Games PC JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER User Manual

EPILEPSY WARNING

PRECAUTIONS TO TAKE DURING USE

Please read before using this video game
system or allowing your children to use it.
Some people are susceptible to epileptic
seizures or loss of consciousness when
exposed to certain flashing lights or light
patterns in everyday life. Such people may
have a seizure while watching certain
television images or playing certain video
games. This may happen even if the
person has no medical history of epilepsy
or has never had any epileptic seizures. If
you or anyone in your family has ever had
symptoms related to epilepsy (seizures or
loss of consciousness) when exposed to
flashing lights,consult your doctor prior to
playing. We advise that parents should
monitor the use of video games by their
children. If you or your child experience
any of the following symptoms: dizziness,
blurred vision, eye or muscle twitches,
loss of consciousness, disorientation, any
i n v o l u n t a ry movement or convulsion,
while playing a video game, IMMEDIATELY
discontinue use and consult your doctor.

• Do not stand too close to the screen. Sit
a good distance away from the
television screen, as far away as the
length of the cable allows.

• Preferably play the game on a small

television screen.

• Avoid playing if you are tired or have not

had much sleep.

• Make sure that the room in which you

are playing is well lit.

• Rest for at least 10 to 15 minutes per

hour while playing a video game.

CONTENTS

PREFACE 3
HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL 3
HEY I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING 3

SECTION ONE
INSTALLING/UNINSTALLING JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER 4

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 5
INSTALLING JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER 5
UNINSTALLING JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER 6

SECTION TWO
BACKGROUND OF THE
JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER PROGRAMME 7

SECTION THREE
NAVIGATING THE MENUS 12

MAIN MENU 13

Dogfight Menu 13
Campaign Menu 13
Multiplayer Menu 13
Quit 13
Select Pilot 13
Options 13

SELECT PILOT MENU 13

C reating a New Pilot 14
Selecting a Pilot 14
Deleting a Pilot 14
Viewing Pilot History 14
Resetting Pilot History 14

View Information Mov i e s 14
OPTIONS MENU 14
GAME CONFIGURATION SCREEN 15
GRAPHICS CONFIGURATION SCREEN 16
SOUND CONFIGURATION SCREEN 16

SECTION 4
DOGFIGHT: GETTING STARTED FAST 20

Time of Day 21

Weather 21

Guns Only 21

Scenario 21

Playing 21

Statistics 22

SECTION 5
FLYING A CAMPAIGN 23

Starting a Campaign 24
MISSION PLANNER 25
MISSION PLANNER MAP 25

Icons 25

Waypoints 26
MISSION PLANNER WINDOWS 26
PLANNER MANAGER WINDOW 27
EDIT MODE 27

S u g g e s t 27

Te r rain Follow i n g 27

C l e a r 27

Statistics W i n d ow 27

Ta rget Info Mode 27
MAP MODE 28

Object Category 28

Ta rget Class 28
MAP SETTINGS 28
SAM MEZ 28

NAMES 28
GRID 28
TIME SKIP WINDOW 28
WINGMEN WINDOW 29
ARM PLANE WINDOW 29
DRAG AND DROP WEAPON SELECTION 30
CHANGING THE DEFAULT WEAPONS 30

C o n f i g u ra t i o n 30
CAMPAIGN STATISTICS WINDOW 31
MISSION PLANNER USAGE 31

Planning a Mission 31

Selecting a Ta rg e t 31

Getting Information on Enemy Ta rg e t s 31
PLANNING A ROUTE TOTHE TARGET 32
GENERATING WAYPOINTS TOTHE TARGET 33

The Suggest Option 33
MANUALLY EDITING WAYPOINTS 33

U s a g e 33
ZOOMING 34

U s a g e 34
FLYING A MISSION 34
HOW TOTAXI AND TAKE OFF 35
GETTING TOTHE TARGET 36

Autopilot 36

Manual Approach 36

Attacking Ground Targets 37

Remember the Hatch 37
ENDING THE MISSION 37
THE MISSION DEBRIEFING 37
THE MISSION DEBRIEFING MAP 37
FLIGHT PATH 38
THE MISSION DEBRIEFING WINDOWS 38
MISSION DEBRIEFING 39
USING THE DEBRIEF MANAGER WINDOW 39
CONTINUING A CAMPAIGN 39

SECTION 6
MULTIPLAYER DOGFIGHT 40

Starting Your Own Game 41

Joining an Existing Game 42
RULES OF PLAY 42

Team Score 42

Duration of Game 42

Replenishing Fuel and Ammo 42
GAME LOBBY 43
STATISTICS 43

Simple Statistics 44

Full Statistics 44

SECTION 7
THE IN-FLIGHT MENUS 45

DOGFIGHT 47
DIFFICULTY 50
ENABLE MESSAGES 51
CONTROLS 51
MODE 53
GRAPHICS 53
FEATURES 54
SOUND 55
HELP 56
CREDITS 56

SECTION 8
FLYING THE PLANE 57

Flight Handling 58

Taxiing on the Ground 58

Takeoff 58

1

In-Flight Operations Hatch 59
Airbrake 59
Flaps 59
Gear 59
Jettison 59
Eject 59
Landing 59

FLIGHT ASSISTANCE SYSTEMS 60

Autopilot 60
Terrain Avoidance System 61
Terrain Following Box 61
Level Function 61

AVIONICS 61

Active Radar 62

VIEW MODES 62

Forward Looking Infra-Red 63
Global Positioning Systems 63
Anti-Radiation Targeting Systems 63
In-Flight Data Link 63
Satellite Landing Systems 64
Altimeter 64

AUTOMATED DEFENCE SYSTEMS 64

Decoys 64
Radar Decoys 64
Infra-Red Decoys 64
Radar Warning Receiver 65
Infra-Red Warning Receiver 65
Identification Friend or Foe 65
Electronic Counter Measure 65
Defence Subsystem 65

