streakeagle

I still have OFP / Resistance / GOTY installed and running. What tweaks are there? I really wouldn't want to uninstall/break my modded installations (I have 8 keys, though probably only 4 or 5 installed at the moment) unless they made a significant improvement.

The only equivalent to IFF in the game is padlocking your target. you get a message in the buffer saying what kind of aircraft it is and if you HUD/Visual Spotting settings are on normal, you get all his information in the lower right corner of your screen. If you are like me and don't have HUD info and/or missed the text buffer message, you can use the F8 button to see the target you have padlocked. So, if you are in an F-4 and you have a radar lock but aren't sure if you have a friend or foe, <CTRL><R> to set the radar contact as your visual target. If you did not have the target previously padlocked, the aircraft type should show up in the message buffer. If you missed it, or want to simulate TISEO or similar TCS systems, use F8 to see the target up close. Otherwise, the only other IFF in the game is in the F-15A radar display in TWS mode. Of course, the real F-15A didn't have that mode with the original APG-63.

ECM effectiveness is for the most part classified. This works out great for games since they can adjust ECM effectiveness to improve gameplay. The F-16 did not have extra space for ECM, it was designed to be small and cheap, so it has to either rely on pods, remove something useful to get internal ECM, and/or add bulges to squeeze in more stuff. Noise jamming is tough to counter, but requires powerful systems to be useful. EA-6s and EF-111s were the only fighter sized aircraft able to really do this to any useful effect. Of course, the source of such jamming becomes an HOJ magnet, so they need to stand off a bit and have a barrier CAP protecting them. Deceptive jamming is far more practical, but requires knowledge of threat systems to get it right. The early jammers carried by U-2s were effective against the US theory of missile guidance, but didn't do much other than possibly help Soviet SAMs home in on them. I would love to see real world test results on the effectiveness of various jammers, flares, and chaff on all the different radars and missiles. I was a submarine sonar tech, and we had equivalent systems for jamming/decoying sonars and torpedoes. Despite having extensive training and Top Secret clearances, I still have no idea just how effective those systems would have been in actual combat. I don't think there has ever been all-out air combat that would force the US and Soviet Union to compromise their state-of-the-art technology by actually using it to the full extent. Vietnam would have great data on older systems vs SA-2. Israeli conflicts is the only place where you might get good data, and even then, it would be good for their own systems, not evaluating front line US and USSR/Russian systems. An absolutely important question... with no really useful answer possible.

Congratulations, it is an honor to have contributed so much material that you get your own "hangar" on CombatAce!

There is a Christmas version of that song as well... I think the Red Baron is winning, but instead of finishing off Snoopy, he waves and says "Merry Christmas".

back in 1997, Federal Hydrashock 230 grain 0.45 ACP was the best 0.45 round with a 94% single shot knock down success rate excluding vital shots like head and heart. Other 0.45 hollow points were in the 80-92% range, standard ball 0.45 was in the 50% range. You would be hard pressed to find a round in any hand gun caliber that would score better than 94%. Now how far has the ammo tech come since then? Doesn't really matter to me as long as I know I am going to take a guy down better than 90% of the time with a single shot that hits ANYWHERE, much less the effects of hitting a vital area.

I have Tamiya 1/350 (F-14A, F/A-18A, F-4S) but they don't stock non-naval aircraft and are slightly lower detail/quality. 3 of the 4 in this set cannot be found in plastic at this scale. More importantly, once these get the go ahead, the next 4 aircraft will be offered up for production. A lot of those will be other aircraft not available via Navy models. MiG-17/19/21/23/25, F-15, F-16 etc. I played Air Superiority/Air Strike/Desert Falcons/Speed of Heat. That was a great system, especially at portraying the whole picture of SEAD, CAS, Strike, CAP, Intercept, etc. But, Birds of Prey is focused purely on one thing: close-in air combat with exceptionally accurate physics yet more playable than ever before. Air War was the slowest, most complex air combat game I ever had, but Air Superiority was far more realistic, especially with the Speed of Heat revision where all of the missiles and avionics were modeled much better. Birds of Prey plays like a flight sim: roll your wings onto the threat and pull your nose onto him, then move the pieces on the map to reflect what you did. While the map is still vital to the game, the key is each aircraft has a PHAD (pitch, heading, and attitude display) which allows flawless realistic loops at any bank angle with correct changes in roll, pitch, heading, altitude, and horizontal motion... and you never have to do any trigonometry. You draw temporary lines on charts using a straight edge to determine key calculations, which is quick, easy, and accurate. I wish this game had existed when I was a teenager. Then I would have the time to really enjoy it and have friends with both time and interest to play it with me.

My family was eligible for food stamps and used them while my father was in the Navy... that's how low Navy enlisted pay was in the late 60's. He got out and got a job as a Tampa police officer and was able to rent a house and get off food stamps.

