1998: Looking Ahead (www.combatsim.com)

Editorial Survey: State of the Art

by Leonard Hjalmarson

1997 may be remembered as the year of the F22, with no fewer than five simulations based around the new stealth fighter being released, the latter two (JSF and F22: ADF), having just gone gold. But 1997 was also the year when 3d accelerators went mainstream, permanently changing the face of the gaming industry as seen in other incredible simulations like Longbow 2. What will 1998 bring? What is the cutting edge, and what are key areas for growth and improvement this year and into 1999?

LB2
Longbow 2 Lighting Effects

Longbow 2, F22: ADF and Comdex have shown us the future. 3dfx has not been idle, and 1998 will see the next leap forward in pixel pushing, texture tapping technology, which in turn will result in another leap forward in software sophistication. To be sure, the focus will first fall on higher frame rates and greater object detail, but once again the freeing of the CPU from its slavery to such mundane tasks will result in new strides in AI and perhaps even new secondary technologies.

Voodoo 2 wasn't the only news at Comdex this year, of course, and our recent coverage of "Core Wars" indicates more good news this year with the Super7 mainboards. AMDs next generation CPU, the K6 3d, promises to bring new life to Socket 7 and offer a solid upgrade path for users on a budget.

Longbow 2 gave us TWO different vehicles to fly and the most multiplayer flexibility yet seen in a combat simulation on the PC. ADF gave us the most advanced avionics seen to date in a simulation of the Air Dominance Fighter and a Theater Commanders perspective with a substantial amount of tactical control in the AWACS module.

Why pick on Longbow 2 and ADF as harbingers of the future? Longbow 2 gave us TWO different vehicles to fly and the most multiplayer flexibility yet seen in a combat simulation on the PC. ADF gave us the most advanced avionics seen to date in a simulation of the Air Dominance Fighter and a Theater Commanders perspective with a substantial amount of tactical control in the AWACS module. These abilities will come together this year in a way that we have only dared dream to date!

1998 will see the release of simulations like Flying Nightmares II, Falcon 4.0, F22: Total Air War, Fighter Squadron: Screamin Demons Over Europe, Janes F15 and Team Apache. These simulations will bring new multiplayer abilities, a new direction in virtual pilot AI, more advanced integration of the ground war, greater expression of resource management, and new tactical dimensions in game play via Theatre Commanders and AWACS integration.

This year will also bring ground breaking flight modelling in sims like Janes F15, and the ability to fly Soviet aircraft against the best of the west (Full Burn and Falcon 4). Lets review some of these features and speculate on what might show up later this year or early in 1999.

Virtual Pilot AI

FS:SDOE B17

Flying Nightmares II and Team Apache both take the virtual pilot AI in new directions. Suddenly morale will become a factor, and interpersonal dynamics will be important. Here is Bryan Walker on Team Apache:

Bryan: Each "Artificial Pilot" is rated in 21 different categories, including technical and personal traits. Compatibility between crewmembers can come to the fore, particularly once Fatigue and Morale come into play. Some pilots will prefer different weapons in different circumstances, while others excel at night missions. The outcome of specific missions and the progress of the campaign in general has effects on not only the morale issues, but can have a great deal to do with the player's status as a commander.
If the success rate is high, then the player will have more leeway in mission selection and supply requests. If the success rate is low, then the top hats won't put up with a lot of guff while debating a mission's priority. The loss of an aircraft or pilot can have a devastating effect on a unit, and the rescue of missing aviators becomes a priority when a bird goes down. On top of that, the pilots can occasionally receive "Dear John" letters and such, causing their morale to sag. It's up to the player to decide how to cope with these issues, and it's no small task!
Csim: I understand that these moral and cooperation factors will extend beyond the pilots to crew chiefs and mechanics! How does this actually work? What tells me that my mechanic is tired of fixing my chopper? Will there be dialogue choices for example?

