(C) Sergey Murashov, 1998.
End.
Honestly speaking, running programs like "F-16
Combat Pilot", "F-19 Stealth Fighter", "Toma-
hawk", "Elite", "Academy" and even the same "Fight-
ter-Bomber", I haven’t been able to de-
from the impression of a small miracle: still
"Spectrum" is not a "Pentium", well, these shouldn't
games run on this hardware... But they run, because
these are masterpieces. But writing masterpieces is not the destiny of
many. What remains for other companies?
those who want to join the promising market
flight simulators? Simplify, i.e. refuse
from any "excesses". But we can also simplify
but in different ways. It is possible, for example, in the spirit of refusal
stop shooting from “promoting violence”
in the air, but we have already talked about such imitators
Riley. Of course, "Flight Simulator" is not the only
representative of the "peaceful" imitators. Yes,
for those who like to pilot a heavy four-
motor jet airliner on tracks like
"Rzhevka" - "Pulkovo", we can recommend
Boeing 747 game. Lovers of "opaque" 3D
spaces would be delighted with "Chuck
Yeager's Advanced Flight Training." True,
American test pilot Chuck Yeager
was famous for his high-speed flights, and in
in an imitator of his name, maneuverability is much more important
speed, but that’s not what the “would” is. Unfortunately-
nyu, the full version of this game is not for me in St. Petersburgmet, but what we sell under the name
rank "F-18", means that out of fourteen
types of aircraft available in the original are up to you -
this one turned out to be not the easiest to pilot.
when flying an airplane (of course, if you are blue
angel", then this plane is for you). Simplifying,
On the contrary, you can refuse takeoff and landing
and navigation, focusing only on air
Noah duel with an enemy fighter like this
done, for example, in the game "Top Gun". On the screen
besides the instrument panel there is only a sight and self-
enemy flight, and a very conventional horizontal line
umbrella, except for which other signs of the landscape
not at all. But all this is in two copies -
rah, so you can fight not only with computers
ter, but also with his friend. Unfortunately,
there is a high probability of buying the version, it just depends
flashing at startup. Immediately in the thick of the air
battle, you will find yourself even after starting the game under
called "F-15". Graphically, it resembles
"F-19", in terms of capabilities, is much poorer.
Actually, the F-19 is a development of the F-15.
It’s a pity that on the way to the domestic market
"F-15" was, it seems, not competent enough
hacked, after which not all modes in it have
place to be...
On the Western market, to sell someone else’s, let
even a flawlessly hacked software product
it’s difficult, whether you want it or not, you have to create it
yours. But what about the company that produces "adventure games"
like "Dizzy"created on the basis of sprites,
suddenly master the secrets of three-dimensional virtual
th space? And then they take the stage
“imitators of imitators”, that’s exactly how you can
name the majority of aviation simulators,
created on the basis of sprites. It’s already simplified here -
work sometimes begins to smoothly transition into prof-
nation. So, air combat is that
the enemy plane voluntarily exposes you to
your tail, after which a sprite called
"view of the plane strictly from behind" begins to move -
hovering near the crosshairs, trying to shoot down
aiming, because if he moved to the edge of the screen, it would be unnatural
the intensity of his angle will begin to catch your eye
even for an undemanding player. Ground targets
are also depicted as single-view sprites.
The wretched view through the windshield is usually
is compensated by the cartoonish multi-colored
boron board, but “revitalization” is also found in
top of the screen: like in the game "Snowstrike"
("Snow Blow") we see the clouds... obediently
entering the bank along with your aircraft. Con-
fuzz, gentlemen! Games are made in the same spirit
"Harrier", "Skyfox", "Ace", "Ace of aces"...
True, even here there are non-imitators with similar
names: do not confuse primitive, but sympathetic
typical action movie "Harrier attack" with the above-mentioned
a cheesy "imitator".
