June 22nd, 2019
In Focus Review - Heatblur's F-14 Tomcat Module for DCS World
It has been an eternity since we've seen an F-14 Tomcat simulation on the PC. Technically we did see the Tomcat included in the recent Ace Combat 7 in 2018, but that doesn't count, but I will say the 3D models are super pretty in it. Microprose's Fleet Defender pretty much set the standard, and yes JetFighter III included a Tomcat in the expansion disk way back in the late 90s, but even it wasn't really a simulation, it was more of a game. To be fair US Navy Fighters also featured the Tomcat, but it was a “lite” simulation, more game than simulation too.
Now that we got that out of the way...It has been 25 years since 1994's Fleet Defender from Microprose. Damn I'm getting old. Ever since it has been pretty quiet on the PC Tomcat front, that is until now... Digital Combat Simulator World third party developer Heatblur has changed that. Thanks to Heatblur there's no longer a drought for F-14 Tomcat simulation action on the PC. This module is so packed full of goodness, that it's really hard to even decide where to begin.
At present the DCS F-14A/B module is in early access. For those who don't know... Early Access is essentially a paid beta period, and many DCS modules are released in this manner. An Early Access module is pretty much an up and running module, with many of the included features operational. For instance at present they only model the F-14B, but the F-14A and many other systems will be added later at some point during the “early access” period.
The DCS F/A-18C Hornet module was released over a year ago now and it's still in “early access”, so is the AV-8B Harrier module from Razbam. Personally I like this new way to release software, because it gives us virtual pilots a mostly up and running air-frame to enjoy, with a variety of fully working weapon systems and missions to fly, but long before it would ever have been released.
On the flip-side it gives us the players a voice, which is heard by the developers during the ongoing development process... I feel this business model can help create a better end-game product overall for everyone. Others feel differently about it. To each their own.
I'm not one to go quoting a companies' own PR material, but it details things well so I'll begin there to detail what's promised overall...
The simulation of both the A* and B model Tomcat, the A model following the B later during the Early Access period.
Highly detailed external model, built using laser scanning and photogrammetry taken of real, museum F-14 Tomcats.
New models for some of the F-14 Tomcat payloads, such as the AIM-54 Phoenix and the LANTIRN pod.
Highly detailed and accurate 6-DOF (Degrees of Freedom) cockpit also built using photogrammetry from the F-14 Tomcats preserved at museums.
Highly accurate, F-14 pilot verified, External Flight Model (EFM) based on real performance data.
Accurate aircraft systems simulation featuring:
The Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS).
The variable wing geometry, wing-sweep, system.
Detailed electrical, hydraulic and fuel system.
Fully functional multiplayer two seat functionality allowing a pilot to carry another player functioning as the Radar Intercept Officer, RIO.
JESTER AI: A new, lifelike AI that fills the role of RIO when flying single-player or multiplayer without a human RIO.
A limited functionality Iceman AI piloting the aircraft in single-player when switching to the rear cockpit.
Both AIs feature an interactive interface with a comprehensive library of voice acted phrases.
Simulation of the AN/AWG-9 Weapons Control System (WCS) featuring:
A custom model of the AN/AWG-9 radar featuring Pulse Search, Pulse Doppler Search, Range-While-Scan and Track-While-Scan modes as well as both pulse and pulse doppler Single Target Track (STT) modes.
The ability to prepare and launch the AIM-54 Phoenix, both at single targets and at up to six targets simultaneously using the TWS mode.
The Television Camera Set (TCS) allowing visual identification of targets in Beyond Visual Range (BVR) situations.
The Link-4 datalink allowing reception of tracks from an E-2 AWACS or a surface unit.
The complete F-14A and B Tomcat payload, including AIM-7, AIM-9 and AIM-54 air to air missiles, various dumb and guided air to ground munitions as well as the M61 Vulcan 20mm cannon.
A functional simulation of the LANTIRN designator pod, allowing the RIO to guide laser guided munitions dropped by the pilot or other aircraft (buddy-lasing).
The Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS), allowing the player to fulfill the aerial photographic reconnaissance mission. *
Fully functional carrier interoperability featuring systems such as the Instrument Carrier Landing System (ICLS) and the Automatic Carrier Landing System (ACLS).
Comprehensive digital manual, both as a PDF and as a continually updated online manual.
A complete set of interactive and voiced tutorials.
Comprehensive campaigns for both the F-14A and F-14B Tomcat, one set in the Caucasus theatre and the other for the Persian Gulf theatre.
Now that we got that out of the way...It has been 25 years since 1994's Fleet Defender from Microprose. Damn I'm getting old. Ever since it has been pretty quiet on the PC Tomcat front, that is until now... Digital Combat Simulator World third party developer Heatblur has changed that. Thanks to Heatblur there's no longer a drought for F-14 Tomcat simulation action on the PC. This module is so packed full of goodness, that it's really hard to even decide where to begin.
At present the DCS F-14A/B module is in early access. For those who don't know... Early Access is essentially a paid beta period, and many DCS modules are released in this manner. An Early Access module is pretty much an up and running module, with many of the included features operational. For instance at present they only model the F-14B, but the F-14A and many other systems will be added later at some point during the “early access” period.
The DCS F/A-18C Hornet module was released over a year ago now and it's still in “early access”, so is the AV-8B Harrier module from Razbam. Personally I like this new way to release software, because it gives us virtual pilots a mostly up and running air-frame to enjoy, with a variety of fully working weapon systems and missions to fly, but long before it would ever have been released.
On the flip-side it gives us the players a voice, which is heard by the developers during the ongoing development process... I feel this business model can help create a better end-game product overall for everyone. Others feel differently about it. To each their own.
I'm not one to go quoting a companies' own PR material, but it details things well so I'll begin there to detail what's promised overall...
The simulation of both the A* and B model Tomcat, the A model following the B later during the Early Access period.
Highly detailed external model, built using laser scanning and photogrammetry taken of real, museum F-14 Tomcats.
New models for some of the F-14 Tomcat payloads, such as the AIM-54 Phoenix and the LANTIRN pod.
Highly detailed and accurate 6-DOF (Degrees of Freedom) cockpit also built using photogrammetry from the F-14 Tomcats preserved at museums.
Highly accurate, F-14 pilot verified, External Flight Model (EFM) based on real performance data.
Accurate aircraft systems simulation featuring:
The Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS).
The variable wing geometry, wing-sweep, system.
Detailed electrical, hydraulic and fuel system.
Fully functional multiplayer two seat functionality allowing a pilot to carry another player functioning as the Radar Intercept Officer, RIO.
JESTER AI: A new, lifelike AI that fills the role of RIO when flying single-player or multiplayer without a human RIO.
A limited functionality Iceman AI piloting the aircraft in single-player when switching to the rear cockpit.
Both AIs feature an interactive interface with a comprehensive library of voice acted phrases.
Simulation of the AN/AWG-9 Weapons Control System (WCS) featuring:
A custom model of the AN/AWG-9 radar featuring Pulse Search, Pulse Doppler Search, Range-While-Scan and Track-While-Scan modes as well as both pulse and pulse doppler Single Target Track (STT) modes.
The ability to prepare and launch the AIM-54 Phoenix, both at single targets and at up to six targets simultaneously using the TWS mode.
The Television Camera Set (TCS) allowing visual identification of targets in Beyond Visual Range (BVR) situations.
The Link-4 datalink allowing reception of tracks from an E-2 AWACS or a surface unit.
The complete F-14A and B Tomcat payload, including AIM-7, AIM-9 and AIM-54 air to air missiles, various dumb and guided air to ground munitions as well as the M61 Vulcan 20mm cannon.
A functional simulation of the LANTIRN designator pod, allowing the RIO to guide laser guided munitions dropped by the pilot or other aircraft (buddy-lasing).
The Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS), allowing the player to fulfill the aerial photographic reconnaissance mission. *
Fully functional carrier interoperability featuring systems such as the Instrument Carrier Landing System (ICLS) and the Automatic Carrier Landing System (ACLS).
