Tom’s HiTiles for Falcon 4: Allied Force Page 5

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NOE

What else is there? Well, how about flying NOE? What’s that all about? As we all know from flying sims, it can be one thing at 15,000 feet and quite another at low altitude. And how about target spotting, especially moving ground vehicles? Can HiTilesAF help you do that? Is it more than just better looking, does it have utility as well? To answer those questions, 20mm decided to fly the standard Maverick training mission, Balkans theatre, using the fall terrain and application preference card settings. Resolution is still 1600x1200x32@65Hz. No comparison shots here, just the HiTilesAF with some commentary.

	The mission starts up and we proceed to the target steerpoint. Over 2 miles out, I just barely make out dust clouds but no individual objects, and I couldn’t before HiTilesAF either. So that I know what to point at, I switch on the GMT radar and designate one of the returns. At over 330 knots, we’re closing quickly. I go to chase view and hit the “L” key to zoom in.
	Aha! There they are, armored column advancing into the nearby town of peaceful sleeping residents. Gotta protect those townfolk. Rifle!
	Here you can see the launched missile closing fast on one of the BMP’s currently in the triangular-shaped yellow field.
	You can pick out the other vehicles quite easily.
	Back up in chase view, here’s an overhead as we near the column’s position and the maverick hits home.

So, what’s the verdict? On this score, I’d have to say there’s a slight edge using HiTilesAF in my ability to pick out moving ground targets. I think it’s mainly in areas of lighter terrain background (such as the yellow field in this example), and may be due to the better detail you have with HiTilesAF. Even then, the best I can do with my Mk I eyeballs is try and get a reference from AWACS about target heading and range, then look for dust clouds. In the case of AAA, I find I can spot those pretty easily with the smoke they give off, either with or without HiTilesAF. So for moving ground vehicle spotting, slight advantage to HiTilesAF.

Next up, how does HiTilesAF look at night?

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