CONFIGURING SUPER HORNET
------------------------
The Configuration Editor application, which you can run from your desktop
independently of Super Hornet, or call up in-game via the Preferences option,
contains several pages of categorised options that give you full control over
the sim. Some options presented by the Editor are only available when the
application is run outside of Super Hornet.
The pages within the Configuration Editor are as follows:
GENERAL
This page holds miscellaneous options that do not fit into the other named
categories. Options tend to relate to broad-ranging game elements rather than
specific areas.
In-game Full Motion Video playback mode
Super Hornet contains a number of rendered animation sequences to enhance
your enjoyment of the product. This option allows you to select between "full
screen" (stretched to your screen size), "window" (normal 1:1 playback, 352 by
288 pixels) or "Disabled" (animations switched off). If the animations appear
jerky when scaled to play at the size of your screen then we recommend that
you select the "window" option. Select the "Disabled" option if you do not
wish to play the animations.
In-game options
Mission planner:
When checked, this checkbox allows the Mission Planner window in the Briefing
Room (see Manual chapter 4) to be opened. If you prefer not to edit missions
at all, disable this option.
G-Force effects:
With this checkbox enabled, you will be vulnerable to the effects of gravity
when you manoeuvre your aircraft (see Manual chapter 6). Disable the option to
remove black-outs and red-outs.
Difficulty level
Selectable from 1 to 12. Drag the slider left and right to decrease and
increase the game's difficulty level. As the difficulty level increases, the
awareness, aggressiveness and accuracy of the enemy increases. Enemy aircraft
also shed some of the g-force limitations normally holding them back.
AVIONICS
This page lists various features that dictate whether certain avionics systems
in the F-18 work in either a realistic mode, or a simplified mode. Disabling
all the checkboxes gives a much more realistic representation of the F/A-18E
avionics systems, whereas enabling the checkboxes makes the aircraft, and
therefore the sim, much more accessible to the trainee. Enable any of the
checkboxes to put the corresponding system into its simplified mode. The text
alongside each checkbox explains the effect of enabling it.
The manual discusses the avionics as they function in their realistic modes,
so here in the following list are the avionics systems that work differently
in "simple" mode, what the checkbox changes, and the chapter where you can
find full information on these systems:
Avionics option:Auto enable Master Arm switch on weapon selection
Enabled effect: If the Master Arm switch is in the 'Safe' position, it will
automatically be switched to 'Armed' when you select a weapon.
Without this option checked, you must perform this essential
confirmation yourself.
Full details: Chapters 9 & 10
Avionics option:Auto radar activation when weight is off wheels
Enabled effect: The radar transmitter will be automatically turned on when your
aircraft leaves the ground, saving you the workload of turning
it on yourself.
Full details: Chapter 7
Avionics option:Auto NCTR & IFF check upon air target acquisition
Enabled effect: When you acquire a target via the air radar modes, an IFF
(Identification Friend or Foe) interrogation and NCTR (target
recognition) scan will be automatically performed, always
returning precise details of what the acquired target is, and
whether it is on your side. Usually, these systems must be
operated manually, and may not report accurate information
depending on the circumstances in which you use them.
Full details: Chapter 9
Avionics option:Auto flap & landing gear adjustment on takeoff
Enabled effect: The aircraft flaps and landing gear will be automatically
controlled at all times. Without this option checked, flaps
only adjust automatically when set to AUTO mode within the
standard flight envelope.
Full details: Chapter 6
Avionics option:Enable automatic 'Fence Check'
Enabled effect: It is standard operating procedure to turn the Electronic
Warfare system on and off when you leave and enter carrier
airspace. With this option set, this will be done for you.
Full details: Chapter 8
Avionics option:Engage/Disengage auto-throttle with autopilot
Enabled effect: The autopilot and auto-throttle controller are two discrete
systems within Super Hornet, but with this option set,
throttle-control will be activated automatically when the
autopilot is switched on.