Comprehensive digital manual, both as a PDF and as a continually updated online manual.
A complete set of interactive and voiced tutorials.
Comprehensive campaigns for both the F-14A and F-14B Tomcat, one set in the Caucasus theatre and the other for the Persian Gulf theatre.
Visually Speaking...
I'll begin with the graphics. Wow it's a great time to be into PC simulations again. Visually speaking the Tomcat inside and out is photo-realistic. The 6DOF (6 degrees of freedom) cockpit is a site to behold. They've modeled both the front (Pilot) and back seats (Radar Intercept Officer/RIO) in painstaking detail. Every button, dial, switch, lever, etc is included, and can be manipulated via mouse, or via keyboard short-cuts mapped to a HOTAS device. Like in the other high fidelity DCS modules... in the Tomcat you can also perform the complete Start-Up procedure if you want.
It's the little things done right, even cockpit glare on the canopy, or how you can turn your head to see Jester (the artificial intelligence RIO, more on that later) in the backseat doing his thing. Right down to the wear and tear textures on the belt to strap you in, and the seat materials. So many minute details are present. I was really impressed by Razbam's AV-8B recent cockpit upgrade, but I gotta admit, after seeing the Tomcat up close, this may very well be my new favorite cockpit visually speaking.
The external modeling is also as impressive. If you zoom in and look closely, you can see rivets, and the different stages of afterburner at work when you light the cans (kick in the afterburner). You see the turbines turning inside the intakes moving. There's just so many little details done right, and I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff I overlooked yet.
I continue to find new things, like an even closer look reveals a variety of “no step” wordings stenciled in places where you aren't supposed to step on the air-frame. Damage modeling is also visually representing in painstaking detail. Without question this is one of the best looking modules money can buy for DCS period!
I've also been tinkering around with various possible screen scenarios, everything from 3x 27-inch 1080p monitors across into a single 5760X1080 screen, to a single 40-inch 4K UHD TV for a screen, all the way down to my single 27-inch 1080p 144hz monitor at 1080p. At 1080p it looks outstanding with the right amount of detail, and offers the best overall fps in my hardware situation. That's pretty much all but MSAA and heat blur turned on, and the rest at full details.
At 144op on the 40inch 4K TV I was really enjoying it, and at 4k on the same screen the frames took a huge nose-dive, but wow did it look crisp and defined. On my daily driver which is the single 27-inch Acer 1080p/144hz monitor via my i5 9600K/16GB PC3000 memory/RTX-2060 video card running off a 1tb WD SSD... I normally achieve around 72-120+ FPS depending on the scenario, and it's silky smooth. Pulling off 4k ended up putting me at around 27-35 fps for the most part, and running the 3x 27 inch 1080p monitors at 60hz yielded me around 35-50fps max at 5760X1080. Best of all, I'm running what's considered a mid-range system.
The way DCS handles 3 screens is odd and there's too much warping or something on the side screens to make it worth utilizing 5760X1080 for the long haul. The F-14 combined with the Persian Gulf map looks soooooooo good, that it's what started me down this path to see what the best visual scenario would be best for me. As it stands I'm still torn, and I may end up heading towards a single 49-inch 1080p/144hz display, or a single 35-inch 1440p/100hz display. I guess my overall point is... no matter how I tried it, I loved what I was seeing in every configuration from the cockpit of the F-14.
Performance-wise overall... I'd have to say all the visual perks of this module do take a minute toll on the fps, but again, I'm running a mid-range system, and it never hurt enough the I'd have noticed had I not looked at the fps counter. It's a small price to pay for sure.
In Flight...
Flying the Tomcat is quite different too, especially if you are coming from the DCS F/A-18C Hornet directly to the F-14B Tomcat. Remember this is an air-frame that came into service almost two decades before the Hornet. I believe 1969/1970-ish is the official deployment time-frame of the Tomcat entering service. I want to say that the Hornet was 1988/89-ish. This makes the Tomcat one of the last non-fly-by-wire aircraft utilized by the US Navy.
