EF2000 V.2.0 (www.combatsim.com)

EF2000 v.2.0

by Leonard "Viking1" Hjalmarson

Enhanced Debrief

A debrief screen has been added to the end of campaign missions which gives detailed information on campaign progress, even including pie charts! If you've felt in the dark about where you really stand in the campaign, this is for you.

The debrief includes detail such as total enemy and NATO kills listed by ground targets, aircraft, ships, choke points etc. The pie charts cover such areas as Balance of Power between NATO, Neutrals and Russians. DiD will add personal statistics on kills to this screen for TFX3 under WARGEN v.2.

When one exits this screen one is returned to the main campaign screen where the standard mission debrief is given. Though limited, the standard debrief is rather nice, with your flight path displayed on the mission map, and icons showing air and ground kills at the appropriate place. One may cycle through one's own flight to the escort and wild weasel flights to observe the performance of each element. From here one may then select the next WARGEN given mission or return to the planner.

We wanted the ability to create A2A with guns only in the simulator and we got it! Want to fly on on one against a Tornado? An F14? Now you can! Maybe you feel really daring and want to fly against two SU35s, or two EF2s..... This ability to fly with guns only is the best way to improve your ability in a knife fight...

Simulator and KOTS Enhancement

And now, a much demanded feature....We wanted the ability to create A2A with guns only in the simulator and we got it!! Want to fly one on one against a Tornado? An F14? Now you can!! Maybe you feel really daring and want to fly against TWO SU-35s, or TWO EF2s.....This ability to fly with guns only is the best way known to improve your ability in a knife fight. You can also choose to fly against HINDs or Cobras, or even against a Hercules transport (known to be very deadly in head on collisions...). The choices are unlimited. (Well, you can’t fly an Independence Day scenario: that choice will wait for F22: ADF!)

DiD have also expanded control in the A2A creator. We can now control the positional aspect and altitude of the engagement. This means that you can practice engaging your enemies from an advantaged position or a disadvantaged one. In other words, the Custom A2A features have become extremely advanced!!

But thats not all! There is now a team feature in multiplay KOTS! Whew, talk about the kitchen sink! We have the standard Me Against the World solo stuff, a team game, and a base defence team game! I know, I know... it is TOO COOL! Better book your marriage counsellor again and send the wife off to spend the month with her mother....

New Views!

SmartView is a new view altogether. One can enter SmartView in sim with SHF F, and get an AI version of the old Browse plane view. The view shifts automatically to different aircraft in the theatre doing different things, with the type of aircraft and the mission listed in the top corner of the screen...Especially cool, one can monitor the progress of one's own mission even after death..

Finally, there have been some changes in the views: most notably, the F4 external view set, Missile View and a new view added called SmartView. F4 views can be customized and the Missile View is now smart: it moves from the missile to the target, shows you the target in relation to the missile, and changes perspective.

SmartView is a new view altogether. One can enter SmartView in sim with SHF V, and get an AI version of the old Browse Plane view. The view shifts to different aircraft doing different things, with the type of aircraft and the mission noted in the top corner of the screen. Perspective on any aircraft changes automatically, with a variety of views integrated. One might first see an SU35 cruising, then it becomes a flyby, then the view pans around the aircraft, then its track view, then its SU-35-Target, etc. Suddenly the view shifts to another SU35 in a dogfight. Got a long flight but would rather watch all the happenings in the Virtual Battlefield rather than timeskip? Smartview will automate your gawking around, if you like....

Smartview also has its own filter. SHF F filters Smartview six ways: All Aircraft, Your Flight, Your Mission, Allied Aircraft, Enemy Aircraft, and Neutrals only.

But SmartView is ALSO available when the player is shot down, and one may choose to be dropped into Smartview immediately after ejection or death. One can watch the progress of ones own flight even after death. Will your wingmen make it? How will they survive the knife fight you just left? Now you can see it all. There is also a HOLD command in Smartview so you can stick with your wingman if you like. Nice touch! And the most recent enhancement is that you can toggle SHF C and SHF X to move to the next aircraft in a given category.

Connectability

Version 2.0 comes with every connection option under the sun: modem, net play, and direct serial connection. What more could a pilot want? EF2 was a Falcon net killer from the beginning. When you fly with a human wingman, all the limitations of computer AI are history, and you have the added dimension of sending messages in real time while flying the virtual skies with real people!

A friend and I have connected with two different modes. We both have fast computers (P180 or better) with USR DSVD modems. The first connection we tried was without the modem in DSVD mode. I acted as server and sent him a simulator mission. Connection was simplicity itself and our frame rate was as if we were playing un-connected! That’s right, we noticed no difference from playing on our own against the computer!

Next we tried the connection using the DSVD mode so we could talk on the same line in real time. We noticed a drop in frame rate of around 30%, but whenever we used the voice connection frame rate dropped again. We lost 50-60% of normal frame rate when using voice and data simultaneously. Conclusion: If you use this mode, use voice as little as necessary, in the 3,1 model like a real fighter pilot would!

Limitations

So far, one cannot edit alt and speed and elements for WARGEN generated missions. One also cannot plan CAP, INTERCEPT or SEAD missions. These things are unlikely to change. Aftermarket utilities like REVIVE will even allow us to play Tactical Commander and call up the Reserves! AWACS shot down? Check the Reserves!