Full details: Chapter 6
Avionics option:Enable assisted landings
Enabled effect: With this option enabled, everything you need to do in order to
land is done for you, short of pushing the nose of the aircraft
up, down, left and right! Your airspeed, gear, flaps, hook,
avionics options and displays are all handled automatically.
Full details: Chapters 6 & 8
Avionics option:Enable extended talk-down for carrier landings
Enabled effect: The Landing Signal Officer stationed on the carrier provides
landing guidance to pilots flying the final three-quarters of a
mile approach to the carrier. With this option set, the LSO
will assist you from a much greater distance.
Full details: Chapter 8
Avionics option:Display waypoint information on HUD
Enabled effect: If the HUD display is not cluttered enough for your liking,
set this option to have the current waypoint's altitude and
speed (shown on the UFCD data display and the MPCD data page)
repeated on the HUD, below the altitude and airspeed displays
respectively.
Full details: Chapters 6 & 7
Avionics option:Display enemies only on radar
Enabled effect: Particular radar modes usually show all the objects they are
capable of detecting. However, set this option to restrict the
radar to displaying only enemy target returns on the radar DDI
display.
Full details: Chapters 9 & 10
VIRTUAL COCKPIT
The page lets you set up the virtual cockpit view mode to your liking. The
virtual cockpit is a fully three-dimensional environment with dynamically
updating texture-mapping, however, converting the various cockpit displays
into 3D textures then mapping them to the relevant 3D displays puts quite a
high workload on the CPU and graphics system.
Use the list of checkboxes to select the named cockpit features. Those that
are unchecked will not be dynamically updated when you switch the virtual
cockpit view.
The final option on this page concerns mouse control within the virtual
cockpit view mode. Set or clear the checkbox depending how you want the
virtual cockpit view to respond when you move the mouse up and down to look
around it.
VISUAL DETAIL
This page lets you customise the level of 'eye candy' (special visual effects)
your machine can support.
Afterburner effect
This option determines whether you see the afterburner 'flames' when you turn
up the afterburners.
Clouds
Depending upon your hardware, displaying the cloud layer in the sky may result
in your view from the cockpit being somewhat jerky. If this is the case,
disabling this checkbox will give a smoother display.
Explosion effect
Enable this option to see an enhanced explosion effect.
High-res FLIR/MAV/SLAM image
These three options control the default appearance of the in-cockpit infrared
video feeds provided by the FLIR, and the AGM-65F Maverick and AGM-84E SLAM
weapons. With the options disabled, the video signals are displayed in 'rough'
low-resolution to help framerate. If you have power to spare, however, enable
the options for smoother, high-resolution displays. The "RES" option on the
cockpit DDI display can be used to toggle this effect in-game.
Lens flare
The lens flare effect simulates light from a bright object bouncing around
inside a camera lens. You'll see this when the sun or moon is on-screen (or
just off the edge of it), and when similarly bright objects are visible.
Missile trails
This checkbox allows smoke trails from missiles to be displayed. It is
independent of the 'smoke & steam effects' checkbox below. So, if you wish,
you can still see missiles a little more clearly even if you've turned off the
other smoke effects for performance.
Nightvision blindness
Your nightvision goggles can 'white-out' if they are overloaded by bright
ambient light. Disable this option if you don't want this to happen.
Shadows
Check this box to add shadows to all of Super Hornet's fixed and moving
objects. Shadows add greatly to the feeling of depth and 'solidity' that
buildings and vehicles project, but can have a performance impact on slower
machines.
Smoke & steam effects
This effect extends to graphical details such as catapult steam on the carrier
deck, and smoke & soot from chimneys. Missile smoke is handled by its own
checkbox.
Specular highlights
This graphical technique simulates light sparkling off reflective surfaces
such as metal and glass. You might want to turn this feature off if
performance on your machine is poor.