The Tomcat is truly a hands-on aircraft, one that the pilot truly has to FLY. This thing isn't flown for you. If you try and pull the same crap you do in a Hornet you'll rip a wing off, or end up in a flat-spin, or simply put... on your ass and restarting the mission. I made a video of my first impressions, detailing my first few minutes with it, and I managed in those first few moments to rip a wing off.
Now this isn't a bad thing. The realistic model they've created is amazingly flyable, and very capable of keeping up with most any other air-frame you can find in DCS World. To be quite frank, it's a shit-hot pilots' plane to fly. Once you find its strengths and weaknesses, it becomes an absolute dream to fly. To begin with it's a speed-demon! I'm yet to find myself lacking for thrust very often. I'd venture to say it very well may be the fastest plane you can get in DCS world in a straight line. If the Hornet is a modern-age Porche of Naval aircraft... the Tomcat is then a 71 Plymouth HEMI Cuda'!
This thing shudders when you begin to push beyond its limits a little. I learned quickly the little nuances of when you are pushing her too hard, and I now know when to begin to correct what I'm doing. When you move the stick, you are literally moving the hydraulics, control surfaces, etc. There's no computer to combine all of you inputs into coordinated ballet of flight like fly-by-wire systems. Shes finicky, but sexy and smooth once you learn how to treat her. I'd have to say while she's the most temperamental, she's also the most fun to fly module I own thus far.
Having said all of that, the #1 issue I had out of the gate with the Tomcat is the analog gauges. It really irritated the hell out of me at first. I still don't think I'm reading the speed right, and honestly, I'm at the point now where I don't really care to know what speed I'm going. I fly the plane at this point by feel. Once I learned to pretty much ignore the fact that I really have very little information on the HUD that I was used to seeing in say an F-15 or F/A-18, then and only then did I begin to learn to actually fly the plane and deploy weapons, and left the little crap I didn't like behind me.
Don't get me wrong, some may have a VERY hard time with the fact that the Tomcat doesn't have a HUD with much information at all to display by design. I even have to look down to the display below the HUD for a heading tape if not in Nav mode. Navigation in the Tomcat took serious getting used to. This is a different animal altogether. It's old tech, but efficient tech.
Systems...
If you open that little window in the mission editor to list all the check-boxes of the systems you can simulate for failure... you'll literally be blown away with the sheer number of possible failures. These guys really did their homework. You can also end up in the notorious flat-spin, which I managed to do after I ended up damaged during a mission. I lost too much airspeed, and I kept trying to fly her like I would with no system failure, and spin I did, and it's in one of my videos on my YouTube channel. I totally impressed myself that I recovered. Half of it was pure luck, the rest is what I remembered to do. I applied rudder in opposite direction of my spin, I pushed hard for nose-down, pulled the throttle back to almost just idle, and once I was able to begin to descent nose-first, I applied the throttle again, and managed to pull up and out in time.
Thanks to the sweep-wing design, at low speed this thing is insanely well done too, which is also fully implemented. You can control the wings manually, or they can be utilized in “auto” mode just like the real plane. It's pretty cool watching the wings sweep back as you give her some gas, and later watching them swing back out for stability when you begin to slow down. You'll also need to learn how to utilize that functionality manually when setting up to launch off the catapult on the deck of a carrier. Full carrier operations are included. With a bit of practice, and some trial and error, even I was able to start her up, taxi from a parked position to line up to the catapult, and finally launch from the carrier. Don't get me started on how much time that took me, but when I did it was an awesome feeling of accomplishment.
You have to be very precise when taxing on the carrier deck to line up with the catapult, not to fall off the edge of the deck, or to bump into other planes parked along the way. Once in exact position you hold down the “kneel” switch, which lowers the nose strut of the plane down to allow the launch-bar to be connected to the catapult. Next hit the U key to connect up. Once connected you make sure the wings are fully out, hit the reset button, and then set the wings to auto (very important), now set the flaps to full, spool the engines up to 100%, and lastly give the imaginary ground crew the salute (Shift-U), which then signals you're ready to launch and off you go. Again it was an amazing feeling of accomplishment the first time I got it all right, and it took a great deal of trial and error on my part to achieve it.
