Panzer's post on the CH made me realize again how people may have the wrong idea about certain things... this time, the issue was BMS. I decided to start this thread so that people can post their thoughts or preconceptions or just plain questions about Falcon and BMS and get answers. Hopefully, this will lead to a renewed interest in Falcon and a different and more accurate perspective on flying this sim. I'll start with a few common ones:


Falcon BMS is complex
This is true. It's not Ace Combat arcade-style for sure!
I've not played on the easiest setting of Falcon; I've always stuck with 100% realism, so I'm not sure how "arcadey" you can make BMS, but people will recommend you fly at full realism settings anyway.

Falcon Dance
Initially used to describe the steps needed to install Falcon, this has now included the steps needed to PLAY Falcon, namely the "dance" of the startup sequence of programs needed to play Falcon properly. HOTAS profile, TrackIR, voice command software, and so on. This shouldn't be a barrier to playing Falcon though. The installation dance is covered here, and the startup dance is dependent on your hardware setup and your preferences.

Learning Curve.... or rather, the learning CLIFF
The downside of being a "hardcore" simulation is that some ground schooling is required prior to takeoff. However, you don't have to RTFM the entire manual before you can take to the virtual skies. The BMS team have worked hard to make their manuals a sort of one-stop-shop for what you need for BMS... unlike their initial release where info was scattered everywhere including non-BMS documentation. The current 4.33.3 setup now has a Training manual with associated TEs that take you through step-by-step, starting with Ground Ops (rampstart, taxi, takeoff), Navigation, then Landing. Then comes advanced stuff such as Night ILS landing, Air-to-Air Refuelling, Flameout Landings, and so on. Ater that comes Weapons Employment, starting from dumb bombs and moving up to LGBs, HARMs, Mavericks, and IAMs and beyone.

Then there's the misconception of a mission involving 200 steps just to drop a bomb. Sure, you can start from a cold-and-dark jet, bring it to life, input the appropriate QNH for your airfield, taxi to the active, tank up on the ingress, listen to bullseye calls, divert during the run-in due to enemy fighters, find your target and realize your coordinates are off or maybe your targets have been bombed by a previous flight so you find new targets, set a mark point, drop your 4 GBUs in one pass, stick around to buddy-lase for your wingmen, RTB, contact the tanker for more gas, find the tanker via TACAN and HSI, tank up, go home, taxi to your bunker, then shut down the jet.

Or you can jump in a flight IN PROGRESS, have threats called based on your orientation instead of bullseye, drop your Mk-82s via CCIP, go home.

The sim can be baseline-complex or super-complex, depending on how you want to fly it.

Manuals
It can be confusing initially. There's a manual for the game (installation, config, MP, etc), there's a manual for training, there's a manual for the aircraft systems (Dash-1), and there's a manual for weapon employment (Dash-34). Just start with the Training manual and refer to the other manuals as needed.

Refer to this thread if you want to take a look at the manuals without having to download and install Falcon BMS.

Time Investment
No way around this, unfortunately. You can go play Candy Crush on your phone that only needs 30 seconds to learn how to play it and can be picked up and played for 5 minutes and then stop playing it. The nature of a detailed sim means you will have to put in the time to study the game, study the aircraft, and so on. A typical flight is around 1.5 hours, longer if your ingress leg is longer or if you need to tank on ingress/egress, but like I said above, you can jump in mid-flight and you can also leave the jet after the mission. As with anything complex, the amount of time you put in will affect the amount of enjoyment you get from the sim. The key is to find that sweet spot

Keyboard commands
This can be very confusing due to how BMS handles .key files. Basically, a .key file stores info on what commands you have access to and what key combinations those commands are mapped to. An example of "access to a command" is the landing gear. You can have it as a toggle callback or as a switch-state callback. For toggle callbacks, you can map it to "G" and pressing "G" will raise/lower the landing gear. For switch-state callbacks, you can map gear down to "G" and gear up to "SHIFT+G". Pressing "G" will only lower the gear, pressing "G" again when the gear is down won't do anything. You'll have to press "SHIFT+G" to raise the landing gear. Not all .key files will have the switch-state callbacks, so you will not have "access" to those.

While this is confusing, it may be unnecessary. Who cares what the landing gear command is mapped to? Is it G? Is it SHIFT+G? Maybe ALT+SHIFT+G? Doesn't matter. Do you know where the Landing Gear lever is? Click on it. Done.

How do you turn on the TGP that's mounted on the right chin hardpoint? Was it ALT+J? CTRL+J? Doesn't matter. Do you know where the SNSR PWR Panel is? The switch for the right hardpoint is there. Click on that switch. Done.

The only stuff you'll really have to map to your joystick or HOTAS are the commands that are present on the actual F-16 HOTAS. Anything else is icing on the cake.

Peripherals
Flying with the keyboard can be done, but I'd advise against it. Same thing for using an XBox controller. Ideally, this should be flown using a HOTAS setup with rudders and TrackIR... but you can make-do with a simple joystick with throttle control, twist-rudder function, and a hat switch. You'll probably have to do more finger-acrobatics over the keyboard, especially for commands normally found on the F-16's HOTAS. As with the time investment, the investment done on peripherals can greatly improve your enjoyment of the sim. Better hardware simply makes your job easier. I can fly formation and tank easily with my setup... any guy that can do the same on a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro deserves great respect!

Snobs and Know-it-Alls
I remember back in the day, I joined a VFW where you had to "sir" all other "high-ranking officials" and "salute" at the start and end of each post. Hilarious! Luckily, most, if not all VFWs seem to have passed that phase and most are laid-back and just fly for fun. The amount of "realism" and "accuracy" vary from squadron to squadron... some organize flight nights with each member wishing to participate must "sign up" to a particular flight and a particular seat/jet on that flight. Others just encourage people to organize flights via Skype or Discord and fly whever a few people are available. All VFWs also recognize that REAL LIFE trumps a hobby and are understanding if a pilot needs to bail.

There are still snobs but that's the nature of the world and you'll find them whether you're flying "hardcore flight sims" or playing Call of Duty. There are still "know-it-alls" but most are friendly and are eager to share their knowledge rather than show off.



That's all I can think of for now... feel free to add more or ask about anything related to the game, related to the community, or whatever.

Thanks Ice, this was great! I've been away from Falcon for a very long time but your post has sparked my interest again, thanks!

Glad you enjoyed it and welcome back!

A wonderful read, very nicely put together. I'll have to tackle those manuals in the manner you recommend, instead of trying to learn it all at once. I guess steps are needed here. For sure I wish I could start with a cold and dark aircraft, fly the mission (including 200 steps), and end by shutting down my jet in the bunker. But like you said, this is not candy crush, Time must be invested.
Glad I just built a new computer! And I picked up an Saitek X-55 throttle to go with my MS FF sidewinder 2 and CH rudders. Using the Delane clip for Head Tracking.

Thanks Ice, really needed that read!

You're welcome, and I'm glad you've found it useful! Just start with the Training manual (BMS-Training.pdf) and take your baby steps from there! Good luck!

Copy that

Awesome post!

-Nacman

OK this ain't no myth. NEVER piss off the gods of Falcon. If you think you might, be sure to backup your logbook.