Vapour trails
This effect refers to the trails of condensation left behind high-altitude jet
aircraft and the vortices or 'contrails' that stream from the tips of aircraft
control surfaces when high angles of attack cause large disturbances in the
surrounding air.
Water splash effect
Objects and debris that fall into water cause splashes and surface
perturbation in Super Hornet, just as in real life. You can disable this
visual effect to reclaim a little texture memory and processing overhead.
Weather effects
Leave this option enabled to see weather effects such as lightning, and
reduced visibility caused by rain and snow.
DISPLAY
Use this page to choose the specifics of Super Hornet's display. Note that
some options on this page cannot be changed from within Super Hornet. Options
affected will be greyed out.
Display adapter
This selection box lists all the available, suitable display adapters
(graphics cards) installed inside your machine. Most machines will only list
one (the primary display adapter), but if you have added extra cards for
better graphics performance, you should be able to select them here. You
should always choose the most powerful and full-featured of your available
display adapters; the choice also affects the screen resolutions available in
the next option.
Super Hornet can use all display adapters that support Direct3D, and that
provide at least the following basic functions:
256x256 pixel textures
SETCOLORKEY DirectX function
Z-buffer
Display resolution
This selection box lists various screen resolutions in which you can choose to
run Super Hornet. The number of resolutions offered, and their exact
dimensions, will vary depending upon the selected display adapter. Technical
notes on display resolutions can be found in Performance Tips, below.
Visual range
Selectable from 3 to 22 nautical miles. Move the slider to specify how far you
can see into the distance and when ground features become visible. Super
Hornet uses a 'distance haze' effect to obscure the division of ground and
sky, so the lower your visual range is set, the closer this haze will be to
you. The setting plays a large part in determining how smoothly Super Hornet
runs on your computer. The faster your PC, the further you will be able to
set the visual range. If you have a relatively slow PC then we recommend
setting a low figure before experimenting with higher ones.
Micro-texture detail
Super Hornet uses 'micro-textures', textures within textures, to allow the
graphics engine to layer in more detail as you move closer to particular
surfaces. Use this slider to specify how detailed the texturing should get,
and thus how much of your machine's time is spent calculating and drawing that
detail.
Gamma level
Due to the different 'colour temperature' settings used by monitor
manufacturers, you may find that Super Hornet's graphics may appear too bright
or too dark. Use this slider to set a more desirable brightness level.
Draw borders around feature polygons
Owners of some graphics cards may find that they see 'breaks' in large
landscape features such as lakes, roads, etc. If you see this phenomenon, put
a tick in this checkbox.
MODEL DETAIL
On this page are a number of sliders that let you tune the level of detail you
wish to have for Super Hornet's drones, or game objects. The F-18E Super
Hornet and the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier are both examples of game
objects.
The first slider affects the detail of your own aircraft. Whilst the carrier
is the largest and most 'polygon-consuming' object in Super Hornet, your F-18
is the most intricately modelled, detailed and textured. This results in a
beautiful aircraft model, but a quite processor-intensive one, so you can use
this slider to determine how detailed you want your aircraft to be. Of course,
this only controls the visual appearance of the 3D model itself, and is
unrelated to the complexities of the flight model, avionics, etc. If you don't
plan to spend much time viewing your aircraft from the outside, or want to get
a little bit of extra speed if you do, turn this slider down.
The other sliders control the distances at which the level of detail (LOD) of
certain objects changes. When you're close to objects, you usually want to see
all their details, however, as they recede into the distance it is pointless
to keep this detail, and a reduced-detail model can be used to help keep the
framerate up. This is what the LOD distance controls.
You can set the LOD distance for the USS Ronald Reagan, the F-18 wingmen, and
for all other game drones.
SOUND
The distinct groups of sound effects in Super Hornet each have a volume slider
that you can adjust here. Drag the slider to the volume level you require;
when positioned fully left, that sound group will be disabled. The three
selectable groups are:
Music
Background music on the front-end menu screens.
