homepage Forums Read Only Forums Read Only Forums Typhoon (Read Only) Typhoon demo comments

Pretty nice looking game; though some of the camera angles chosen for the demo can make you dizzy. The demo looks great in 800x600 32 bit mode with FSAA on, as well as 1024x768 32 bit without FSAA. Haven't tried with FSAA on as I'm afraid it might slow things down on my Geforce 256 card. When I get my Geforce2 Pro I'll give it a go.

My only real complaint about the demo is that for some reason the Typhoon doesn't get into the heat of things. You see it taking off and that's it. Does look REAL nice, but it would have been nice to see it shoot at ething. As well as some cockpit shots while this was taken place. Maybe in another demo

Basically the graphics are an improved version of those in TAW/Wargasm. This is fine with me as I liked TAW's graphics. The Typhoon gets all the detailing (in terms of modeling and skins) in the demo, as the Russian planes are not as refined; though the non Russian planes fair better. Don't know if the option will ever be there, but
I'm sure people would love to create new skins for those birds.

Lastly the voices seem a little muffled to me; though this might have something to with my set-up (3D audio etc.). They certainly are not as clear as they were in TAW.

Only 1 month until the game comes out...YIPPEE!!! Bring it on!

BTW Andy (or anyone else who knows the answer)perhaps you can answer a question for me. Do the Typhoon's control surfaces move in the game? I read something you wrote about being able to see the rudder move in the external views; but that doesn't SEEM to be the case in the demo. The conreol surfaces are static.

Also while I have you here..how bout these 2 questions?

1. In the campaign, are you offered a list of missions to choose from or just one?

2. I assume the "shoot list" makes an appearance in this game; but can you cycle through targets in the shot list?

Thanx

[This message has been edited by Uroboros (edited 04-03-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Uroboros (edited 04-03-2001).]

Uroboros

The flight controls do move, including the rudder. You only control the elevator and aileron, the AI has the rudder (an attempt to simulate FBW perhaps). The rudder doesn't move much at normal speeds...stall the jet out at high AOA and you will see it move to keep the jet under control.

In the campaign, individual pilots are assigned missions as the war unfolds. The player has no control over this...other than to choose to fly or not fly the mission himself (he may choose to let the AI fly the mission). So...yes, you do have a choice of up to six missions (six pilots), but the game AI determines what those missions are depending on how the war is going. Your choice of pilots determines mission tasking...some pilots are better at A2A, some A2G...so their mission assignments tend to reflect that.

There is not a 'shoot list' as such (as there was in TAW). But...the Eurofighter attack computer will determine the threat level of observed bandits and will rank order them depending on weapon type chosen. The player may step thru these targets using the Z and X keys to move forwards and backwards thru the targets. This feature works both in the HUD view as well as the target padlock view. The threat padlock view cannot be cycled since it only shows the most immediate threat.

Andy

Finally got the demo! (sorry for my bitching on the other topic, i just hate it when stuff is available and i cant get it). Nice graphics, superb framerates (very important for me, real life is NOT JERKY, cough. JF18) the explosions and contrails look really nice and the flame effect on the missile shot is great. My big gripe is that the sequence isnt action packed enough, its just like they taped a bit of random footage from the smartview, it would have been better if they had recorded something more exciting like an attack on a Russian airfield and shown lots more missile shots (did i say i think the missile effects look great, i just wanted to see some more!). Some cockpit footage would have been nice as well. Finally for a game called Eurofighter Typhoon we dont get to see much of the Typhoon itself. Still really looking forward to it though it'll be nice to have actual FUN in a sim for a change.

Andy.

First of all my compliments for the great work and the passion of you and your team that will bring us another great sim. I am looking forward to Typhoon.

Speaking of the demo, sincerely there are some things I can't understand:

1) Why DID ( Sorry Rage!) thinks that in a EF200 demo you want to actually follow the flight of a Tornado, a Mig 29 and a Saab Viggen? and even a MaPo! Why do I have to see the EFA just during the takeoff? That happened also in TAW, where the only moment where the F22 was visible was after it was being hit by the AAA and going down, not very ecouraging in a demo.Who is the director!?

2) Since the sim is not going to be focused on the avionics, but on the action itself I was expecting to see a lot of action! I saw some dogfight, very few missile intercept and those helicopter flying. Where's the action? :<

3) Again I was expecting my jaw to drop down for the explosions, the sounds, the sky and the plane models, instead, the explosions look pretty playstationesque, with the fire disappearing too fast and leaving no smoke trail, the sounds are exaclty the same as in F22-TAW,( the same file I would bet! ) is it so difficult to go at an airshow and just record the EFA passing by? I mean the real thing!(I was lucky enough to see the EFA flying at an airshow in Italy last year along with the MiG 29, the F18, the Viggen and the Tornado) and is a lot louder an pretty different from the one in the demo.
I still like the plane sound anyway, but it's nothing special.

The Sky looks nice, but still is not something that makes you scream but all the sequences where at low altitude so maybe up high is better.

