SimWorks Studios F-4B for FSX coming soon... late Jan?

[+streakeagle 871]

Here is a link to their announcement: http://simworksstudios.com/release-date-f-4b-phantom-ii-with-uss-coral-sea-coming-soon/

 

This is going to cost me some money since I need to buy TacPack. It does not officially support P3D, not sure if it supports FSX:Steam Edition.

 

I may wait for some user feedback before purchase, but there is an early beta purchase reward of a decent discount on a related carrier/escorts package that would be key to conducting period-correct Naval operations off Vietnam.

 

This makes me want to re-install my F-4/B-8 stick after just having converted it to use the Warthog stick :P

 

 

[+streakeagle 871]

Okay, the F-4B beta went on sale a couple of weeks late, but it has arrived. I couldn't make up my mind on whether to wait for Prepar3d support and buy into that can of worms or stick with FSX/Acceleration and/or FSX/Steam Edition. I committed full force to FSX and FSX/SE: bought VRS TacPack for FSX, VRS Superbug for FSX, and Simworks Studios F-4B beta.

 

I have FSX/SE installed on my current PC, so I didn't waste any time re-installing FSX/Acceleration. VRS TacPack and Superbug installed easily. Some weird graphic artifacts showed up sometimes, driver issues? FSX/SE DX10 issues? Not sure. But mostly worked okay. I will say that flying the Superbug felt pretty good, but the ability to map MFDs is limited unless you buy extra software or get creative with LUA scripting. I much prefer DCS World's approach.

 

The F-4B has an installation issue because I used it with FSX/SE despite the installer wanting FSX. A later version should solve that problem. Graphic anomalies similar to Superbug, but 10x worse. Switching back to DX9 seemed to minimize if not completely eliminate graphic glitches. The cockpit looks great. Not so sure I like the key mapping setup of FSX. Again, I much prefer DCS World for setting up controls.

 

All I had time to do last night was take-off and fly several times in between trouble-shooting graphics issues. It feels very light and agile the exact opposite of the advanced digital fly-by-wire Superbug. I am going to bet that if I do some acceleration measurements versus the flight manual, this F-4B is a bit too powerful/fast. Max g at high AoA seemed reasonable at sea level. However, the flight model isn't advanced enough to show proper instability/departure at high AoA. There is some wing rocking with a slight possibility of rolling inverted and having to dive with neutral controls to recover, but it is nothing like the lethal snap-roll/flat spin departure that claimed over 200 F-4's in Vietnam.

 

I haven't tried to use the radar or weapons in either the Superbug or F-4B, so I don't have an opinion on that yet. The Superbug flight model impressed me. The inability to quickly and easily map both of my Thrustmaster MFD's to the game's button was an unexpected surprise. I have never been a huge fan of the Superbug, but the flight model is so enjoyable that I may actually spend some time doing carrier ops. Despite a great looking 3d model and textures, both inside and out, I am disappointed so far with the F-4B. The flight model isn't even close to the fun/challenge of the MiG-21bis, F-86F, and MiG-15bis in DCS World. To be fair, the F-4B is still in beta and the forum administrator stated that the flight model is going to be improved a little, hopefully showing more of the wild character at high AoA that justified adding slats to F-4Es. All I can do is wait and see. But so far, I am far more excited about the F4U-1D and AJS-37 Viggen coming to DCS than this version of my all-time favorite airplane.

[+streakeagle 871]

While accelerated stall behavior is too simple/predictable, getting low and too slow gets crazy and fatal, even with this slightly simplified flight model.

I just wish A2A would get off their butts and follow their stated path: T-33 -> F-104 -> F-4, especially if they used TacPack.