Fans of the classic yet constantly updated and upgraded Falcon 4 BMS will be happy to know that the developers have released 4.37 Update 4 which brings with it several new upgraded features. Let’s have a look at the latest in Falcon BMS!
Update 4
Benchmark Sims are presenting their latest upgrade to the venerable Falcon 4.0 which looks almost unrecognizable from its late 1990s roots thanks to extensive updates year after year by the Falcon community. BMS’s 4.37 Update 4 brings in some new features that include a new Blender Plugin for importing new models, new IAF specific F-16 cockpits, Open XR and mixed reality support, PBR (physically based rendering) for aircraft models, a new AAR queue management system, new capabilities for the sim’s still new F-15C, updated effects, new Link 16 features, updated AI and improved ATC functionality.
Read about the trailer release here and the Update 4 release here.
If you want to get a bit more of a taste of what Update 4 brings to the table there’s also a new cinematic by Sim Gaming Life called “A New Era” which showcases the sim well.
Get the latest update
If you’ve already got Falcon BMS you can head on over to the Benchmark Sims downloads section and grab the latest update. Curious about getting into the sim? You need to buy Falcon 4.0 before doing the upgrade to BMS. The Benchmark Sims FAQ section covers this well.
Stormbirds 
And to think it’s somehow still only $5…
a. I heard that a substantial scenery upgrade is coming in the near future, too.
b. I wonder what Microprose is going to be able to accomplish with Falcon and how much of BMS’ work will be included?
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4.38’s new terrain engine will probably be out in the next 12 months would be my guess reading the tea leaves.
Microprose can’t include BMS’s work directly because it basically includes volunteer work from the beginning of its history and there is no way that could hunt all of those coders down and compensate them for their work. They could hire the current developers to work on it but then you also loose all that code base of the last 2 decades. So I’m still doubtful of a Microprose Falcon 5.0 anytime soon, but I do believe they will continue to support BMS because it allows them to sell more copies of Falcon 4.0 even at $5-10 a copy is better than it would sell without BMS updates.
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I’m a bit jealous of the people who found true love with Falcon BMS. Kind of like the people who still fly IL2-46, like my buddy. They’re not spending any money, they’re just having fun.
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I’m still spending money, but instead of a module I’ll never really fly that much or get bored with while I wait for all the feature thru early access, I now put my money into my hardware LOL
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I found Falcon BMS rather disappointing. Terrible mission editor, terrible key binding config window. And poor AI of allies and enemies. I remember guns dogfight with MiG-29, it was endless circling until running out of fuel.
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I haven’t gotten to it yet. It has quite a dedicated following but I’m sure some of the age of the beast is showing too. It’s still quite a remarkably feat given how old the original sim is and then the community effort to bring it forward for free.
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Same, I appreciate the immense efforts of the BMS Team, and cant deny the fact Falcon 4.0 was a HUGE influence on my interest in flight sims when I was a kid. I had no idea what I was doing and basically just doing Instant Action killing Badgers with the 20mm.
I tried getting into it, but the graphics and very bad SFX just rip me out of the immersion. (The missiles and engines don’t sound like anything)
Maybe I will come back to it with the huge changes promised in 4.38, but that may be years away still.
I did however love the Dynamic Campaign engine, something that is a DIRE need in DCS. (we have some modules now with almost 0 SP content)
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Have you tried the latest couple of versions that include the new launcher? That has greatly improved mapping.
Honestly, I hate DCS’s mapping functions that require so much rework and the fact it still can’t just map a idle cutoff and AB detent and instead have to find that via adjusting curves on each individual plane.
Also with the AI, the highest level of enemy AI does have a definite tendency to take the fight vertical at the first merge or two. I would also throw out if you Lufbery’ed with them until someone ran out of gas, you were each other’s equals…
I’ve found allied AI still requires babysitting for sure like DCS, but you have far more options in the communication menus (or with Voice Attack/Foxster profiles).
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I’ve actually gone from DCS to Falcon BMS as I find it much more immersive.
Graphics are like women…..sometimes the less pretty ones make the best partners
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It is great to see a new BMS update. I’ve returned to BMS (been using different Falcon 4 iterations since the original one) after trying DCS extensively through the 14-days DLC trial scheme. The main factor for this move was VR implementation in 4.37, which in my opinion is user friendlier then DCS. VR changed dramatically my BMS experience. It enabled me for the first time successful AAR and improved my dogfight performance. I was surprised by the good readability in the cockpit and the ability to spot air and ground targets outside when in reasonable range. Therefore, I strongly suggest those using VR to give BMS a chance.
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BMS is great! Especially for the price.
The reason I don’t play it much is because I feel like it “promotes” end-to-end experience with proper communication, mission planning, long missions etc. The way I do flight sims is: “Ok, I have 15 minutes to kill, let me set up a bomb run or challenging landing, or air-to-air engagement in the mission editor, do a couple of attempts and go back to what I did before starting the sim”, and I feel like it is what DCS provides better then BMS.
I am wondering if I overlook something in Fantom BMS which will make it aligned with my play style.
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I tend to play DCS this way frequently these days too!
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