COCKPIT ENVIRONMENT - MULTI FUNCTION DISPLAYS 65

Control MFD 66
Status MFD 66
Information MFD 66
Attack MFD 66
Strategic MFD 66

Offensive MFD 66
MFD FUNCTIONS 67
MFD COLOUR CODES 70
HEAD MOUNTED DISPLAY (HMD) 71
TAPES AND SYMBOLS 71
MODES OF OPERATION 72
WEAPON SIGHTS 73

Aspect Angle Indicator 73

Hatch Closed Indicator 73

Cannon Sight 74

Missile Sight 74

Bomb Sight 74
SYNTHETIC OVERLAYS 75
VOCOM 75
RADIO COMMUNICATIONS 76
AWACS 76
ORDERING WINGMEN TOATTACK TARGETS 77
ORDERING WINGMEN TO RETURN TO FORMATION 77

SECTION 9
PLANE PHYSICS 78

Gravity 79

Drag 79

Lift 79

Thrust 79

SECTION 10
AERIAL MANOUVRES 80

Dogfighting Introduction 81

Manouvres 81

Terrain Masking 83

Wing Co-Operation 84

Formation Layout 85
Formation Separation 88

APPENDIX 1
KEYBOARD QUICK REFERENCE 89

Basic Flight Controls 90
Engine 90
Emergency Controls 90
CameraViews 91
Radio Communication 93
Weapons Control 93
Defence Controls 93
MFD Controls 93
HMD 94
Dropdown Menu 94
Radar 94
Auto Pilot 94
Miscellaneous 94

APPENDIX 2
JOYSTICK AND GAMEPAD BUTTONS 95

INPUT DEVICE CONFIGURATION 96

Configuring the Keyboard 96
Configuring the Mouse 96
Default Button Mappings 96

APPENDIX 3
MULTIPLAYER DETAILS 101

CHOOSINGTHERIGHTPROTOCOL 102

Serial Connection 102
Modem Connection 102
IPX Connection 102
TCP/IP Connection 102

CONFIGURING THE CHOSEN PROTOCOL 102

Serial Connection 102
Modem Connection 102
IPX Connection 102
TCP/IP Connection 102

PLAYING JSF ON THEW MPLAYER™ INTERNET GAMING SERVICE 103

APPENDIX 4
RADIO COMMUNICATIONS 105

RADIO MENU 105
MESSAGES 111

APPENDIX 5
WEAPONS OVERVIEW 113

APPENDIX 6
UNITS/PLANE INFORMATION 120

ENEMY AIRCRAFT 121
FRIENDLY AIRCRAFT 124
GROUND TARGETS 126

Armoured Fighting Vehicles 126
Air Defence Vehicles 127
Transport Vehicles 128
Enemy Naval Vessels 129

PICTORIALOVERVIEW (AIRCRAFT/VEHICLES/VESSELS/STRATEGIC TARGETS) 132

APPENDIX 7
TROUBLE SHOOTING 141

CREDITS 144
CUSTOMER HELPLINE / TECHNICAL SUPPORT 147
GLOSSARY 148

2

PREFACE

Thank you for purchasing Joint Strike
Fighter (JSF). The software you now hold in
your hands came about as a result of
thousands of hours of design, program­ming, graphic artistry, and just plain hard
work by a great many people. We believe
that we’ve captured the essence of these
truly remarkable aircraft.

The Joint Strike Fighter can fly NOE (Nap Of
the Earth) at supersonic speeds by virtue of
its sophisticated Te r rain Following Radar
(TFR) and is nearly invisible to enemy ra d a r
due to its stealth tech n o l o g y. As a fighter,i t
carries a variety of air-to-air ord n a n c e
including both heat-seeking and ra d a r
guided missiles. As a strike airc ra f t ,the JSF
carries a wide array of ground attack
o rdnance including rocket pods and anti­tank cluster munitions.

HOW TO USE THIS
MANUAL

The purpose of this manual is to familiarise
you (the player) with key commands, user­interface and gameplay features of Joint
Strike Fighter. Reading this manual will not
make you an expert pilot,- only playing the
game will do that. But after browsing
through this manual, especially sections
pertaining to Dogfight : Getting Started
Fast, you’ll be able to jump right in with
c o n f i d e n c e. You’ll be planning and
executing combat missions in no time.

This manual is geared towa rd use of the
ke y b o a rd commands, especially the in­flight portions of the directions. Players with
j oy s t i cks and flight systems should refer to
Appendix 2:J oy s t i ck and GamePad Buttons,
for complete button mappings for GamePads,
J oy s t i cks and Rudder systems.

Joint Strike Fighter gives you an
opportunity to experience all the unique
features of these high-tech, sophisticated
a i rc raft in both single player and
m u l t i p l a yer modes. It comes complete
with a Dogfight : Getting Started Fast
environment and four different campaign
theatres representing potential hot-spots
around the globe. Regardless of where you
wind up, the action is fast and furious.
You’ll be facing some of the most modern
threat aircraft in existence, including the
deadly Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker and Mikoyan­Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum. Enjoy.

HEY I WANNA SHOOT
SOMETHING

We’ve also set up the structure of the
manual to allow you to get flying fast and
ch e ck out the flight simulator portion of the
g a m e. Read Section 4 (Dogfight : G e t t i n g
Started Fast) first to get right into the action.

