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They say you haven't really experienced FSX until you have done / played / participated in multiplayer mode which requires a boatload of things to go right.
I thought I would write about my recent experience with Orion Lyau's Multiplayer Carrier Ops for Flight Simulator X. The carrier, in this case the USS Nimitz, is sailing off the coast of northern California near San Francisco bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. The flight begins on the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport and the default aircraft is the F/A-18 in Blue Angels colors. The mission is really exceptional for two reasons. Javier Fernandez's Nimitz is one of the new free AI aircraft carriers that moves and turns to a new course from time to time, and two, the HUD and Nimitz combination supports ILS navigation in addition to TACAN, the F/A-18's default nav system. See the video link for more views of the realistic HUD operation.
Before going on I have to mention Jivko Rusev's new realistic HUD updates for the Acceleration Pack F/A-18, as well as Dino Cattaneo's F-14 Tomcat and Boeing T-45C Goshawk freeware jets.
Carrier Ops Video (You will find a link to enable the next video in this four video playlist.)
Orion's Multiplayer Carrier Ops Mission
Week of Feb. 7, 2009 Multiplayer Carrier Ops II with cross wind and night landings
VFRReviews.com Release Announcement and documentation.
New F/A-18 (F-14 and Boeing T-45) working HUD By Jivko Rusev (scroll down to Orion's post with the links to each variety.)
Javier Fernandez's US Carriers USS Nimitz
I have to confess that I'm one of those flight simulator hobbyists, who does not warm to the idea of game playing. I have a problem with the notion. But after reviewing my Carrier Operations YouTube videos, it is obvious that flight simulator is a game and can be "played" with many other people, online over the internet. With the addition of a Skype call, you can hear each other as you "play" the game. In this case the object is to properly land your jet aircraft on the deck of the carrier.
After all that downloading and video viewing, you should wind up with a couple of brand new aircraft and new realistic HUDs for all three. If you can't make sense from these links just go to FlightSim.Com and search for "Multiplayer Carrier Ops" by Orion Lyau.
With weeks of practice my ability to land the jet on the deck is shabby at best. In the videos, you will hear mission developer, Orion Lyau making comments with other "players" as they land and re-deploy from the carrier. Orion's work on this multiplayer mission is really superb.
Included is a Boeing 737 fuel tanker that circles overhead as well as an option to "ride" the elevator down to the refueling area below the main deck. The standard hook up procedure and catapult launch compliment the four trap-wire capture as well as an innovate Plat camera and other selectable views for critiquing aircraft approaches and landings. While Orion was not the developer of the carrier, his ability to collaborate with other developers, such as Jivko Rusev and Javier Fernandez for example, makes his mission a dream come true for the jet pilot wanna-bees in all of us who've always dreamt of the rush from being in the cockpit on the catapult, waiting for takeoff.
"I'll bet the students at Pensacola are eating this up," remarked Paco, one of the mission players who's a former Naval Aviator and airline pilot. "Sludge, say angels," he says again, "Three down and locked, hook down, 4 miles, on final two point four." he states before a perfect three wire recovery. The realism of this multiplayer simulator option is pretty decent by sim enthusiasts' standards and by mine as well. You can judge for yourself by watching the high definition videos of the takeoff, fly bys, bolters, crashes and yes, finally a successful landing in a Goshawk T-45C trainer.
You'll need an internet connection (the faster the better). The first time you try multiplayer you'll sign up for a free GameSpy account. After logging in, you'll be able to join or host a session, again all free. You will have to have Orion's SFCarrier Ops Mission which you can download here and once you've done that, you will be able to fly the mission. In some countries there are arbitrary limits on speed and bandwidth performance, therefore patience is warranted when using multiplayer. All things considered, it works amazingly well. Some of the members of this flight were connected from points across the globe.
It isn't as easy as it sounds. Multiplayer is the place to go to practice formation flying however. I have to applaud the form flying crowd because this is massively difficult but in multiplayer you can practice or try as much as you like as long as there are at least two of you who don't mind trying. Since I have been the lead plane in some of these rehearsals, I thought it was fairly easy. Then I tried to follow in formation and realized just how difficult it really is.
Microsoft Flight Simulator X Acceleration has three carrier missions in the second and third sections as you scroll down the list. The easiest is the basic introduction Carrier Tutorial, the second and a bit harder one is the intermediate Carrier Practice mission. Finally, there is a night landing expert mission if you're looking for a real challenge.
In addition to the fact that I am not very good at any of these missions I have trouble with them because, unfortunately they remind me this is a game not a simulator. The multiplayer version however, has a whole extra level of realism with the addition of other "live" members of your fleet who will say things extemporaneously. If you're fortunate enough to fly with someone who has professional flying experience, they can make the adventure much more informative.
 Spot plane view |
 Sunset off the California Coast |
 Plat camera view without the cross hair gauge |
 Cockpit view with new HUD |
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40 GHz
Memory (RAM) 6.00 GB
Gaming graphics 2558 MB Total available graphics memory
Primary hard disk 198GB Free (451GB Total)
Windows Vista (TM) Home Premium
System
Don Filer
dfiler@rocketmail.com
Other Reviews By Don Filer:
Carenado's Piper PA-34 200T Seneca II
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