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This document is a review of Interactive Magic's iF-22, a realistic simulation of the F-22 Raptor.
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Lockheed Martin F-22 was developed out of the need by the USAF for a
long range, supersonic aircraft with stealth capabilities. It is an
aircraft with the combination of the best features of the F-15 Strike
Eagle and F-117A aircraft. This simulation captures the flight
dynamics and performance of the F-22 aircraft with photorealistic.
The ideal: Pentium 166 MHz or Pentium Pro, 32MB RAM, 6X CD-ROM, 1024x768 SVGA monitor, 3D accelerator board, two button joystick, throttle, rudder pedals, keyboard and mouse.
My system was as follows: Pentium 166MMX, 32MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM, 1024x768 Diamond Viper 330 video accelerator card with 4MB RAM, two button joystick with throttle, keyboard and mouse. Monitor was a 19" Hitachi Superscan Elite 751. I ran at the high 1024x768 mode.
Installation was a breeze. The simulation comes on two CD's, one
containing the sim and the Bosnia scenery theatre, the second covers
the Ukraine scenery set. I maintain all the latest Direct X drivers
and 3D drivers for my video card so installation went easily. My
installation used about 97 megs of hard drive space although doing a
full install and copying the terrain data from CD to hard drive could
take some 300+ more megs for a full install. (I'd say that's a
testimony to the terrain accuracy myself....included in the package
is a real navigational chart).
The manual for this simulation comes looking just like the aircraft
operations manuals the USAF issues to flight crews. It's
comprehensive and well illustrated and covers everything you'll need
to fly the 11 different mission types.
Yep, 11 different types of missions...close air support, battlefield air interdiction, escort, airfield attack, combat air patrol, ground strikes, runway attacks, deep strikes and more. The missions are randomly generated so no two missions are quite the same, and you can alter missions and payloads during the mission planning. Multiplayer and network flying is possible, but I did not test these functions. A full 2 sided card for keyboard and control functions is also included along with the flight chart and manual.
Terrain detail is excellent in 3D mode and I noticed only one
miniscule annoyance: terrain loads would cause a momentary pause of
short duration, perhaps less than a second. The effect would be
similar to an edited piece of film "jumping" a frame or two. Nothing
major at all, but noticeable. Similarly, if one is flying low, in a
ground hugging attitude, the mountain ranges would build ahead as you
progressed along the terrain. This is similar to other sims I've
flown too so it's not a problem but an observation.
One aspect I did like a lot in this sim is the use of the mouse. Positioning the mouse allows scanning the cockpit and activation of the different systems easily. The simulation is very dynamic, with friendly and opposition aircraft moving in the sim at all times making for much realism.
IMagic's iF-22 Web Page
Reviewed by: Bill Otten
BOttenHARP@aol.com
IMagic's iF-22 Persian Gulf v5.0 Web Page