Audio FX
Refers to the various in-flight sound effects, including those generated by
aircraft and other vehicles, weapons, and also all in-flight speech.
Also included on this page is a checkbox that allows you to enable support for
Hardware 3D Sound. Super Hornet usually calculates 3D sound effects
(directional sound, Doppler effects, 4-speaker Surround, etc) by itself, but
enable this option if you have a soundcard capable of processing these effects
using its own hardware. Doing so will help the performance of the sim.
Make sure that your 3D soundcard supports at least 16 buffers before selecting
the Hardware 3D Sound option. If it does not, check to see if a newer driver
for the card is available.
CONTROLLERS
The options on this page allow you to use your currently configured
controllers with Super Hornet, or to force the game to ignore them if you
wish.
Here, you can enable or ignore your main joystick, your throttle or dual/split
throttle controller and your rudder pedals.
You cannot adjust these options when using the Config Editor from within Super
Hornet.
ABOUT
Finally, the About page provides the F/A-18E Super Hornet credits roll.
PERFORMANCE TIPS AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION
------------------------------------------
It was easy in 'the old days'. Not so long ago, if you computer had a fast
processor, then you got fast games, it was that simple. Now, though, there's
more to it. True, a fast processor will always help, but you're just as likely
to need a good, fast graphics card, or lots of quick RAM, or a good
motherboard, or - more likely - a compatible combination of all three to get
the best out of your machine.
A good, fast CPU is particularly important for Super Hornet. Even if you have
a blisteringly fast 3D accelerator, the CPU must still calculate the positions
of all the graphics, as well as conduct a full-scale war! Super Hornet does
not use the "3Dnow!" CPU instructions developed by chip-manufacturer AMD, so
the sim will generally exhibit better performance on a machine with an Intel
CPU than on a machine equipped with an AMD processor.
Also beneficial is texture memory. This is memory on your graphics card, not
the stuff plugged into the motherboard, so the more memory your graphics card
boasts, the more data it can hold ready for use. Super Hornet uses the recent
DirectX advancements in dynamic texture-swapping when it runs out of texture
memory, but this means that performance can be hit as textures are shuffled
backwards and forwards within your machine.
DISPLAY RESOLUTIONS
Many of today's high-performance graphics cards are optimised to work better
in high-resolution screen modes. Despite the fact that 'more work is being
done' in a large screen mode (there are far more pixels to draw, after all),
these optimisations can still make the cards operate far faster (or, at worst,
no slower) at a resolution of, say, 1024 x 768 pixels, than at the default 640
x 480 pixels. Experiment with screen resolution and see what works best for
your system, you may be surprised to find that you can use a bigger screen
resolution than you thought.
One further note about screen resolutions is that Super Hornet uses a
'Z-buffer', to aid in the depth-sorting of objects on screen. The Z-buffer
consumes a certain amount of memory from your display adapter, therefore if
the card does not have a great deal of on-board memory, certain
high-resolution screen modes will not be available for selection in the
Display Resolution box, even though your card is usually capable of working in
these modes.
EFFECTIVE GRAPHICS-PERFORMANCE TRADE-OFFS
If you find that Super Hornet is unable to perform satisfactorily on your
system, then you need to start turning off some of the sim's more
'processor-intensive' graphical features. Here are some suggestions of
features to disable, listed in order of the best performance boost for the
least graphical loss:
Visual range
As explained earlier, the visual range distance governs how much terrain and
sky is shown before the distance haze swallows it up. However, because your
field of view is basically an ever-expanding cone, much more terrain must be
calculated and drawn at long distances in order to fill the large expanse of
your field of view. Ironically, although masses more work is being done to
draw the extra terrain, it is so far away, and often viewed at such a flat
angle that you can hardly see any details anyway!
If you turn down the visual range, maybe five or ten miles from the maximum,
you will gain a lot of performance for perhaps the same number of
screen-pixels-worth of terrain graphics. The higher framerate usually offsets
the effect of the artificially enclosed environment.