Bryan: The pilots' tent and crewchiefs' tent have interfaces that allow the player to view estimate the fatigue level and guage the moral level of the personnel. The pilots can be examined individually, while the crewchiefs are viewed as a unit. The "platoon seargent" of the crewchiefs will pass along advise at critical junctures if the maintenance personnel are ready to drop, and senior pilots will also offer input when a change in assignments should be considered.

Flying Nightmares II takes downed pilot modelling in new directions. In FN2 if a pilot is shot down you can rescue him by landing an aircraft nearby. If you do NOT rescue him and an enemy unit passes within a certain distance he is captured and can be tortured to reveal the location of your HQ! Whether this feature will make it into the release is uncertain, but its a cool direction for sim design! Taking such involvement the next step might see some jet sims that have more comms depth (like F22: ADF) modelling greater responsibility for wingmen. It would be good to have to call in when your wing goes down, for example. Neglecting to do so would mean the loss of a skilled pilot, which could affect future missions. Resource management is expanding in importance this year in sims like FN2, Team Apache, F22 TAW and Falcon 4, and in some of these sims resource management extends to personnel factors. Bryan Walker again:

Bryan: The biggest challenge will be to manage the aircrews and maintenance personnel. TA's environment is completely interconnected. Some aircrews can be flying while others are on alert and others sleeping. The same applies to the maintenance section, who can be repairing aircraft while others are deployed. It's up to the player to decide which pilots to deploy, how they're paired, which aircraft to put them in, and how to allocate the maintanence manpower. Badly-damaged airframes can be cannibalized if need be, or Partially-Mission-Capable aircraft can be sent on missions.
Working the pilots or maintenance personnel too hard can result in mistakes, crashes, and reduced effectiveness of the entire unit. It really becomes a balancing act for the player, deciding which missions to focus on, arguing with the "Head Shed" about priorities and timescales, and looking out for his men while still accomplishing the objective.

Multiplayer Madness

New multiplayer abilities we will see this year include the ability to join a campaign in progress on the Internet, ease of locating multiplayer games, and ability to play any crew position in multi-personnel aircraft. Lets consider these areas in a few coming sims.

F4 Launch Maverick

Falcon 4.0 will allow a player to join a game in progress and fly with up to sixteen others over a LAN, perhaps even with some players on the Net via TCP/IP at the same time. In fact, players will transparently be able to join a campaign in progress! Here is a quote from Kevin Klemmick, campaign engineer for Falcon 4:

Since the Campaign is operating in real time and the timing of the player squadron's flights is critical to the outcome of the war, we ran into a problem deciding what to do with the downtime between flights. In a single-player game, it's easy enough to compress time, essentially advance time until the player's takeoff time. However, Falcon 4.0's Campaign was designed as a multiplayer Campaign, and it's just not possible to have one player advance time while another is lining up for a bombing run. To solve this problem, we've allowed you to jump into any aircraft in your squadron (that is, assuming another player isn't already controlling it). You have the option of waiting until a particular flight's takeoff time and, therefore, you are able to make changes to the flight's flight plan and weapon loadout. Or, you can jump into an airplane currently in flight and join the action immediately.

Similarly, Flying Nightmares II will offer the ability to join a campaign in progress, and even allow some players to connect to the LAN based campaign via modem. Interactivity and team work are central to the concept. Pilots and AI units must follow the direction of the commandant, with real time orders coming in even during flight. FN2 will also offer solo play as commandant against the computer, though because of the huge fun factor in multiplayer mode most players will use solo play only for practice.

Once executed the game remains quite flexible. A commandant may choose to transfer control to another player and take a Harrier into the battle arena. Any number of players can be watching the overhead strategic map of the action. Teammates can communicate with the commander and even assign targets to one another.

Many virtual pilots have wanted to try online gaming, but have been put off by either the cost or the technology. Every FN2 game generated on the net will go to your TCP/IP link and look for the unique IP address created by FN2 when you start a game. Every active game will be shown and color coded on a pop up menu screen: green, yellow, or red depending on the average connection time to the various machines. The player simply selects the best option.

