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From: barry@borealis.UUCP (Kenn Barry)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: Flight Simulator II
Message-ID: <1819@borealis.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 10-Jan-87 01:09:48 EST
Article-I.D.: borealis.1819
Posted: Sat Jan 10 01:09:48 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 11-Jan-87 22:51:13 EST
References: <8701051351.AA25941@decwrl.dec.com>
Organization: NASA-Ames Research Center, Mtn. View, CA
Lines: 86
Summary: Another opinion

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
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