Specular highlights
This is a visual effect used to produce realistic 'shininess' from materials
like metal and glass. The direction of light rays from the local light source
(the sun, for example) are calculated and the angle at which they strike a
particular surface is determined. This information, together with the colour
of the light source and the position of the observer, are used to calculate a
modification to the colour of the individual pixels of the surface being
illuminated.
As you can imagine, all of this takes some time to work out, but in Super
Hornet provides nice highlights along the metalwork of aircraft fuselages and
other vehicle bodywork, glints from cockpit glass, and other similar
highlights. Turn these off to regain some processing time and, unless you
enjoy sightseeing, you may not notice very much difference.
The MPCD map display
This feature is turned on and off by a pushbutton in the cockpit (described
fully in chapter 7 of the manual). The map is a scaled and rotated rendering
based on the data that generates the warzone maps that you see in the Briefing
Room. This map can be quite intensive to process, especially when zoomed out
to show a large area, so leaving it turned off could be a preferable option.
All MPCD symbology is displayed regardless of the status of the map.
The ground radar MAP mode terrain display
The radar mapping capability of the MAP mode can be switched on or off using
an additional pushbutton control ("TER") on the radar DDI. Since this display
is genuinely built up dynamically from the terrain that the radar can see, it
is somewhat more processor-intensive than other, less accurate 'radar maps'.
Un-boxing the "TER" option via the DDI pushbutton will prevent the map being
processed and displayed, but you will still see fixed targets on the ground.
Object levels of detail
The sliders provided on the Model Detail page let you bring closer the range
at which objects are drawn at their fullest level of detail. The more complex
an object is, the more time must be devoted to calculating its shape and
drawing it on screen, so if you can make do without seeing every handle,
flange and protuberance until you're very close to its owner, then your
overworked CPU will thank you for it.
There are many other individually selectable options within Super Hornet, most
of which affect the performance of the sim in very small ways or, in some
cases, negligibly. It is always worth experimenting, however, to see what
effects you are willing to sacrifice to gain some extra framerate. It is
unfortunately true that some hardware combinations will perform some tasks
better than others, or worse, and that some combinations of visual effects
will impact upon certain hardware, and not on others. Experiment with the
options to find a balance that is right for you and your hardware.
TROUBLESHOOTING
---------------
Upon takeoff, the aircraft's Bitchin' Betty reports "Flight controls; flight
controls", and control of the F-18 is lost.
Most likely, you have encountered what is colloquially known among
pilots as "the funky chicken". As the reference manual suggests during
the carrier launch drill, you do not need to touch the flight controls
during the launch sequence. All the flight surfaces are under computer
control during this time, and if you do try to operate them, you will
almost invariably overload the delicate system and damage the flight
controls - hence the rather rapid descent into the sea...
The Super Hornet Configuration Editor only lists a "Primary Display Driver" as
the available graphics hardware.
If you only have one graphics card in your computer (be it a Voodoo3,
TNT2 or whatever) then it will appear in the Config Editor's list as
the "Primary Display Driver". Only additional cards will be named and
listed individually after the primary driver.
Super Hornet crashes to the desktop during loading, or produces a "D3D" or
"DDRAW" error message such as:
"FATAL ** D3D Error Create Device [...]"
"FATAL ** DDRAW ERROR: DDERR_NOEXCLUSIVEMODE [...]"
"FATAL ** DDRAW ERROR: DDERR_NOCOOPERATIVELEVELSET [...]"
DDRAW errors are generated by Direct3D (DirectX) in response to Super
Hornet's request for a suitable graphics device. If you receive one of
these messages, then the logical assumption is that your graphics card
does not support enough 3D accelerative features for Super Hornet to
work properly.
Of course, in many cases, this is not true. A breakdown in communications
between Super Hornet, DirectDraw and your graphics card's drivers is stopping
the correct information about the card's available features being returned to
the game.
