Open Falcon 4.7 Released!

[A.S]

Open Falcon 4.7 Released!

 

OF 4.7 Installer

http://www.steekr.com/n/50-17/share/LNK14894953a8c13df7f/

 

OF 4.7 Release Notes (pdf)

http://www.steekr.com/n/50-17/share/LNK51654953a94416b80/

 

:smilewink:

[BeetleJuice]

Yay!

[Teapot]

Fantastic!

Some people say it is an old sim; but I suspect that those people have not really taken the honest time to dig deep into the immersive environment provided by OF 4.x. It cannot in truth be categorized as an 'old' sim any longer in its current iteration.

Is it complete? No it isn't, but given it's share of warts, it is currently the most complete high fidelity air combat 'JET' simulation available that "I" have experienced. Some other sims are great in some aspects of the simulation (like graphics and 'feel of flight' for instance), but severely lacking in other area's of function and believability. OF4.x on the other-hand has made great strides in evening out the discrepancies that earlier existed (like the very subjective "feeling of flight" for example) to give a sustainable, credible and persistent experience of the suspension of disbelief on the theme of an air combat in a war environment simulation experience.

All this and more, courtesy of a great bunch of guys (and gals?) whom I've never met, who have each and every one contributed something freely and of great value, to share with the air combat flight simulation community. For these people I profess a deep affection, a camaraderie evoked by the sharing of the Open Falcon experience ... guys, I love you all and salute you!

 

Cheers!

Edited December 26, 2008 by Teapot
for clarification

[A.S]

nice words :thumbup:

[Francous]

Links dead now

[SuperKungFu]

any screenshots?

[A.S]

Links dead now

 

 

http://www.f4forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11417

 

@ Superkungfu

 

 

..you wish :harhar::poster_oops:

[SuperKungFu]

lol

[Acedy]

Yay! :thumbup:

[RedTiger]

Your resident Falcon-doubter is going to give this a try. :D I bought a mint-condition binder copy of Falcon 4.0 from Jason of GoGamer and 777 studios fame a while back both as a collector's item and in case I ever wanted to give OF a try.

 

So, I have a question. What is the mission editor in OF like? Is it any better than the one in Allied Force? Is there any version of Falcon that has an improved mission editor?

[BRraptor]

RedTiger, nope, the mission editor is the same as previous iterations of OF/SP series.

 

There are some restraints to what we can modify, and this is one of those areas.

[Boberro]

Do you know about Red Viper 5? It would been released December 15 but still no info :(

[Frostie]

Whats the additions over 4.5?

[Blacknemisis]

Question? Have the hud problem been solve? Where you are in the 3D cockpit and using TrackIR when you move your head the hud comes off the screen. Has that been solved?

[RedTiger]

[raptor];601555']RedTiger, nope, the mission editor is the same as previous iterations of OF/SP series.

 

There are some restraints to what we can modify, and this is one of those areas.

 

Oh well. I'll still probably give it a try.

[mvsgas]

Question? Have the hud problem been solve? Where you are in the 3D cockpit and using TrackIR when you move your head the hud comes off the screen. Has that been solved?

 

Not in OF, it has been fix in Red Viper or last Free Falcon.

[RedTiger]

Hey, I just thought of another question, one that I've always wondered about.

 

Do these community-made Falcon overhauls have documentation provided? I understand that the 4.7 file is an upgrade for the full 4.5 version. If I install 4.5 over Falcon 4.0, is there a full manual included in the finished install? Like the binder one, a manual that covers everything from scratch, not just updates on changes in the version.

[Teapot]

=RV= -AS- thanks mate! :)

 

@Frostie, off the top of my head there's been some graphical enhancements, sound enhancements, installe enhancements and flight data enhancements - particularly the Mirage 2K .. . but if you want a complete list, download and read the PDF.

 

@Red Tiger, it's fine to have doubts friend :D ... I disliked Falcon 4 for a very long time, mainly because the feeling of flight issue, but also because of stability concerns, the glitchy AI and the horrendous terrain! My own concerns have been alleviated beginning with Open Falcon 4.5; the feeling of flight is vastly enhanced ... dare I say on par with Flanker/Lock On. The graphics are vastly improved (especially with Tom Waetl's HiTiles for Falcon 4 addition!), the AI is believable and the campaigns are immersive ... but most of all, I love Open Falcon because it does what an 'entertainment' combat flight simulation purports to do, and that it provides IMO, the most complete (of currently available jet sims) 'simulation' of a pilot work-load in a hostile environment. To this end 'switchology' and as complete a suite of avionics as possible is invaluable. Dumb down that suite too much and I'd be left with the feeling that I'm playing fantasy within a fantasy. OF 4.7 allows me to feed my fantasy, satisfied that it touches on reality on more points of the simulation than any other out there in the popular market.

