Feature: SimHQ "Second Look" - The JCS Longbow Series

by Guest Writer Gary "Flyboy" Wright

Ask any veteran of flight simming for their "best flight sim" short list and this 10-year old title series is nearly always listed at the top. Janes Combat Simulations Longbow is among the best of the best and with the SimHQ Longbow Forum in high-gear, new work has been accomplished to extend the life of this longtime favorite.

Read "Flyboy's" article here: http://www.simhq.com/_air10/air_320a.html

As Doug said, there are certain landmark flight simualtions. Janes has produced many of them, and at the top of that elite list is Longbow. What a masterwork.

I'm sitting here looking at the Longbow Gold spiral bound manual. God, do I miss the Janes manuals! F/A-18, F-15, and Longbow. Incredible detail, and you can pick it up and read it. Take it in the "reading room" if you want (although, you can't resell it after that!).

Anyways, it is such a great resource. I used it for some of my education and source material for my interview with Gene Garrett,a former Apache pilot and instructor pilot:

http://www.simhq.com/_air3/air_122a.html

Great job Flyboy, a very fun and worthwhile read.

The greatest game i've ever played, Longbow 2... with the new Monster 3D voodoo card, back then, article brought back some great memories, thx a mil.

Some of those screenshots from LB2 (the purplish, dusk one) really brought some great memories back! I had forgotten about the Iran campaign! And simply the BEST voice-over training ever. I used to do it over and over again--to become a "master"! I can also now hear the "swooosh" of the hellfire missile launches--and the rotor blades spinning as I found myself alone, and waaaay deep into enemy territoy, wondering if there were some targets on the other side of that next hill

Great article!

The voice over training, always a hoot.
"Now bring it to 100' and come to a hover!!!!"

This review has convinced me to try once more to install and run LB2. Previous efforts resulted in CTD once past the opening screen. What a sim! It's worth another effort.

Remember setting up the right and left MFD's on takeoff. The whirr of the blades coming into the air.

Configuring the right MFD for combat, coming up over the crest of the hill you had set in your waypoints and finding the enemy. Right Click and drag out the Fire Priorty Zone (PFZ), and unleash the dogs of hell.

Night missions, OMG. Pieces of absolute art. The explosion of rockets or hellfires on target at night, not to mention the launch.

Heck, just the pre flight orders and setting the waypoints for the flight, priorities, timing. Just incredible detail. I long for the days of Janes.

Somebody stop me, I'm going to freak out.

Bravo Zulu FLYBOY!

Nice comprehensive look at the Longbow franchise.

I feel compelled to correct one slight over-statement regarding the Front Seat/Back Seat (Pilot/CP-G) multiplayer mode. Much earlier than LB2, The MicroProse F15 Strike Eagle 3 provided a Pilot/WSO mode in modem/serial multiplayer, and in the Helo world, the Digital Integration APACHE similarly provided a multiplayer Pilot/CPG mode. DI Apache was the reason I went HOTAS with a Thrustmaster WCS and CHPRO rudders to go along with my TM FCS stick!

DI, in their infinite lack of wisdom, left out any CHAT commands, making the multiplayer modes virtually (no pun intended!) useless other than for LAN Parties or the small number of Digital Simultaneous Data/Voice modems.

That said, LB2 probably DID provide the first and still best (and only????) implementation of INTERNET based Multiplayer Pilot/CP-G flight simming and quite possibly the best Multiplayer Flight Simming experience period!

Recluse

"Incoming enemy fast mover..."

"$h1t! That missile just hit us!"

"We have multiple systems failures, sir!"



Recluse

If you run into challenges, post a message with the details, to the LB forum.

Outstanding timing for this article...

I got Janes Longbow Anthology (came with LB Gold and LB2) for Christmas in 1997 or 1998 when I was just 11 or 12 years old. It was my first "real" flight sim as I had only played Jet Fighter III and the games in Janes' Fighters Anthology group before that. I actually got pretty good with it before moving onto Janes IAF and USAF, and then eventually Janes F/A-18 which I played obsessively for my first few years of high school. Then, at some point, I realized that if I ever wanted to be a pilot for real I needed to start focusing on my grades and other things, so I quit playing flight sims all together 5 years ago.