Sometimes this will happen if you have an old set of drivers installed for
your graphics card. Basically, a function that Super Hornet wishes to use has
not been implemented in the version of the driver that you currently use. If
you upgrade your drivers from the card manufacturer, the problem will go away.
Unfortunately, the problem can sometimes be a little trickier to put right.
Here are some tips that we hope will help:
* Make doubly sure that the current drivers are installed correctly, and are
up to date with your card manufacturer (new versions are produced rapidly)
* Check that the current driver set match the version of DirectX currently
installed
* Advanced users, ensure that there are no 'legacy' drivers left over from
previous un-installations or earlier hardware
* If you have the DX-Info tool, check that the drivers are certified with
DirectX and support DirectDraw and Direct3D
* Consider obtaining the latest version of DirectX
(www.microsoft.com/directx), if you do not already have it, and then obtain
the matching DirectX drivers for your graphics card
Note that there have been various reports in online gaming forums that
installing Microsoft's DirectX 7 can lead to new incompatabilities
with software that previously ran fine. Microsoft do not provide a
means to revert to a previous version of DirectX, but third-party DX7
removal utilitys are available for download from the Internet.
* Advanced users, consider using the reference drivers provided by the
manufacturer of the card's chipset (eg, 3Dfx, nVidia, etc) on their websites
rather than those from the card manufacturer (eg, Creative, Diamond, etc)
Finally on this topic, some customers may have seen the following error report:
"FATAL ** Give me a break with the textures ok? [...]"
Super Hornet makes a number of 'fallback requests' for card features when its
initial enquiries fail. This error appears when so little information is
returned that the game thinks the card supports basically no 3D texturing
features whatsoever! Providing the card does in fact support a range of 3D
functions, following the advice above should alleviate this problem.
NEW FEATURES
------------
Detailing additions to F/A-18E SUPER HORNET occuring after the Reference
Manual went to print
Chapter 7 - Navigation & Radar Operations
-----------------------------------------
FLIR display and controls
Extra functionality has been added to the FLIR in the shape of two additional
pushbutton controls:
R1 - Image resolution ("RES")
Use this pushbutton to toggle the FLIR display between low (coarse) and
high (fine) resolution. Low-resolution display will perform slightly
better on slower machines.
R2 - Camera range ("RNG")
Use this option to cycle the visual range of the FLIR camera. Larger
ranges will show objects at a greater distance from your aircraft, but
performance may suffer on slower machines.
Chapter 9 - Air-to-Air Operations
---------------------------------
Radar modes in detail - Track While Scan
Two additional pushbutton controls have been added to this radar mode:
R3 - Scan centre ("AUTO")
With AUTO selected, the radar will centre the scanning area on the
rectangle formed by the current set of filed targets. Otherwise,
the scanning area will be centred along the F-18 boresight.
R4 - Reset ("RSET")
Press to undesignate an automatically selected target.
Chapter 10 - Air-to-Ground Operations
-------------------------------------
Radar modes in detail - Real Beam Ground Map
An additional pushbutton control has been added to this radar mode:
R3 - Terrain display ("TER")
Use this button to toggle on and off the radar terrain mapping facility
of this radar mode. Turning the facility off will help performance on
slower machines.
ERRATA
------------
Detailing late changes to F/A-18E SUPER HORNET occuring after the Reference
Manual went to print, or errors within the information therein.
Chapter 6 - Flight Training
---------------------------
pg.44 - Communications
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Incorrect:
Use buttons CH1 and CH2 on left of the UFCD to switch channels on/off (off
when button IN)
Correct:
[...] (on when button IN).
pg.65 - Activating the Autopilot
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
There are ambiguities in the 'autopilot modes simultaneous use' chart.
* "Heading Hold" mode CAN be combined with both "BAlt" and "RAlt" modes.
* "CPL-ACL" mode CANNOT be combined with "BAlt" mode.