Ti p : T h e re are many player view
commands not covered in detail in this
manual. We recommend you keep the
Keyboard Layout Card handy or refer to
Appendix 1: Keyboard Commands section
the first time you fly a Dogfight mission
and check them all out. If you get lost or
confused about what viewpoint you’re in,

3

SECTION ONE

Installing/Uninstalling Joint Strike Fighter

4

pressing the F1 key in flight will always
return you to the forward cockpit view.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Minimum Configuration:

Pentium 90 processor, W i n d ows 95 or
Windows NT operating systems (Windows
NT version requires DirectX 5.0 or newer),
16Mb of RAM, 16bit graphics card, 60Mb
H a rd Drive space, Double-speed (2x)
CD-ROM drive (4x in order to view movies
smoothly), keyboard and mouse.

Recommended Configuration:

Pentium 133 or faster processor,Windows
95 or W i n d ows NT operating systems
(Windows NT version requires DirectX 5.0
or newer), 32Mb of RAM, joystick, 16bit
graphics card, 160 Mb Hard Drive space,
Quadruple-speed (4x) or faster CD-ROM
drive,any Windows supported sound card.

Satori State Configuration:

Recommended Configuration, plus: 3DFx
G raphics A c c e l e ration Card , t h r o t t l e
system, rudder pedals.

Installing Joint Strike Fighter

1. Insert the Joint Strike Fighter CD in

your CD-ROM drive. If you have

Windows Autoplay enabled, the Joint

S t r i ke Fighter Launch Program is

invoked automatically. If Autoplay is

not enabled, you can start the

installation by double-clicking Setup

on the CD’s root directory. Once the

program has started, press the Install

Joint Strike Fighter button.

2. Joint Strike Fighter will prepare the
InstallShield® W i z a rd. Read the
instructions on the Welcome screen;
when you’re ready to proceed, click
Next.

3. Using the mouse, select one of three
install options:

• Small: Copies approximately 50 meg.
of files to your hard drive. Sacrifices
some game performance in favour of
saving hard drive space;

• Medium: Copies about 70 meg. to your
hard drive; balances disk space and
performance;

• Large: Copies about 150 meg. to the
drive; optimum game performance at
the expense of hard disk space.

4. The installer automatically defaults the
installation folder location to
C : \ P r o gram Files\Eidos Interactive\
Joint Strike Fighter. Click Next if this is
OK or Browse if you wish to select a
different drive or folder. Joint Strike
Fighter will now install the program
files to your hard disk drive.

5. JSF requires DirectX version 5.0 or
newer. If this is not already installed on
your computer, select Install DirectX

5.0 in the Joint Strike Fighter Launch
Program. This automatically invokes
the DirectX 5.0 setup which updates

5

your hardware drivers.

6. If you have a 3DFx based card, JSF will
automatically detect this and load the
appropriate drivers. If you have a
newer Voodoo Rush acceleration card
installed in you computer, select Install
3DFx Drivers in the Joint Strike
Fighter Launch Program. This will
enable Joint Strike Fighter to
take full advantage of your Voodoo
Rush 3D hardware.

7. To run Joint Strike Fighter, press Run
Joint Strike Fighter in the Joint Strike
Fighter Launch Program. Alternatively,
c l i ck the W i n d ows® 95 Start
button and go to Programs>Eidos
Interactive>Joint Strike Fighter>Play
Joint Strike Fighter.

Uninstalling Joint Strike Fighter

In order to uninstall the game, p re s s
Uninstall Joint Strike Fighter in the
Joint Strike Fighter Launch Progra m .
Alternatively, click the Windows® 95 Start
button and go to Program Files>Eidos
Interactive>Joint Strike Fighter>Uninstall
Joint Strike Fighter. Note that this removes
Joint Strike Fighter completely from your
computer,including all saved games.

6

SECTION TWO

BACKGROUND OF THE

JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER PROGRAM

7

Background Story

The Pentagon’s Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)
was launched in 1993 as the Joint
A d vanced Strike Te chnology (JAST)
program. This followed the cancellation of
two projects in the Clinton Administration
defence review of 1993:the A/F-X,a heavy
attack aircraft for the USAF and Navy, and
the Multi-Role Fighter (MRF), which was
intended to replace the F-16 with the
USAF.

JAST was originally planned as a
technology program, intended to develop
features which could be incorporated in
future aircraft. However, this emphasis
changed during 1994-95, for a number of
reasons. One was that JAST took over a
Defence A d vanced Research A g e n cy
(DARPA) project,under way since 1991, to
develop an advanced short-take - o f f,
vertical landing (STOVL) fighter for the US
Marine Corps and Royal Navy. Another
reason was that planners realised that
there would not be enough money in the
foreseeable future for more than one new
fighter program, and that the technology
existed to meet a very wide range of
post-Cold War needs in a single design.

JAST accordingly morphed into JSF (the
name was changed officially in early

1996), an ambitious project to develop a

single design to replace some 3000
aircraft. The plans call for three basic

versions:

• STOVL version for the US Marine Corps
(642 airc raft) and Royal Navy
(60 aircraft).

• Long-range, stealthy attack aircraft for
the US Navy (300 aircraft).

• L ow-cost F-16 replacement for the
USAF (2036 aircraft).

It is also likely that the JSF will replace
many of the 3,000-plus F-16s and F-18s
which have been exported since 1978.

In November, the Pentagon kicked off the
most competitive phase of the JSF
competition by awarding Concept Demon­stration contracts to Lockheed Martin and
Boeing; the latter scored an upset victory
over McDonnell Douglas, the third
contender for the two contracts. T h i s
stage will take four years. A single winner
will be chosen in 2001 to start engineering
& manufacturing development, and the
fighter is expected to enter service
in 2008.

Lockheed Martin and Boeing will each fly
two prototypes in the current phase, with
tests starting in 1998. The prototypes will
be designated X-32 and X-35 (probably in
alphabetical order with Boeing’s design
being X-32). Out of each pair of aircraft,
one will be designed to land and take off
from a conventional aircraft carrier and
the other will be a STOVL variant: one of
each pair will also be tested in the Air
Force configuration. The two teams will

8

also conduct extensive demonstrations of
systems and avionics.
The idea of JSF is to produce a largely
common aircraft,in different versions that
meet the services requirements where
they differ. Common requirements include:

• Longer range than the aircraft they
replace (an 800-1000 km radius of
action for the Marines, more for the
other services).