Taking down a government is one thing. Replacing it with something better is another. Somewhere the spirits of "Preble's Boys" are smiling, as is Ronald Reagan

I did some testing. I did observe what the Third Wire thread noted: Standard ARMs being lofted don't do so well. But I witnessed a Shrike veer from the track I selected and hit an entirely different radar. I was not visually locked on the other radar, I was padlocked on an SA-2 launcher immediately in front of me. So, I am guessing your hit on a launcher vice radar was more of a near miss than anything to do with visual padlocks. I have yet to get a Standard ARM to hit because my targets are at short range, while the Standard ARM loft profile doesn't start trying to acquire until after following a ballistic arc for some distance. If my F-105D would stop getting shot down, I could probably take the time to set up a Standard ARM hit, but I can't follow missiles in F9 view AND dodge SAMs at the same time.

You mentioned that the ARM hit the launcher instead of the radar. Someone else commenting about ARM behavior at the Third Wire forums mentioned that the ARM seems to work properly when you are visually locked on a target. So my thinking is that when you launched the missile, you were visually targeted on the launcher. If so, that is an interesting fact that the ARM doesn't really target the radar, but your visual padlock.

Any similarity between the shuttle Buran and the NASA space shuttle is purely coincidental. Two independent space programs with similar goals happened to produce identical solutions. Likewise, it was purely coincidence that the Tu-4 was so similar to the B-29, the RPG-18 to the M72 LAW, etc.

Only in the SF series would you ever see a fully flyable combat-capable version of this aircraft. Thank you FC for your continued contributions.

Can't argue with that. But it does gather a group of highly motivated professionals all in one place... kind of "special forces" among sailors. Great people accomplishing great things. Just too much for me to handle for 20 years. 8 is enough (though only 6.5 was sea duty, the first 1.5 was boot camp/schools).

I don't have any clue what the airburst should look like frame by frame, but there is a photo of the aftermath of the only Genie detonation: So, I think a flash followed by a big ball of white smoke would due for me.

F-101B(67) moonlighting after destroying 12 Badgers with 2 AIR-2 Genies:

It appears that I was wrong, there is and effect, I just don't know that it is working the way it is supposed to: View from F-101B(67) cockpit, targets (12 Badgers) just prior to launch of AIR-2: View from F-101B(67) cockpit, AIR-2, and Badgers just prior to detonation of AIR-2: View from AIR-2 (Cube of triangular particles), F-101B(67) cockpit, and Badgers (2 of 12 are undamaged and continue flying) just after detonation: View of AIR-2 a few moments later after detonation. Expanded cube of triangular particles: Final image of Badgers (10 destroyed, 2 flying):

That is exactly the same file I am using. AFAIK, I just have to have that file in the effects folder along with the specified tga files... which having tried both CAStary's effects pack and Killerbee's pack, I don't know what can be wrong? I am thoroughly puzzled. I have been trying to get this to work in the SF2I folder of a fully merged install. I tried again in the untouched SF2E folder: drag n drop CAStary's Unified Effects package, drag n drop Voodoo Megapak V2. Lob some AIR-2 Genies at Badgers. Badgers die, but the only effects are the explosions/fires of the Badgers, which I see whether I hit with AIM-4s or Genies.

I can't get the aerial nuke effect to work despite installing MGunny's Ordnance Shop II for SF2. What do I have to do besides drag-n-drop the files from the Ordnance Shop?

Somehow I missed this post. One comment from an SSN sailor: "Boomer f*gs!"

I didn't need any credit. Google MiG-21 7701 and you get a whole lot of photos and history. The book I have did help tie down the loose ends. Not only an amazing and famous paint scheme, but MiG-21MF 7701 has a long, interesting history.

I refused to take the Chief's test since the results simply didn't matter. My EAOS was well before results would be out and even if I could have made chief, I wasn't staying in. The command advancement staff tried to tell me to take the test OR ELSE. But I played my Ace: the Captain of our sub. He had already agreed to let me leave in peace rather than fight over a protocol that was utterly meaningless for the Navy or me. Of course, I got a NAM in the mail months later after it was meaningless. The only times a medal counts to me are: 1) when it is awarded in front of the people who knew whether or not you deserved it. 2) when you wear a full dress uniform and you can show off all of your chest candy. They didn't even send me the actual medal, just the piece of paper saying it was awarded to me. And they wondered why I was so unhappy with the Navy in general and with that command in particular. ... but I'm not bitter Everyone I ever served with who stayed in made Chief or Senior Chief. A scarce few made Master Chief. Most retired almost immediately after reaching 20 years as the stresses of submarine life and the current political-economic situation simply make Navy life to painful to want to stay for 30. I am proud to have served and even more proud of those I served with, but getting out at 8.0 years was simply the right choice for me. Congrats to all those who made Chief! I hope they get used to having their spines removed over the next 10 years

That is an awesome skin in real life and looks really good in the game, too!

I had all of the air combat board games and miniatures rules. Air War was complex and detailed, but flawed. Air Superiority was much better: easier to play and more realistic. Combined with the Air Strike and Desert Falcons supplements, Air Superiority had a comprehensive planeset. But the ultimate was when Speed of Heat was released, making the official rules more realistic than my own custom set I had created and expanding the plane set to cover pretty much every jet that flew from WW2 to the present. I recently moved to Orlando and finally threw all of my old games away. But I have one new one that is better than all of them: http://www.airbattle.com/Birds_of_Prey/Welcome.html It evolved out of Air Superiority, but its 3d movement system is as realistic as it can be and even easier to use than Air Superiority/Speed of Heat.