A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO FALCON 4.0

I.                   Buy the sim

II.                Install the sim

III.             Join the forum

IV.              Get a HOTAS

V.                 Begin Training

VI.              Additional Reading

VII.           Resources (Falcon 4.0 Web sites)

VIII.        Tactics Articles

STEP 1

Purchase Falcon 4.0.  The best place is Ebay.  Make sure you get the full deal (maps, cadet’s guide, etc.)  Also make sure that you don’t get the Mac version.

If you don’t find what you’re looking for, try http://www.amazon.com.  Keep in mind that you will most likely have to pay more at Amazon.

_________________________________________________________________

STEP 2

Install Falcon 4.0.  Currently there are two options for installs.  You can either install SuperPak (SP) 4.2 plus  BMS (Benchmark Sims, this one is optional), or you can install Free Falcon (FF) 3 plus FF3.1/Cobra patch.  SP4.2 is (supposedly) a more stable and realistic patch, especially in multiplayer.  FF3 is a more “pretty” install with somewhat  better looking graphics.    For descriptions of all the patches, read this patch guide.  To install SP4.2/BMS, read ViperMan's install guide OR Hag's install guide. 

To install FF3, here’s what to do (courtesy of Hag).

1) F4 from CD
2) FreeFalcon3-BT.exe ( 219,693kb )
3) HiTiles
4) FreeFalcon-31.exe ( 40,159kb )
6) FreeFalcon-Cobra-Patch.exe (12,473kb)*
7) Run Cobra Config Editor ( point to CobraOne.exe, expand, then use F4 Patch )
8) cockpits and so on

*this will get you up to Cobra 1.1.1

Be Careful: DO NOT use the old 9,938kb Cobra Patch

Hag

___________________________________________________________________

STEP 3

Join http://www.simmersworld.com/forums.  There are tons of people who are very knowledgeable about this sim and are happy to answer any question you might have.

___________________________________________________________________

STEP 4

Get a HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick).  You can buy one new, or look at Ebay.   The three most popular joysticks for this sim are the X45, X52, and Thrustmaster Cougar.  You can always buy a cheapo stick or play from the keyboard, but for the ultimate realism, I would advise getting a HOTAS.

I have used neither, so I am not entitled to give an opinion, but I will share what I have gathered from my research.

X45-                            The first choice of many. As, I said, I have not used one, so I have to rely on the words of others.

X52-                            A fancier version of the X45(?).  Read this review.

Cougar-                       The most expensive, most realistic HOTAS out there.  Made out of metal and modeled exactly after the real life F-16 HOTAS.  Many have had problems with the hardware breaking down, but you can get replacement parts pretty easily.  This is the best choice if you have a few hundred dollars to blow.                      

Suncom Sticks-            Suncom sells sticks and throttles patterned after the real life F-15/F-18 HOTAS.  I have one and think it is a great deal, especially since I found it used for a few bucks.  They are easy to program in-game.  I had problems with mine because it didn’t have the instructions with it, but it is very easy to use. A review       

MS Sidewinder USB-  A good choice if you’re short on cash.  I have one and like it very much.  You have to use the keyboard for many of the functions, since it only has 8 buttons, a throttle, a POV switch, and a twist-grip rudder.  Many do not like this, as they say it gives unwanted yaw whenever they roll the plane.  I say it makes you more precise and is very handy.  I found it a reliable, cheap, and very sensitive joystick.

CH Fighterstick-           Read Ziggy's Review

___________________________________________________________________

STEP 5

Falcon 4.0 has an extremely steep learning curve.  Once you have patched to SP4.2 or FF3,   There are several documents you need to read as you begin your training.  They are, in this order,

1)      Original Falcon 4.0 Manual

2)      SP3 Manual

3)      RP5 Manual

4)      SP4 Manual

5)      FF3 Manual

6)      For online and multi-player, read the F4 Comms Manual

A few hints-

To start out, go through the training missions 1-27 and read the portions of the original F4 manual that go along with each one.  Fly the mission until you have the technique mastered.  The avionics in the original F4 manual are different from those you will be flying with on two missions – (AGMs and LGBs.  For these two missions, use the SP3 manual.  DO NOT start with the 1.08 avionics.  If you do, you will have to completely relearn the systems when you start flying with the Realistic avionics.  Once you have mastered the basics, such as landing every time without crashing and using the A2A and A2G radar modes, you can start playing in campaign.  Don’t worry if you can’t hook up with the tanker – very few people can hook up do it consistently and it is considered one of the most difficult parts of the sim. Read this for some help with AAR.     Happy flying!

For a guide on landing, read this.

P.S.  Hit (or depress if you don’t want to damage your keyboard) Shift+/ to engage nose wheel steering when on the ground.

