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#1772926 - 06/26/06 05:59 PM Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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Bman2006 Offline
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Ok you F4:AF masters. Help out the hack. I have read through the FAQ's... I have been to around the globe on the internet looking at F4:AF sites... I ran scared away from a 700 page manual... (but shall return)... I need some help.

A little background. I have been simming for a while now. I have been cruising the sunny skies with FS2004, CH yoke, TrackIR 4.... All is well. I thought I would take a break from the 250 page manual of the 727 dreamliner (thinking it was rather large) and would install F4:AF which came with the TrackIR. Naturally I thought this was going to be some turn and burn fun game - you know, to take a break from the study of the 727 / 737 aircraft manual.

To my amazement, this couldn't be further from the truth. In a great way. I am glad to see that there is a hyper-sim for well, faster aircraft.

I don't even know where to truly begin this under taking. What would a complete noob do? What would you do if you had to learn everything over again that you know now? Do I

1 - Read the operating manual from cover to cover?
2 - Where do I practice what I have learned? In the free flight training mode?
3 - I read the FAQ's on this forum and they are already over my head.
4 - Does F4:AF come with any interactive tutorials? I am use to doing the flight training on FS2004. It holds your hand, they say do this and you do it. I see that there are lessons on F4 but you click and just go with what you know with the manual in the other hand? Is this how it is done?

... So, I want to learn... I just want to learn it in an efficient way.

This is you chance to shine Yoda(s). Point me in the right direction! If not, it's back to Cessna 172 for me. Ha.

Thanks Y'all. Feel free to post here, PM or email. Heck if you have really good info, Yahoo me @ vanepo2001.

Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#1772927 - 06/26/06 06:09 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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Dusty Rhodes Offline
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Well.....you could read the manual......But better yet, load up the training missions and fly them. Click buttons and mess with it on the fly. That is how I learned it. Plus some time on the Can, reading the manual \:\)


Dusty Rhodes

Fight Fair! Fight to have fun! Fight to WIN!

Win 7 Pro, Intel i7 4790K OC'd to 4.6 Gigs, EVGA GTX Titan 6 GB Memory and ASUS GTX Titan 6 GB Memory, 32 Gigs Tri Channel Ballistix RAM, Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog and HOTAS Cougar, TrackIR 5, Cougar MFD's, Saitek Combat Rudder Pedals
#1772928 - 06/26/06 06:13 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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Para_Bellum Offline
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Read BeachAV8R's tutorial and campaign AARs. IMO the best, most fun way to learn the ways of the Falcon.

Link.

They're done with Falcon 4.0 (not AF) but almost anything still works the same in AF.


"...late afternoon the Air Tasking Order came in [and] we found the A-10 part and we said, "We are going where!? We are doing what!?"

Capt. Todd Sheehy, Hog pilot, on receiving orders during Operation Desert Storm

#1772929 - 06/26/06 06:30 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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DBond Offline
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My advice would mirror Dusty's. I first learned the sim on F4SP. With so much to learn I had to come up with some plan. Luckily I'd had experience with other top-notch jet sims like Jane's F/A-18 and F-15, so many terms and systems weren't completely foreign to me.

What I did was run through each training mission (the manual had walkthroughs, not sure if the AF manual does?). Started with free flight. Then takeoffs, then landings and right on down the list.

I didn't move on to the next one until I could complete the mission successfully without pausing or referencing the manual.

Once I felt I had the basic skills and systems down I spent a couple of days in the instant action module. This is an oft-overlooked training environment with unlimited ordnance and heaps of bad guys.

The test came a week later when I fired up my first campaign. The next day I flew online in a campaign, did well enough, and have been hooked on this sim ever since.

I feel like I'm proficient in this sim, but even after several years there's plenty I don't know, or know well enough. The ICP, TACAN, and other stuff. There's a hell of a lot to learn. But only about half of it is really needed to fly and fight effectively.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#1772930 - 06/26/06 06:51 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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stevie Offline
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Yes, use the manual together with the training missions. And Don't skip anything - even if you think "uh ok, i did that before". And don't move on to the mission when you think "uh ok, this looked like the way i should do it.. i guess".

Doing all training missions together with the manual will make you feel 'comfortable' in the cockpit.

You really start to learn and enjoy F4:AF once you go online. I suggest having a peek at http://www.tacticalgamer.com and browse for the f4 forum. Also multiviper is a cool place to hang out \:\) (which i actually less then i should)

Good luck!

stevie
http://www.vlie.com/falconlog

#1772931 - 06/26/06 07:39 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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Bman2006 Offline
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Hey guys - thanks!!! I wish I wasn't at work or I would dive right in, again, for the 5th time...ha.

I see a lot of reference to F4SP... what is it? I see a lot of reference to SP4... this reminds me of SP2 (as in service pack). So far I have only installed the game and updated it to 1.07.

Regarding the training missions, I see the information on the pages shown before you click "fly" - is this all the information that is provided for the training missions? How do you know that you have successfully flown the training. Will it tell you ? I did the takeoff training...simply took off and began to follow the leader on the course indicated by the HSI (i think that's what it was called ;\) )

Keep the comments coming. I am printing them off and tagging all of the links.

Thanks again.

To print the manual at work...or not to print... haha.


Benjamin

#1772932 - 06/26/06 07:57 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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Para_Bellum Offline
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F4SP is the original, 1999 version of Falcon 4.0 with the additional "SuperPack" patches made by members of the Falcon community.

You will find additional, detailed information about the training missions in the PDF manual


"...late afternoon the Air Tasking Order came in [and] we found the A-10 part and we said, "We are going where!? We are doing what!?"

