighters. This year we will also see lighting dynamics improve the reality of the environment with reflections and colors on clouds that are appropriate to time of day and atmospheric conditions. With wind and weather and environmental factors being factored into more and more sims, can heaven be far away?

On takeoff and landing you will notice that you generate a puff of smoke. I think this is from the burning rubber on your tires, I was amazed to see it. F-4 and MIG-29 engines smoke because the notriois smokers are modeled, and the smoke cuts in and out depending on their throttle setting just as in real life.

The ACMI feature is flexible and full featured. The sim may prove to be worth the price of admission for this one alone! As per a typical VHS interface you can fast forward and rewind, slow play or pause. You can change your viewing angle and distance without real limits, and you can choose the object to view and view perspective. Some of the more unusual features include ability to display wing trails and radar lock line, all this within a complete sim environment (minus sound). I've barely begun to experiment with it, but its very impressive.

Falcon 4.0 is scheduled for an October release and I get mail every couple of days asking my opinion of the reality of that goal. Personally, I think that Microprose will make it. They really are THAT close. Watch for another in game update soon.

By the way, ALL these shots were taken by me personally and are the property of Combatsim.com. For more information go to: F4 Index