I can't say much about landing on a carrier, because to be honest... I'm somewhat of a chicken-shit when it comes to landings, it never was my thing. Anytime I've ever landed there's a great degree of luck involved. I will eventually practice it more. I have tried it a number of times with the F-14B and even DCS's F/A-18 as well, and it is pretty thrilling, I'm just terrible at it. I tend to be the guy who pulls off emergency landings pretty good, but planned landings not so much. It's however clear they've implemented it well, with calling the ball, judging you by the wire you caught, etc. Maybe one day I'll do better at that and air-2-air refueling both.
And lets talk about system failures for a minute. Thus far I swear most any time I take a hit, one of two things happen, sometimes both. It's almost guaranteed when I get hit I loose radar, or engines start to fail. Sometimes both. So while they do claim to have all the possible failures listed to fail... two are really more apparent to me than any others at present.
Again, this module is in "early access" so they have time to tweak more, and to add more possible failures to mix it up some more. At present it's almost guaranteed if I take a hit I'm loosing radar, or engines, so it would be nice to see the other listed failures occur. In their defense, I will admit that how the engines gradually go is very impressive. Many times I've managed to get a few more missiles off, and at times the engines didn't completely go out and I was able to keep flying and taking on bandits. Other times you hear the compressor go, which reminds me of the sound of an old car carburetor choking, followed by some shuddering. Pretty cool stuff, the kind of stuff I don't recall experiencing ever before in a PC aviation simulation. At least not to this degree with the various SFX, and the gradual degradation of the engine systems. Very very cool stuff going on in this F-14 cockpit when things go wrong, which really adds to the immersion value.
In terms of capabilities and payload... for the most part my experience has been chucking AIM-7, AIM-9 and AIM-54 Phoenix missiles at air threats, and some guns up close when needed. There is at present a ton of Air-2-Ground systems included like the LANTIRN targeting pod and a variety of dumb and laser guided weapons to choose from, but I haven't done much “Bombcat” Air-2-Ground pounding. I think that's where I'm headed next with this module. I need to learn more of the air-2-ground stuff. I have lobed a few dumb bombs at some ground threats, and the low speed handling capability of the Tomcat made it a rather fun task. I foresee it being a lot of fun.
Cockpit Workload and Jester
In terms of cockpit workload, there's a pilot and RIO seat to occupy. They've however come up with a very creative solution to pull this off. Enter the Jester/Iceman artificial intelligence. So as I fly the Tomcat I can bring up a menu with say the “A-key”, then a big radial display pops up in the center of the screen. It's a layer or two deep as well. There's so many different things to ask him to do. An example... he sets up the ability to jettison drop tanks, and when he's done he says they're ready to pickle, and I can drop them with my pickle button. I can even use my TrackIR to select options from the radial menu, and simply press the button to interact with the menu via my throttle. I thought that was a really nice touch. Otherwise you are using a key and the mouse to navigate the menus, which also works fine, but I think the TrackIR/HOTAS combo is truly the best way.
It's very intuitive and pretty damn smart how they've designed the interaction with Jester. With the AI handling the RIO seat... I can ask Jester to switch radar modes, call out targets for me... he will pretty much do things that the guy in the backseat would be doing had that seat been occupied with an actual RIO in it. He's pretty funny at times too, at one point we are in trouble and he yells “show me some of that pilot shit!”. Other times he belittles you when you do something stupid. The audio is top notch throughout the module, and the voice work for Jester is definitely studio quality audio, with excellent acting.
Also in single player you can hit the 2-key and jump into the backseat/RIO position, and while back there doing RIO things you can hit the A-key to bring up Iceman. He's the limited but useful pilot AI who can keep the the plane flying level, change altitude, or speed, etc. It's very limited functionality compared to what Jester will do from the RIO seat, but insanely awesome and useful nonetheless! He won't pull off any fancy flying, but he will keep you from ending up on the ground while you do RIO things.
