Hi Andy,
Will Typhoon have an MFD display similar to EF2000 whereby you can lock and drop LGB's (GBU's for American friends)or any similar TIALD display?

Also are Rage *still* looking for a publisher and is Typhoon due out in March 2001?

Cheers
Tracer

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"Flying is the second hardest thing known to man.........the first is landing!"

Hi tracer...are we the cs rejects?
happy new year

benno

Tracer

Steve Hunt of Rage has answered this in earlier newsgroups. While the Typhoon will carry LGBs, the lasing will be done automatically (by ground forces).

The reasoning is that the focus in Typhoon is to put the emphasis on 'big picture' action and decision making...and away from individual avionics manipulation and button pushing. The Typhoon pilot will be able to do all operations other than the actual lasing. Once the TIALD is locked on to the target, the weapon is released as in any sim.

Some will like this, some will not.

Andy

Hi Tracer.

Nice to see you are still active. What are you flying these days? I can't be much help with that sort of question because as always I tend to focus on the game itself, keeping my nose fairly close to the computer screen, avoiding anything that isn't related to air combat like the plague... But that is the same date that Andy and I have been given

Leon "Badboy" Smith

Hello Andy,
I am also part of the EF-2000 maillist. By reading a mail from Steve about the issue, I got the impression that not only you do not need to illuminate the target with the laser, but also that selecting a target by steering the aiming cursors and also locking it was done "automatically" (as in: you have a pre-selected target, it is illuminated by ground troops, just go nearby and launch the LGB).

Are you saying that the pilot will manually steer the aiming cursor and lock-on a ground target but not lasing it?

Thanks in advance,
Shodan

Hi Leon,
I'm jumping about like a psychotic in and out of B-17's many positions that and CFS2 and the occasional Carmageddon TDR blood lust!
Otherwise life is plodding along

Thanks Andy and hi H.arrier!

Cheers
Tracer



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"Flying is the second hardest thing known to man.........the first is landing!"

E-Mail me, let's talk.

Leon "Badboy" Smith

Andy, can you tell us anything about the locking and cycling of enemy aircraft?
Can you only cycle through all the aircraft in the sky, or can you use the mouse?

(I keep seeing the mouse in screen shots)

Also, how's the weather modeled? Is there extreme weather situations?

You see the mouse on the screen because the user interface is available as task bars at the top and bottom of the screen at all times. Even while you are flying a mission it is possible to use the mouse to select the tactical map, mission roster, war reports, or transfer pilots, as well as to jump from one pilot to the next. When they aren't being used, they are aren't visible, but appear as the mouse moves over them. The mouse can also be used to fly the aircraft in place of the flight control stick, and it is one of the best implementations I've seen, because this is the first sim' in which I've been able to dogfight using the mouse





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Leon "Badboy" Smith

EF2000

Weather is selectable as a function of cloud cover. Even the basic selection has clouds that will affect game play.

A2A targets are selectable, with the radar computer initially selecting the most favorable target. Selection is made with keyboard keys, not the mouse.

Shodan

If I understand the manual correctly, A2G targets are handled in the same manner as A2A targets. A keyboard key selects the most favorable target. If you don't want this target, use the keyboard to select another available target. The selected target image will appear on the targeting MFD.

For LGBs, the lasing is done by ground forces. The Typhoon will automatically lock on to the target IF you have a clear line of sight (ie, pointed at the target area with no clouds or other visibility problems to block the laser). You do not have to slew the system to acquire the target.

Andy

Andy,

When you mentioned the targeting MFD, do you mean the pop up one, or the one in the cockpit?

Are the MFDs operable?

(sorry that's another question)

Only the pop-up MFDs work..the ones in the cockpit do not. They are there only to complete the 3D representation of the cockpit.

Sorry, maybe I should rephrase my question.
By operable, I mean can you see moving pictures in the MFDs. I already know that there are no clickable buttons in the cockpit, but static MFDs would be horrendous!

Andy can you give us confirmation on that?

It's the only part of Typhoon that I wish was diffrent, but yes the MFDs in the virtual cockpit are static. Sorry. All the info will be provided to you via the pop-up MFDs. According to Steve Hunt having real-time 3D MFDs is expensive (graphically I assume), so they felt they rather have more detail on the landscape and structures.

I'm sure that we'll all get use to it eventually; but the screen shots of the REALLY nice virtual cockpit just scream for real time 3D MFDs On the other hand we're getting more detail on the landscape and structures; which is a good thing. Plus in the end I (and probably everyone else) want Typhoon to run as smoothly as TAW did and NOT like Janes F18.



[This message has been edited by Uroboros (edited January 06, 2001).]

I have been terribly fearful of what Rage has done with the MFDs from the start. However, they might be on to something. While I love the virtual MFDs in F-15 and EECH (Falcon 4's suck ,in my opinion) these pop-up thingys in Typhoon may not be a bad idea. In a way they simulate peripheral vision, which you would have in a real fighter. If they also improve framrate and make the flight experience more fluid, this will also improve the simulation. Since when did the real world move at 15-25 FPS? I just hope the pop-up windows show at least quasi-realistic pages (not stupid external camera angles or God-like views that have been present in lesser games).

[This message has been edited by Fishbed77 (edited January 08, 2001).]

Good...so we're all agreed that pop up mfd's aren't that bad after all....cool!

Agree is maybe pushing it a bit, I think people have come to terms with it rather and made peace. Having a cockpit and no-cockpit with pop-up MFD's would be classified as cool. The approach followed in Typhoon worked for EECH, hope it will work for a technologically advanced fast-mover sim as well.

Here's a follow-on to this MFD issue.

The MFDs are displayed to the lower left, center, and right of the HUD. They look and operate the same as if they were located down in the cockpit...with the exception that selection of MFD type and MFD operation are done with keystrokes, not the mouse.

One nice feature of the MFDs is that if you change the range scale on one, the others change also to keep the same sense of perspective.

The manner of MFD disply and operation is wholly consistent with the focus of this game. Your objective is to win a war, and your instrument is the Typhoon....contrast this with Falcon4 where the objective is to operate the F-16 and all of its avionics in a combat scenario. The difference may be subtle to some...but to others, very significant, and the main reason to play this sim.

Andy

[This message has been edited by Andy Bush (edited January 10, 2001).]

Hi Andy
Did it occur to you that you may not want to change the scale on all MFDs at once. You may want different scales. Is this a fixed feature or can it be toggled on and off?
Peter

I wouldn't say we ALL agree with it. Personally, I think it stinks. But that's one woman's opinion. Happily, they didn't commit what I consider to be the mortal sin of leaving women out of a fast-jet game. That's about the only reason right now this title is holding my interest enough to follow it. Women who have not flown jet-sims before may be attracted to its simplicity for first timers, and this is a good thing, though it is sad that the followon to Total Air War will be less detailed than its predecessor.

Miao, Cat