Falcon 4.0

Tacview natively supports Falcon 4.0 .VHS and DTC .INI files as well as the Korea terrain and database. (Other theatres are available for Falcon BMS).

First, to prevent Falcon 4.0 from splitting files, go to Setup → Simulation and set ACMI File Size to a large value (e.g. 500 MB)

Falcon 4.0 ACMI file size

Then, fly as usual. To generate a recording, press the F key while flying. In Falcon 4.0 a message will be displayed on-screen to confirm that recording is in progress.

Falcon 4.0 is recording

After the flight, one or several .VHS files will be stored in:

\Falcon 4.0\acmibin\

Open the VHS file in Tacview. Make sure that Korea is selected as the Falcon 4.0 Theatre in the File → Open dialog box. (Other theatres are available for Falcon BMS). Tacview will reuse the last theater specified each time you open a new file.

Falcon 4.0 theater selection

Also make sure you have selected Options → Terrain → Auto or Falcon 4.0

Falcon 4.0 Terrain Options

Importing a DTC File into Tacview

When you open a VHS file, Tacview automatically tries to open a corresponding DTC INI file with the same name.

You can also load any DTC file afterward by using the File → Merge feature or drag-and-dropping the file into the 3D view.

You can load and visualize multiple DTC INI files within the same mission.

Converting from Falcon 4.0 to Tacview coordinates.

Falcon 4.0 is a 2D world which uses x,y coordinates, while Tacview is a 3D world which uses longitude and latitude. To convert from one to the other, use this formula:

longitude = west  + x * (east  - west ) / (width  * 819.995);
latitude  = south + y * (north - south) / (height * 819.995);

// Where:
//   x,y are falcon coordinates
//   north, south, east, and west are the terrain boundaries (in degrees)
//   width and height are the terrain size in samples (4096 in most case)

// This gives us the following for the Korean theater declared in
// C:\Program Files (x86)\Tacview\Data\Xml\Data-Falcon4Theaters.xml

longitude =   123 + x * (132.26 -   123) / (4096 * 819.995) =   123 + x * 0.00000275701
latitude  = 33.79 + y * (    43 - 33.79) / (4096 * 819.995) = 33.79 + y * 0.00000274213