Chapter 7 - Navigation & Radar Operations
-----------------------------------------
pg.94 - Display mode selection
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Incorrect:
D-CTR: your aircraft is "de-centred" to the lower edge of the display to
give you double the "look ahead" distance. The map and compass rose are
rotated according to aircraft heading.
Correct:
[...] The map is rotated according to aircraft heading.
pg.94 - Map scale selection
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The 40-mile MPCD map scale has been removed from the game due to
unacceptable performance, therefore a number of references to this map scale
are now obsolete:
Incorrect:
Selectable scales are 40, 20, 10, 5 and 1nm. Subsequent depressions on the
pushbutton zoom in to the highest magnification level (10nm scale) before
switching back to the 40nm scale.
Correct:
Selectable scales are 20, 10, 5 and 1nm. Subsequent depressions on the
pushbutton zoom in to the highest magnification level (1nm scale) before
switching back to the 20nm scale.
pg.103 - FLIR display and controls
(o) Viewing angle controls
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Incorrect:
The FLIR viewing angle aperture can be widened and narrowed to allow
zooming. Apertures of 1° (the narrowest), 2°, 8°, 16° and 32° (the widest)
can be selected.
Correct:
[...] Apertures of 1° (the narrowest), 2°, 4°, 8°, 16° and 32° (the widest)
can be selected.
pg.105 - MPCD primary pushbutton controls
· T3 - Map scale selection (SCL/x)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
No 40-mile map scale, as explained above.
Incorrect:
Cycles map scale through 40, 20, 10, 5 and 1 nautical mile. [...]
Correct:
Cycles map scale through 20, 10, 5 and 1 nautical mile. [...]
Chapter 8 - Carrier Operations
------------------------------
pg.126 - Manual landing; Approach preparations
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The following paragraph refers to a game element that was dropped:
Use your radar display in conjunction with the TACAN command indicator at
the top of the HUD to align your course with the location of the carrier.
Please ignore it.
pg.128 - Manual landing; The Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The following sentence refers to a game element that was dropped:
When you reach acquisition range [...] a small window will appear featuring
a close-up of the FLOLS display [...]
Please ignore it.
Chapter 9 - Air-to-Air Operations
---------------------------------
pg.139 - Air-to-Air Master mode
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The game does not automatically initialise the DDI screens and Master Arm
switch upon entry to the air-to-air Master mode, therefore a number of
paragraphs are rendered incorrect:
Incorrect:
[...] Entering Air-to-Air Master mode will cause the left DDI screen to switch
to the Stores Management System display. [...]
Also on the same page:
Incorrect:
The right DDI screen will switch to show the radar display, [...]
pg.141 - Air-to-Air Master mode (common radar symbology)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Incorrect:
i) Airspeed
[...] If the radar range scale has been set to 5 nautical miles, then
airspeed is also reproduced inside the radar display area, [...]
This feature was removed from the game, therefore the above text no longer
applies.
pg.141 - Air-to-Air Master mode
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In the final paragraph prior to the "Range While Search" topic, the manual
again discusses DDI modes that will change automatically upon entering
Air-to-Air Master mode. As mentioned above, this does not happen.
pg.152 - Radar modes in detail; Track While Scan
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Results of designation listed incorrectly.
Incorrect:
Designating a filed target from the radar display marks it as the L&S target;
the radar remains in TWS mode. [...]
Correct:
Designating a filed target from the radar display marks it as the L&S target
and switches the radar to STT mode on that target. [...]
Incorrect:
[...] Finally, designation of the L&S target again focuses the radar antenna on
the target and commands the radar to the Single Target Track mode.
