Eagle Driver

Q: Will AI helos be able to deflect gun turrets like the AH-64 and AH-1W? Q: I know the AI is evolving and uses the SFM and all that, but will AI jets use different tactics for each jet? For example, Eagle likes to use TWS and turn away, Flankers like to F-pole, etc. REQUEST: The water thing you have goin' on in LO really has to go. As it is, water is modelled under the entire map, with lakes represented as windows to the water below. There are two big problems with this: - Water sucks up FPS, and with it being rendered under everything, it's horribly inefficient with resources. I love the highest water settings, and my computer can handle it over water but not land, that sucks. - When flying over a lake that's about 3000ft ASL, your depth perception is totally gone. One lake in particular deep in the Caucasus gives me headaches to fly over.

Okay, I've been thinking about this for a year now and it's getting on my nerves. First off, Lock-On's selection of aircraft is and has been pitiful, but this instance stands out above all others. The F-15E is the BACKBONE of the USAF's gound-attack, it was assigned with the extremely important SCUD-hunt role when the paint was still fresh. One thing that really boiled my blood was that the Su-34 was included in the game. Umm... what? IIRC, they've only built something like ten of those, against 225 F-15E, which has already seen battle and is far more likely to do so in the future. It won a contract against highly advanced and cheaper Sukhois in Singapore. With DCS making a shift to helicopters, it will be easy to just sweep it under the rug and say that jets are a second priority at this stage, but the MudHen is probably the single greatest aerial threat to a Ka-50, they're low, in the weeds, and when a column of Abrams start to blow up out of nowhere, the AWACS directs the Strike Eagles. It's the Paveway king, with insane AG mapping radar and satanic no-vis capabilities, it made history as the first and only aircraft to make an air-to-air kill with a GBU, against a helo. Can you imagine the utter hell of being in your Hokum, and being CCRP'ed with rockeyes? Twelve of them? I'm not saying we should make it flyable, FighterOps is already doing that, but I do whole-heartedly think that it deserves a place as an AI aircraft, you've already got an F-15 model as a base. PS - The MudHen is also a good place to start thinking about nuclear weapons like the B61, of which the F-15E can carry five IIRC.

Honestly, I don't see why the Mi-28 is up there. I mean, there was a thread a while back specifically asking for it, and I believe the answer was the at is was too classified, like the Longbow. Anyway, I voted AH-1 because the Super Cobra is the sexiest helo ever, go Marines, God Bless America. However, that's just me choosing the chopper I'd like most to see respectfully put into the king of helo sims. When it comes down to a helo I think deserves most to be modelled in the game, it's Mi-24. Let's start it off right now, I don't like the beast all that much. However, I think it would be amazing, sitting in that bubble, TrackIR-ing the world around me, looking above at the bubbleboy flying the copter, with such a unique piece of hardware as the Mi-24. I don't think it's the most capable, but it's definately a chunk of junk worthy of being simulated.

I don't know how many here have heard of what the FighterOps project is going to do for training, but I think you can safely call it the ultimate. Instead of figuring out what the best method might be, they've let the USAF figure that out and made the training a simulation in itself, their first module will be entirely devoted to basic training to learn how to fly. Of course, this is quite extreme, but to have a nice little flight school, like with animated briefings and narration, with MSFS-style flying to get used to the system, that would be fine. FC's training for the F-15 can be summed up like so: Flying: It's just like the A-10, but everything looks different, have fun. Radar: Let's go over everything once over, in text, with a maximum of acronyms. AIM-9 / Gun: Meh, it's so easy I never watched it... RWR: This is how you know something's shooting at you, good luck. *BOOM* HOJ: When ECM is going, missiles use pure pursuit. Nevermind that R-27ER that's leading us. Missile Evasion: Fly Su-27 or get out. Hey, it's better than dropping a Falcon 4.0 manual, but I learned more about flying the Eagle from Ironhand than the tutorials, and he doesn't do Eagle tutorials. My personal opinion is that if there's something important (like midair refuelling or REAL BFM) that you have to dig in the manual for, the training's not good enough.