Ka-52 Team Alligator

A year and a half on from our previous helicopter title, Team Apache (1998) by Simis, we are pleased to introduce Ka-52 Team Alligator.

An enormous number of advances and improvements have been made on the old game, some graphical and many more in the underlying modelling. Before, the design has been driven by simulation concerns.

The recent discussions in the sim gaming community over light versus hard core flight sims seem to ignore something that wargame designers have known for years: the fact that sim developers may focus their simulation effort in different ways to achieve different effects, and may do so without sacrificing one iota of simulation value.

Flight sims need not be, as some maintain, emulations, reproducing every finicky detail of flight and systems management. That is the province of military and civil training simulators, whose interfaces and hardware are better suited than a PC to such a reductionist approach.

Given the inherent limitations of a personal computer the designers of PC sims can (indeed must) pick and choose what they detail.

It is all a matter of focus.

In Ka-52 Team Alligator we have again focussed a sim away from the intricacies of systems management to what we feel is far more relevant to a combat helicopter simulation. Firstly, we have concentrated on the creation of a credible low- level environment, with subtle, highly resolved terrain and thousands upon thousands of terrain objects which form obstacles and cover .

Secondly, we have paid a great deal of attention to the battlefield modelling:

We believe our modelling in these vital areas is second to none. Finally, we have created a game with the emphasis on command on team management rather than systems management.

We have a fundamental belief that human factors are as important on the modern battlefield as systems, and that leadership and command make defeat. So we have provided you, the player, with the tools to test proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. Time to take a bite.

Lee Brimmicombe-Wood

England

7th September 1999

From the Simis site in 1999:

The Ka-52 is the Russian answer to the US Apache Longbow.

It was built by Kamov as a 2 seat command variant of the Ka-50 Black Shark, or Hokum, helicopter and is designed as a battle management command helicopter. Like most Russian military hardware, the Alligator is a high payload, high agility and highly armoured attack helicopter, designed for multirole and night time operations.

The contra rotating blade helicopter flight modelling will be vastly improved with more edge of envelope effects modelled.

The game engine (Alligator is built on the Daedalus engine) is truly state of the art, offering 10 times the performance of our previous Icarus engine.

The 3D cockpit will have ten times the number of individual polygons than were used in Team Apache.

The avionics of the Alligator will be fully modelled and the multiplayer game will be completely redesigned to increase performance.

Ka-52 Team Alligator is a flight simulation of the Kamov Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopter. Set in two campaign areas - Belarusia and Tajikistan - and a Siberian training zone, you play the commander of a Russian Army aviation squadron. Your unit comprises six Alligator helicopters, the support personnel and aircrew. As commander, you have the responsibility for planning and executing missions while managing your personnel and resources to ensure the efficient operation of your team. In missions you will fly as the lead pilot and issue combat orders while fighting at low level, under enemy fire. While there's a great deal of depth to Ka-52 Team Alligator, it is possible to dive straight into the game and throw yourself into the thick of the fighting.

Take Off - This mission will teach the rudiments of the Alligator helicopter. The layout of the cockpit and the displays will be explained, before getting you to practice with the basic flight controls.

Landing - This mission will teach you the basics of hovering, using the Bob Up mode, and landing.

Navigation - This mission will train you in the use of waypoints and the navigational aids.

Unguided Weapons - This mission will teach you the basics of using the cannon and unguided rockets. You will be guided to a firing range to practice.

Guided Weapons - This mission teaches the rudiments of engaging and destroying enemies with anti-tank and air-to-air missiles.

Graduation Mission - This is the final training mission, which will teach you to operate as part of a formation and how to lead your team. The mission finishes with an engagement against targets on a live-fire range. Completion of your training will depend on your success in this mission.

The campaign game is the most challenging part of Ka-52 Team Alligator. Not only must you plan and fly missions, as in the Combat missions, but you also must manage the personnel and resources of your team. In the campaign you are the commander of a Russian aviation squadron. You have six Ka-52 Alligators at your disposal. You also have sixteen aircrew as well as eighteen maintenance crew chiefs. These are your resources for the campaign. Lost aircrew can be replaced, but you will not receive replacements for aircraft losses.

You can choose either the Tajikistan or Belarus campaign, and then fly a series of missions. Success or failure in these missions will affect the events going on around you. Missions will appear depending on the course events take. Intelligence briefings and newspaper reports will give you the wider picture and inform you of how your campaign is progressing.

The Ka-52 Team Alligator campaign is semi-dynamic, which means that the appearance of missions in the campaign is dependant on events. In particular, the loss of crewmen may result in rescue missions being mounted to recover them.

In certain extreme circumstances, events may occur which will cause you to be court-martialed and forced to retire from the campaign. We won't detail these here; we'll let you find them out for yourself!