On the plane models I was expecting a load more of details ! There are no weapons on the AI planes and few labels on the friendly ones, and I still have to see a decent ejection sequence in a sim,. why don' use a real one, the ejection is a very dramatic moment in a mission, and should be valorized in my opinion.
Also the smoke trails of the planes going down where ending too soo and looked more like a kite tail than a smoke trail

What else? I noticed a sense of "flattiness" the planes looked more on a flat background, the sense of depth wasn't realized wery well.


SO bottom line my jaw stayed close all the time, I will buy Typhoon anyway, but since you guys are fighting with monsters like F4 and F/A-18 I was expecting something a little bit more aggressive.

Again this is a comment on the DEMO, I am being picky maybe, but if not here, where we simmers like to hang out, I can't think of a better place to discuss that kind of stuff.

Once more best wishes to DID and all of you guys, keep the good work!

The dem was played on an
AMD 1.2-266
512 Mb Ram
GeForce 2 Deluxe Pro
Default settings


Dot
Stay low stay fast

I agree with some of what -dot- said but i would seriously disagree if he thinks Janes F/A-18 has nice graphics, i think they suck big time, the models are OK but the framerate is terrible! (on Athlon 900 / Geforce 2 / 128Mb) framerate and stutter are the number one immersion killer so Rage has a big winner there over JF18. For me the best graphics in a sim have to be USAF and in certain aspects F4, i'll reserve judgement on Typhoon till i've seen some proper action (i thought thats what demos were for!). I just think they are probably doing this game a big disservice with the direction in the demo.

I agree with some of what -dot- said but i would seriously disagree if he thinks Janes F/A-18 has nice graphics, i think they suck big time, the models are OK but the framerate is terrible! (on Athlon 900 / Geforce 2 / 128Mb) framerate and stutter are the number one immersion killer so Rage has a big winner there over JF18. For me the best graphics in a sim have to be USAF and in certain aspects F4, i'll reserve judgement on Typhoon till i've seen some proper action (i thought thats what demos were for!). I just think they are probably doing this game a big disservice with the direction in the demo.

Joelhume

Don't start it...the graphics in F/A-18 are not nice they are awesome, especially now that I can enjoy them at full blast with the GeForce2. Just look at the 3D models and the textures. The framerate is slower than other sims also because there is a lot more going on "under the hood" then let's say in USAF, that has AMAZING graphic, but nothing else.
Again we can't compare finished sims with a non playable DEMO, but you will agree that in 2001 what I see in the Typhoon demo is not
"a new benchmark in graphics"
Let's think again about USAF, that sim-game really surprised me ! I just said that being developed, again , in the 21st century, I was expecting the Typhoon DEMO to be a little more aggressive.But hey, I'm just a sim-lover, not the marketing director at Rage
I am sure Andy and Co. are waiting to show us the real meat in the finished release.
Regarding the action in the demo itself where is a low level attack? I did not see a single bombing run, the explosions weren't that great and the dogfights very brief. I could had missed something, but I watched the demo for 15 ' at least until it seemed to me that it was replaying the same scene ( 2 efa taking off and then the track camera on the Tornado.)
The damages on the wings were really amazing and the reflections too, despite maybe a little exaggerated, the canopy looked more like a soap bubble, totally transparent, where in relity they are amber or greenish in color.
Again I am just having fun chatting about something that I ( we all) love. Planes, Missiles and dogfights, so nothing personal!

IFF friendly

Dot

Just so that everyone understands...Leon and I do not work for Rage.

We are contributing editors here at SimHQ. We also do a little freelance writing on the side. Rage has hired us to do a Strategy Guide and web site articles for Typhoon. We have no other involvement with the game other than to discuss it on this forum.

Andy

I actually LIKE the sky, those cottonball clouds popular in other sims would not fit in this enviroment. You don't see those kinds of clouds during overcast days.

Also I got to disagree about the "flattiness" of the planes. They looked 3D to me. I especially like the zoomed in shots in the Smart Views. Really does look like you're looking at the plane through a long focal length lens.

Dot you're wrong about the lack of weapons on the AI planes. Look carefully, their certainly are missiles on those planes when they come close. I think the planes where you don't se external missiles just don't have htem that's all. That's why they fire there guns. And the Typhoon is really nicely detailed. The skins on the planes are just right. Yes..the sim doesn't have the most up-to-date graphics, but damn the demo just flys. And as nice as F-18 might look, what's the point of all that eye candy is it runs like crap. Also I think the graphics work, reminds my of EAW in a sense. Their the graphics are 2 years old, but they have a quality about that that just fits. Sometimes the graphics on these newer sims is just to picture perfect and clean.

I do agree on 2 things though.

1. The demo should focus more on the Typhoon. What's the deal with it just appearing in the first 30 seconds of the demo? That was a strange choice on the part of who ever put the thing together. I suggest a second demo showing the Typhoon doing it's things. A demo where the Typhoon is on a srtike mission would be nice. You'd have air-to-ground attacks, SAMs firing and then dogfighting when the enemy fighters show up.

