LO:MAC Preview - By William "BBall" Ball - Page 1 of 5
Ok, unless you've been living on the planet Uranus for the last several years, you're aware that we have a new jet combat flight simulation headed our way. It's bears the pedigree of another outstanding sim from a few years ago by the name of "Flanker 2.0", and our brothers at Eagle Dynamics will be attempting to raise the bar yet once again. From the suburbs of Moscow they've put their collective heads together, and soon they will give us "Lock On: Modern Air Combat". I contend it would be an understatement to say that the flight sim world hopes this effort will quench that "fast jet fighter" thirst we've suffered from for the past several years.
I'll start by the usual disclaimer that this preview is courtesy of a beta release, and as such, not all features and/or final tweaking are available to speak about. I won't even begin to open the "Pandora's box" of hardware requirements, frames per second issues and the like, but I will give you my system specifications. Also, let me say that I've had no problems running this simulation with all features "maxed out", and as the screenshots will show...it's a visual feast.
My system: Asus A7N8X Deluxe motherboard, AMD XP3000 (running at 2.1 ghz), 1024 mb PC2700 DDR ram, 128 mb Radeon 9800 Pro (Catalyst 3.7 drivers at 1024 X 768 resolution), SB Live! Audio, Windows XP Home.
Also, let's get this out of the way right off the bat. This is a "preview", not a "review".... two completely different things (think of the difference between the two as it applies to feature films). Will I be dissecting this bad boy to within an inch of its life? Nope, no long discussions on flight models, no dissertations on weapons systems, no talk about the padlock function, etc. My job is to do like the Hollywood types, and give you a taste of what's in store when you double click the "Start LockOn" button on your desktop.
09 February 1051 Zulu
368th OShaAP Ops Briefing Room
Gudauta Airbase, Republic of Georgia
WX FCST: 8 octas 2600m, vis >25km BR,
wind 350/05G15 prob30 RA after 12Z
"Good morning gentlemen, please be seated. The hour is near...soon we will be at war. Last night, the Americans established a presence at the Sukhumi Airbase not 60km from where you are sitting. Intelligence has confirmed several aircraft on the ramp, including fighters and transports. Unfortunately, those transports delivered several AAA and short range SAM batteries. We are not sure if they are operational at this time, but we must assume that they are. Your mission will be to destroy those threats. Your secondary targets are the aircraft on the ramp and any hardened targets on the airfield itself. A flight of Mig27s will be inbound ten minutes behind you to destroy the runway, so your timing will be critical. You will have Su27s on CAP station overhead, with support from AWACS orbiting north.... Kapitan Siminov will lead the mission, with Leytenants Avdeyev, Sorokin and Kharitonov making up the remainder of the flight. You take off in 1 hour. Intelligence and Metro will now answer your questions. Good luck gentlemen."
"Kaptian? Kapitan? Do you hear me?"
"Yes, yes, I hear you Alexi...I'm sorry, I was busy" (busy...yes, busy trying to convince myself I can do this...come on Vasily, you scored at the top of your class in Ground Attack training, and you were honored with a request to become an instructor at the Academy...you can do this...yes, you lost your father in Afghanistan flying in the same machine you find yourself sitting in now.... and it was the Americans that gave the rebels the Stinger missile that killed him...this may be your first actual combat mission, but you can do this!)
"Kapitan, your weapons are ready, and the small hydraulic leak you discovered on your preflight inspection has been fixed sir. Are you ready for engine start?"
"Yes, Alexi, brakes are set, pneumatic air is good, stand by to start number 1 engine" (It is time... brakes set, pressure normal, battery on, inverters on, fuel pumps on, throttle closed, air pressure is 30psi)
"Starting engine number 1...."
("it all comes down to this")
"7 flight"rolling"
The first thing you're going to notice is the snappy music that greets you as the "Main Menu" screen comes alive. I yearn for the good ol' days when flight sims (like the Longbow series) held one mesmerized by an opening movie. I guess those days are over, but that's a shame... this title just screams for an opening cinema. Alas the first GUI appears, and it's a button pushers dream. I dearly love the screens that incorporate a gauge or two from an instrument panel, and this one does just that. I won't go into all the assorted buttons, for they are all VERY self-explanatory, and will be saved for the (Frugalsworld LO:MAC) reviewer to deal with. Without question, the biggest thing that jumps out at you are the "Instant Action" pictures of the six superstars modeled in this simulation. The Sukhoi Su-27 and its naval version, the Su-33, along with it's little brother, the Su-25. We also get the Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig 29A, with the McDonnel Douglas F-15C and the Fairchild A-10A rounding out the list. Hit a "FLY" button and you do just that.
Allow me the pleasure to unwrap one button for you...and it's one of my favorites. It's called the FBP or Fast Battle Planner. Forget all the "dynamic" or "branching" campaigns...you've just come in from a long, hard day at work, and all you want to do is sit down at your trusty computer and turn some metal into junk, right? Then brother, this screen is for you! In less mouse pushes than I have Pulitzer Prizes (wait, I don't have any of those"yet), you can find yourself screaming in low to whack some armor on the move, or getting AWACS vectors to a fur-ball with the bad guys. You can be coming over the horizon to send some floating stock to the bottom of the Black Sea, or tearing a new orifice amongst all those newly positioned SAM sites. Plus, you can accomplish all this in the hot summer sun or the cold winter rain, on a "bomber's moon" night or the blinding glare of high noon. You choose your "battle", and you can choose it...well, like the name says, fast.
"7 flight, 7-1-1 on tactical frequency. We fly as briefed, no chatter, call your SAM launches slowly and clearly, watch for inbound bogies and friendlies, no direct passes over the airport until primary threats are gone."
"-1-2..."
"-1-3..."
"-1-4..."
(O.K. Vasily, you've trained for this day for many years. Your men trust your judgment and skill...it is now time to earn that trust. "But they are so young" what age is Nikolay? Twenty-five with two children ...in one hour, either he will be a man, or he'll be dead. Father was twenty-five when he was shot down... Papa" your son now rides into battle in the aircraft that took you from me...give me your wisdom and strength to see this through"I fear that I may kill many men this day)
("a good omen?")
("25 miles from Sukhumi, jammer on, ECM auto, air to ground mode on, optical sensor on, missile selected")
"7 flight"attack formation"combat spread"ECM on".attack on my order"
"1-2"
"1-3"
"1-4"
(I hear their young voices" do I hear excitement"or terror"perhaps both")
"7 flight"attack"
"1-2"
"1-3"
"1-4"
random screenshot
random irc quote: <`Fenris`> Hey TBob, Yo momma so ugly even Rice Krispies won't talk to her!
