TRAINING

Regardless of whether you are a novice or advanced pilot, the training missions provide something for all skill levels. Training begins with basic instruction and progress to focus on specific aircraft and features and concludes with advanced air combat training.

Training is divided into six sections:

• Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT)

To select a training section, press one of the seven buttons along the left of the screen. Having done so, a list of individual training missions are listed in the upper window. Click on a mission will provide a description of the mission in the window below it.

To enter the selected mission, press the FLY! button. To return to the Main Menu, press the EXIT button.

Lock On training missions use the Track File system to play back a previously recorded mission with instructor narrative. While most of the missions are text-only instructions, the A-10A missions also include voice over instruction.

At any point during the mission, you may press Control+Q to take control of the aircraft.

WARNING: Adjusting your views during the mission may disrupt the training mission and will cause incorrect playback. Please do not press any keys during the training mission unless you want to end the mission and take control.

CAMPAIGN

Starting a Campaign

Upon clicking on the Campaign button on the Main Menu, you will be presented with the Campaign Control Center (CCC). From the CCC, you can choose to start a new campaign or continue an exiting one.

The CCC is divided into two parts.

On the right is a listing campaigns that you can select from to play. These will include campaigns that came with Lock On, saved campaigns, and new campaigns that you have created. To select a campaign, simply click on it. After selecting a campaign, the initial briefing for the campaign will be presented in the lower box. This description will often give you a general background of the conflict and the objectives of your particular mission.

To the left of the listing and briefing is the mission map. The map will display friendly units and enemy units that have not been hidden. Each mission within the campaign will have a mission map.

Press the OK button after selecting a campaign to play.

Playing a Campaign

With a campaign loaded, the left side of the screen changes to reflect some new options.

Title: The name of the selected campaign

List of Stages

A campaign is composed of linked stages, and when you complete one you are given the option to fly the next. This list shows you your current stage and all previously completed stages. Once you complete a stage you may not re-fly it. A check mark will indicate completed stages.

Note that damage to static objects is carried over from one stage to the next. So the bridge you destroy in an early phase will remain destroyed in a later stage.

Stage

The area is composed of three areas:

o Stage: This consists of forward and back cycle buttons and allows you to cycle through current and completed stages.

Reset

At the bottom of the screen is the Reset button. If you wish to restart a campaign from stage one, press this button and all progress in the selected campaign will be removed.

Additional Data

In addition to the Description area, you can also find additional briefing information by pressing the Briefing button at the top of the screen. You can also use your map functions to better plan flight routes, examine threat areas, and view target points. We highly suggest examining your targeting points for ground attack missions.

After the Mission

After pressing the ESC key to end the mission, you will be shown the debrief of the mission. Kill statistics and a chronological list of events will be shown. After viewing this, press the Close button to continue the campaign. At this time you can press the save button and save your campaign progress. You can also save your campaign under a different name if you want save it separately.

LOG BOOK

The Log Book allows you to create and track the progress of your pilot persona. Medals and promotions earned through successful missions will be recorded here. Mission records are kept when you land, achieve a mission goal, or are killed in combat.

Create or Delete a Pilot

Along the right side of the screen is the Pilot box. From here you can create and delete pilots from your pilot roster. When creating a mission in the Editor or selecting a single mission you can choose your desired pilot from this roster.

To have your selected pilot accumulate statistics, earn medals and be promoted, you must check the DEFAULT box next to the pilot picture.

Additional functions of the pilot box include:

• Name: The name of your pilot. By clicking the down-arrow, you can view your entire roster and select any pilot.

To add pilots to the roster click the ADD button. After clicking the ADD button, enter the name of your pilot in the appropriate field and select their country affiliation.

To remove a pilot from the roster, select the pilot from the Name list and then click the REM (remove) button.

If you wish to edit a pilot’s name or country, select the desired pilot and click the EDIT button.

The small envelope (POST) icon alerts you if you have incoming e-mail. These e-mails alert you if the pilot has been promoted or earned an award. Click on the Post icon to read the message.

Rank and Awards

As your pilots complete successful missions and gain experience, they will be promoted and receive awards appropriate to their country. Pilot status is also listed in this box, Pilots can be listed as either Alive or Dead.

The selected pilot’s rank and awards are displayed in the respective Rank and Awards boxes.

General Statistics

Over the course of a career, a pilot will fly a variety of missions and compile various statistics. These statistics can be sorted and viewed in the General Statistics section of the Log Book.

There are two buttons on this area allow you to sort between your General Statistics and a listing of the missions that the pilot has flown, GENERAL and LOG FILTERS.

• General: Clicking on this button displays the Mission Types pull-down. The selections of this pull-down allow you sort the type if data you wish to view. Below the pull-down field are list of General cumulative statistics.

o MISSIONS: The number of missions that have been flown.

o DATE. Date that the mission took place.

By setting the log filters, you may see missions that only apply to those filers. Press ALL to view all missions and press APPLY to view missions consistent with the set filters.

Target Statistics

To view the number of destroyed and damaged objects and vehicles attributed to a pilot, the left portion of the Log Book provides a powerful tool. Each vehicle and object type is represented by an icon along with a QTY (quantity) field next it. Using the TARGET TYPE filter pull downs, you may filter particular vehicle and objects with a class.

By using the ALL TARG TYPES and ALL FILTERS, you may view statistics based on all statistics or based on the filters you have set.

To filter between damaged, destroyed and both, three buttons are provided- DESTROYED, DAMAGED, and DEST/DAMAGED

ENCYCLOPEDIA

Lock On: Modern Air Combat includes an extensive encyclopedia containing data and images for all weapon systems, naval units, ground units and aircraft included in the game. The encyclopedia is an invaluable resource that serves two main purposes. First, the encyclopedia allows you to educate yourself on the capabilities of various weapons systems, ground units and aircraft. Secondly, the images accompanying each entry allow you to become familiar with the appearance of objects in the game world, making for much quicker visual identification in critical situations.

• Categories: The categories box contains three choices that allow you to sort the weapons systems by their national affiliation: NATO, Russia, or All.