Falcon 4: Allied Force

[crashdome 3]

I agree there were flaws, but in 1998 that wasn't too uncommon.

I just got back from 3 different stores. No one even heard of it. One guy at EBGames said it was 'discontinued' which can also be inventory speak for 'we aren't buying any' or 'we've sold our limited supply'.

I really hate that place anyway. I'm gonna order it and have it shipped. Damn... and I was all giddy too.

[USSRsniper 0]

Does this game has 3d cockpit? OR its like in old Falcon 4 2d cockpit... I saw all Official screens and never saw screenshots with 3d panel. And you can fly only F-16? heard from some people you can fly more then F-16

[crashdome 3]

Quote[/b] ]3D cockpit

All 3D cockpits match their 2D counterparts, meaning the 2D and 3D pits use the same textures. Although 2D cockpits have their advantages, the future is 3D.  Looking ahead, we’ll be investing considerable resources into fully-functional 3D pits with detail and functionality to match if not surpass the 2D pits and Track IR is already supported in Allied Force.

http://www.lead-pursuit.com/CPIT_01.htm (bottom of page)

You can fly other aircraft if you use the community mods instead of purchasing Allied Force (need orig Falcon 4). They're pretty cool too, just don't plan on playing MP with em. It's super hard to get it to work

[KeyCat 131]

I agree there were flaws, but in 1998 that wasn't too uncommon.  

Hehe that was putting it lightly  

Falcon 4 1.08us had bugs in the 1 000's (no kidding) and the groundwar was FUBAR. Things got alot better with the hard working community (RP/SP/FF/BMS etc.) but many things was/is still broken.

Without all the community fixes I think Falcon 4 would be remembered as the biggest fiasco ever! MPS/Hasbro's vision was great but IMO they failed to deliver - badly!

That being said I really hope the new IP holders (Lead Pursuit) will pull it off this time and things looks quite good after reading some about the initial release of F4:AF. I don't expect it to be 100% bug free but if they can iron out most of the problems and get it stable at first then continue working on it (fixing bugs/adding new features and updating the graphics engine) I think they and we have a winner in our hands - time will tell!

@ bn880: You should defiently check out F4:AF! Even with the flaws in the original F4 1.08us + community fixes the dynamic campaign is one of a kind! Truly immersive as CrashDome depicted above...

/Christer (a.k.a KeyCat)

[bn880 5]

Okay I'm convinced.

[crashdome 3]

I know your convinced already, but I got this from an article at SimHQ

Quote[/b] ]A very nice feature of F4:AF is the ability to control your ground forces if you are so inclined (and competent) to do so. Previous versions of F4 allowed for this, but often it was an exercise in futility and it felt more like you were herding sheep than directing battle hardened units. Units that I ordered to move did so expeditiously and directly. In this example I moved a Mechanized Brigade to engage some enemy armor. The nicest feature is that you can elect to handoff control of the unit once again to the HQ at the termination of the move, or at any time between. Thus you don't have to remember to keep managing units that you've manipulated.

I am getting more and more impressed with every tidbit of info I get about it. I've heard some flaws are still existant, however, they do not affect me very much because I've never been concerned over things they speak of. (Ranging from graphical to mispellings to night vision realism)

I'm still amazed too much by all this other stuff.

I've got some projects to finish, but afterwards I'd like to possibly set up a small campaign server for us OFP fans. Since the campaign is realtime I'd probably let it go for 24 hours a day and anyone here could connect and see who's online or just try and blast away at the enemy. I must test out the requirements/stability before I do though...

[Supah 0]

Sounds pretty cool Hope it wont be impossible to find where I live.

[Bordoy 0]

Sounds well good. What kind of scenarios are there. I see screenshots of the Italian Peninsula and the Korean Peninsula. Anything else?

[Supah 0]

Sounds well good. What kind of scenarios are there. I see screenshots of the Italian Peninsula and the Korean Peninsula. Anything else?

Not ATM but trust me knowing the old Falcon4 those will keep you busy for a while and who knows ... they might add theatres!

[Fork122 0]

I just bought Falcon 4.0: Allied Force today. I never played the original so I have alot to learn. I've spent alot of time just reading the manual and try some of the training. I just got my first air-to-air kill with the cannon (Only because I couldn't figure out how to switch to missles ).

Anyways, I know some of you guys have played the original Falcon 4.0; Any tips for someone just starting out in F4?