Until now...

10 years after I played Longbow for the first time, I am now on track to become an Army officer in May. I briefly forgot about my dream (or maybe suppressed it for fear of disappointment) about becoming a pilot, but it was re-born this month when I saw that I was competitive for getting a flight school slot (I guess putting aside the video games worked). I went back to my parents' house to find my old LB2 CD's again, bought a new joystick, and searched the web for a way to install/run the game on Windows XP (thank you, Flyboy and PositiveG).

Seeing this whole thing come full circle - being reminded of my childhood memories while being in the middle of realizing my childhood dream - is absolutely amazing. I just hope this game lives on to inspire other kids like it did for me.

Tim

Too cool Tim.

My dream is to just fly in one, let alone pilot it! ;-)

Awesome feature...great job!

And if you are looking for more Longbow "stories"...check out these:

http://www.mudspike.com/longbow.html



BeachAV8R

It's truly a piece of art. While I was reading the article my memory went back in time. The year of FPK was one of my best years and it was my favorite sim so you can imagine....so many memories. Until i saw my name in the article.....wow!!!! I never tought something I did just for fun and decided to share with others would make this far.

Anyway, THANKS for the article and the memories!!!!

KC "The Punisher" Perez

Nice overview of the Longbow series! It was gratifying to hear that it took you a while to get into LB2. I've had it installed for a couple of years, but I tend to gravitate to the sims I know.

I've noticed that most players want all their games to work on their newest PC, hence Glide wrappers and all the other work-arounds. But I have LB2 installed on an old PC with a Voodoo 3 graphics card. It is very satisfying to have a game "recognize" all the things it wants to find and install and run without a hitch.

Great article!

Flyboy,
Good job taking us back through the Janes LB series memory lane. It was something that had to be
done to honor this old but true military helo classic. If you'll allow, Id like to dovetail your
well done retro-review with a short pictorial and commentary on the multiplayer side of Janes LB2.



Some of us continue to fly LB2 online campaigns. My friend and wingie (KLINK) have been doing it
for about 7 years now. We had to over come technical and graphical (thanks PositiveG) and
networking issues - as weve gone from 300 Mhz single cores on to todays dual cores and >3.5 Ghz
single cores. Then theres the Win98 to WinXP to Vista OS migrations.

But what keeps me coming back is the multiplayer. We fly either two helos in either similiar or
dissimilar choppers. Sometimes we take an Apache and a Kiowa, or Apache and Blackhawk, or two
Apaches; depending on the mission and our moods. The feature that we enjoy the best is the
comradarie of sharing the same helo and voice comms over TeamSpeak. We can share the Kiowa or take
pilot and gunner positions in a Blackhawk; but our favorite is pilot and CPG positions in the
Apache. This one feature probably is what keeps us going in LB2. Its going to have to take this
same feature in a modern helo sim like DCS to make us finally retire ole Janes as well.

Another feature that is implemented quite well is the sharing of targeting data in the form of
PFZ (Prioritized Fire Zones). These are areas the CPG (or Pilot if alone) can box a target zone
and direct wingman or even AI airstrikes or artillary barrages. Targetting data seen by one
Apache can be shared on screen to the other Apache. This simulates the synergy of an Apache
team and is modelled in the sim. It almost works between the Kiowa and Apache too, to all the
FAC and scout role of the Kiowa. Unfortunately the Kiowa cannot share its PFZs to the Apache
probably due to it not being tested. But online players can compensate with voice comms.

Getting multiplayer to work has some quirks on the Host side, but it seldom a problem for the
clients (up to 8 player max, see last picture where 8 human pilots flew together on flyin we hosted)
Typically the Host has to go into his router's DMZ or connect directly to cable or DSL without any
firewall or router, just the modem. From there, the 10 year old modem and LAN based code still
works very well over broadband connectivity; even with a mix of LAN and WAN players. Not bad for
code written prior to broadband.

All of the below screenies were taken during online campaigns, and show the various perspectives
of flying sharing cockpits, formation, and fighting as a team.












