billy@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au (Jeff Coleman) (02/10/91)
Hi , i was wondering if anyone has played f29 retaliator and could give me a review of it..is it just a glorified afterburner??? jeff. <-----------------------------------------------------------------------------> Jeff Coleman billy@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au ..!uunet!munnari.oz!phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au!billy <----------------------------------------------------------------------------->
dietz@sask.usask.ca (03/01/91)
In article <1991Feb10.025007.21648@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au>, billy@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au (Jeff Coleman) writes: > Hi , i was wondering if anyone has played f29 retaliator and could give me > a review of it..is it just a glorified afterburner??? > > jeff. > > > <-----------------------------------------------------------------------------> > Jeff Coleman billy@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au > ..!uunet!munnari.oz!phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au!billy > <----------------------------------------------------------------------------->
jpn@castle.ed.ac.uk (J Neil) (03/01/91)
In article <1991Feb28.143332.1@sask.usask.ca> dietz@sask.usask.ca writes: >In article <1991Feb10.025007.21648@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au>, billy@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au (Jeff Coleman) writes: >> Hi , i was wondering if anyone has played f29 retaliator and could give me >> a review of it..is it just a glorified afterburner??? >> >> jeff. >> F29 is an interesting simulator for a number of reasons :- 1) It has possibly the fastest update rate I have seen on an Amiga 500. Control of the plane is smooth and easy. Unfortunately, this has a downside. The scenery detail is poor, and important items like roads, rivers, mountains, and targets miraculously appear out of the desert/ocean/whatever. 2) For weapons freaks, both retaliators can be tooled up with an impressive array of (future) ordinance. The loading of weapons into the retaliator weapons bay is flawed, tho', and depending on your weapons load, you could end up with a 220 gal fuel pod in an outboard bay and a sidewinder on the centreline. The ordinance aspect of F29 throws up one of the major problems. "Advanced Firebolt (AAM Long range fire and forget), ASLAM, MSRASM CSW (AGM various standoff types)" require the pilot to almost eyeball the target before the weapon will arm itself. A touch unrealistic. 3) The flight simulation aspect of F29 is very poor. Step like power increments on the throttle, absolute disregard for the laws of gravity, and a truly appalling approach and landing model all detract from the software. 4) There are plenty of missions in 3 main theatres of operations. They do have a fair degree of repitition in them, and enemy tactics and intelligence are very limited. There are numerous other `features' like non-existant tank battallions, a labourious enrolement procedure, flawed scoring mechanism, and obstacle avoidance routines (think flying past a mountain is easy - not in F29. If you're too close - boomshanka). DiD are developing F29 II which will have naval aviation included. I have seen a demo and it doesn't look too bad. Conclusion : F29 is an interesting piece of software. There is much scope for development on some pretty good basic ideas. DiD will have to do a lot of work on some of the (serious) problems which have been shown up in their first flight simulator. F29 is not so much a flight simulator - more a sophisticated shoot 'em up. Wait until the price drops to medium or bargain level and see for yourself. Paul