Missions...
In terms of missions included, there's no campaign yet to speak of. Bare in mind this is still an “Early Access” module, and the promise of campaigns for both the F-14A and B models are on the list as they outlined. They just aren't included yet. In terms of training missions there's a bunch included at the moment, and they're on par with the majority of the training missions I've seen in say the F/A-18C Hornet module, but I'm just not a big fan of any of the DCS training missions overall.
I'm yet to find them useful for a completely new player. They all assume you know a lot already. There's also a variety of single missions and some instant action type missions to dive into, all of which are great fun, and are a great starting point to get your feet wet with the Tomcat. I think you're almost better off with ANY DCS Module to read the manual first. They also include a rather detailed digital manual.
Since I own the default free map, the Nevada map, and lastly the Persian Gulf map... there's about 6-7 Instant Action missions for each map to choose from. For the regular Missions category there's like 7-8 Cacausus region missions, one Nevada mission and like 3 Persian Gulf missions. I'm a little disappointed by the fact that there's more Instant Action missions overall than actual Missions. I'll cut them a break because again, it's “Early Access”, so I hope with the addition of the campaigns they add more single missions as well later.
In all fairness, what is included is a nice variety of versus 4th and 5th Gen fighters, starting Cold and Dark, Free Flight, Dogfight, Landing, Refueling.... a nice variety of all the things you'd want to do in a new plane to learn the ropes. Every mission I've flown was fun, and somewhat challenging. Be warned, you will need to learn how to start-up, taxi and get setup to be launched from a carrier to take part in some of them. Actually that's what forced me to learn how to do all of the above, otherwise I'd just start in the air ready to go given the choice myself. I'm lazy like that I guess, but I prefer to spend my free time flying and shooting things down, versus learning mundane tasks.
Multiplayer...
Being this is pretty much the latest big release for DCS World, it's one of the most commonly recognizable planes you'll see on most any of the servers running DCS online. I've been flying it over the internet with a good friend of mine who's like a nephew to me. Heatblur was kind enough to set me up with two licenses for review, at my request so we could give multiplayer a shot together, because I had seen so much good said about it.
It's pretty damn cool having someone you know and trust in the backseat calling out targets, locking them up, and firing on some for you....all from the backseat as I'm able to handle the task of flying the plane. The multiplayer experience in Heatblur's F-14B is the kind of multiplayer experience in a multiple seat plane that we've all wanted for years now. They also offer a slight discount on the actual Heatblur website on two licenses for engaging in multiplayer with a friend. I thought that was nice.
The only thing I noticed is this awesome multiplayer two-seat experience has a cost. Since players can occupy both seats, if I'm flying online solo in my F-14, I can't hit the 2 key to jump into the back seat. I still have Jester which is awesome, but you can't completely one-man the experience like you can offline solo. It's a small price to pay, and it's more of an observation than it is a complaint. I can't stress enough how awesome and immersive it is to both be able to jump into the same plane and split the tasks up like that. We both have a lot to learn about the RIO seat, and operating it more efficiently, but what a super fantastic time we've had together online. The only catch is you both need to own the module to pull it off, which is fair enough.
Conclusion
I can rattle on forever about how damn cool this F-14 module is from Heatblur, but I have to stop somewhere. Performance-wise I think it takes a wee bit more juice to render all of this visual splendor, but I don't think it's much more taxing than say the Hornet module. Make no mistake about it... the Tomcat inside and out looks sexier than any other DCS module thus far from every angle thanks to the apparent hard work Heatblur has done.
In terms of sheer fun factor the Tomcat has all the other modules beat hands-down as well. Coming from a Hornet or Harrier even.... this thing takes some finessing, but once you learn how to treat her, she will get you through the mission. Not to mention, you may very well be a better pilot after having flown the Tomcat. I know one thing, it feels REALLY strange when I jump into the Hornet now. The Tomcat is a hard act to follow!
