Lock On: Modern Air Combat
Encyclopedia
Lock On: Modern Air Combat or LOMAC, known in Russia as Lock On, is a modern combat flight simulation
developed by Eagle Dynamics
and published by Ubisoft
in Europe and 1C Company
in Russia; it is considered as a survey simulator by its creators. It contains 8 flyable aircraft and over 40 non-playable/AI-controlled planes. The game mainly revolves around air-to-air combat and air-to-ground combat with some optional, unique roles such as pinpoint/anti-radiation strikes, anti-ship strikes or aerobatics. The game realistically models all aspects of take-off and landing, AWACS (also known as AEW&C), carrier-based landings (for the Su-33), and Aerial refueling
.
Over 180,000 buildings, 50 million trees, 21 cities, 1,700 towns, 500 bridges, 18 airfields, and 8 naval bases are present in a virtual world modelled after Black Sea region. The 8 flyable aircraft are the MiG-29A, MiG-29C , Su-27, Su-33, Su-25, MiG-29G (a German MiG-29 variant with a native board-computer), F-15C
, and the A-10A
; only the Su-25 and A-10 are dedicated close air support
aircraft, the rest are air superiority
or multi-role
fighters with limited or no air-to-ground capabilities. Due to the small number of aircraft the player can only fly as a pilot from either the United States
, Ukraine
, the Russian Federation, Georgia
, Israel
or Germany
.
A flexible mission editor is included to allow users to make a wide variety of missions or even full-length campaigns, equal to the quality of those presented with the game. Many fan created mission packs and campaigns have also been released.http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?s=c0c43adda23ca721b6b813e6ae04fe7a&autocom=downloads&showcat=10
T and several new missions. Some changes and tweaks to the games missile modeling are also included, as is an Advanced Flight Model (AFM) for the Su-25
T. A patch to Flaming Cliffs was released, correcting minor coding errors and bringing the game to its final, current version: 1.12b.
series.
Improvements include:
In November 2009 Eagle Dynamics announced that a pay-for upgrade ($14.99 USD) called Flaming Cliffs 2.0 was planned for release in early 2010.
Flaming Cliffs 2.0 (Russian version) was released on 25 March 2010 ($29.99). The English version was released shortly after.
The Adventures of Bill & John
.
Combat flight simulator
Combat flight simulators are video games used to simulate military aircraft and their operations...
developed by Eagle Dynamics
Eagle Dynamics
Eagle Dynamics is a software company based in Moscow that develops video games and Oracle-based products.The company has developed Su-27 Flanker, Lock On: Modern Air Combat, the LockOn-Add-On "Flaming Cliffs" and the Digital Combat Simulator -...
and published by Ubisoft
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
in Europe and 1C Company
1C Company
1C Company is one of the largest independent Russian software developers and publishers. Its headquarters are in Moscow, Russia. It is best known outside of the former Soviet Union as a video game developer whose presence has come to dominate events like the KRI, and whose products have begun to...
in Russia; it is considered as a survey simulator by its creators. It contains 8 flyable aircraft and over 40 non-playable/AI-controlled planes. The game mainly revolves around air-to-air combat and air-to-ground combat with some optional, unique roles such as pinpoint/anti-radiation strikes, anti-ship strikes or aerobatics. The game realistically models all aspects of take-off and landing, AWACS (also known as AEW&C), carrier-based landings (for the Su-33), and Aerial refueling
Aerial refueling
Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling , air-to-air refueling or tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another during flight....
.
Over 180,000 buildings, 50 million trees, 21 cities, 1,700 towns, 500 bridges, 18 airfields, and 8 naval bases are present in a virtual world modelled after Black Sea region. The 8 flyable aircraft are the MiG-29A, MiG-29C , Su-27, Su-33, Su-25, MiG-29G (a German MiG-29 variant with a native board-computer), F-15C
F-15 Eagle
The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter designed by McDonnell Douglas to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. It is considered among the most successful modern fighters with over 100 aerial combat victories with no losses in dogfights...
, and the A-10A
A-10 Thunderbolt II
The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is an American single-seat, twin-engine, straight-wing jet aircraft developed by Fairchild-Republic in the early 1970s. The A-10 was designed for a United States Air Force requirement to provide close air support for ground forces by attacking tanks,...
