From: masten@beta.lanl.gov (David A. Masten)
Subject: Re: Flight sim news from CGW
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 14:14:14 GMT

In article (Phat H Tran) writes:
>In article (David A. Masten) writes:
>>In article (Phat H Tran) writes:
   
>>>The D patch is
>>>almost perfect, and I can't really think of too much that the E patch
>>>can improve.  They've done more than any other company would.
  
>>But "almost perfect"?  Sorry, no way.  I can list a hundred things that
>>are still wrong or can be improved.  Wanna list? 
  
>I knew somebody was going to challenge me on that... Okay what's wrong
>with D?  (I don't wanna know what can be improved, because Falcon has
>so many facets that it's just asking for criticism from nitpickers.)
>Phat.

And I knew you would respond :-)
Didn't quite make it to a hundred, but its pretty big.  Sorry, it also
includes some suggestions, but they're at the end so you can ignore
them.  Enjoy!  Now that I got this off my chest, I'll get a life :-)

----------------------------------------------------------

Here is my list of F3 problems, many of which you're probably tired of
seeing.  I listed them where I saw them or where they have their most
obvious effect.  Doesn't mean that's the only place they appear.  Has
anyone got some others?

 IFF tone still rarely remains on (very minor).

 Sound disabled after returning from mid-flight replay (ditto).

 Fuel management is f*cked:
  Jet has greater range at AB1 than at 60%,100% power (complex).
  Jet has greater range at sea level than high altitude.

 Performance not very load dependent (31500+ vs empty weight):
  Same cruise speed (mil power) with high load/drag as in empty (hifi)
  Approx same climb rate with high load/drag as in empty (complex, hifi).
  Rated G loads are ignored (8+ G at any load).

 Jet will reach supersonic speed in a 60 degree climb from takeoff
 (complex).  Bogus!

 While in hifi it will only go about 300-350 knots in this climb.  But
 that speed oscillates, then increases past 40000 ft.  Should probably max
 out at lower altitude than max level cruise since in climb induced drag
 is less important effect (not sure of this).

 Hifi stick much too sensitive.  Should only have this high roll/pitch
 rate at full stick pressure/deflection.  I don't use hifi mode because of
 this.

 Nose wheel steering (and rudder?) is flakey.  Sometimes doesn't respond,
 sometimes over-responds (not talking dependence on airspeed).  Seem
 better now that I use pedals.

 Hifi radar altitude coverage doesn't always increase with range setting
 (would expect a cone to widen with range).

 Hifi radar will let you see any object within altitude coverage even if
 it is right next to you (again in narrow part of cone).

 Hifi radar often loses target when attempting to go from AIR to SAM mode
 (due to target no longer in altitude band when SAM switches range??).  SH
 says the reduce radar effectiveness is due to the D improvements in enemy
 ECM.  Than how come SAM radar still usually locks?

 Air-ground weapons give incorrect target range in HUD.

 Red Flag problems:

  AAA batteries never fire.

  Sometimes SA-6 batteries are not present if only one is specified.

  Enemy forces aren't always placed where you put them (yes I know they
  move).

  Seen an SA-6 battery travel at a ground speed of ~400 knots!

  Enemy radar bases (in Nellis) never broadcast (not a bug but still wish
  they would).

  Wingmen saying "gone winchester" (presumably dropped ordnance, but I
  never see this) for no reason (no enemy planes or radar) with certain
  loads (AGMs) but not others (bombs).

  Can set unrealistically high speeds, example: copters at 400 knots.

  Copters flying at 600 knots (even when set to lower speeds) and firing
  missiles.

  Planes still occasionally decide to dig for oil.  I never see the
  escorting Mig27's in Review 2 as they start below ground and crash when
  they climb to ground level!  Su25's and AN12's seem most prone to crash
  dives.

  Dogfight rating overflows(?) to a low value if a highly rated pilot
  completes a dogfight mission succesfully.

  Mig19's have radar (conflicts with manual but not reality).

  Ditto on some missile loads.

  Many planes seem to turn and climb too well: SU24, SU25, AN12...

  Acceleration of virtually ALL planes is just about same.  I think they
  are full of sh*t when they say each plane is individually modeled.
  I checked this in some RF missions (330 knots to 600 knots)

  Acceleration is better with autopilot (says Mil power) than manually
  controlled at full Mil *or* AB5!  I think this manifests when your
  wingmen seem to be able to accelerate faster than you.
  Again, investigated this in the above RF missions.

  Has anyone ever gotten the "bracket" or "drag" commands to work?  All I
  get is "unable".  Yes I'm following the manual's procedures.


Post-mission:

  Medals given to pilots who did NOTHING.

  Gives credit for downing planes after non-lethal gun/missile hits.  Same
  plane may later down *you*.

  May say BVR kill for a 1 mile missile shot.

  If you end a mission before all allies are destroyed, the game computes
  survivors but will never assign more kills unless you continue to watch
  the mission.

  No assesment of non-F16 flights (RF or campaign).

  You need to kill seven targets in ground strike missions for a success.
  I had one where my ground forces killed them all before I got there.
  End result...failure.

ACMI

  Using FFwd often results in a hang or other ACMI screwup.

  Use of index pointer more often results in a crash.

Campaign

  Too many damn enemies.  Won't argue whether this is realistic or not (I
  think not) but I would *strongly* like to see this made adjustable.

  Doesn't always tell you what other allies are in the area, or even
  flying with you.  Don't you think this would be part of a brief?

  As another mentioned, there always seem to be AN12's hanging around your
  base.  Wouldn't other flights scramble?

More nits:
  Mission recap doesn't list what non-F16 flights accomplish.

  Remember getting CAP'ed by A4's.  Isn't this bass-ackwards?


Some other small things I'd like to see:

  Time based option to waypoints.

  Copy ordnance to other planes. (in RF missions)

  SAM mode get independantly adjustable range.

  Enemy tracking off all planes in ACMI, not just the ones the computer
  decides are close enough to you.

  A quick key to repeat the same mission.

In final:

Yep the game does a lot, and is probably still the best sim.  But SH is
full of it with their flight model hype.  C'mon folks, you don't really
buy into it do you?  The fuel management and load affects, identical (and
inaccurate) modelling of enemies, and discrepancies between autopilot and
manual performance detract from gameplay.  The many campaign nits, headed
by bogey count, comprise my next major beef.  Red Flag could be great, but
it takes me so many iterations to get it right (due to bugs) that I often
lose interest.