Strike fighters: project 1

[cam0flage 0]

My friend lent me the Strike Fighters Project 1 a couple of weeks ago, and now I'm totally hooked on it. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's basically a simulator where you can fly several 60's fighters/bombers, such as different variants of A-4/F-4/F-100/F-104. Unfortunately one cannot fly any Soviet planes.

So what I'm asking, does anybody else play this game? We could maybe share some tactics. Just for the pleasure of non-SFP1 players I decided also to post some screenshots; check them and the official website out below.

Strike Fighters: Project 1 official homepage

MiG-17 takes a few shots at my F-4 Phantom II

My F-4 Phantom II drops a warm shower of napalm on advancing enemy T-55As.

An AI MiG-17 with airbrakes deployed turns another AI F-100 into a fireball

[mr. Duck 0]

The graphics remind me of falcon4.0 with the latest patches somehow...

And about the tactics, well, in general (most CFS) it's a good idea too try and get on you're target's six. Making quick turns at corner speed, in falcon4's F-16 that is (for me) between 380-440 knots.

Flying close to the ground (100-200 feet) is quite handy when you're on a strike mission in enemy territory, also don't fly too long in a straight line when you are behind enemy lines.

It's better to avoid being shot at than to dodge a missile, so try to avoid situations where you would fly over the enemy on the ground. If you really have too then do it at a high speed (500+ knots)

Check you're six alot of times when you're in enemy territory.

And always try too shoot down the enemy BVR.

That's everything I can come up with (for now). It's for falcon4 yes, but as I said before, this could come in handy in there too.

[Tex -USMC- 0]

I heard it was pretty buggy

[mr. Duck 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Tex [uSMC] @ Jan. 27 2003,16:51)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I heard it was pretty buggy<span id='postcolor'>

What? Falcon or strike fighters?

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

both!

[John C Flett 0]

The initial US release of Strike Fighters was a very shoddy affair, what should really have been no more than a demo got a commercial release. Most of the problems should have been sorted by the time of its UK release. By all accounts though even the incomplete version won a lot of praise.

[mr. Duck 0]

7--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Albert Schweizer @ Jan. 27 2003,177)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">both!<span id='postcolor'>

Falcon isn't quite soo buggy anymore. It's playable now. It get's better while time goes by. I'm not sure about strike fighter though.

edit:

Anyway, I think I cut the falcon stuff now before some mod tells me to discuss it at a falcon forum.

[cam0flage 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">The initial US release of Strike Fighters was a very shoddy affair, what should really have been no more than a demo got a commercial release. Most of the problems should have been sorted by the time of its UK release. By all accounts though even the incomplete version won a lot of praise.<span id='postcolor'>

Yes, I think the distributor wanted the game out as early as possible, and they had to release a non-finished product. The UK version was also quite buggy, with horrible bugs like AI not firing missiles and all of the AAA guns were missing. There was a patch released a week ago with a lot of fixes, and now it's much more better when you got some AA-2 Atolls coming after you.

About the AA-2 Atoll, there is an interesting story behind it, here's a quote from fas.org:

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">The 24 September 1958 Chinese acquisition of an American AIM-9B Sidewinder missile marked the beginning of a breakthrough in the development of Soviet air-to-air missiles. The missile, fired from a Taiwanese F-86 Sabre aircraft, lodged without exploding in a Chinese MiG-17. The missile was sent to Toropov's engineering office to be copied, and the product the K-13, long the most popular Soviet air-to-air missile.<span id='postcolor'>

Mr. Duck, thank you for your advice, I might try to implement some of the tactics you shared. There's just a few problems; most of the MiGs are actually capable of outmaneuvering the U.S. aircraft. They climb and turn faster, so it's pretty hard to get on their tail. Also, flying at NOE during CAS/strike missions is pretty risky when you got ZU-23s and other AA guns deployed around the target, I've noticed a few times that my Phantom's wings look like swiss cheese

[theavonlady 2]

Is the terrain all flat in this game? Just curious, basing myself on your pics.

[cam0flage 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Is the terrain all flat in this game? Just curious, basing myself on your pics.<span id='postcolor'>

No, there's some mountains too, but the map where you can play is a fictional country in the Middle East, so it's pretty much desert and fields. I've been checking out some fan sites and there seems to be a Vietnam map and campaign in the works!

[STS_SolidSnake 0]

Yeah i play that game, not much interesting

[FSPilot 0]

I've heard of it, didn't pick it up though.  You can do more in falcon 4.

[John C Flett 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">The UK version was also quite buggy<span id='postcolor'>

Past tense? You're saying the UK version is out cause I've not seen it and last release list I saw had it for a next month?

[edc 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Unfortunately one cannot fly any Soviet planes.

<span id='postcolor'>

Actually, you can fly all the planes by editing their ini's. Its really pretty easy. Search SimHQ to find instructions.

One of the really good things about SFP1 is that its made so it will be easy for modders to change stuff. There is a lot of extra code thats their so that it can be expanded in the future.

[dayglow 2]

One of the best dogfight sims I have played in a long time, really reminds me of Fighter Anthology. The modding community is behind it and new planes are coming out. Already an A-1H Skyraider has been released and looks great. The graphics in the sim itself are quite good. The terrain is drab, but it's more of the location than the engine. The planes look amazing with selfshadows and metalic skins that look real. They reflect light and just look like metal, not 'silver' colour.

Remember the US jets do have an advantage in thrust and can power it's way through a dogfight. Since the patch the Mig-17 has been calmed down into a realistic fighter . Use the vertical and yo yo a lot and you should be able to get a good shot at the mig. One thing that is frustrating is on an earlier F-4 you don't have a cannon and the missiles are very poor (just like RL for the time period) so often you will fire them off without hitting anything and have to disengage from the fight.

It is a very buggy sim, but remember it's basically the project of 1 guy. You know how people flame and say 'if you don't like it then go build your own sim', well that's what TK did. He didn't see any sims being made for the time period and decided to make one himself with no support, publisher, etc. Stratigy First picked up the project late in the development and forced it out the door. Really post patch P1 should be seen as what the initial release should be close to. Buggy, but playable.