binder@fizbin.DEC.COM (Sold - but we have others) (01/05/87)
My mailer barked at Jerry Wolf's address, so I'm posting this. What follows
is a subjective and highly personal view of the Apple // Flight Simulator II.
If your opinion doesn't agree with mine, that's fine, just don't tear me apart
for it, please.
I have the Apple // version of Flight Sim, and I don't recommend it unless
you're a masochist. Sure, it flies, and it's got all the places to go, extra
scenery disks and all, but its flying characteristics and visual presentation
aren't good at all.
The graphics are barely adequate - if you have a monochrome monitor, you can
read the instruments; if a color monitor, the instruments are difficult to
read due to the // series funny video. The instruments are all there, though,
and they do "work" properly. Looking out the cabin window is difficult to
handle, because the view shifts in very jerky 1/2-second snapshots. Three-
dimensional objects like the World Trade Center are reasonably well defined,
but they take on some truly weird and wonderful shapes as you bank around
them. Flat surface features, such as runways, are *very* difficult to see -
they are white lines on a green ground, and they fade in and out depending on
viewing angle. I flew over O'Hare half a dozen times before I was sure that
it was an airport and not some road pattern. I never could find Logan as I
flew in from Martha's Vineyard.
Flying with a joystick is difficult - any change in aircraft pitch seems to
have a marked effect on roll - I'd pull the nose up a little and the plane
would fall off to the left. This behavior may be due to my having had
auto-coordination set on, but it should *not* happen anyway - it's not an
accurate representation. I didn't experiment with it set off. I have not
tried flying with the keys alone.
There is no realistic sound - just a slow and irregular "ticking" to let you
know the engine is running. There is *one* aircraft type.
My disk appears to have problems with its scenery - when I placed the aircraft
at Martha's Vineyard, there were certain headings I could choose that would
cause half of the screen to disappear. Whether this is a universasl problem I
don't know, and frankly don't care. My copy of Flight Sim sits on a shelf
unused.
Cheers,
Dick Binder (The Stainless Steel Rat)
DEC Enet: ASD::BINDER
UUCP: { decvax, allegra, ucbvax... }!decwrl!asd.dec.com!binder
ARPA: binder%asd.DEC@decwrl.ARPAbarry@borealis.UUCP (Kenn Barry) (01/10/87)
From: binder@fizbin.DEC.COM (Sold - but we have others): >I have the Apple // version of Flight Sim, and I don't recommend it unless >you're a masochist. Sure, it flies, and it's got all the places to go, extra >scenery disks and all, but its flying characteristics and visual presentation >aren't good at all. I'd like to offer a different perspective. I agree with much of what Dick says, but not the overall conclusions. The fact is, Flight Sim II is the best flight simulator running on the Apple, and if you love flight simulators and only have an Apple to run them on, you want this program, problems and all. >The graphics are barely adequate - if you have a monochrome monitor, you can >read the instruments; if a color monitor, the instruments are difficult to >read due to the // series funny video. I run mine in color to my 19" Sony. Yes, the instruments are blurry, but not unreadable. >Looking out the cabin window is difficult to >handle, because the view shifts in very jerky 1/2-second snapshots. True. The update rate is disgustingly slow, and this makes landings a particular problem. >Three- >dimensional objects like the World Trade Center are reasonably well defined, >but they take on some truly weird and wonderful shapes as you bank around >them. Flat surface features, such as runways, are *very* difficult to see - >they are white lines on a green ground, and they fade in and out depending on >viewing angle. Actually, I don't think the graphics are too bad. All versions of Flight Sim II have limited detail in the graphics - try to make things too detailed, and the update rate gets slower, yet. Anyway, I never noticed distortions while flying around the buildings, though I have seen strange effects flying near the mountains. >Flying with a joystick is difficult - any change in aircraft pitch seems to >have a marked effect on roll - I'd pull the nose up a little and the plane >would fall off to the left. This behavior may be due to my having had >auto-coordination set on, but it should *not* happen anyway - it's not an >accurate representation. I didn't experiment with it set off. I have not >tried flying with the keys alone. Do try it. I gave up on the joystick early on, as unmanageable. The keyboard may be less realistic, but it's much more precise, and simple maneuvers are a breeze. >There is no realistic sound - just a slow and irregular "ticking" to let you >know the engine is running. There is *one* aircraft type. The problem here is lack of better standard hardware for sound in the Apple II. And I thought one aircraft type was standard? I've flown the Apple, C-64, and Amiga versions, and only on the Amiga was there a choice of planes (Cessna or Lear jet). Anybody know about the IBM version? I had thought that was Cessna-only. >My copy of Flight Sim sits on a shelf >unused. And I kept flying the simulator *long* after even the best of my game programs had lost their luster. I guess it just depends on how much you love flight simulators. The Apple version of Flight Sim II is an incredible accomplishment, considering the limited hardware capabilities of the Apple II. My most serious complaint about the program was an apparent glitch in the programming of ground effects which would cause the nose to pitch up sharply on final approach, at about 60-80' altitude AGL. Made landings nearly impossible. I also found that the altimeter usually showed the destination airport to be at an altitude equal to whatever the altitude of the airport I'd taken off from had been. When the Amiga version of Flight Sim came out, I broke down and bought an Amiga (I'd been intending to anyway, sooner or later), and I'm sure I'll not be bothering with the Apple version of Flight Sim II any more. Like a dancing bear, the Apple version of Flight Sim is remarkable in simulating flight as well as it does, but no one would accuse it of doing it really well. But were it still the best I had, I'd be wearing the disk out. - From the Crow's Nest - Kenn Barry NASA-Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ELECTRIC AVENUE: {hplabs,seismo,dual,ihnp4}!ames!borealis!barry