I have both, I like both, I fly both (and I do it hardcore). Falcon4:AF will make your head explode if your not used to Jet sim's. It's alot to take in when starting.
So, I would say start with LOMAC/Flaming Cliff's and get to know the A-10A and do some ground pounding and SAM/AAA avoidance. Then move up to the F-15 and if you can figure it out, then Falcon4:AF will not make your head explode.
I really enjoy the low level ground pounding in LOMAC myself. If you need any help tweaking LOMAC, ThomasDW is the person to ask. He has mine running perfect.
So my vote would be fly both !
LOMAC for DM, FMs and graphics.. although I have seen people on certain Falcon forums attempt to claim Flacon's graphics are in someway suprerior
F4:AF for Dynamic campaign, fidelty of cockpit controls.....
although with LOMAC's upcomming addon Black Shark will be the final nail in the coffin for F4 in the cockpit department.
Clickable cockpits, realistic avionics.. and ofcourse the amazing LOMAC Flight models... will make LOMAC truly the best flight sim.
I own both, fly both, and enjoy both.
F4.0 can seem a bit daunting at first.. and I can see why some people never get the hang of it... but for me, after two weeks its relatively simple.. not much harder than LOMAC.
The damage model and flight model of the SU-25T are light years ahead of F4:AF... so if you don't fly the SU-25T you're gonna miss out on alot.
I just wish LOMAC had a multirole NATO flyable aircraft.. but ED have mentioned the possibilty of an F-16 in the future.
I bought both; the local Frys had 'em on sale for $20 each (Falcon 4.0 Allied Force and Lock On Gold - what a deal!). I'm still fighting my way through the manuals and basic training missions, though. The Falcon manual runs some 700 pages for one plane...I need waaay more joystick buttons!
The comment about making your head explode is dead on. I have to be careful, because the ceiling above my computer is the popcorn variety - very hard to clean.
cheers
horseback
I bought the original Falcon4 and went through all the upgrades etc.It was my introduction to flight sims and though I found it tough going I loved it.
Then came IL2 and I'm stuck there.
I own LockOn, have tried it a couple of times but I'm straight back to IL2. Must try it again with the latest patches.
.
One thing to remember is that LOMAC is still suffering the after effects of Ubi forcing the original out the door to try and grab Christmas sales before the developers were ready.
Once you've experienced the advanced flight model (as they phrase it) as now present in the SU-25 and 25T models, you get some idea of what the original COULD have been like given about another 12 months work. The good news is they already have a new project in the pipeline where all aircraft will have that type of flight model.
Graphics wise LOMAC wins hands down. There is just no comparing them. And since F4 is based on a much older engine it really wouldn't be fair to. Suffice to say that some of the aircraft models are very, very poor.
From an attention to detail point of view, F4AF is much more accurate...Just print off the manual if your printer can handle the strain!!
Finally, I haven't had very much experience with F4AF, but AI wise, LOMAC is sadly lacking. It's not too bad as an enemy, but as a wingman it's totally brainless. This is one area ED need to radically rework in their next project (Not Black Shark, but the next one they start from scratch). Online, however LOMAC is extremely good...especially with a good squad.
So it depends what you want. Both sims have some very strong points and both have some very weak points. If you want graphics, flight model and want to fly online more than in single player, LOMAC's your choice. If you're not worried about graphics but want a sim of such complexity it can take up to twenty minutes just to start your engines, with an excellent dynamic campaign environment and are more interested in offline play, then F4AF is your ride.
Or buy them both and get the best of both worlds!