Additional Reading

Fighter Combat by Robert Shaw is an excellent book on ACM (Air Combat Maneuvers).  It is extremely technical and in-depth and is not very good “light reading”, but contains sound fighter tactics and other information..  I would consider it a must-read if you want to be mostly an Air-to-Air pilot.

Read these.  There are some excellent articles on electronic warfare, air to air refueling, and several others.

Resources

F4 Community                                     

Is a “general purpose” site with most of the same downloads that other sites have.

Aeyes' Site                                          

Is a site with several great payware 1600x1200 pits and some nice freeware 1024x768 pits.

Falcon 5                                                                      

Has several older patches, such as RP5, efalcon, SP1, SP2, FF1, FF2, and a few

others.

Falcon 5 Hotfiles                                                         

            Has just about all the newer patches, including the SP4 OCI and FF3.

Lead Pursuit                                                                

Is the webpage for the upcoming Falcon 4.0 Allied Force, which will come out sometime near the end of this year.

 The website includes screenshots and articles explaining what is new. 

Open Skins                                         

            Is a place for just about all the skins you could want.

 SP3/FF2/BMS install guide     

            Is a complete install guide for SP3-FF2-BMS.

Free Falcon                                                                 

            Is the website for the Free Falcon group.  It is here that you can get the latest Free

Falcon patches and several FF3 OCI theatres, as well as a large forum and screenshot album.

Frugal's World                                                                                     

            Is the Frugals World forum’s website.

Sim Radar Cockpits                

            Has several great cockpits for Falcon 4.0.

F4HQ                                                 

Is the best of all F4 sites (Okay, so I’m prejudiced).  It contains links to most of the major F4 sites and has one of the best forums around.

ViperMan's install guide                       

Is an excellent guide for a SP4.2>BMS install by ViperMan plus a how-to guide for multiple installs.

Patch Guide

            Is a great guide to the different patches out there by Kung-Fu.

Tail Art                                                

            Is a guide to creating your own personal tail art for Falcon 4.0.

Put Your Name on Your Cockpit                    

            Hag’s guide to putting your name on your cockpit.                    

Hag's Install Guide       

            Another SP4/BMS install guide, this one by Hag.

Photobucket                                                                

Use this to host your screenshots.  (to take screenshots, just hit Prnt Scrn. 

The pics will be saved as .bmp files in your Microprose\Falcon4\pictures folder)

Acronyms you need to know – a partial guide.

SP                    Super Pak

FF                    Free Falcon

BMS                BenchMark Sims

ECM                Electronic Countermeasures

ECCM             Electronic Counter-countermeasures

EW                  Electronic Warfare

ACM               Air Combat Maneuvers

MFD                Multi-Functional Display

ICP                  Integrated Control Panel

IP                     Internet Protocol

RP                   Realism Patch

LGB                 Laser Guided Bomb

AAM               Air to Air Missile

SAM                Surface to Air Missile

AOA                Angle Of Attack

TFR                 Terrain-Following Radar

TOT                 Time Over Target

TOF                 Time Of  Flight

CAP                Combat Air Patrol

ATO                Air Tasking Order

ATC                Air Traffic Controller

FLIR                Forward Looking Infrared

IR                    InfraRed

FAC                Forward Air Controller

DCA                Defensive Counter Air

OCA                Offensive Counter Air

CAS                Close Air Support

CBU                Cluster Bomb Unit

CAG                Carrier Air Group

BVR                Beyond Visual Range

WVR               Within Visual Range

BFM                Basic Fighter Manuevers

BAI                  Battlefield Air Interdiction

AWACS          Airborne Warning And Control System

AGM               Air to Ground Missile

AAA                AntiAircraft Arillery

WILCO           Will Comply

HUD                Head’s Up Display

KIAS               Knots Indicated Airspeed

NM                  Nautical Miles (Knots)

LCOS              Lead Computing Optical Sight

RWR               Radar Warning Receiver

Tactics articles

CHAFF/FLARE COUNTERMEASURES, by Neo

A while ago, I pared down my CM program as both chaff and flare seemed to run out very quickly. With anything approaching heavy traffic, I’ve found I’m still very unlikely to retain any chaff and certainly no flares by the time I get to egress, so I’ve redesigned my programs from scratch and I thought I’d share.

In general flares have been spaced out to provide more separated targets for IR missiles, except for 3, which contains a double dose. Chaff have been left fairly close together, but still thinned out in number.

First of all 2 things. These have to be manually programmed, and if you’re not sure how to do this, see page 54 of your SP3 manual. There’s a brief summary below. The second thing is that this program requires the ability to change between programs mid-combat, and this will be explained as you read on. If your setup cannot accommodate this or if you simply do not wish to have to do so, this program is not for you.