• Subsonic cruising speed and super­sonic dash (about Mach 1.5).

• Air combat manoeuvrability at least as
good as the F/A-18 or F-16, and
preferably better.

• Stealth characteristics similar to the
F-117 or B-2.

• The ability to carry two pre c i s i o n ­guided bombs and two AIM-120
AMRAAM missiles intern a l l y, for
first-day missions where stealth is
p a ra m o u n t , and to carry more
weapons on pylons later in the war, as
the defences are beaten down.

• Comprehensive avionics (multi-mode
ra d a r, F L I R , l a s e r, self-defence
s y s t e m s ) , p e rmanently installed
i n t e rn a l l y, in a stealthy manner.

• Te chnology to reduce the cost of
d e s i g n i n g, b u i l d i n g, o p e rating and
upgrading the fighter.

Service Requirements:

U S M C / R oyal Nav y : Ta ke off without
a catapult from a short deck and to land
vertically aboard ship, carrying unused

weapons and reserve fuel. RN version
must fit Harrier-sized elevators on
Invincible-class carriers. Podded gun.
Internal weapons:AMRAAMs and two 450
kg class bombs.

US Navy: Stronger structure and landing
gear for carrier landings. Lower approach
speed and low-speed handling and
visibility re q u i rements set by carrier­landing re q u i rements. Spot factor (the
space the airc raft occupies on a
d e ck) same as F-18. No gun. Intern a l
w e a p o n s : AMRAAMs and two 900 kg
class bombs.

U S A F : Minimum cost. Refuelling
receptacle for Flying Boom. Permanent
internal gun. Internal weapons: AMRAAMs
and two 450 kg class bombs.

Boeing X-32

Boeing has been working on a tri-service
fighter since 1992, convinced that this is
the only way to achieve low costs.

The most important feature of the Boeing
JSF design is that it has a single common
engine with no extra powered-lift devices.
The largest available engines are modified
versions of the Pratt & Whitney F119,
being built for the F-22, and the General
Electric YF120,which was the F119’s rival.
The thrust of these engines, fitted with a
new fan, limits the landing weight of the
Marine version, which in turn limits its
empty weight to about 10t.

9

To keep the empty weight down while
providing enough fuel volume to meet the
N av y ’s range re q u i re m e n t , Boeing has
chosen a thick-section delta wing with no
s e p a rate horizontal tail. Because it is
difficult to design a fold joint in the thick
wing,Boeing has eliminated the wing fold.
I n s t e a d , the designers have kept the
fighter short, so that the spot factor is still
small. (The Marine/RN version has clipped
wingtips to reduce its size still further.)
The restriction on internal length has
forced the designers to a radical chin
engine inlet.

In the USMC/RN version, the engine
exhaust is ducted forwards, for landing
and take - o f f, to a pair of re t ra c t a b l e
nozzles located on the centre of gravity. In
the other versions, the ducts and nozzles
are removed and some of the space is
used for a larger internal weapons bay.

Lockheed Martin X-35

L o ckheed Martin’s JSF design is very
reminiscent of the F-22, with a clipped­delta wing and aft tail surfaces. This was
d e l i b e rately done to reduce risk: t h e
a e r o dy n a m i c s , s t r u c t u ral and stealth
t e chnology of the JSF is drawn from
the F-22.

Externally, the three versions are identical
out to the wing box. Compared with the
Marine version, the Navy/AF aircraft have

larger wing flaps and bigger outer wing
panels (providing more wing area) and
l a rger horizontal tails. The USMC/RN
version has a thrust-vectoring nozzle on
the engine, which can tilt down through
100 deg for vertical landings. To provide
more vertical thrust, however, it has a lift
fan behind the cockpit. This resembles the
fan section of a jet engine, but is actually
driven by a gearbox and shaft of the
main engine.

JSF Deployment

The JSF will be expected to take on a wide
spectrum of missions for its va r i o u s
operators. For the US Marine Corps and
Royal Navy, it will be the sole combat
aircraft available. It will be used for air
defence of the fleet (replacing the
Marines’ F-18s), strike against land and
sea targets,and even close air support.

Typical weapons will include Joint Direct
A t t a ck Munition (JDAM), a bomb with
inertial & GPS guidance which will replace
many of today’s laser-guided bombs, and
the BLU-108 smart anti-armour weapon.
In the air-to-air role, it will probably carry
up to six AMRAAMs,or four AMRAAMs and
twoAIM-9X close-range missiles.

The US Navy will use JSF for deep-strike
missions, going ‘downtown’ against its
most critical targets (such as head­q u a r t e r s , command centres and air
b a s e s ) , using heavy pre c i s i o n - g u i d e d
weapons such as the 2000lbs JDAM and

10

short-range stand-off weapons such as
the JSOW glide bomb. In this case, the
AMRAAMs will be used primarily for self­defence against a look-down, shoot-down
fighter that is close enough to represent a
threat. (The F/A-18E Super Hornet will
continue to be the Nav y ’s primary
air-defence fighter, and will also be used
for defence suppression and stand-off
attack.)

