Zephyr Net

probably one of the most important factors for me when choosing a simulation game is realism. don't know about you but i like the game to be as real as it gets. I don't mean that in terms of graphics but mostly in gameplay. For example i love jane's f-15. The cockpit controls, pilot interactions and the smooth gameplay. Graphics are not that bad either. After playing games like f-15 and lock-on i have sort of lost it for FA (not totally). i still play FA but its frequent crashes and "linear" gameplay bothers me now more than ever. by linear i mean i.e. an enemy aircraft will definitely get a lock-on you or that 100% it will detect you. The ground radar is another example, it shows and detects every single object on the ground. if you have 300 tanks, it will show all of it, even on a mig-23 radar. in jane's f-15 ground targets show-up based on your altitude, distance speed and sometimes the terrain. graphics wise FA is pretty horrible for today's standard with its 2D fixed cockpit being probably the worst part of it. But it can be improved as CAG has demonstrated in his FAF korea libs. anyway this is something i wanted to share and see your point of view on it. thanks.

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Belly full of HELL

Some of the things you mention can be easily changed with libs, others can be tweaked with a little more effort. The new cockpits of FA Futures and some older libs give the game more variety with new cockpits tailored to more aircraft. But I agree that 3D cockpits with working MFDs add to immersion. The difference between 2D panel and 3D virtual cockpit in Longbow 2 for instance is night and day in terms of immersion.

IIRC CAG did some mods to aircraft AI, but I also agree that default FA is predictable and lacking in terms of combat feel. But I think games like F-15 also have relatively simplistic AI; the game is just faster paced and combat feels more hectic than FA. FA is easy to figure out and a player quickly analyze a situation. (It doesn't help that the Shift 4 target camera tells a lot too). One way to fix this might just be good, complex missions.

The radar complaint can be fixed with libs. Radars can be made ATA or ATG only, have severe limitations on their targeting abilities, etc. Targets can be made to not show up on radar (check box in the toolkit), or RCS/IR signature of any object can be modified.

Zephyr

If we ever get FAF released you will have little to complain about with the RADARs, they are quite radically different with my mods. If you do it right, and are patient and a little lucky you can quietly get behind a group of foes and gun them dead. AG RADAR is better too and FAF will have true Multi-mode, A2A and A2G RADARs as per the real aircraft.
Graphics are limited but they are not important to ME, I like the increased realisim in ops that FAF will bring.

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Fighting for justice with brains of steel

Let your anger be like the monkey which hides inside the piniata.

graphics are not important to me either however i do like a bit of combat feel. FA sometimes feels to slow and the time compression makes it 2 fast. but im pretty sure FAF is gonna be great, i have no doubt about that.

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Belly full of HELL

I hate to break it to you, but Lockon is anything but realeastic! It is strictly eyecandy, nothing more. The FMs are all wrong, as are the weapon parameters.

JF-15, however, is a very well thought out study simulation of a single aircraft. As is JF-18, as long as you use all the current updates. I helped in their advancements, as a member of Team SuperHornet...

FAF Korea 2008-2009 ,on the other hand, is a survey simulation that is also a much more realeastic combat simulation(within reason) when compared to default FA. All the items in the game are much improved, starting with the terrain and advancing to all items (flyable, scenery, weaponry, and AI controlled). All the sensors and countermenasures in the game have been improved. ECM/CHAFF/FLARE and IR/RADAR/GPS/LASER/HOJ have been improved or newly implemented (HOJ = Home On Jam which now allows the multiplayer pilot to attack aircraft that are hidden from RADAR aquisition by their jammer) to make the FAF pilot work harder to accomplish his mission and return home alive. Spoofing the enemies RADARs via terrain masking and/or beaming the radar or the inbound missile, as well as jamming it with white noise are now a reality. The FMs are vastly improved and require the pilot to know his bird to get the most out of its potential, and to survive a much more releastic landing procedure...

The campaigns are reworked, and FAF will also be available with all new multiplayer versions of these new missions. I could continue to go on, but the list is long, but suffice it to say you will feel like you are flying an all new simulation, in flight as well as in the menu GUI...

The only other game that surpasses it, in my opinion, is Falcon 4.0 and only with every current update available. It is the best of both worlds, as it began as a single aircraft simulator (F-16) and has grown into a survey sim like FA. However, the flight models for all the other aircraft are basically adaptations of the original F-16 FM. The avionics are just superb and can not be approached by any other sim today. However this has a downside of complexitiy that has driven some away from the sim.

The campaign in Falcon 4.0 will always be superior as it is a constantly changing thing, but in FAF Korea, you will find the air/ground/naval war to be highly improved with very challenging missions, using all new weapons, and facing all new, much deadlier, threats, especially in multiplayer, where your survival will strictly depend on your SA (Situational Awareness) of what the current and projected threats are along your axis of flight. Simply put, if you relax, you will die...

In addition, you concern about game speed has been addressed, with the new game having an option in the popdown inflight menu to select realeastic flight speed for the game...

As for eyecandy we have some to. All the shapes have been improved and the skins have been heavily updated. The low resolution crap that shipped with the game are all gone. Scenery items, ships, ground vehicles, aircraft, and even the weapons themselves have been accurately skinned(within reason). The use of compressed skins has allowed higher detail. However, the game is still limited by its original graphics engine, but what could be done, has been done to improve the overall experience...

I hope it will be flown and enjoyed by sim users today. It still has problems, as it is based on FA and has to work within its known limits, but overall its a great tool to learn online aircombat and a vast improvement over what was, and is, currently available.

I hope this helps you understand what is going to be available for FA very very soon...


CAG out...

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FA Futures/FA-2 is Still Being Worked On and Will Be Released...

that's great cag and as i said i have no doubt that faf will go beyond my expectations. i can't wait for it to be release tbh, im checking this forum everyday for release news.

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Belly full of HELL