Reviewed by:     Mark Arnott

Name:            EF2000: Tactcom
Publisher:       Ocean
Format:          CD
Available:       Now

Requires:

O/S:             DOS 5.0+
Processor:       486DX2/66+
RAM:             8Mb+
Graphics:        SVGA
CD-Rom:          X2
Soundcard:       All major cards supported

Tested on:

Main server PC

O/S:             WIN95 in DOS
Processor:       Pentium 100MHz
RAM:             32Mb
Graphics:        Matrox Millenium 
CD-ROM:          Quad speed
Soundcard:       Soundblaster AWE32
Controls:        Keyboard + Joystick

Link-up PC

O/S:             DOS
Processor:       Pentium 90MHz
RAM:             16Mb
Graphics:        Diamond Stealth 2001 
CD-ROM:          Dual speed
Soundcard:       Soundblaster 16 
Controls:        Keyboard + Joystick

EF2000 - Tactcom

Tactcom is the "Tactical and Communications upgrade " for EF2000 which was released in November 1995, in my humble opinion it is still the leading PC Flight Simulator that all others are compared against. Unfortunately this Sim was been not without bugs and a major "Mid life upgrade" patch was issued, but still some nasty bits lurked among the bytes. One of the most disconcerting was when you would be zipping along at mach 1 and a high speed loss of altitude occurred, resulting in negative terrain clearance (crash!). This is now fixed, and there are a multitude of enhancements that come with the fixes. The install guide recommends a fresh install of EF2000 and tells you how to backup any campaign that you may have active. Around 8MB of data is added to the original, taking about five minutes. No other patching needs to be done as Tactcom does it all. A 44 page manual comes with Tactcom, and has some very good combat advice as well as describing the enhancements in depth.

The Tactical Mission Planner is a welcome addition, it allows control of your own flight and up to fifteen other aircraft including A10-s, Tornados, F15-s and Stealth Fighters. Missions can be created for yourself and any other network players. Specific targets can be assigned to individual players, so you can imagine the fun to be had when carrying out a multiple strike on an enemy airfield. In the planner you first select a strike type, this is the type of mission and where the target is located, so you could choose an airfield or go for the AWACS patrol. The status of the target is available and will indicate if it has been weakened by previous attacks.

When selecting the base to operate from you can choose which type of aircraft will be going with you. This could mean F22-s for fighter cover if you're bombing, or a few Tornados carrying Alarm missiles as an anti SAM package. Targets can be viewed with a roving camera and a 3D view can provide detailed information. In the waypoint selection screen you can go along with the default or alter the position and height as required by dragging and clicking. There is a handy fuel bar that indicates if enough fuel will be available for the return journey. If you are happy with the planning just click 'Fly' and off you go. Air to air dogfight missions can also be customised - you can fly against any of the aircraft that are in the game - that's quite a few.

The "Running in" radio command has extra function now. If you are on a strike mission and get a "Mud Spike" you can issue the command to your Alarm carrying wingmen, and they will launch against the ground radar site. It must be remembered that when running in to a target the wingmen may break off when attacked and the running in command must be re-issued.

The A.I. of computer controlled aircraft is improved. No longer do they crash into cliff faces or hit the ground when using ILS back at base. Anti SAM "Wild Weasel" aircraft are more effective when responding to enemy radar activity. Wingmen will stay with you when flying very low, this is helpful if trying to avoid radar. Flak and AA missiles now rock the aircraft if they explode nearby, giving a better indication that you must do something about it. The CCIP bombing sight predictor is more accurate than before, and the Sea Eagle missile can be launched from the shoreline.

The news is bad where SAMs and AAA are concerned. They are more dangerous and there are more of them around target areas, conserving their ammo and remaining a threat for longer. When jettison of all stores is selected, the rockets and missiles just drop off, previous to the patch they actually fired - slightly dangerous in real life. The realism of your Infra Red missiles is increased, this means that it is best to be behind a target before release to have a chance of hitting the target. When using cannon in air to air combat there is a good indication of how well you are doing. The first hits will make tiny explosions, then smoke will appear before a final big explosion.

New head-to-head play

I really enjoyed the head to head option. Using a serial cable between the two computers (see top of page for spec.s) it was quite painless to set up. One of the machines acts as a server, it makes sense to use the higher spec PC for this, and the server chooses the game type and options. Players can choose names for themselves and when in combat if you get a missile lock the players name is shown on the HUD underneath the lock diamond, nice feature. The gameplay does not suffer any lag due to data transmission, and I was surprised at how smooth it was, considering that serial cable was in use and not proper network hardware. This should be pleasing to those who don't have a 100 megabit FDDI LAN wired up at home. I would like to have a go at work, but I think the words "instant" and "dismissal" might be uttered.

When the server in a multi-player game selects quick combat, they will be able to choose what kind of game they want. The original solo King-of-the-skies game is still present although the server can select one of two bases for each player to start at. There are also two other types, TEAM and BASE DEFENCE.

Team allows the server to nominate two teams, red and green, and enables them to choose which base a particular player will launch from. Base defence works in a similar way but the teams have a single base which they must defend from attack. Points are scored for destroying ground targets and a bonus is awarded for a successful landing (coming to a complete halt on the runway with your engines turned off).

The world terrain is now smoother with fewer texture rips and the game runs better on 486 CPUs than before. Improvements have also been made in the AWACS info; and the radar will not auto-turn-on when radar missiles are selected, this helps the stealth element. IR missiles are now orange in the DASS, and the type of AA missile is indicated in the HUD. Full Thrustmaster support is built in, and B50 files are supplied for the F16 joystick; TQS and WCS are also supported.

Tactcom has given EF2000 a new lease of life, and it can still stand up against the new boys in town. If you have EF2000 already then this should be a "must have" to get the full from the sim. I don't know if the distributors have in mind an offer on the full package, but it would be nice to see.

Mark Arnott for Game Over!