USAF JSFs will be used as F-16s are
used today. In the first days of the
campaign,they will be used with AMRAAM
and AIM-9X to destroy the adversary’s air
force in the air by day, and (given their
stealthy qualities) will also take part in the
nocturnal attacks on air bases and air
defence systems. Once air supremacy has
been established, they will become the
asset of choice against many mobile
t a rgets (missile launchers and gr o u n d
forces) with weapons such as BLU-108.
The JSF is also the most likely candidate
to take on the suppression of enemy air
defence (SEAD) mission, using JDAM,
JSOW and HARM. In operations other than
war, JSF would be the most likely aircraft
to protect airlifters from SAMs and ground
forces from missile or artillery attack.

operating areas for carriers are distant (as
was the case in Desert Storm).
The USMC/RN version will be able
to operate almost anywhere. For example,
S TOVL fighters could operate from a
land base with a restricted runwa y
(supported by C-17s), something which
might be useful if an adversary could
attack land bases with missiles.
Sea platforms could include converted
merchant ships, and the Navy has looked
at very large, austere off-shore platforms
that could support C-130s and STOV L
fighters, and would be pre-positioned in
possible conflict zones.

The JSF will be unusually flexible in terms
of basing.The US Navy version will be able
to share bases with the USAF, because the
two versions are almost identical in terms
of support re q u i rements. This will be
useful if land bases are available but

11

SECTION THREE

NAVIGATING THE MENUS

12

Main Menu

General

After the intro and the title screen, the first
s c reen presented when you run Joint
Strike Fighter is the Main Menu, shown in
the screen below.

The Main Menu

The Dogfight Menu

The Dogfight menu allows you to set up and
fly a combat mission in any of the wa r
t h e a t res included in the Campaign version
of Joint Strike Fighter. If this is your first
time playing the game, we recommend
you use Dogfight to learn how the planes
handle in combat and to become familiar
with the in-flight game commands. Refer to
section 4 for details on how to jump into the
c o ckpit and plunge directly into the action.

The Campaign Menu

Accessing the Campaign menu enables you
to start playing on the war theatres. Here all
your missions are planned using the
s e c retly acquired intelligence data and the
line between success and failure is dra w n .
Experience in Dogfighting is pre f e r re d
b e f o re starting on the campaigns. Refer to

Section 5 for more detailed information on
the workings of the campaign mode of JSF.

The Multiplayer Menu

On the multiplayer menu you can team up
with up to 8 other human players over

various network protocols. Use the

M u l t i p l a ye r > C reate Game menu to
configure your own multiplayer game or
choose an existing game from the

Multiplayer menu. Decide your team colour

and teammates in the Game Lobby and
play the game in any of the 4 war theatres
available in JSF. Please refer to Section 6
for the complete description on how to
configure your multiplayer games.

Quit

This selection will quit the game and return
to Windows. Choosing this will save all
settings and player data.

Select Pilot

This option allows you to create new pilots

or select previously created ones for

play. It also displays the cumulative career
score for each pilot, allowing you to judge
your progress in the campaigns. This is
discussed in detail overleaf.

Options

The Options command provides access to

the game control and viewing options. A
detailed description of these options are
given below.

Select Pilot Menu

General

By pressing Select Pilot on the main menu,y o u
a re taken to the Select Pilot Menu. This menu

13

a l l ows you to cre a t e, modify or delete pilots.

The select Pilot screen has been clicked

and the Edit Pilot screen is shown

Creating A New Pilot

Press New on the pilot screen to create a
new pilot. Click on the Name box to
change your name, and the Call Sign box
to change your call sign. Assign the pilot
an aircraft, either the Boeing X-32 or the
Lockheed Martin X-35.

Selecting A Pilot

C l i ck on a call sign on the Duty Roster to
select a pilot. That call sign is highlighted in
ye l l ow and is now considered the active pilot.

Deleting A Pilot

In order to delete a pilot, first select your
choice by clicking on the Duty Roster.After
the selection is made, click the Delete
button at the lower left of the screen.
You will be asked to confirm the deletion;
click on Yes to complete the deletion or No
to return to the Select Pilot menu without
deleting the pilot.

Viewing Pilot History

In addition to name, callsign and pre f e r re d

p l a n e, all pilots have a history where all
a chievements are re c o rded. This is accessed
by selecting Stats on the pilot screen. Use
the arrow buttons to cycle through the
d i f f e rent scenarios to see how the pilot has
p e r f o rmed on the different campaigns.

Resetting Pilot History

If a campaign has turned from bad to wo r s e,
and disaster seems certain, you might feel
l i ke starting ov e r. This can be done by
p ressing Stats in the pilot scre e n ,and then
c l i cking on Reset Scenario. You’ll be aske d
to confirm that you really want to reset the
scenario - click Yes to perform the reset or
No to re t u rn to the Select Pilot scre e n
without clearing the history.

View Information Movies

Details on the JSF program, the weapons
systems and the selected airc raft are
available in FMV format. These movies can
be played by clicking on one of the three
film icons in the lower right of the screen.

The Options Menu

General

The options menu really consists of three
different screens: the game menu, the
graphics menu and the sound menu. From
these three menus,you can use the mouse
to activate or deactiva t e, adjust or
reconfigure various settings of Joint Strike
Fighter. Most elements are also available
from the in-game menus. Each of the
screens are described below.

Tip : Players using slower computers are
encouraged to adjust terrain, object and

14

graphical details features of the game to
achieve optimal performance during flight.

The Game Configuration Screen

General

benefit of learning new skills and
maneuvers from the more ex p e r i e n c e d
pilots. As they advance through the skill
l e v e l s ,they learn more maneuvers,d e v e l o p
better gunnery and bombing skills and
become more willing to use both in combat.

Aces are wily, c rafty opponents, t h e
s u rvivors and victors of many aerial
combat missions; they should not be
u n d e restimated. They know all the
standard air combat maneuvers and aren’t
afraid to use them at any time, and have

The Options menu with the Game tab selected

also developed excellent gunnery skills.

The Game Screen is where you are able to
configure how the game behaves during
play.The following items are available:

Input Device

This item simply lets you select whether to
play using keyboard, mouse or joystick.
Further configuration must be done from
the in-game menu, or alternatively (for
basic hard wa re installation) in the W i n d ow s
Control Panel.

