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Flight Simulators
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  I have been asked by Russell to write some articles on flight
simulations from the point of view as a user not a programmer! One of
the first I ever came across was written for the Sinclair ZX81.
Admittedly it only ran with the 16k ram pack attached but it did give
practice in landing and navigating at night. Then came the Sinclair
spectrum and flight simulations in colour appeared. Navigating and
flying a light aircraft with your position plotted on a computer map
was now possible. Then someone added the extra excitement of aerial
combat and so "Fighter Pilot" for the 48K Spectrum became the
standard. Here you could practise your take-off and landing without
fear of being shot down and even fly in thick fog using your
instruments and ILS to guide you in. Combat practice was also an
option,the opposition did not fire back, so you were able to build up
your skill and confidence in order to eventually take on the baddies
and hopefully defeat them. So why am I telling you all this when I
should be writing about public domain software? Well if I am to
comment about such programs I think it is important to remember back
to what it was about those earlier versions that made them compelling
to play. They did not use a huge amount of memory in comparison to
what is available today but nevertheless they had the right
ingredients to keep you returning time and again. In future articles,
if Russell still wants me to, I will be looking at particular PD
flight simulations such as Final2, ProjectX, Strikeforce, Timezone2,
F18Hornet, Spitfire and Russell's own RiscyGame series. If you know
of any others then please inform me and I will certainly look and
comment on those. I will also compare them to some of the commercial
products such as Interdictor2 and Birds of War. Hopefully my comments
will arouse some opinions of your own thus producing a lively
dialogue for this magazine. My best wishes to all flight enthusiasts
until next time.

Geoff West

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