[lostllama]

Some (somewhat old) EECH videos I thought I'd post.

Apache cockpit and some gameplay

More Apache action, briefly showing the use of a priority fire zone at about 2:05-2:10 on the pilot's right MFD.

Some in-game Hind footage (no sound). Yes, that mini-fan is player-operable.

I feel that I should rectify a comment in my previous post a little: going by the reviews I've seen, these games were classed as simulations - I was referring to someone's recent comment that I read on EECH Central's SimHQ forum that the community regarded them as being more arcade games than sims, which surprises me given what I've experienced, and what I've read elsewhere on their site. This seems to be due to EECH being easier to learn than Longbow 2, but still hard to master, and also that Jane's title was seen as the benchmark for hardcore helicopter sims at the time. EECH does have it's flaws and some effects look a bit dated, but hopefully the modding team will improve on them in future.

[Davros]

I have to agree with the recomendation of eech its an awesome game
ps: eech 2 they concentrated on the graphics and started from the razorworks sourcecode not the eech dev team source code, so it looks pretty but doesnt have the features eech now has
for example the roads are now beautifully curved but the vehicles follow the old angular roads of eech and ignore those corners

sometimes when im doing something i will fire up eech launch a campaign and just watch the entire war play out   

[lostllama]

Yes I sometimes do that too, sit back and let it unfold for a while. The campaigns are dynamic, but that's offset a little in that the units seem to always start in the same position at the beginning of the campaign (or so I've read).

I'd like to see the AI for ground units improved. And airborne ones too. Recently I saw some dodgy helicopter AI behaviour. A Ka-52 and an Apache dueling with each other on either side of a mountain. After cautiously circling and back-circling each other for a while (to give the AI some credit that seemed kind of intelligent actually) it got to the point where they were practically flying in formation and trying to shoot each other down using air-to-air missiles at too short a range. They were in range for using their guns but neither did so. It was taking place at night (and it might have been in poor weather, possibly snowing but I can't remember) but still that's what FLIR and radar are for. Eventually they seemed to part ways.

[Davros]

And of course each 1 has the ability to link up with eeah (Enemy Engaged: Apache vs Havok) so you can play eeah using the eech engine
eech 2 does not

[Mikes]

The last helicopter "sim" that was actually still a sim that i played was Longbow II, which ran great on my 200mhz CPU that i installed just for that game!

[achtung]

I think I might pick up EECH and EEAH from GOG.

[lostllama]

Before you do that you'll probably want to check if your video card will work OK with it, if you haven't already done so. Check the link below 'New article' about 3/4 down this page for a list, or ask on their SimHQ forum.

I've read that if you have Windows 7 installed then the GOG version will install in Vista-compatible mode and be set to 'run program as administrator.' Turning off the compatibility mode should make it run.

[Dilmah G]

Seems like a rather cool game, and it may also motivate me to buy some pedals for use as anti torque ones too!

[achtung]

Picked up EECH and EEAH, this may take a bit to get used to. Looks pretty fun though. I wonder why nobody's picked up the source and completed a Linux port.

[lostllama]

All EECH articles are linked here if you need to look something up: http://www.eechcentral.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:AllPages

There are some old training mission reports on the SimHQ forums, on the 'after action reports board.' They seem to be based on either vanilla EECH or perhaps an older modded version, but still most of the principles should apply to the latest mod should you be using it.

Basic flight and navigation: http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1652467/1.html

Sensors/targeting: http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1652499&page=0&fpart=1

AIM-92 Stinger / Hydra 70 rockets: http://www.simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1652510&page=0&fpart=1

Hellfires and 20mm cannon: http://www.simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=71&Number=1652531

I find that TrackIR is quite useful when playing modded EECH. It can be used with the helmet-mounted sight (HIDSS or HMD) to highlight targets and steer the cannon (there's an option in the .ini file that enables it). Problem is I cannot then map my joystick's POV switch to other key commands, as far as I know it's not possible to setup the controls like you can in FreeSpace, at least not to the same extent. I'd probably use it for trim control, or to steer the sensors (FLIR, DTV etc), but the mouse can be used for this instead.

[lostllama]

Against what might be my better judgement, I'm considering getting MicroProse's GUNSHIP! despite it being over 10 years old. Just curious as to how differently it plays to EECH, so I might try the demo first. From what I've read it was patched following its release so it may have been a bit underappreciated. Some reviewers saw it as a failed attempt to be Longbow 3, but apparently it never really set out to be a technical 'study' sim in the first place. It tries to simulate the overall pilot experience rather than simulating all the helicopter's systems.

I found this out here: http://www.simwarrior.com/gunship/index.html, in particular the FAQ: http://www.simwarrior.com/gunship/gunshipFAQ.html#OSprob1

The 'The Times of Sand' expansion pack looks kind of interesting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp221dzPaVw&feature=related
I've not really seen any 'air cavalry' style advances alongside tank formations in EECH; that's something it really lacks.
EDIT: Although that might be because I just haven't seen any happen in the missions I've flown (I tend to flick between campaigns and never finish any of them), but still I doubt they happen in the same way as they do in that video.

[Davros]

if your expecting the full game with patch to be an improvement on the gunship demo it isnt

ps: about eech linux port someone was doing an opengl port dont thing it ever got finished though

pps: if your struggling with each look for uit in each ini untill you get the hang of it (its a cheat)

[achtung]

The 'The Times of Sand' expansion pack looks kind of interesting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp221dzPaVw&feature=related

At 1:38, start watching the Mi-8's tail rotor.

[lostllama]

Yeah, it's incomplete so it's not bug-free.

Shame that MicroProse ended that franchise with something that was much less well received than the earlier GS titles. At least B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8^th, their last sim, turned out to be good.

[Grizzly]

Yeah, it's incomplete so it's not bug-free.

Shame that MicroProse ended that franchise with something that was much less well received than the earlier GS titles. At least B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8^th, their last sim, turned out to be good.

Oh, The B17 sim in full 3D?

Loved that one

[lostllama]

Yes, the second one that was released in 2000.

I've read somewhere that the next module in the DCS series will be for the Apache. Most likely it'll feature the same level of 'switchology' as Black Shark does, going by what I've seen in that sim.

[Dragon]

Considering that real combat helis (or any combat aircraft, for that matter, except those which are completely computerized, like F-22) also have an enormous amount of "switchology" needed to operate them, this should not be suprising.