Enemy Skill

This option sets the skill rating of the pilots
you and your wingmen will be flying
against. Select one of five (5) settings:
Rookie, Novice, Average, Veteran and Ace.
The default setting is Av e ra g e, with
Rookie the easiest type of enemy pilot to
fight against and Ace the hardest.
Rookies know only basic flight skills;
they’ve been rushed to the front straight
from training school. They haven’t had the

Remember, you may be a match for the
Aces in the game, but your wingmen may
not be so skilled. Think carefully before
selecting the Ace opponent skill, or you
may find yourself going through
wingmen by the bushel. Commanding
officers have been known to take a dim
view of flight leaders who continually
come home as the sole survivor of a
mission. Besides, who wants to write a lot
of letters that begin with the sentence,
“We regret to inform you…”?

Start On Runway

This allows you to start the mission with
your aircraft ready on the runway, without
the need for taxiing.

Easy Aiming

This is a toggle-option. When selected,
your plane’s cannon lead sight will be in
Easy Aiming mode.
You won’t have to think much about

15

leading the locked target; the cannon
rounds will actually lead themselves and
try to ‘chase’ the target. This is not a
guaranteed, automatic hit; however, the
closer the locked target is to the centre of
your aiming sight,the better the chance of
a hit with this option selected.

Most pilots would look at you like you
were from another planet if you used
anything else than feet and knots to
m e a s u re distances and speeds
respectively. Check this box, however, if
you are a novice and find the metric
system easier to get the hang of.

When not selected, cannon rounds will
behave using the normal laws of physics.
This will result in a wonderful aerial
display of tracer lights but far fewer
gunnery kills.

Easy Landings

When toggled on, your undercarriage can
t a ke more of a beating, making it
significantly easier to land.

No Wind

Though not obvious when cruising at high
a l t i t u d e s , a strong wind may prov e
problematic during landings and takeoffs.
When this option is checked,your plane is
not affected by wind and weather.

No Fadeouts

When this option is selected, pilots won’t
experience red-outs or black-outs when
pulling extreme G-forces in combat due to
tight turns, dives or climbs.

No Turbulence

Even with no wind, hugging the terrain at
low altitudes makes for a bumpy ride.
Checking this box will disable low-level
turbulence.

Measurement System

Network Protocol

This option allows you to select which
n e t work protocol to use. The most common
protocols are IPX and T C P / I P, but the game
will take advantage of the Mplayer system
and any protocol supported by Direct Play.
Refer to Appendix 3 for details.

The Graphics Configuration Screen

General

The Options menu

with the Graphics tab selected

This screen allows you to configure how
the game looks during play. Configuring
these options can dramatically change the
performance of the game, so you are
strongly encouraged to play around with
different settings until you determine what
is right for you. The following items
are available:

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Screen Resolution

This option allows the player click left or
right to select screen resolution from the
list available on the computer. T h e
available modes may va ry between
d i f f e rent mach i n e s , from as low as
320x200 pixels (lo-res) to super- h i - re s
(1280x1024 or higher) and everything
in-between. How e v e r, p l a yers using
computers with slower processors may
experience some jerkiness when game
graphics are set at the higher resolutions.
We recommend experimenting with the
lower resolutions until you find the one
that performs best for you.

Big Pixels

If you want to run the game in low­resolution modes, and your gra p h i c s
card/driver does not support this, JSF can
emulate low - resolution by re d ra w i n g
using big pixels. This means that the game
is redrawn in low-resolution internally,and
then doubled to fit the physical screen
resolution. This option is not available in
modes less that 640x400.

Black Lines

If the Big Pixels option is enabled, the
Black Lines option lets you select how the
scaling of the screen is performed. When
checked, every other line is not redrawn,
but left black. This is slightly faster than
the alternative, when all lines are drawn.

Screen Pageflip

(This is one for those familiar with the
inner workings of their PC. You may need
to play around with this option in order to
get the best possible results.)

Internally,the game is able to render both
to System Ram or (if enough memory is
available) to Video Ram. Enabling Page
Flipping may increase your frame rate on
computers with relatively fast graphics
cards; on the other hand, performance
may suffer if your graphics card is
relatively slow.

Object Detail

This slider adjusts the relative amount of
polygons used for rendering the 3D
objects in the game. Moving the slider to
the right increases detail, but possibly at
the expense of performance.

Terrain Detail

This slider works in a similar way as the
object detail slider, only this adjusts the
detail level on the terrain. Moving the
slider to the right will increase the
definition of the landscape and increase
the number of ground objects,but again at
the expense of refresh rate. Keeping this
value around the centre is recommended.

Transparent Smoke

When checked, this option improves the
a p p e a rance of the smoke - t rails in the

17

game by using transparency. Performance
may suffer on slower computers.

Transparent Shadows

When this box is checked, shadows are
projected onto the ground with tra n s ­p a re n cy, rather than as single colour
silhouettes.

Transparent Explosions

Using transparent explosions will improve
realism, but can be a serious performance
hit. Keep this in mind if you are
experiencing slow d own when viewing
large explosions.

Lensflares

L e n s f l a res emulate the optical effect
created by a camera when exposed to
strong light sources, for instance from the
sun or a rocket blast. When checked,these
effects are enabled. Disabling the effects
will, however, improve performance.

Particles

When enabled, a particle system is used
for rendering weather effects like wind
and rain. This may reduce performance on
slower computers.

3Dfx

H a rd wa re rendering is enabled by
ch e cking this box. By default, 3 D f x
acceleration is enabled if a 3Dfx card is
detected in the computer. If no card is
detected,this item is inactive.

The Sound Configuration Screen

The Options menu with the Sound tab selected

Sound Effects

Most actions performed in flight, such as
firing a weapon and raising the landing
gear, have sound effects that play when
the action is performed. This box enables
such sound effects.