Perhaps someone got annoyed with my information about
"namesakes" of this or that program, but I distinguished
I clearly remember my state wheninstead of one
I bought a second F-16 with my last rubles. All
these lines were already written when the sensations
repeated: I bought the program with a lot of promise -
common name "ЗD-Starfighter". Find out quickly
it seems that neither "3D" nor the F-104 Starfighter,
this game has nothing to do with it, because this "star-
"the fighter" is generally deprived of the ability to maneuver
fight, and the battle is fought by pointing the crosshairs
aiming at the sprite of an alien spaceship,
which reminded me vividly of a primitive “shooter”
"Zzoom", which is not related to flight simulators
more so than, say, Python or Tetris. A
I came to a sad conclusion: review all
imitators - unrealistic, periodically there will be
new names pop up, and, as shows
experience, it is not the first grade that emerges. That's all
It’s worth mentioning about some under-imitators
a few words. If using sprites somehow
you can depict enemy aircraft and ground
targets, then the runway rectangle
when planting, the plants should be taken out only in the
fiber" 3D technology. About what is possible at all
do without takeoff and landing, we have already said
whether. But you can simply do without an airfield
ma, stating that it is not just an airplane that is being simulated,
and, say, vertically taking off and landing
"Harrier", which is what was done in the already mentioned
the "simulator" of the same name (its full name
"Strike Force Harrier", which can be translated,
like "harrier drums"forces"). A similar picture in
game "Skyfox". Paradoxically, there is no runway in
"wire" game "Delta Wing" ("triangular
wing", and not at all a "hang glider"), but this is not
its biggest disadvantage: both air and ground
at your slightest maneuver, the targets begin
jump all over the screen like fleas, showing
Thus, it is possible to create a bad simulator
This is possible without resorting to sprite techniques. Or maybe
for example, clumsy, but promptly respond
to the “spite of the day,” or rather, the night, when in the Dal-
in the East, a South Korean B.747 was shot down, you
plump, not thinking about the fate of hundreds of passengers
on board, a combat mission to open a Soviet
Air defense in the area. So, in the game "Flyer Fox",
The Boeing is already accompanied by a fighter,
on which you have to shoot down in batches
bad Su-15s, "brutally shooting our
planes peacefully bombing their cities...". In the role
Su-15, of course, are sprites. By the way, about bombard-
distributors. There is such a game "Dambuster" ("Lan-
caster", bombing dams), but I haven't seen it yet
computer on which it would not freeze.
A Mosquito simulator is the game "Ace of
aces" ("ace of aces"). It simulates a bunch of
levers and toggle switches of a real aircraft, but
I need a landing gear release lever if the game doesn't have one
no takeoff, no landing... The word "ace" is very
popular in the names of flight simulator games.
So, the game "Ace" (clear and without translation) - ti-
picaresquesprite "simulator imitator", rather
This is a children's action movie with an airplane theme.
Ace II is very similar to Top Gun. More
one interesting direction of flight simulators,
group aerobatics, presented by the game
"Red Arrows" ("Red Arrows", title in English)
Liyskaya aerobatic team). But control
a game that has nothing in common with an airplane,
and poor sprite graphics have greatly depreciated
plays this game like a simulator. Of course there is
in nature and even worse and more rarely
encountered games in the style of aviation simulators
tors, but it’s time to return to imitators
cosmic. Because, as we have already said,
simulators of real space flight, not
entering into blatant contradictions with the laws
there is no physics yet, then it would be more correct
talk about imitators not of space, but of fan-
tastic, if, of course, in this phrase-
Tania has at least a modicum of common sense.
In short, we evaluate space simulators
we will only be like three-dimensional "shooters", and here
after "Elite" no competition will be "Stargli-
der" and "Starglider II" (literally "star
glider"), if you don’t wonder why
What the authors of these games want from us is just to smash
everything that moves on the screen. And he's moving there
something painfully familiar not only from the film
"Star Wars", but also on other computer
games with a space theme, such as Empirestrike back"
where these "wire" characters are very appropriate -
us, but the game itself can be classified as an simulator
only with great stretch. Transparency
local spaceships haunts
"improvers" of the "Elite", but the price paid for
invisibility of stars through a planet or ship,
sometimes it is too big. As an example - a game
"Starstrike II" And as a
really good "opaque" ZD-imi-
tator is worth recommending "Starfox" ("Stars-
bottom fox"). There are, of course, a lot
sprite-based simulator-like space combat
wikis like the mentioned "under-ZD-Starfight-
ra", the best of the worst in it will be games like
"Space Raiders II", but we're not talking about them,
and about imitators... And yet in one game,
Lanna based on sprites, we managed to simulate
volume and movement of one’s own and enemy’s in it
ships without unmotivated appearance or
disappearance of targets in the area of your sight.
We are talking about the game "MAT II" (I apologize
for the excessive abundance of “twos” in names, especially
Moreover, most of these games have “ones”
unknown).
Speaking about imitators, one cannot fail to mention
strategic game "Carrier Command", in which
swarm flight simulator serves as one of the arcade
inserts.
In conclusion, I would like to remind you that the success of Va-
the number of flights in virtual space depends
not only fromkeyboard virtuosity
or a joystick, but also on the quality of the pre-flight
preparation, i.e. knowledge of the purpose of everything
of the many buttons that you will have to
in flight, press meaningfully, and also from knowledge
materiel, i.e. at least a general idea about
the device of the aircraft you are piloting
parata and action simulated in the game details
lay its design, such as: rudders, ailerons,
flaps, landing gear, air brakes, weapons,
navigation aids, etc. But that’s a topic for another day.
goy articles.
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