; only the Su-25 and A-10 are dedicated close air support
Close air support
In military tactics, close air support is defined as air action by fixed or rotary winged aircraft against hostile targets that are close to friendly forces, and which requires detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movement of these forces.The determining factor for CAS is...
aircraft, the rest are air superiority
Air superiority fighter
An air superiority fighter is a type of fighter aircraft intended to gain air superiority in a war, by entering and seizing control of enemy airspace. Air superiority fighters are designed to effectively engage enemy fighters, more than other types of aircraft...
or multi-role
Multirole combat aircraft
A multirole combat aircraft is an aircraft designed to act in at least two different roles in combat. The primary role is usually a fighter—hence, it is as often called a multirole fighter—while the secondary role is usually air-to-surface attack. More roles are added, such as air reconnaissance,...
fighters with limited or no air-to-ground capabilities. Due to the small number of aircraft the player can only fly as a pilot from either the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, the Russian Federation, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
or Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
A flexible mission editor is included to allow users to make a wide variety of missions or even full-length campaigns, equal to the quality of those presented with the game. Many fan created mission packs and campaigns have also been released.http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?s=c0c43adda23ca721b6b813e6ae04fe7a&autocom=downloads&showcat=10
Upgrades
Aside from the v1.02 patch for the retail game the developer, Eagle Dynamics, has released an unofficial add-on named Lock On: Flaming Cliffs, designed in part to correct numerous flaws within the original game. Also included is another flyable aircraft, the Su-25Sukhoi Su-25
The Sukhoi Su-25 is a single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by the Sukhoi Design Bureau. It was designed to provide close air support for the Soviet Ground Forces. The first prototype made its maiden flight on 22 February 1975...
T and several new missions. Some changes and tweaks to the games missile modeling are also included, as is an Advanced Flight Model (AFM) for the Su-25
Sukhoi Su-25
The Sukhoi Su-25 is a single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by the Sukhoi Design Bureau. It was designed to provide close air support for the Soviet Ground Forces. The first prototype made its maiden flight on 22 February 1975...
T. A patch to Flaming Cliffs was released, correcting minor coding errors and bringing the game to its final, current version: 1.12b.
Flaming Cliffs 2.0
LockOn: Flaming Cliffs 2 is a further evolution of LockOn: Flaming Cliffs. All of the player-controlled aircraft have been transferred to the virtual environment created for the Digital Combat SimulatorDigital Combat Simulator
Digital Combat Simulator is a series of study combat flight simulator video games by Eagle Dynamics, and the descendent of the popular "Su-27 Flanker" series....
series.
Improvements include:
- Forward compatibility as well as online compatibility with the new Eagle Dynamics title DCS: Black SharkDigital Combat SimulatorDigital Combat Simulator is a series of study combat flight simulator video games by Eagle Dynamics, and the descendent of the popular "Su-27 Flanker" series....
. Players may fly Flaming Cliffs-specific aircraft in missions/campaigns created for DCS:Black Shark (and vice versa) and in multi-player games with players running DCS:Black Shark online. - General improvements and bug fixes to the multi-player component of Flaming Cliffs.
- Features the same virtual world environment as DCS:Black Shark (the Crimean portion of the previous Flaming Cliffs map has been removed while additional areas of GeorgiaGeorgia (country)Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
have been introduced, modelled at higher resolutions than in DCS: Black Shark). - Automatic detection of player-modified configuration files when connecting to a multi-player server.
- Updated graphics engines (referred to as The Fighter Collection Simulation Engine (TFCSE)) running natively under DirectXDirectXMicrosoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay,...
9.0c with numerous improvements to texture, weather and resolution quality. - Improved and more realistic aircraft, weaponry, sensory and audio modelling.
- Brand-new Mission Editor with scriptable triggers, new mission roles and improved AI/flight modelling for NPCNon-player characterA non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
aircraft. - Additional range ground units such as infantry.
In November 2009 Eagle Dynamics announced that a pay-for upgrade ($14.99 USD) called Flaming Cliffs 2.0 was planned for release in early 2010.
Flaming Cliffs 2.0 (Russian version) was released on 25 March 2010 ($29.99). The English version was released shortly after.
Influences on culture
Lock On: Modern Air Combat is the source of the video of the awards-winning machinimaMachinima
Machinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
The Adventures of Bill & John
The Adventures of Bill & John
The Adventures of Bill & John is a series of machinima videos produced using the Lock On: Modern Air Combat fighter simulation game.The series has earned a number of awards and nominations, most notably Episode 2 The Danger Attacks at Dawn which won four awards at the Academy of Machinima Arts &...
.
External links
- Official game site
- Add On & Forums site
- Serbian Lock On Community Serbian Eagles
- LOMAC : FC =TuAF= Squadron formed by Turkish virtual pilots
- Croatian Lock On Support
- Preflight, an Israeli simulation fan site with an active Lock On community
- 104th-Phoenix: Lock-On & Black Bhark Community and Squadron site
- 51 PVO Regiment
- 3Sqn: Where realism is key
- V66th Fighter Wing