Sound Volume

When sound effects are enabled, t h i s
slider adjusts the volume of the sound
effects.

Music

JSF features several original music tracks
that play during flight. This check-box
determines whether music is played.

Music Volume

If music is enabled in the item above, the
music volume can be adjusted here using
the slider.

18

Speech

In-game speech is enabled by default, as
this is one of your primary sources of
information. It can, however, be disabled
by unchecking this box. Note that this
makes you totally rely on text messages
for such things as radio communication
and flight computer messages.

Speech Volume

When speech is enabled, this slider
determines the volume of the speech.

Reverse Stereo

On some computers, the placement of the
l o u d s p e a kers are ex changed. Check i n g
this box reverses this.

Mute

When checked, all sound (sound effects,
music and speech) are turned off.

19

SECTION FOUR

DOGFIGHT: GETTING STARTED FAST

20

General

Selecting Main Menu>Dogfight takes you
to the Dogfight Settings menu. T h e
Dogfight option allows you to hone your
skill in the noble art of dogfighting,
something which will come in handy as
you progress through the campaigns.
You’ll be able to challenge increasingly
more difficult enemies in the different
scenarios in a variety of different settings.
These parameters are described below.

By clicking on this item, you’ll be able to
select in which weather condition you
wish the fight to take place. Different
regions on the globe have differe n t
weather types, w h i ch means that the
available options will vary from scenario
to scenario.

Guns Only

This option disables Air to Air missiles in
the Dogfight session. Though not strictly
realistic, it makes for some interesting
aerial duels in the true spirit of the great
aces of WWI and WWII.

Scenario

H e re you set the theatre in which the dogfight
t a kes place. Not only do the enemy airc ra f t
become increasingly more capable on the
later scenarios, the enemy pilots are also
m o re skillful,a g gressive and lethal.

The Dogfight Menu

In order to customise the Dogfight session
you have a set of four options which
determine the combat conditions:

Time Of Day

This option lets you decide at what time
during the day the dogfight will take place.
While the enemy may be easily seen at
d a y - t i m e, you may have to resort to
systems like night vision and the synthetic
object overlay when battling it out at night.

Weather

Playing

When you start the Dogfight session, you
start out against a wave containing just
one single enemy plane. If you destroy this
first plane, your weapons are replenished
and a new wave appears.

For every wave destroyed another plane is
a d d e d , t h e re by giving an increasing
difficulty level. This is further enhanced by
the fact that, as time progre s s e s , t h e
enemy planes also are of increasingly
better types. The dogfight session ends
when you eventually are killed or when
you decide to leave the session.

21

Statistics

When the Dogfight session is ov e r, a
statistics screen appears that lets you
c o m p a re your dogfight performance to
your previous merits and your ow n
personal best. By comparing with old
records, you’ll soon see progress as you
develop the dogfighting skills needed to
succeed when taking on the campaign
game.

Dogfight Statistics

22

SECTION FIVE

Flying a Campaign

23

General

While an individual mission has specific
tactical goals (the destruction of a convoy
or interdicting airspace over an enemy
t a rg e t , for ex a m p l e ) , a campaign is a
series of individual missions designed to
a chieve one or more long-term or
strategic goals. Take the air battle in the
Gulf War, for instance: One of the major
strategic goals of the campaign was to
hurt Iraq’s air and ground forces badly,
making it easier to drive Iraq’s army out of
Kuwait and, in the process, save Allied
Force’s lives. To this end, thousands of
individual air missions were launched to
bomb ground units, shoot Iraq’s air force
out of the sky and destroy command and
communications links.
In a JSF campaign, you are given similar
strategic goals, based on one of the four
hypothetical campaign scenarios included
with the game. As a wing commander,
your job is to plan and execute a series of
tactical missions to help achieve the
campaign’s strategic goals. You accom­plish these goals by destroying all the
primary targets indicated in the mission
planner.The object category is determined
by a higher command.

The Campaign menu.

Select your campaign to start or re-enter

Starting A Campaign

1.To begin a new campaign or enter one in
p r o gre s s , select Campaign from the
Main Menu. The War Theatre selection

screen will appear.At any time you may

select the Back button at the bottom

right of each screen to return to the one
previously displayed.

2.Highlight either one of the four
scenarios using the mouse or the

keyboard. In the box at the bottom of the

screen a brief background story and a

mission summary will appear, relevant

for your current selection. Activate the
scenario by clicking the mouse or hitting

enter.

3.The first time you activate a scenario the
complete mission text will be printed to

the screen. You may speedup the text by
hitting enter, space or by clicking the
m o u s e. After loading, the Mission
Planner will appear.

24

The Mission Planner

General

As a wing commander your main objective
is to plan the best possible campaign for
you and your wingmen so the main
s t rategic goal can be re a ched with a
minimum of casualties. This means you
will have to plan your missions carefully
before getting airborne. All planning is
done prior to take-off in the Mission
Planner, which loads automatically when
you select a scenario.

The main Mission Planner screen

The Mission Planner is essentially a
topographical map indicating the position
of anything essential and important for
planning a mission. This includes cities,
factories, airports and roads (in grey), but
most importantly all friendly installations
and enemy targets indicated by the
c o l o u red icons. The icons pinpoint all
enemy, friendly and civilian/non-combat
ground and air units in your area of
operations.
The planner operates in two differe n t
modes: Edit and Map mode. In Editing
mode you can manually or automatically

form a mission by creating waypoints and
selecting targets. Map mode allows you to
manipulate the map information displayed
in the mission planner, this is detailed in
the section entitled Mission Planner Usage
below.

