Tips N' Tricks
26/4/2000| RUN THE GAME IN A WINDOW | |
| General: | The game doesn't have to be run in full-screen mode, instead you can play it inside a window on your desktop. This functionality was inherited from Jane's IAF, to ease the work of privileged, enlightened testers. |
| File: | .. \ tgen.ini |
| Method: | Somewhere in the section [Render], add the line FullScreen=0. |
| Bugs: | Introduction and campaign movies are not displayed correctly in this mode. |
| FRAME-RATE COUNTER | |
| General: | The internal FR counter is useful for diagnosing the general performance of your computer, or that of specific hardware. During development it was useful for catching and defining speed-munching features (MFD moving maps, multi-view displays, etc.) and slow segments in the simulation engine's code, and for some debugging purposes as well. |
| File: | .. \ Resource \ Cockpits \ Cockpits.ibx |
| Method: | Near the end of the file, modify the line AddFrMessage = 0 to AddFrMessage = 1. |
| DISABLE SCROLLING MESSAGES | |
| General: | Each verbal communication you hear during flight (plus a few more status messages) is also scrolled in the top section of the screen. This can get pretty annoying, as well as unaesthetic if you're trying to capture a nice screenshot. |
| Method: | Press Shift-D in order to stop the text lines from scrolling on your screen, and press Shift-D again to enable them back. |
| BACKGROUND MUSIC | |
| General: | The background music of the game's GUI (interface) is in common WAV format and thus can be easily replaced. |
| Directory: | .. \ Resource \ Menu \ Wav |
| Files: |
Gen.wav - Default DS.wav - ''Desert Storm'' / Gulf War (historical) Viet.wav - Vietnam War (historical) GC.wav - ''Red Arrow'' / Grand Canyon (future) + ending credits Germ.wav - ''Sleeping Giant'' / Germany (future) |
| Method: | Simply overwrite the chosen files with your own favorite music (don't forget to backup the originals!). However, remember that the game is able to play only the WAV sounds with the following attributes: 22 KHz (22,050 Hz), 16 Bit, Stereo. So if your music isn't played correctly, edit the file (with the Windows Sound Recorder, for instance) and save the file in the correct format. |
| RCS MECHANISM - RADAR AVOIDANCE | |
| General: | The chances for radar detection are influenced by various variables that affect the aircraft's electro-magnetic return pulse, known as its Radar-Cross-Section (RCS). Without going into the details of structure and building materials, this quality is expressed in the simulation by a probability factor which represents the a radar's odds to actually detect an aircraft within its limits (no difference between live players and AI brains). |
| Method: | Each object has a basic RCS value between 0% visible to 100% visible, which can increase or decrease under different conditions; the end result of the calculation is the percentage of time in which the aircraft ''blips'' on the detecting radar (calculation is done every 2 seconds in order to prevent a blinking effect). |
| Factor | Variable | Visibility %
| Distance (above 5 nm) | (Calculated in 5 nm increments) | [105 - Distance]
| Aircraft's radar | OFF or STBY (Shift-R) mode | 70
| Absolute altitude | Lower than 300 feet AGL (NOE - Nap of the Earth) | 80
| External stores | None | 70
| | Yes | 133 or [100 + (5 x No.)]
| Aspect | head-to-head (180 degrees) | ???
| Relative altitude | A/A Radar higher than aircraft | 70
| ECM | Active | 50 [See note!]
| Afterburners | Engaged | 200
| Collision lights | On | ???
| Landing gear | Extended | 125 or 130
| Refuelling hatch | Open | 120
| Weapon bay doors | Open | 120
| (!!)
ECM emissions indeed reduce radar tracking probability, but increase the RWR detection probability! Use the ECM
only after you've been detected.
| (!!)
Cruising at high-altitude is the best ingress route for stealth aircraft: it conserves fuel (because of the
thin air) and distances the aircraft from strong radars and possible VID (Visual IDs).
| | ||||
| PK / SPOOFING MECHANISM - MISSILE EVASION | |
| General: | There are 2 main types of missiles, distinguishable by their homing method: heat (IR) and radar. Aircraft carry countermeasures against each type - flares for IR missiles and chaff for radar missiles. It's important to remember that although each countermeasure type is useful against a corresponding missile type, it's absolutely useless against the other missile type; pilots rarely know exactly what was launched at them, and so intelligent employment of all available countermeasures and evasion tactics is always recommended. |
| Method: |
The Probability of Kill (PK), or alternatively the chance for ''spoofing'' a missile (100% minus PK%), is
determined by a check in the simulation engine each time the target aircraft releases a chaff or flares. Each
check decides if the missile is fooled into tracking the countermeasure instead of the aircraft, or if it
continues on its course.
For both types, this check is influenced by the target's aspect angle (its heading, relative to the tracker's heading). The second factor is different for each missile type: for IR missiles it's the target aircraft's thrust level (directly affects the engine's thermal ''footprint''), and for radar missiles it's the target aircraft's G (dictates how easy it is to get a continuos fix on the target and predict its flight path). 
NOTES: The change between Idle Thrust (60%) and Military Thrust (100%) is also linear, but the behavior of Afterburners is irregular. Any spoofing chance greater than 100% is treated as 100%. 
NOTES: The change between 1G and 9G is also linear. Using the ECM against radar missiles automatically adds 25% to the spoofing chance (but only up to 100%). |
| Additions: |
Mostly all missiles have a limited amount of fuel and limited maneuverability, so try to ''out-smart'' them.
Missiles, both in real life and in the simulation, explode once they've calculated that they're getting away
from their target instead of closing-in on it (logically, this is the closest point to the target).
Semi-active radar AAMs and radar SAMs both require a continuous radar lock by the launcher, so breaking-off this radar lock will usually turn the missile into a Useless Flying Object. The RCS mechanism controls can help, but a much more useful method is to use terrain features and hide behind them while flying at extremely low altitudes (NOE - Nap Of the Earth). Note that IR missiles don't require any radar lock so this tactic is useless against them.
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