The breakdown is basically this:

PROG 1 – SAMs and BVR (Beyond Visual Range) combat – ie: for radar missiles only. Can be relied on in semi-auto mode, but is programmed as one burst, to be released manually, as many salvoes as required.

PROG 2 – BVR/WVR (Within Visual Range) combat – the merge. This can be used against SAMs but is principally designed as a controlled mixed defence when committing to a dogfight. There is defence both against IR and Radar missiles.  This is a better program to use when launching into the fray with, for example, MIG 29s and SU27s which are both able to carry longer range IR missiles. Can be relied on in semi mode, but is programmed as one burst, to be released manually, as many salvoes as required.

PROG 3 – WVR – This contains one chaff, but mainly comprises a concentrated burst of 2 flares very close together, effectively doubling the heat signature. For the dogfight. Programmed as one burst, to be released manually, as many salvoes as required.

PROG 4 – Melée – For those times when it’s hot in the kitchen, and it’s all you can do to stay alive, switch to Prog 4 and onto SEMI. Flares will be released with the chaff but have regard to the important note below.

EWS PROGRAMMING SUMMARY

In summary, it’s CH/FL to STDBY, LIST (on the ICP), EWS (button 7), then SEQUENCE (once for chaff programs, twice for flare programs).  You can also set bingo warnings for your expendables – on the EWS page, set BINGO to ON. By adjusting the numbers (10 is default) you will receive “Low” or “Out” warnings from Betty as appropriate. REQJAM, if set to ON, will prompt “Bitchin Betty” to call “JAMMER”, inviting you to turn it on at a radar spike, and will also prompt one launch of whichever CM program you have selected at the same time. This will only happen if you have SEMI selected. If you have AUTO selected, instead of inviting you to turn the jammer on, Betty will turn it on for you.  To save these settings, press Alt-C then S.

Important – SEMI and AUTO will not activate your countermeasures if an IR missile is fired at you. You MAY get a warning when initially painted or locked by the aircraft, but that is all.

Have fun and feel free to let me have feed back.

How to fire an AGM-65, from the SP3 manual

MISSION SP24: AGM-65 MAVERICK MISSILE

Load the default Falcon 4 training mission 24 to practice the new deployment procedures.

Use the following procedure to properly set up your cockpit:

Ù When the mission begins, set the Master Arm switch [Shift-m] to ARM (so you can fire) and

select A-G [Shift-Num-.] as your master

mode (you want to attack ground targets).

Ù Select the FCR page in your left MFD and

the SMS page in your right MFD

(using the OSBs 12/13/14).

Ù On the SMS page, switch to the AGM-65

missile (OSB 6) and power it up (OSB 7).

Ù Switch to the WPN page on the right MFD

(OSBs 12/13/14).

Ù On the FCR page (in your left MFD), set your

radar mode [F2] as required (GM/GMT).

Now you can choose your target area:

Ù Still on the radar screen, slew the radar cursor over your target [Cursor

keys] and designate it [NumKP-0].

Ù The SOI (Sensor of Interest) now changes to the right MFD.

Finally, it's time to ready the missile and launch it:

Ù Uncage [u] the missile (this removes the protective lens cover from the

AGM-65). You can now see the target area that you designated before.

Ù Slew the video cursor [Cursor keys] (use EXP mode [Shift-v or OSB 3] for

zoom view) and lock it onto the final target [NumKP-0].

Ù Check weapon range.

Ù Pickle to launch the missile [Space].

Repeat these four steps for each additional missile that you want to fire into the

target area. If you want to attack a target further away, undesignate the current

target [NumKP-.] and return to search mode.

LGBs (Laser Guided Bombs, or GBUs) from SP3 manual.

MISSION SP25: LASER-GUIDED BOMBS

Load the default Falcon 4 training mission 25 to train the new deployment procedures.

Since SuperPAK 2, Falcon 4 features a realistic Targeting Pod (TGP).

Therefore, the operation of Laser-Guided Bombs (LGBs) has changed

considerably.

Use the following procedure to set up your cockpit properly:

Ù When the mission begins, set both the Master Arm switch [Shift-m]

and the Laser Arm switch [Alt-L] to ARM.

Ù Select A-G [NumKP-/] as your master mode (because you want to

attack ground targets).

Ù Select the FCR page in your left MFD and the SMS page in your

right MFD (using the OSBs 12/13/14).

Ù On the SMS page, switch to the GBU (OSB 6). GBU is the US

designation for LGBs.

Ù Switch the right MFD to TGP (not WPN!) mode (using the OSBs

12/13/14). You will now see the FLIR video from the targeting pod.

Do also check if the laser is armed: a large "L" should be visible in

the lower right part of the image.

Ù On the FCR page (in your left MFD), set your radar mode [F2] as

required (GM/GMT).