The process was not immediate, because I had to get over my initial prejudices, particularly w.r.t the terrain/graphics. The modding people have done wonders with the graphics ... to the point that it is no longer an issue for me. The amount of learning required to operate the 'jet' the way it was meant to be operated is staggering, especially considering that this is essentially a decade old sim! Should anyone be interested in simulating an amazingly complete psychological, tactical and procedural environment of a modern jet fighter pilot on a home PC ... Open Falcon 4.7 is definitely IT.

 

Cheers!

[Teapot]

to continue ...

Documentation? It's exhaustive and readily available ... and why not read up on available F16 operational doctrine, because it will be applicable also.

Personally I have no beef with the current mission editor (TE) as it stands. It is very complete and there is more under the hood than will be apparent from a cursory appraisal. IMO it has the right mix of automation with tweakability, allowing me to create complex intergrated sorties with a limited amount of tedium ... truth be known, it's actually not far off from the ID Tornado editor in terms of funtion and performance. Maybe the provision of the in-game Data Cartridge pips it over the post :D.

 

Cheers!

Edited December 26, 2008 by Teapot

[RedTiger]

Good to hear! I was afraid this documentation was cloistered away somewhere or I'd be expected to refer to some of the real F-16 manuals -- which I have, btw -- but they tend not to provide any keyboard shortcuts. ;)

 

I'll have to survive with the current mission editor, I suppose. While I understand the goal behind it and the reasons for its complexity, there are things about it that drive me nuts.

 

You can painstakingly set up a package with all the different flights arriving correctly with regards to TOT, which is great, but you have to do this with EVERYTHING. That's what drives me nuts. You can't just plop down an AWACS, set up the race track and say "ok, you fly around in circles and do your job for 4 hours". You have to fiddle with speeds and times for a needless amount of time for the flight to make sense to the sim and act correctly. You can't take any shortcuts, everything must be correctly timed, which is needless in some situations.

 

I'm also not a fan of the fact that you can give only basic commands to ground units and can only put in entire TO&E-level groups. If I want to just set up 3 tanks and tell them to drive down a road, I can't.

 

I use the mission editor as a tool for practice and training just as much as for designing serious missions. At some point I might want something simple like 3 tanks on a road just to practice the basics. I like making my own missions rather than using stock training ones because I can dictate the conditions. In Black Shark right now I have a training mission that I'm adding more elements to as I go. Right now its just a Ka-50 sitting cold on the tarmac with a full combat load. Eventually I'll add waypoints, static targets, bad weather, etc.

[Teapot]

Re mission designing I see what you mean. As far as I know you are correct, the break-down to detail w.r.t unit size and placement isn't there. One has to use a broader brush to practice the same thing.

However as far as detailed mission timings, from my perspective it is a strength :). It takes some getting used to, I find it fairly simple now working back from TOT for each sortie. From memory not much different to Tornado.

I'm looking forward to getting BS when it comes out on CD/DVD, although I must say that flying a chopper doesn't exactly rock my boat :D. However if it's a prelude for things to come, I'll be a happy camper.

 

Cheers!

[RedTiger]

Yes, it is a strength. For a while I put up with it and saw it as nothing but a plus until I realized that you can do the same thing in LOMAC, but its optional and much simpler. That kinda colored my opinion of Falcon's a bit. Its not the TOT for the package and flights that matter that bothers me, its for all the other stuff that you want in the "back ground".

 

I'll admit, Black Shark has sort of increased my desire to play Falcon. I cannot bring myself to play Allied Force anymore. I can put up with everything but what finally kills it is the separation between the 2D clickable cockpit and the 3D TrackIR-friendly one. Hopefully OF will solve that problem. :)

 

The Ka-50 is excellent, the sim is superb, and ED can really do no wrong in my eyes at this point. However my heart really isn't 100% into flying a helicopter either.

Edited December 26, 2008 by RedTiger

[Teapot]

AFAIK TrackIr works in both pits .. certainly the options are there in SETUP. However I'm making a wild guess there as I don't have TrackIr; I'll soon be setting up and using the free alternative though :D.

FWIW, I rarely go into the 2D pit these days ... except going through my pre-flight routine. I then tend to fly the entire mission in 3D which still has substantial switchology active. Agreed about AF ... cheese and chalk though, absolutely no comparison, to the point they are essentially two different sims IMO.

 

Thanks for the endorsment for the Ka-50 ... it has more substance coming from a fellow virtual jet jockey!

 

Cheers!

[RedTiger]

In Allied Force, TrackIR works in both pits. By "works" in regards to the 2D pit, I mean that if you move your head, it will move the view around. Thats about as much as it "works". It is very cumbersome and difficult to use. Most turn that option off.

 

Glad to hear you're able to stay in the 3D pit. I was hoping all the instruments and MFDs worked properly there. It sounds like they do.

[Teapot]

I was hoping all the instruments and MFDs worked properly there. It sounds like they do.

 

That's an affirmative for flight instruments & MFD's, although some switches are better accesed via 2D, if you haven't already got them mapped.

Also DED might be difficult to read depending on your screen resolution (I fly in 1280 x 1024 and it's fine) but I've noticed an option for larger fonts in the OF 4.7 Installer/Config application (which I haven't had to use).

 

Cheers mate!