From: blj@kepler.unh.edu (Brian L Johnson)
Subject: Falcon 3.01 (OFT)
Followup-To: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games
Organization: University of New Hampshire  -  Durham, NH
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 14:31:42 GMT

1) ground/sky detail seems better (at least in Korea) at high setting (don't
 know about maximum), but frame rate seems to be correspondingly a bit slower.
 It was not really noticeable with version d (on a 386/33), but I am more 
 aware of it now (it is not bad and doesn't detract from the enjoyment of 
 the game, but it is noticeable except when things get exciting).  Clouds
 appear more "fluffy" now.  Ground targets seem easier to pick out too, but 
 that may be due to the green ground coloration.  Ground detail seems to go
 further towards the horizon.

2) night missions are much more interesting.  I have read about pilots who
 have lost their orientation at night, and "climbed" right into the ground.
 Well it almost happened to me last night.  I was busy evading a sam when
 suddenly I was getting the "caution, caution" (or is it warning, now I 
 am typing this I don't remember the exact wording).  A glance at the 
 instruments showed I was flying upside down, so was actually in an inverted
 dive when I thought I was climbing.  Missed the ground by about 100' 
 (I'll never complain about that ground proximity warning again!). As an 
 earlier poster stated, I would hate to lose instrumentation!  You are 
 fighting and flying strictly on instruments.  I did note the "blackout makes
 things visible" feature someone else mentioned.  Ground lights are rather
 nice, particularly the runway.

3) the caution/warning vocalization is a bit less anoyning - I think they 
 turned down the volume on it a bit.  As others have noted, most (all?) of the
 radio messages are now vocalized.

4) on standard difficulty setting, you can still get blasted on your runway.
 Second mission I flew, I was getting the Bandit message from my wingmen as
 I turned on my engine, and before my plane was moving one wingman had already
 been shot down.  I got nailed on the runway before I even got up to 100kts.

5) I didn't get to see "nessie" on the opening scene as planes were too high.

6) After I had bailed out, a plane went past well below me (I was quite high,
 he was near the ground), but the image of the plane went over the parachute.
 It also seems that the detail in this view is a bit better, as is the "7"
 view.

7) the game seems to take longer to load and to switch screens.  I also now
 get flashes of color on the screen between major scene changes (when the
 screen blanks) which I didn't have with version d.  I have had no problems
 once the new scene is displayed, however.

8) on a CAS mission, I got shot down just as we reached the CAS waypoint.
 My wingmen immediately headed for home without firing shot (there were 
 little brown dots all over the place too)!  I also noted on another CAS 
 mission where I was on autopilot (I was talking to my son and hadn't been
 paying attention to how close I was), as soon as the waypoint was reached,
 the plane simply headed for home (the next waypoint), again not a shot
 fired.  Maybe this also happens in the other versions, and I had just never
 encountered the same situation before.

Brian Johnson
blj@mithrandir.cs.unh.edu