Now you can choose your target area:

Ù Still on the radar screen of the FCR page, slew the radar cursor over your target [Cursor

keys] and designate it [NumKP-0]. The SOI (Sensor of Interest) now changes to the right

MFD with the WPN view / FLIR video.

Ù Slew the laser around [Cursor keys] and designate your target [NumKP-0].

Use the TGP's zooming capability [Shift-v] to get a better view. You can also undesignate a

wrongfully selected target [NumKP-.] while still keeping a ground lock on the area. This

allows you to precisely select the correct target.

Ù Do a CCRP bomb release.

Ù Check if the laser is firing: the "L" in the lower right corner of the WPN view should start

flashing as soon as the impact timer meets the Laser timer value (8 seconds before impact).

You can also manually lase your target by holding down the first trigger detent [Ctrl-/] (you will see

the "L" flashing whenever the laser fires). This will override auto lasing - you must therefore keep

lasing until weapon impact.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FAQ (from SP3 manual)

FAQ - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Ù Help - I can't steer the jet while rolling on the ground!

You must enable NWS (Nose Wheel Steering) with [SHIFT-/] (on international keyboards:

the key just to the left of the right shift key). The same key is also used to cycle hardpoints.

Ù When I want to drop a flare I get a bunch of chaffs instead.

Your EWS program is pre-set to #1 (chaff-only medium-high SAM evasion).

Ù How can I fly another plane than the F-16?

When selecting the campaign, click an airbase on the campaign map and choose a

squadron using the type of airplane you want to fly. Or create your own TE.

Ù I don't want to start up my engine to fly a mission!

You don't have to - just select TAXI or TAKEOFF instead of RAMP while starting a mission.

Or enter the mission a few minutes after scheduled take-off. Then you're already airborne!

Ù How do I startup the engine when doing a RAMP start?

A training mission is included in this manual. In addition, check out Jagstang's fantastic

interactive "SP3 Ramp Start Trainer" in your Falcon 4 folder!

Ù Where is the weather?

Be sure that you haven't marked "disable clouds" in the graphics setup. You can select a

typical weather situation (and choose a nice Skyfix) in the Setup under the Graphics tab.

Ù My A-LOW goes off far too high, around 10,000ft.

This is correct. You get a warning when you descend below the MSL altitude (10,000ft by

default). You can change this value using the ICP/DED.

Ù Radar doesn't seem to work when I'm on the runway.

This is correct. Radar only scans when you leave the ground (no weight-on-wheels [WOW]).

Ù Using CCRP bombing mode, bombs aren’t released or I can't reach the release point.

Disable the "winds aloft" patch or fly an attack straight into or with the wind.

Ù LGBs miss all the time.

Turn your laser on! The target must be lased until impact or the LGBs will just go ballistic.

Ù Using Master Caution reset doesn't clear the WARN message on the HUD.

Use the WARN reset button on the ICP panel [SHFT-CTRL-ALT-w].

Ù The autopilot key [a] doesn’t fly the plane.

This key only works with Combat and Steerpoint AP settings. With realistic 3-axis autopilot,

you must use the two new autopilot switches to decide what the autopilot is going to control.

Ù When I fire my AIM-120's there is no smoke trail. Why is that?

The correct modeling of the smokeless rocket motor. After a brief exhaust, it burns clean.

Ù The new avionics are too complicated for me. I prefer the simpler 1.08 suite.

Playing Online,  by Kung-Fu

Multi-player

There are numerous ways to hook up and play online. The JetNet server is and has been defunct for a long time. Your first option for multiplayer is a simple LAN or internet connection between between you and your friends. Keep in mind that no matter who you play with, everyone will need the same install.

Your second option is to join a virtual squad. These are large organized groups that have a set schedule for missions. In general, they follow military procedures/protocol to enhance the realism. These are also great because there's ALWAYS someone to fly with, and you can always learn something and improve your skills. Keep in mind that joining a Wing/squad is its own hobby because you will have to fly missions on a regular basis to stay active AND keep up with correspondence. First, you will have have to find out what the squad's install is and put it on your machine. Then you'll have to register and usually pass an orientation flight. After that, the squads usually have members who will instruct you on SOP's and bring your skills up to the rest of the squad's. From there you have to stay active.

16th Flying Tigers  www.16thaccw.org  
This is a VERY popular group and many F4HQ members belong to this group.

FreeBirds www.freebirdswing.org
This group's follows standard rules and SOP's, but like to maintain a relaxed atmosphere.

87th Stray Dogs www.87th.org
Adheres to strict rules and schedules like the 16th does.

The last option has yet to prove itself and will be seen pending the release of Allied Force. G2i/Lead Pursuit will open a server that should function easily. From the looks of it, it will function like Xbox Live, where you can log on, see who's available, and join flights or missions.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________