At low level or balls-out, she's an amazing plane to fly. I think that I find the limits refreshing to be honest, because you can really yank and bank on the Hornet, but rarely do I feel like there's any consequences for it because it's fly-by-wire. It however goes without saying that I've always loved a good muscle car over any modern sports car, and the Tomcat really is that type of plane in comparison to most other modern jet-fighter modules out there for DCS World.
I've said this before...$80 is a lot for any one single DCS World module. After seeing this one first-hand, and after having paid $60 for the Hornet module on sale (it was an $80 module too)... I feel that the F-14 from Heatblur is a damn good option, even better than the Hornet module. Even with what is missing and with what's not completed yet... it's still the most fun I've had within DCS World yet! Taking into account what's promised yet to come, and what I've seen thus far first-hand...I now see that the Tomcat truly is the first module I can finally see being worth $80, possibly more.
I also noticed that on the DCS website that Eagle Dynamics isn't giving any bonus cash for buying it from them, it's also not included in the Summer Sale, which many are bummed about. In all fairness it's one of the newest modules, so I can see why it hasn't been on sale yet. Once it does, if it ever hits $60 like the Hornet it will be a steal for all you get at present. Considering you get no bonus cash from Eagle Dynamics on it... I'd totally recommend buying the module direct from the Heatblur website. I'm sure that puts a little more money directly into the pockets of the developers themselves, and after you see first-hand what this has to offer, I'd think you'd agree they totally deserve it.
Editor's Note...
I almost forgot to mention the absolutely outstanding keyboard and guitar grinding soundtrack that sounds like something ripped right out of an 80s action movie. They ended up with a soundtrack from the band called Meteor. I can't stress enough how fantastic the music is. Listening closely to one of the songs in general, you can feel they're really trying hard to enter the Danger Zone, without going there, but in a way that's all their own. The entire soundtrack is so good that before I ever owned the Heatblur F-14 module I had heard the music online of the soundtrack when it was released in March, and I went to their website and paid $1 donation to download it and own it.
From start to finish it's a great soundtrack, and it really captures the feel of those terrible but fun 80s movies like TopGun and Iron Eagle. Don't laugh, I actually had the Iron Eagle soundtrack on cassette tape back in the day, it actually had some pretty cool metal tunes on it back then. King Kobra did the title song... "Never say die, IRON Eagle". As I recall DIO even did a song just for it, and it had hits like Queen's "One Vision" as well.
They also include a little "tape player" option, which allows you to start and stop that soundtrack music from within the cockpit. Sadly I'm yet to find a way to fast forward or rewind the tape. I've read that some have found a way to reorganize the order in which they are played, but it would be pretty cool to add our own music too. Nonetheless it's cool and worth mentioning.
Also please stay tuned, I've arranged an interview with Heatblur which will be published here and on my YouTube Channel once completed. It will be in-depth and a lot of fun, and I can't wait to publish it.
I've set below my Playlist from my YouTube channel which includes all of the videos I've published so far on the F-14 from Heatblur. Please subscribe to the channel, and feel free to leave any comments or suggestions. Thanks for reading!
Here's a link to a podcast that will get you even more fired up for this F-14 module...
The Fighter Pilot Podcast F-14 Episode
Their entire website is so freaking awesome. I'm going to be bummed when I get through them all, and I'm getting close to that now. Jello and Sunshine are excellent hosts, and are actual former Naval aviators with a wealth of fighter-pilot experience.
Also here's a link direct to the Heablur Website. It's a good place to snag the module for yourself, since there's no bonus at the moment to buy it from ED anyway. May as well buy it direct, and you get a small break on two keys, so you and a friend can fly for a small discount.
The Fighter Pilot Podcast F-14 Episode
Their entire website is so freaking awesome. I'm going to be bummed when I get through them all, and I'm getting close to that now. Jello and Sunshine are excellent hosts, and are actual former Naval aviators with a wealth of fighter-pilot experience.
Also here's a link direct to the Heablur Website. It's a good place to snag the module for yourself, since there's no bonus at the moment to buy it from ED anyway. May as well buy it direct, and you get a small break on two keys, so you and a friend can fly for a small discount.