[Blake 0]

I remember flying in online squadron back in 2000 and we had great campaign coop in Korean peninsular. SU-27s from China gave us hell until we managed to bomb their air bases then started to fly more CAS missions to help ROK/US forces finally push for victory.

Probably the best sim for online coop, the campaign engine is spectacular. Of course, more modern sims offer more eye candy but that has never been the issue for me.

[crashdome 3]

Quote[/b] ]Anyways, I know some of you guys have played the original Falcon 4.0; Any tips for someone just starting out in F4?

Play alot of the training missions..... I mean ALOT. Play with all the buttons too. Learn your jet inside and out. If you can find manuals for the SP3 and SP4 series of patches to the original Falcon 4, they have alot of good explanations and tips. Although, some items may not apply to this product.

(My copy just arrived today.... the day before my b-day! Best present I got since the original F4 I got as a b-day gift   [edit] Note: I did not get OFP as a gift so that doesnt count )

*Links to my docs of SP3 and Sp4: Falcon4 Docs

[hellfish6 7]

I like the idea of your small campaign server. I'd join it when I get F4.

So many games to get this summer - Supreme Ruler 2010, F4AF, T-72 BOF and probably a couple more I'm forgetting.

[Fork122 0]

Looks like I have another noob question

It's the settings there's something called ACMI Filesize, it looks like this:

What does that change and what should I set it at?

Thanks for helping out

[crashdome 3]

ACMI:

Thats for inflight recording of your flight.

You can play it back later for "analysis" if you wish.

The bigger it is.. the longer the recording but the more resources used.

Regarding the campaign server:

I need to understand bandwidth requirements for each payer. I've only got a 384kb upstream bandwidth at home.. (about 40Kb). I'm not sure what I can handle in terms of # of players. I'd use a 1.5mb line on another server, but I've only got remote access to it and cannot launch the server remotely (since it requires launching the game). Unless anyone knows a commandline method to launch it?

Other than that, I can most certainly host a small session from my home machine at a predefined time.

[Fork122 0]

A co-op campaign with people from the BI Forums would be fun.

Too bad I'm nowhere even close to being ready to fly. Right now I'm still just working on takeoffs and landings. Landings seem to be pretty tricky.

Most of my landings end up like this:

And when I actually do get on the runway without killing myself I end up going way to fast and run into the fence at the end of the airfield:

And to think that I thought IL2: Sturmovik was hard

[ozanzac 0]

My tip to a nice landing......listen to what Air Traffic Control has to say after making a request to land.

Doing that once or twice will get you into the groove, and once you know what you're doing, to cut the landing pattern things short, simply declare an emergency, then ask for clearance to land on final approach, and land!

If I recall correctly, k, is the landing gear brake, and b, is the air brake. Aim to land at around 220 knots (that's my usual target.....probably a bit too fast, but when you're in a tight turn with zero approach, speed is of the essence ) and don't forget to flare for a smooth landing. I'd create an ACMI file for you, but my PC is barebones at the momment, awaiting an upgrade.

[crashdome 3]

I just read through some of the manual.....

I missed the whole AWACS feature doing my research before I got it....that is fricken beautiful. You can actually direct flights. In MP that has to be a glorious sight.

Tip on landings:

When turning towards runway you want to be at about 180k w/ the airbrakes on (airbrakes on always - it helps keep your airspeed under control since there is less erratic movements of the throttle)

Keep the flight path marker about 100 yards up the runway at first - then drop your gear.

As you approach the runway and slow to about 150-170, the flight path marker will drop by itself towards your desired landing position on the runway.

It should also be around the -5 degree line of your ladder - you'll see the little  |-- --| marker if you got your ILS on.

If your flight path marker drops below that too far - you are dropping too fast and need to speed up.

Do NOT pitch up above 12 degrees. You'll slap your tail.

I do not do the best landings either, but that works for me 99% of the time.

[Supah 0]

If my memory serves me well IRL the best AOA on approach was about 7 degrees in a clean ship and 5 when your carrying the underbelly fueltank or an orpheus pod (dutch built recon). Hmmm all I have at hand ATM is my block 10 Avionics manual which does do you much good in this matter

[bn880 5]

Got it a few days ago, and for first impressinos I must say it is disappointing, i will give you reasons:

1. The manual is a remake of the old one, except that it is less informative, and more disorganized. It is very un-reliable. Plus it looks like a 13 year old wrote that 716 page manual. You guys should have seen the work of art Tornado had for a manual... compared to this.