2. It's true..there isn't a decent ejection scene in sims. On the other hand..how often are you going to be watching the other guy eject in the heat of battle?



[This message has been edited by Uroboros (edited 04-03-2001).]

Well the demo seems pretty cool to me
and a great sequal to the DID heritage
I hope that Rage will continue to do so and will bring out more under the DID label and live up to it as the probably do with Typhoon
As far as I can judge it will be a stayer and turn alot of youngsters in fanatic fighter pilots....

(and I'll fight them in Falcon4 when they are grown)


Really great work DID/(Rage) keep alive ....


Widowmaker aka Metalhead

Well the demo seems pretty cool to me
and a great sequal to the DID heritage
I hope that Rage will continue to do so and will bring out more under the DID label and live up to it as the probably do with Typhoon
As far as I can judge it will be a stayer and turn alot of youngsters in fanatic fighter pilots....

(and I'll fight them in Falcon4 when they are grown)


Really great work DID/(Rage) keep alive ....


Widowmaker aka Metalhead

Thanx for the speedy answers Andy; sounds good. Good to hear that you CAN cycle through targets. For a while there I was concerned they might have taken this option out. As for threat padlock view, seems to work just like the one in TAW

After viewing the whole demo (it appears to be on something of a loop, but with different views perhaps or randomized views?) I must disagree with the statement that the terrain looks flat.

I think Uroborus nailed it on the head when he stated that some shots looked like they were taken with a long focal length, and that, in my opinion, looks fantastic. Another sim that did this VERY well, but didn't do so well for lacking in other features, was Digital Integrations Super Hornet.

The Typhoon demo gave me a very good feeling of speed and terrain..and atmosphere. I felt like I was there watching those aircraft hugging through valleys and pulling G's. The explosion effects I thought were done very nicely. In one segment a Mig or SU get's it's wing blown off and it corkscrews out of control very much aerodynamically as I would imagine it would. And upon hitting the ground it appeared to exhibit the correct physics (ie: the wreckage exploding forward along the impact path).

I too was disappointed that we didn't see any in-cockpit views or HUD camera footage. Some ground attack stuff would have been a bonus too.

From what I've seen so far though, the graphics engine looks wonderful..in my opinion much better than Jane's F-18. Then again I'm running a P3-500 w/ a Voodoo 5 so I probably haven't felt smooth and "great" in JF-18 yet . (Anyone want to let me borrow their Gig + machine for a month or two???)

Looking forward to Typhoon..if it even approaches EF2K or TAW for fun factor it will be worth it.

BeachAV8R

Hi Guys,

Just to clear a few things up about the demo.
This is the real game running, it's not a recording. You will notice that the outcome of the dogfight is not always the same.

Sorry about the lack of action with the Typhoon, but BAe didn't want to see their plane getting shot down, so we weren't allowed to put it in a dogfight (Marketing eh!)

Because the Demo is the real game running, but forced into SmartView, then it'll give you a good idea if your PC is up to running it.

Cheers,

Steve

One thing I have noticed, both in screenshots and in the demo, is that the air bases seem to be well integrated with the terrain. On many flight sims these appear to be stuck on and stand out like a sore thumb. These are the best I've seen (though I don't have every sim).

Thanx for info Steve. Strangely enough, when I started thinking why perhaps the Typhoon wasn't shown more, the reason you give us actually occured to me. Damn marketing!

I think the makers of "Fly2K" had a similar problem I believe. They didn't show any damage effects on the planes in the game because the builders of the real planes didn't think it would be a good idea to show their planes damaged. So you could crash, but the planes would remain in untouched.

And yes, you are right (as if you weren't ) the outcome isn't always the same. One time I watched the demo that Tornado in the beginning shot down some cargo(?) plane. He hasn't done it since though.

Steve.

If that is the game running, I may have a problem. With the GeForce 2 I experienced some see-thru the surfaces of the polygons, especially where the landing gears where. I could see inside the landing gear panel, like if the panel itself wasn't there.
Anybody else had the same problem?

Also I saw several times the planes entering the hills while they were going down, and actually exploding inide the hill itself.

One time I even saw a naked blond waving at me from inside the cockpit while she fas performing a Pugacheff Cobra with a SU27. She even blowed me...a kiss.

Is that a new feature to attract new simmers to the market ? I think it's a great idea!

Dot.

I know some of the games out there with real cars in it, like that SUV racing one, also don't allow any damage other than smoke. IMO that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. These marketing people have NO CLUE about computer games.
I mean, let's think about this: Does BAe HONESTLY believe that a country thinking about buying the Typhoon would change their mind after seeing a PC version shot down in a GAME DEMO?? I'm sure the head of the Hellenic Air Force was eagerly awaiting this demo to see if their new fighter was up to snuff!!!!
The Jedi Master

@ Dot: Got the same problem with my GEFORCE2, seems to be a driver problem. I ll try the 11.01 Detonator later.

Hey guys where can i get the very latest GeForce drivers, Nvidias site has only 6.50 on, i know that there's newer drivers than that kicking around.

[This message has been edited by joelhume (edited 04-04-2001).]