Correct:
[...] Finally, designation of the L&S target serves no purpose. No further
action is needed to launch weapons at this target.
pg.160 - The Stores Management System
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The third paragraph of this topic again discusses DDI modes that should change
automatically upon entering Air-to-Air Master mode. As mentioned above, this
does not happen.
pg.161 - The Stores Management System; key features
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The SMS diagram labels two pushbuttons (B1 and B2); these pushbuttons are not
used in the game. The associated description for pushbutton B1 on pg.162 is
therefore not applicable.
In addition, pushbutton L5 (labelled "M LCK") is not described. A description
follows:
L5 - Mode lock ("M LCK")
Use this pushbutton to control the manner in which on-board weapons are
cycled. With this option selected (boxed), only weapons that are
available in the current avionics Master mode can be cycled through. With
the option deselected, all weapons may be selected and the avionics
Master mode will be set automatically, according to the particular weapon
selected.
Chapter 10 - Air-to-Ground Operations
-------------------------------------
pg.184 - Real Beam Ground Map
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The 80-mile range scale of this mode had to be dropped for performance
reasons. This has caused a number of inaccuracies to be introduced in the
manual's descriptions.
Incorrect:
Scanning options available are varied, allowing the pilot to select from large
images produced from scans of up to 80 miles ahead of the aircraft, to high
definition representations produced from only a 5 mile scan range.
Correct:
[...] from large images produced from scans of up to 40 miles ahead of the
aircraft, to [...]
pg.185 - Air-to-Ground Master Mode; typical ground radar display
d) Target symbols
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An omission from this paragraph is that 'pre-briefed' targets (those given to
you in your mission briefing) will appear as red symbols.
pg.189 - Real Beam Ground Map
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As explained above, the 80-mile range scale no longer exists.
Incorrect:
The radar's scanning range can also be varied, from 5 nautical miles, though
10, 20 and 40, up to 80 nautical miles out.
Correct:
[...] from 5 nautical miles, though 10, 20, and 40 nautical miles out.
Incorrect:
R1 - Range increment
This button increases the range of the radar, each press increases range
through values of 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 nautical miles. [...]
Correct:
[...] each press increases range through values of 5, 10, 20 and 40 nautical
miles. [...]
pg.191 - Sea Surface Search
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More occurances of the 80-mile radar range, this time in the description of
SEA mode.
Also in the first paragraph of this page, the manual incorrectly states that
SEA mode features a smaller group of azimuth width settings.
Incorrect:
Azimuth scanning width, however, has a smaller range of settings, and can be
set to 20°, 45° or 90°.
Correct:
Azimuth scanning width can be set, as in MAP mode, to 20°, 45°, 90° or 120°.
pg.200 - The Stores Management System
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The third paragraph of this topic discusses a DDI mode that should change
automatically upon entering the Master mode. As mentioned above, this does not
happen.
pg.201 - The SMS; A refresher course
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In the list of weapons and corresponding stores codes, a code is incorrectly
listed:
Incorrect:
LAU-61A Rocket Pod with M247 rockets M257
Correct:
LAU-61A Rocket Pod with M247 rockets M247
pg.201 - Weapon Packages
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Some changes have been made to the method of setting up ballistic weapons
programs.
Incorrect:
[...] Five programs can be specified for each weapon carried, if required,
using both the SMS and UFCD to specify parameters. [...]
Correct:
[...] Five programs can be specified, using both the SMS and UFCD to specify
parameters, which control the delivery of the currently selected ballistic
weapon. [...]
Incorrect:
Setting up a program is a simple matter of specifying up to four parameters:
Correct:
Setting up a program is a simple matter of specifying up to three parameters:
pg.202 - Weapon Packages; Delivery mode
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Continuing the above topic, "Delivery mode" is not a programmable part of the
program; rather, it is a global switch that determines the delivery mode each
program will use.
pg.220 - Chapter Reference; Real Beam Ground Map
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A final occurance of the now-dropped 80-mile radar range in the feature
checklist of MAP mode.
pg.221 - Chapter Reference; Sea Surface Search
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A final occurance of the now-dropped 80-mile radar range in the feature
checklist of SEA mode.