2. The graphics are not really much better than F4 BMS2.

3. The controller setup is really non existant, unlike BMS 2.0, you just select which controller to use, no mapping of any axis, no mixing like BMS 2.

4. NVidia CTD on alt-tab.

5. Sound engine is still poor.

6. Flight model is actually quite bland, no real turbulance or anything to make the aircraft fidgit about from anything.

7. Currently the game is only moddable through LP.

Now the upshots:

It's extremely complex and realistic overall, very in-depth.

The multiplayer makes sense and I hear it works well now.

It IS more stable that BMS2.

LP will introduce the missing controller setups.

LP will try to fix the Nvidia CTD.

You get the quick start 108 page manual, which IS nice, and well written. WHEN YOU ORDER WITH BOX < check for this in detail

There is a built in bug report feature, which auto sends to LP.

Many more cool things.

So anyway, I'm sure it will be a great title for a lot of MP Coop Campaign action, however there are very silly problems with it at the moment. I'm disappointed with what it COULD have been and is not, but happy with what it is and will be.

[crashdome 3]

I had no idea you had the original F4, bn880!

My personal view:

In comparison to community mods: No improvement - only makes some of the improvements "Official"

In comparison to original F4 (for newcomers): Much much improvement functionality-wise for every combat flight-sim enthusiast!

I wasn't as disappointed as you, only because I dropped playing the orig w/ mods simply because I was constantly CTD in the middle of an important flight. Dances were horrid. etc..etc.. I like stability over everything. I'm kinda weird that way.

Anyway, I hope F4:AF takes off....

In the mean-time:

I have a dedicated server running (AMD 2400 1gb Ram etc..)

but my bandwidth is very disproportionate (spell check! at 8mb down/384kb up

*EDIT* No VPN needed now

You can find out my IP address for the server and all info on how to connect on this web page: My Webpage

It'll be lit up green if it is running.

I'll leave it running for a few days. Max # of Players is 5 due to upload constraints.

I'd like feedback on your ability to Connect to Server, and your overall flight experience. If all goes well, I'll keep it around for a long time.

I'll monitor this thread for awhile.

Also

TeamSpeak is also available at above IP address on port 8769 Password= falcon4

However, it'll just eat bandwidth so I suggest either using your own if you are with buddies or chatting via text if possible

[bn880 5]

Yes I played around with F4 + SP4.2 + BMS2 lately before buying AF.

F4 was of course free.

Anwyay, another big disappointment is the LAN/Internet no-mixing for the dedicated server.

So what if you have stability, if you lack some of the basic and primary requirements of a modern game/sim. I am really hoping they fix this up somewhat.

[crashdome 3]

Well, while I agree with that statement, I look at it a bit differently.

What modern sim has the features and capabilities of F4... flight model and graphics aside?

LOMAC had just as much difficulty handling NAT in MP as Falcon 4 if I remember correctly (or was it IL2?).

However, LOMAC had good Flight Model and graphics, but the "realism" of the aircraft, ATC, AI, and campaign? where big turn offs for me having experienced even the original bugged up version of F4. I ended up shelving LOMAC and going back to F4 (after 2 years of neglect) since I was completely unsatisfied with the immersion.

Keep in mind this is the beginning of a re-coding of an 8 year old product!!  

I have high hopes although it could become a disaster real fast. Maybe it's just nostalgia, or maybe it's just me fantasizing again, but I really thought that this company (putting actual effort to legally code updates) did a good thing. It was worth my $30 anyway...

*EDIT* Also since I experienced the whole community disaster since day one, I might have a more biased view of things. SP4.2 is a wonderful update and is definately better than AF, but it is also very unstable in MP.

[bn880 5]

Yes I know about LOMAC, quite amusing...

I know, SP4.2/BMS2 are really not good under MP... I agree about what you like in this sim, though I must insist that for the money I paid for it, it should be a little more improved over a free version, at least with no CTD for NVIDIA cards (WTF did htey not have an NVIDIA card to test with?), a real dedicated server with LAN/Internet mixing, and some very god damn important controller axis setups.

Okay so they said they will do 2 of 3, now time to bug them about the LAN/Internet mixing.

[crashdome 3]

I'll back ya up on that one