F a 18 hornet 3.0 demo software

The polygon engine is refined and smooth; the missions, although few in number and badly documented, arc engaging; the aircraft itself is easy to control and comes with all the usual game gimmicks, such as multiple cameras and video replays. Thanks to the minimalist graphical style everything looks a little 'sparse' when compared to other sims on the shelf, but this means that Hornet pulls an impressive frame rate even on low-end Pentiums although this perhaps has more to do with the desolate nature of the Kuwaiti theatre than clever coding.

If you haven't flown an advanced jet-powered fighter before, you'll also find that the step-by-step tutorials are first rate. On the down side, Hornet doesn't really offer anything new and is therefore very much a clone of the competition. Designed for the experienced flight sim pilot this product has most all the standard features you have come to expect in a flight sim and more. Detail is the name of game in Hornet 3. From the fresnel lens system "meatball" on the carrier to the beautiful full-screen cockpit display complete with moving maps and digital displays, even the minute details are carefully portrayed.

Everything from inlet temperature to engine vibration is monitored on the Digital Display Indicators DDIs and the amount of information available can be overwhelming. Of course with all the detail involved, this sim ends up being somewhat complex and could be quite daunting for a beginner.

The manual, which is rather short and desperately needs an index and glossary, is laid out and reads like an actual Department of Defense document. To help get you up to speed there are excellent tutorials built right into the sim, covering such topics as carrier landings, air-to-ground attacks, and navigation. Do not be fooled by the slightly outdated graphics; the flight model on this baby is excellent and after several hours of flying around you can almost imagine you are in the real thing.

Landing on the carrier for the first time with the Landing Signal Officer giving you verbal directions as you focus on the meatball is quite an exhilarating experience. There is great sense of engine power when flying around, especially when you kick in the afterburners and get the satisfying muffled roar; the little details are what make this sim fun. I cannot ever remember playing another sim where I was waved off on a landing because of traffic on the flight deck.

Most all features that are routinely expected in a flight sim are present in this one: video replays, multiple views including padlock, network and modem play, taxiing on runways, excellent control of wingmen, radio messages and a wide variety of ordnance. HARMs make an appearance in this sim as well as a few tactical nukes, all assigned on a very well designed ordnance screen.

Though a great deal of attention was spent on details there some general areas that are lacking. First and most important are the number of missions; there [are] only 28, playable as a single campaign or individually. Mission briefings are also short and non-descriptive, with no detailed maps or information given out. Debriefing consist of only a dot-matrix print-out to the screen showing number of kills; very life-like but not that useful, especially when compared to other sims.

Missions tend to be very difficult with plenty of SAMs to make life difficult and an enemy pilot AI that can be very challenging in a dogfight. Though a little short on missions and slightly dated graphically, it is fun, interesting, and full of surprises. GSC has made a solid entrance into the world of PC simulators. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses.

EMBED for wordpress. Want more? Advanced embedding details, examples, and help! Publication date Topics Windows games , Vintage computer games , Simulation games. You take command of one of the most powerful fighter jets in the world, fighting to keep the enemies down.