Capt. Todd Sheehy, Hog pilot, on receiving orders during Operation Desert Storm

#1772933 - 06/26/06 08:00 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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Bman2006 Offline
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Ok - Cool. I am going to print the manual and tackle each training mission.

It appears that there are a lot of good tutorials that folks have put together along the way also.

Tell me about the tacticalgamer site. I see that they give flying lessons on there also. Any one tried them out?

#1772934 - 06/26/06 08:04 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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Inkompetent Offline
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F4SP is simply the SP improvement mod for Falcon 4.0. SP2 and SP4 and what more are version numbers for that mod.

That has nothing in practice to do with F4AF since SP doesn't work with F4AF (since F4AF technically is a sequel to F4. Not an expansion or somesuch)


And I'd actually suggest printing the material, or have a laptop or something else by your side when you are training. F4AF crashes on Alt-tabbing, and as such you can't pause the sim and check the manual mid-flight.

#1772935 - 06/26/06 08:12 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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psychp Offline
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Bman,

Unfortunately there's no way in game to reference the training information.

BUT...

What most guys do is print out the training portion (much shorter than 700 pages) of the PDF and use those as reference as they are doing ths mission. Just get use to using Pause to read up while in flight. \:\)

Hope this helps

-BlackAngel


BlackAngel
#1772936 - 06/26/06 08:14 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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Bman2006 Offline
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Yeah, I am going to print it. I know some where around page 598 there will be the key to understanding something! Ha.

The ultimate goal is to impress the Dad. He's logged some 4000 in A7 / F4 / F-14.... I want to sit him down on the machine and say have at it fly boy. Haha. Interesting enough, he has expressed little interest in the sim world. Maybe the complexity and wow! factor of TrackIR hooked up he will see it differently. Or maybe not...

#1772937 - 06/26/06 08:15 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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Bman2006 Offline
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Thanks Psychp. That's what I did with FS2004 also. Seemed to work out well and it ended up not being too overwhelming...

#1772938 - 06/26/06 08:31 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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DBond Offline
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NooJoyzee
In a pinch you can pause your training, alt-tab out of F4 for a gander at your reference material, website, manual, whatever, then maximize and continue on.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#1772939 - 06/26/06 08:44 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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Blade_RJ Offline
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since this is a newbie thread, i´ll hijack it with one small question. what is the use of a hud "view" in the mfd ,repeating what i see in the hud?

#1772940 - 06/26/06 08:48 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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stevie Offline
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I used it for training the instrument landing.
In the 2d pit looking down using the instruments up to 1 miles away from tacan at 200 feet and then look up to see if you did it ok. The hud is then very handy to use.

Anyway, i'm pretty sure thats not the main use of the hud in a mfd \:\)

#1772941 - 06/26/06 08:50 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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H4rM Offline
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Bman2006, a great friend in flying the training TE's so you can learn as you go is the use of the FREEZE instead of PAUSE. P=Pause while Shift+P=Freeze. Freeze will allow you to stil be able to use your mfds and switches for locking up Air to Air or Air to Ground targets and give you the time to apply what the manual teaches. Later, once you hone your knowledge, you can try them without the Freeze switch. BTW: If you read the manual, some training TEs cannot be accomplished right off the bat, like the Air to Air one. Just do like the manual says and Freeze the game, lock onto the different targets and practice acquiring them. Later when you get better, you should be able to fly it without the freeze and get most all of them easily. Just remember "baby-steps".

Another great learning method that I highly recommend is joining a virtual flying wing, flying falcon4-allied force that has a great training program. There are many good ones, but I would like to suggest the Freebirds-VFW (freebirdswing.org website for info). After flying for years on my own, I learned more in 3 months from them than years on my own.

#1772942 - 06/27/06 04:13 AM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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Junior2 Offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by Blade_RJ:
since this is a newbie thread, i´ll hijack it with one small question. what is the use of a hud "view" in the mfd ,repeating what i see in the hud?
Hey Blade, that's usually used for a viper IP in the back seat. When they're teaching a new dude, they'll use the hud data from the back to land the jet. Stud sits in front. From what I hear, it's not that much fun to do, go figure . . .

#1772943 - 06/27/06 04:00 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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Li'lJugs Offline
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re: Following the training missions, in order, and not progressing until comfortable.

Probably depends on one's personality, but I tried that, and quickly got bored. No doubt it's the best way, but not for me. My method? Do what interests me, and push a lot of buttons, LOL!

I love A-G, so am presently concentrating in GBU delivery, and getting pretty good at it, if I do say so myself, but I still can't land 100% of the time. It's just a game, even if it is a sim (oh, the humanity!!).

Anyway, succeeding in some the "advanced" training missions gives me incentive to learn the more basic ones, since you need them all to succeed (or just stay alive) in the campaign.

Main thing, I think, is just to have fun!


Hi, I'm Larry and this my brother Dayrle, and this is my other brother Dayrle.
#1772944 - 06/27/06 07:00 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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LoD_Viper Offline
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Southern Arizona in the good o...
Well, nobody seems to have made this suggestion so I will throw it into the "pot" to be considered...

Once you have gone through the first 10 or so training missions and have basic aircraft procedures down then find a group of guys or a squadron who are flying Falcon AF and join up with them. It's a lot more fun IMHO to fly online in MP and learn the more advanced stuff together (plus some of the other guys are probably pretty advanced and can give you additional pointers and answer most of your questions much quicker than trying to learn it yourself).

Just my 0.02 worth.

#1772945 - 06/27/06 07:03 PM Re: Step 1 - Holy Smokes ... I am not sure.  
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Bman2006 Offline
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Bman2006  Offline
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Thanks Viper..

The guys over at TacticalGamer have said the same thing. I am hoping that they are going to show me a thing or two...or three.


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