Fixed Bugs and Enhancements in this updated release of FA Futures Korea...........
FIXED BUGS
1) MV-22A Osprey new skin and shape file included. Previously this upgrade was accidentally left out of the libraries.
2) Inaccuracies in current cockpits have been corrected. All new versions of the A-10, EF-2000, F-18, SU-25/30/32/35/37 and the B-2 pits have added to the libraries to increase the ‘immersion’ effects and to better represent 3D ‘depth’…
3) Maverick missiles no longer hit ‘behind’ the target if launched close to the minimum ranges. This fix enables the player to better simulate the full use of the weapon at all target distances.
ENHANCEMENTS
1) All Helo Flight Models have been upgraded with contributions from Kaptor (Kapset Libraries) to better represent realistic performances.
2) All Helo skins have been altered to better represent the blades spinning, to give a more realistic representation of how they look during flight.
3) All Cockpits that have mirrors represented now have fully functional mirrors. This means you can now use the mirrors options in your cockpits for better SA (Situational Awareness) by keeping an eye on your 6:00 from the F1 forward view or F4 padlock view. All mirrors now reflect the new upgraded terrain, not the old default FA terrain.
(Side note - When flying a bomber, or any other aircraft with view limited cockpit (but this mainly applies to bombers and transports) scanning, hitting the F4 padlock key after you lockup a target will allow you to sweep completely around the aircraft cockpit with the arrow keys. All new pits in FA Futures are full pits with all frontal detailing included, even outside of the limited initial scan capabilities of the cockpit (F1 view). Thus if you use the scan arrows when in F4 view you will see at least 70% more of the cockpit then available in default F1 view.)
4) A) Weapons Changes – AGM-65E and AGM-65F Maverick versions now represented.
B) All air to ground and antiship weapons now project shadows! This includes gravity and guided A2G weapons.
C) New ‘weapon’ flares created. AI aircraft will drop these flares in a pre determined pattern during a2a and a2g low level encounters in high threat areas. The flares will diminish the effectiveness of IR weapons, but not to the degree of standard flares. Theses flares are modeled with smoke and the new flare graphics and are designed to add realism to combat encounters.
D) All (nearly) smoke trails have been upgraded to the transparent smoke effects to better reflect a realistic ‘look’ to the weapons during flight. The transparent smoke effects react to wind and ‘diminish’ themselves over time as real smoke would.
E) All combat armored vehicles now have ‘smoke grenades’ that they launch when in close combat with opposing forces. While effects are negligible on IR or laser guided weapons, they do diminish accuracy of optically guided AI cannons.
F) Durandal BLU-107 ant runway bombs now function in a realistic manner. Dropping directly behind the launching aircraft vertically retarded by parachute, then, once stabilized, launching themselves directly down vertically by rocket engine into the target runway and exploding. 12 to 16 of these weapons will be sufficient to destroy any runway in FA Futures as long as you target the runway itself closest to the airbase target box. You can drop them in a string along the runway itself and not just at the target box of the airbase. These weapons will also leave large creators of their own on the target once they explode.
G) Gau-8 cannon now smothers the entire nose of the A-10 Warthog when fired. The weapon will also knock out tanks at longer ranges if correctly aimed. The new HUD has a special targeting recticle.
5) Ground scenery:
A) Kimpo international airport has been improved now and has detailed runways overlaying the terrain tile runways.
B) Industrial factories (both IND1 and IND2) and the nuclear reactor cooling towers emit ‘smoke’ or ‘steam’ from their stacks, to better represent a functional facility. The objects carry ‘smoke’ as a weapon and are set to ‘attack’ enemy aircraft, ships, and ground vehicles at any range and will emit smoke throughout any mission.
C) The size of the NSK.MM file has been reduced by the elimination of the KS19 guns from the AAA Flak sites. However the AAA tracking radar is still at each site, to aid you in proper positioning of the KS-19 guns in your own missions. You simply check the AAA to be visible in the Korean map in the mission builder and you will see the tracking radars. This will allow you to locate the proper position to place the KS-19 guns in your mission on the AAA site terrain tiles where the radars are located. However those AAA sites which are on the extended terrain and outside the original 256 x 256 sized Korean map were left in place due to the fact that you can not zoom in the mission creator to place them correct. Thus it was better to leave the entire battery in place. I did this to reduce the number of items on the MM file to allow larger missions in multiplayer. It is quite simple to add whatever guns you need to their proper locations on the map if needed.
D) ALL SAM Sites are now controlled by their associated radars. Using the solution worked out by CAG for creating targetable SAM radar sites, that would knock out the entire site if the radar were destroyed for SA-3 (low blow), SA-4 (pat hand), SA-6 (long track), and the MIM-104 Patriots (ECR) radars, these sites are now fully represented. IF they are targeted by HARM missiles (or equivalent) once the radar vehicle is hit the site will no longer have long range capacity. However if you over fly the site then their backup short ranged optical guidance will engage you. Note the original self firing vehicles and launchers are still selectable in the object menu. The separate targetable sites are listed with a (Site) name next to the object name in the menu.
E) All airbases now show ‘damage effects’ when destroyed. If you destroy a runway it will display a cratered runway. This is available for both coalition runways in South Korea and North Korean Runways in the DPRK. However these effects are not present on highway runways or airstrips or Kimpo International Airport.
F) Craters can now be positioned to deny the use of runways to AI aircraft. They will cause the AI aircraft to explode if the AI aircraft lands on the runway and hit a crater (it will destroy human controlled aircraft also)
VEHICLES AND SHIPS AND SCENERY AIRCRAFT
6) All new vehicle skins have been added to upgrade some of the ground vehicles to more of a ‘photo realistic’ level. The M-1 Abrams has been dramatically improved. Plus it is now much more difficult to knockout to better represent this superior MBT.
7) All ships now have limited ‘wakes’ or ‘wave action’ along the hull to better represent the ships moving through the water. The LCACs now carry actual M1 tanks, LAV IFVs, or nothing at all, to allow the mission builder to show vehicles on the LCACs on the way to the beachhead and empty vehicles returning to the LHAs to reload…
All ‘parked’ Helos now have stationary blades to make deck parked helos on carrier more realistic.
9) All scenery aircraft now have shadows that move with the direction of the object, instead of always facing north, thus allowing you to place these scenery aircraft in any direction and still have correctly placed shadows.
10) Game UI Screens: All new Graphical User Interface screens have been created for FA Futures, changing some of the familiar buttons and backgrounds to new images, hopefully increasing the enjoyment of the player.
11) All naval aircraft have had their skins upgraded to allow the use of full graphics in the game. They no longer limit you in applied shading. All aircraft that have editable canopy skins have been modified to use an adapted version of Jimbos canopy skin. Jimbo's F-18 and limited portions of his F-14 have been adapted and upgraded to FA Futures standards. Jimbos EXCELLENT afterburner graphic has also beenincorporated! Thanks again Jimbo!!
RESULT
All these fixes have resulted in a much improved library set with a higher degree of ‘immersion’ and better ‘playability’ in the sim. The number of mission objects can be increased due to the smaller NSK.MM file. The number of coop missions within the FA Futures directories is nearly doubled allowing the player to add more missions without encountering the file number limitation error. All in all this is a much improved version!
Enjoy!
CAG out...