Mission Planner Map

General

The Mission Planner map is a topo­graphical map displaying the curre n t
situation in the activated scenario.
All enemy targets and friendly installations
are displayed using several different icons
and colour codes. The position of each
icon is altered according to the movement
of the unit as the game progresses. If the
unit is destroyed you will be notified and
the icon will be removed from the mission
planner.
Together with the icons marking the
targets you will also see the waypoints
and flight path displayed on the map. A
waypoint is a position used by the flight
computer for navigation placed in the
mission planner prior to take-off. For more
i n f o rmation on how to manipulate
wa y p o i n t s , refer to the section below
entitled Mission Planner Usage.

Icons

Each icon on the map marks an enemy
unit. This means an icon usually
symbolises more then one target. The icon
position is the centre position of all the
objects included in that particular group.
Each icon is colour coded, indicating the

25

object category. On the mission map you
may find icons with the following colours:
red, green and blue. Any red icon is an
enemy target and should be considered as
a potential threat. Both the green (neutral)
and the blue (allied) symbolise friendly
icons. Destroying these will have a
negative impact on your statistics.
When you look on the mission map you
may notice a red circle centred on some of
the icons. The red border is a Surface-to­Air Missile Engagement Zone (SAM MEZ).
When flying within this zone,you and your
wingmen are subject to being detected
and fired upon by enemy SAM
installations.

Fighter/Bomber
Helicopter
Air Transport
AWAC Aircraft
Airport
Military Base
Military Camp
Factory
Nuclear Facility
Harbour
Radar Installation
SAM/AA Installation

Oil platform
Warship
Cargo Vessel
Submarine
Transport
Infantry Vehicle
SAM/AA Vehicle.

Waypoints

Waypoints are fixed three dimensional
positions (longitude, latitude and altitude)
used by the flight computer for navigation.
They are easily created with the mouse or
automatically with the Suggest option
when in editing mode. Read more about
waypoints and the their usage under the
section Mission Planner Usage.

Mission Planner Windows

General

The Mission Planner Windows contains all
the text, buttons and bars displayed in the
mission planner. They may be hidden by
selecting the button in the upper right
c o rner labelled Mission Planner or by
tapping the spacebar. Use this when
planning a mission if any icons are
concealed by the mission planner
i n f o rmation text and the buttons.

N o t e :While any pop-up window is activa t e d
the Mission Planner W i n d ows will be
disabled and the buttons, bars and tex t -

26

boxes will be changed in intensity. to get
focus back to the windows you have to
close the active window.

Planner Manager Window

General

The Planner Manager is the window in the
upper right corn e r, b e l ow the Mission
Planner caption or button. The manager has
t wo tab dialogs which decides which state
or mode the planner currently has active.

Edit Mode

General

To get in Edit Mode you select the Edit tab
dialog from the Manager Window. When
you are in editing mode you can create
and alter your waypoint path by changing
the position and height of your waypoints.
The waypoints are uploaded to the on­board computer upon takeoff and used for
navigation by the autopilot.

Suggest

The Suggest option will automatically
suggest the closest visible primary target.
If no primary icons are displayed the
nearest secondary target will be selected.
If you are not content with the target
selected you may cycle all targets with the
arrows left and right of the Suggest label.
In Map Mode you may select which icons
will appear on screen by checking the
corresponding options, refer to the Map
Mode section below for details.

Terrain following

If you enable the Terrain following option
the suggested waypoints will be forced to
the minimum height for low-level contour
flying, keeping the fighter below radar. If
no waypoint path or target have been
p reviously suggested,enabling or disabling
this option will automatically select a
target and suggest a path.

Clear

Selecting Clear will delete all waypoints
and target selections from the mission
planner.

Statistics Window

From the Edit menu selecting Statistics
will display the current scenario statistics.
Select the Done button to close the
Statistics Window.

Target Info Mode

When you click on this option the Mission
Planner enters Ta rget Info Mode. T h e
change of state is indicated with a
question mark in the lower right of the
mouse pointer. In addition all the icons
with target information visible in the
Mission Planner Map are highlighted.
Selecting a highlighted icon from the map
will display the relevant target information
with the corresponding photos and images
made available by Mission Control. You
may close the window by selecting Done
at the bottom right corner of the window.
At any time you can return to normal
planner operation by clicking the right

27

mouse button or just by selecting any
function from the Mission Planner
Windows.

Tip: When in editing mode, pressing and
holding the CTRL key will activate the
Target Info Mode. It will remain active until
the key is released or you exit Target Info
Mode as mentioned above.

Map Mode

General

To get in Map Mode you select the Map tab
on the Manager Window. When this is
selected you will see on the Map menu a
list of options divided into three groups:
Object category, target class and map
settings. Checking any of these settings
will influence the information that appears
on the Mission Map.

Object category

Only the targets that match any of the
checked priorities will be displayed. This
means if you only ch e ck the primary
option, only the primary targets will be
displayed.

Target Class

There are three different target classes
and only the icons containing objects of
the selected class will be displayed.
When you plan a mission you might want
to focus only on airborne targets. To do
this, you would only check the air option
and leave the ground and mobile blank.

Map Settings

General

The Map Settings are useful feature s
when planning a mission. Both the SAM
MEZ and the names option are checked by
default.

SAM MEZ

If the SAM MEZ is checked the missile
engagement zone will be displayed. Use
the MEZ to avoid unnecessary contact
with SAM sites on your way to the
designated target.

Names

When the names option is checked the city
and area names will be plotted on the
Mission Map.

Grid

The grid is useful for calculating distances
when planning a mission, but maybe most
importantly for easier tra cking of the
enemies movements. The grid scale is
5400 NM.

Time Skip Window

In the upper left corner is the Time Skip
bar indicating which scenario has been
activated,the current day and the scenario
time.When selecting this bar a dialog box
will be displaye d , giving you the
opportunity to skip a maximum of eight
hours at once to avoid bad weather and/or
night flying conditions.

28