Thank you Janes and Skunkworks, for the 10 years of simming and value.
True flightsim classics never die... they stay in our "collective" memories
and set the bar for the next generations to come.

They were great sims. The original Longbow was the first campaign I finished without doing another sim in-between, it was that immersive. And even though I didn't play any of them for a long time now, the Janes manuals still are, and will be for a long time, in my bookcase.
Thanks for the article, FlyBoy!

Thanks for the extensive article, Flyboy.
I see one of my pics made it to the top on the first page

By the way, I did add alot of objects to one map, but since the editor I have for that is so timeconsuming to use plus the fact that it didnt receive much attention I never bothered with the rest.

Gosh I remember LB2. I've still got it right here, actually - the enormous manual! The last time I tried to use it, it was about six years ago, I wanted to get the pilot/copilot multiplayer to work across our home LAN. My brother would have been using the PC downstairs, I'd be upstairs, so I'm not sure how it would have worked. Anyway it didn't work so I didn't use it again.

I was always reading the manual, getting enthusiastic, driving into hills, getting shot by Shilkas, becoming disillusioned and returning to Microsoft Flight Simulator. I should give it another go - but I use a CH Products flight yoke! It's surreal enough flying I-16s with a yoke, let alone helicopters - still I'll try it...

I've always wanted to get back to LB2, but never got around to it. I also missed out playing it MP, unfortunately.



The Jedi Master

The pilot/gunner option in multiplayer is something that has always infuriated me in ALL other games. The closest you can get to flying the apache with someone else is in Battlefield 2 SF.

Never could get the game to work in multiplayer. Great Article, good read! Cheers.

Joint Ops Escalation has a two man crew in multiplayer Apaches. Older game now, but it's still possible.

I wished EECH/AH had it.



The Jedi Master

I never really had the chance to really get into this game but just last night my father in law asks if I want his old PC. At first I was like LMAO saying NO WAY I'm taking that pre pentium 486 but now it actually seems like a good idea. As long as Flyboy doesnt come asking for that LB copy in my garage again!

Great Article Flyboy!

What an excellent Sim, too bad there arn't any even close out there. I'm gonna hold final judgement for blackhawk though...hopefully they will have a fully modelled and flyable LongBow for us.

Wingnut

Wow, check out all these nice comments! Thanks guys, I'm overwhelmed by it all.

Glad my article was so popular.

Nah, you just lucked out because you talked about a popular sim. J/K!



The Jedi Master

I'm a little (a lot) out of the 'upcoming sims' loop...what's Blackhawk? Is there a site up for it? ETA?

- John

i think they mean "DCS Black Shark" the Russian KA-50 attack helicopter sim by Eagle Dynamics. release in spring of 2008 we hope.

they are working on an A-10A and an AH-64A to be added in future modules.

http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/?lang=en

simhq forum section: http://www.simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=129&page=1

simhq article here: http://www.simhq.com/_air10/air_325a.html

Oh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I knew about that one. I thought maybe there was something new featuring the Blackhawk.

Thanks,
John

Great feature, really brought back a lot of memories. Funny how my active involvement with the community ended when I had three kids and a wife to look after

My first emergency landing in JCS Longbow 2 with a real co-pilot is one that I hold up as a benchmark for online gaming experiences, although I'm ashamed to say I forget who the poor sap up front was.

We were in a hover engaging a Rapier battery and started to transition forward to look for more missile units when we took one in the starboard engine. The extinguisher bottle was empty so as soon as I got the fire warning I was left with no choice but to shut down that engine. So with only one good engine our heavy bird descened pretty fast. I think we were both swearing, I know I did.

Thanks to the great modelling at the time for a desktop sim, it was possible to make a rolling take-off on one engine which otherwise was impossible. It was a close thing, rolling downhill we managed to get up enough forward airspeed and hit that magic translation speed barrier. We limped home. What a simulation. What gameplay.

Perhaps it's worth noting that the leads behind DI's Apache put their skills to use again for Apache Havoc and Enemy Engaged. They never did quite nail the network aspect.

Many thanks for the acknowledgement and trip down memory valley.