Occasionally, one may try to access the planner and discover that one is locked out. This is especially a problem when NATO is against the wall. Unless there are unassigned EF2's, one cannot access the planner. On other occasions one will access the planner only to find that selection is limited to two out of five bases, and with only one EF2 free per base. Contrary to what one would expect, this does NOT mean that one can fly an EF2 and choose three F22s as wingmen or escort. Rather, with only one EF2 free, one is limited to a total assignable force of ONE. If you want to go it alone, fine; otherwise abort and head back to the WARGEN generated selections.

We still cannot edit wingman loadouts, though the mirroring helps. (Sigh). The impact on system AI was simply too great, and would have meant rewriting reams of code, with unpredicable impact on other areas. Be aware that this also raises other issues. If you plan an airfield strike and choose a runway as your own target, your wingmen will be given durandals as their A2G weapons. From the weapon selection screen, you will have to trade 2 durandals for 2 GBUs if you want them to be successful.

One cannot delete waypoints given by v.2.0 outside the Planner although one may move them. This can be annoying since WARGEN still assigns the long way around at times, and shortening the route can mean that waypoints pile up, but at least we CAN shorten the route....

Unfortunately, the Planner itself does not allow one to set different routes for different elements of the strike package (as in Tornado). Neither can one implement different velocity to different waypoints, or different times on target. This kind of flexibility will have to wait for TFX3.

As for network play, EF2000 is ALMOST a Falcon killer, and here is the disclaimer. EF2000 is TOPS for network play. All over North America F3 is breathing its last on the hard drives of virtual pilots. Many F3 clubs have already made the switch. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to a network. And those who rely on kali have already discovered that ping times limit playability. Kahn has apparently given better success to many players, but I suspect that this only means that Kali will be or has been improved, and playability should continue to increase. For many of us, the best play other than network has been me by my lonesome relying on computer wingmen against computer generated adversaries. With modem play now being possible, many who have not yet connected EF2000 will be flying H2H and tandem for the first time.

Me and My Wing

..when I as lead need to re-assess the fluid campaign situation, perhaps because the Wild Weasel mission has been shot down, or because we have used all our A2A weapons due to weak escort, can I query my wingmen for remaining stores or order "Return to Base?" Nope.

So what about solo play? There are a fair representation of standard wingman commands (engage my target, disengage, radar on/off, bracket left/right and so forth), and the two way comms help me stay connected, but every time I order a wing to engage the lone bogie that I as lead shouldn't have to deal with, all three wingmen break formation!

And when I as lead need to re-assess the fluid campaign situation, perhaps because the Wild Weasel mission has been shot down, or because we have used all our A2A weapons due to weak escort, can I query my wingmen for remaining stores or order "Return to Base?" Nope. One can cheat and use the wingman view to check stores: a survival method.

Or when I'm low on fuel, do I know how far to the nearest gas station? Do I know the distance to the nearest base? Nope. Can I find out how long I will wait for the help I need? Can I inquire whether the Wild Weasel boys did their work? Double no. Neither can I order my wingman to "Sanitize Left" or "Scan Low" with radar. These are things I hope to see in F22:ADF, F4, imF22 and if16. Unless one is connected to another real pilot via network or modem, one sometimes feels a bit lonely in the sky, despite the comms with Escort and ones own wingmen. Though I have to confess, the browse plane views are unbelievable and help one feel a part of something MUCH larger.

AWACS placement for the other side remains something of a mystery. If you choose the AWACS kill in the mission planner, you will discover that the Russian AWACS aircraft must have Klingon sensor technology. These guys are a LONG LONG way from the battlefield. This seems to be a WARGEN limitation, and most likely it will never affect your enjoyment of this awesome sim.

As I ended my last strike mission, I was about ten miles out from Vaernes and called for Recovery. I received the message, "Negative: Runway Damaged." I decided to chance a landing anyway to see what would follow.

Before I knew what had happened, I was under lock and key in the brigg! Okay, no, I'm pulling your leg. I landed without incident, and I could not see any damage on the runway. It would be nice if such damage were both visible and critical. We really should not be able to survive a landing on a damaged runway.

Refueling has been a strong suit in EF2000. If you haven't tried it, I suggest you do so: it will challenge your skill as a pilot. Having said that, if you find yourself TOO challenged, turn down the stick sensitivity in the config screen and you will have an easier time of it. Look for improvements in realism in F22:ADF in this area. I suspect that more communications will be necessary prior to linking up.

It would also be useful to have range to target included in pre-flight briefing so that one could gauge need of extra fuel tanks; optional partial fuel load would also be useful. As for TOT, it could be in pre-flight briefing so that we could get an overall sense of the picture for tactical advantage and flight coordination; and radar range and azimuth indicators could be added to the no cockpit HUD for ease of use. An actual target designation could be added to the anti-ship mission briefing so that we have an idea of what we are going for.

After ordering my wings to attack their designated ground targets on my last flight, and then a moment later hearing "Weapons Gone," I realized that a "Target Destroyed" message would be really useful! With the complete reworking of the comms that is happening for TFX3, perhaps we will see this kind of confirmation in DiDs next simulation.

In EF2 v.2x radar became usable when we went winchester. Thankfully, this is now changed. Unfortunately, radar is still not stabilized. This means that when you are turning with your aircraft at 90 degrees to the earth, you will lose any radar lock you had. And what about wingmen who eject when necessary? Some chutes floating around out there would not only add to atmosphere, it would also mean that wingmen are not going down with the ship.

SUMMARY

Version 2 takes EF2000 where it had never gone before. Of course this is the most true for those who have plunked down the pesos for a 3dfx or Rendition board. If you enjoyed EF2000 and never made the switch to TactCom, you will WANT v.2.0 and the 3d upgrade!! I have seen the future, and it is grand! The screen shots at page top are from V.2.0.