This supposedly fantastic AN/APG-63 radar up in the nose of my virtual Eagle... It's not all that, is it? Or is it just me?
Due to constant crashes and lock-ups I haven't had the chance to play more than 2 of the F-15 campaingn missions, but this radar is giving me no end of trouble. Now, I've played quite a bit of Falcon 4, so I know how and where to point my radar beams, but this thing is just plain useless!
Case in point: F-15 campaig, mission 2.
First a pair of Mig 23s. Get "visual" (Label) at 30km (or is that nm?). Radar finally picks up targets at about 20km out, and I lock on. Realise I'm in STT mode and switch to TWS. Radar breaks lock and goes blank. Picks up tracks again well inside of 10, after I've dodged a russian AAM or two. Switch to boresight mode and splash one with AIM-7 after AMRAAM can not be bothered. My wingman splashes the other.
Proceed on mission. AWACS warns of pop up (why can't he tell me range?) group. Start scanning. Make sure I'm in TWS mode this time. Nothing. Look up, look down. Nothing. 30 miles and I get viz on a pair of MiG-29s closing fast. 20 miles. Nothing. 10 miles and still nothing. Switch to boresight, and at just over 5 miles I get a lock with a '120. Shoot. Miss. Dodge missile, and enter turn fight. Fox 2 and splash one. Look around. The second '29 is coming straight at me from just over 5. Switch to '120 and get a lock at just over 2 miles. Fox 3 and a beautiful kill absolutely head on (looks pretty cool at that range! Flew straight through the debris cloud.)
Is this the next step in realism? Does the MiG29 have such a low RCS from head-on that my über-radar just doesn't see it? Why did I lose those '23s when swithcing to TWS? Why am I not seeing any other posts like this? Is my lowly GeForce2 GTS part of the problem? So many questions... I'm in the process of forming a powerful, obsessive love-hate relationship with this sim.