Many virtual pilots have wanted to try online gaming, but have been put off by either the cost or the technology. It has simply seemed a bit too complex. FN2 aims to make it easier than ever before to find and join existing games, and the only charge involved will be your own IP subscription. Hows that? Simply put, every FN2 game generated on the net will go to your TCP/IP link and look for the unique IP address created by FN2 when you start a game. Every active game will be shown and color coded on a pop up menu screen: green, yellow, or red depending on the average connection time to the various machines. The player simply selects the best option.

Meanwhile, FS: SDOE, although delayed, is still in progress. Fighter Squadron will allow players to occupy any crew position in the aircraft, with AI taking up all other positions. This means you can fly as pilot or co-pilot but switch to tail gunner if you wish. Hopefully up to sixteen players will be able to network in a bomber flight with some in bombers and some flying cover.

Dissimilar Combat Tactics

But one of the most cool Multiplayer features we will see this year isn't limited to just air combat simulations: the ability to fly different vehicles in the same battlefield. Lets take a peek at this greatly demanded feature! First, a list of the sims that we'll see this year with this feature:

Janes 688(I) and Aegis
Falcon 4.0
FN2
Full Burn

Kevin Klemmick on F4 again:

The multiplayer aspect of the Campaign is what truly fascinates me and is something MicroProse is dedicated to expand. Since the Campaign was not written around a single aircraft or vehicle, a player's ability to fly another aircraft, operate a tank or SAM battery is simply a matter of additional flight models, avionics and artwork. So, at first, you may only be able to fly F-16s cooperatively against a determined computer enemy, but you won't have to wait too long before there are player-controlled MiG-29s, Su-27s, F/A-18s and even more out there as well.
Ultimately, we hope to run an Internet server so that thousands of players from all over the world can jump into the cockpits of a wide variety of different vehicles and play in a single game, and maybe someday even have a "real" human plan one side's air strikes as well as ground offensives. If we are able to globalize Falcon 4.0, then suddenly this "Virtual Universe" will become a lot more real!

WOW! Can you imagine flying a MiG 29 or Su 27 against F16s and F18s? We may not have that much diversity in 1998, but 1999 will likely bring this LONG awaited ability into the mainstream. Its a great time for sim fans!

Sims Referenced in this editorial:

Flying Nightmares 2
Team Apache
Falcon 4.0
F4 Beta Interview
Hornet: Korea
Fighter Squadron: Screamin Demons
iF18 Carrier Strike
Fighter Duel 2
F22:ADF
Longbow 2
Flying Corps
MiG Alley
Su27 1.5
Su27 2
Janes F15
688(I)
JSF

Meanwhile, Janes 688i, by far the most advanced simulation to date of the SSN platform, will soon interface with a new surface warfare simulation. Terry Jones of Sonalysts responds in our recent interview:

Csim: Sonalysts is also involved in the production of the Aegis simulation that will interface with 688i. Why Aegis and how will the addition of the surface sim add scope to the battlefield environment?

TJ: This will provide combat sim enthusiasts the opportunity to use state of the art systems in missions very different from the 688I scenarios. The player will be able to control air engagements and particpate in land attack, strike, and surface warfare. Eventually, coordinated operations will be possible, but we don't want to say too much about that yet.

688I Fire Control

But one of the most interesting incarnations soon to pop onto the PC screen is in Flying Nightmares II. FN2 will allow not only Theatre Commander multiplayer modes but also aircraft (the AV8B Harrier II) against choppers (the Cobra Attack helicopter), and all this in a dynamic multiplayer environment! Dissimilar air to air combat will offer unique tactical dimensions, and all the more so with human pilots against human pilots! Since this sim is scheduled to go into beta any time now, we should be playing both Falcon 4 and FN2 by April of 1998.

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