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Amiga Collections: MegaDisc
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MegaDisc 28 (1992-05)(MegaDisc Digital Publishing)(AU)(Disk 2 of 2).zip
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MegaDisc 28 (1992-05)(MegaDisc Digital Publishing)(AU)(Disk 2 of 2).adf
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Flight_Sims
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Joystick_&_Adaptor
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Joystick_&_Adaptor
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Text File
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1992-05-26
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10KB
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175 lines
Phoenix Microtechnologies
Analogue Joystick Adaptor
&
Quickshot "Warrior 5"
Analogue Joystick
by Peter Tosi
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Ok, the Phoenix Microtechnologies Analogue Adaptor $30.00. When you buy
it you are confronted with swish-looking black cardboard backing with gold
lettering and a clear plastic sleeve. Inside the sleeve is a disk (more on
that later), the registration card for your 12 month warranty, and the
adaptor widgit doohicky thing. The aforementioned widgit doohicky thing
has the Amiga (Hooray) 9 hole digital joystick port plug at one end and the
IBM and Apple (Boo) 15 and 9 hole, respectively, analogue joystick port
inputs at the other, being roughly L shaped, the two longest sides
approximately 6 cms. The other thing notable about the construction is
that all there is to it is the circuit board and the three plugs, no
insulation or covering or reinforcement. The plugs are attached to the
board by the pins jutting over and under the board, and soldered there.
This at first looked a bit dodgy to me, but after a bit of a prod I felt
confident that I would not break it plugging it into the machine, which as
owners of A1500s or A2000s would know is a bit fiddly because of the
recessed joystick ports. Apart from this first doubt the construction
looks fine, if a little primitive - it even had labels saying "Amiga" and
"Analogue" so you know which way to insert it. Now for the big problem.
Flash!
At this stage my machine was turned on, and as I manoeuvred this widgit
into position I was confronted by a flash, and a strange electrical
toasting sound, and my beloved Amiga went off line. "AHHHHHHHHRRRGGHH!" I
screamed inwardly, "I've blown my snekking Amiga." hours of Amiga fun
flashed through my stunned brain and I cursed the adaptor and Phoenix
freely as I realised what I had done, then I switched off the power waited
30 seconds and switched it back on, the Workbench hand came up and I
breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps there is a reason for the company in
question being called Phoenix i.e. rising from the ashes. I'll wager some
of you will be thinking I am a nutter, as in the Amiga manual it says never
to plug and unplug things while the Amiga is on and this is obviously to
avoid earthing the machine, but most joysticks and mice are amply wrapped
in plastic to avoid earthing them while connecting and disconnecting them.
Why have Phoenix not done this with their $30.00 buck adaptor? Actually
it would not be to hard to do it yourself by putting one of those boxes you
buy at Dick Smiths over it with suitable holes cut in it to allow access to
the plugs. The box could structurally support the adaptor allowing a
longer life of plugging and unplugging, etcetera. Anyway, that's really
all there is to the adaptor itself.
On to the disk. I was expecting instructions for the adaptor but when I
loaded the disk I realised it was a demo and catalogue disk. The disk
contains four pictures digitised using the Phoenix digitiser and
information on the Phoenix company and its catalogue, which is quite
extensive. The best thing in the disk is the utility DirOpus, which is a
good CLI replacement, allowing you to run programmes, view text, and
pictures, and hear sound samples right from DirOpus. The text viewer is
the excellent pheonixview programme similar to fullview that Megadisc use
on occasion, written by the same person I believe. DirOpus is simply
fantastic worthy of a review of its own, so I'll go no further. [Ed: see
reviews in past Megadiscs, 26 & 27.]
Worth every cent
Now, why would you want to by a analogue adapter and joystick? I'll tell
you, I have two flight simulators that support an analogue joystick: Birds
of Prey by Argonaut Software from Electronic Arts and Microprose's F-19
Stealth fighter. You may think a $30.00 adaptor and $50.00 joystick is too
big an outlay to use with just two programmes, but the improvement to the
whole feel of the simulation is so great that it's worth every cent. Most
flight simulators offer a mouse option but the mouse does not feel as
natural as a joystick. Digital (normal Amiga) joysticks lack sensitivity,
because of their off/on signal the roll and turn rate of your computer
aircraft has to remain constant. Small alterations in course require jabs
at the joystick, while sometimes you cannot turn tight enough, so it is
hard to keep the enemy aircraft in your sights when in a turning fight.
An analogue joystick changes this - if you move the joystick right back
the aircraft will immediately go into the tightest possible climb. When
landing the final approach and flare out now become smooth precision
manoeuvres, instead of jerking all over the sky. A good example is the
difference the analogue joystick made to "F-19 Stealth fighter". With the
digital joystick the aircraft jerks around, there is no feeling of inertia,
the aircraft feels unnatural and fine manoeuvres are difficult. With the
analogue joystick connected, it really feels good, movements are
progressive and smooth, landings are much easier.
One little detail I really like is with a two button analogue joystick one
button fires the machine guns wile another releases ordinance and launches
missiles. This is especially useful in a dogfight as you can forget about
the keyboard and if a target of opportunity presents itself make a snap
judgement whether to launch a sidewinder or engage with machine guns (or
autocannon to be technical as modern combat aircraft have almost totally
dispensed with machineguns in favour of heavy calibre autocannon).
Microprose can always be counted on to provide that extra feature, which
puts them above the competition.
This brings me to "Birds of Prey" which I reviewed for Megadisc 27
recently. When using a digital joystick with Birds of Prey" you notice the
40 aircraft have different top speeds and payloads etc. but you don't
really notice really big differences in handling. Once you hook up an
analogue joystick you start to really getting into the programme. As a
case in point, while flying the F-104 Starfighter against 3 MiG 23 Floggers
I hauled back on the stick to perform a split S manoeuvre, which is a half
loop followed by a roll to correct attitude, but the F-104 went into a
deep stall as the angle off attack went through 90 degrees and I realised I
had stalled the tailplane. This was a problem with F-104s which is
generally regarded as a nasty aircraft to learn but a "hot ship" once
you've mastered it. The aircraft nosed up, turning onto its back while
continuing to move forward at a high speed. Once I had recovered I
realised the joystick had allowed me to input a greater amount of control
than the aircraft could handle at that speed and altitude. Using less
force allowed me to pull tight turns once I had learned to work with the
aircraft. To make sure this was not a shortcoming of the programme instead
of added realism, I then flew a sortie in an F-1 5 Eagle performing such
violent manoeuvres that I over stressed the aircraft, the Eagle handled
totally differently to the F-104, as it should have done, but control input
was also vastly divergent which added to the feel of flying a different
aircraft. In short the analogue joystick has improved "Birds of Prey"
100%, enabling you to pull the manoeuvre you are thinking of, instead of
hoping for the best. I recommend that anyone into flight simulations buy
one and the Phoenix adaptor (support Aussie products). In the future it
is probable that more programmes will support the analogue option.
QuickShot Warrior 5 Joystick
In order to try my analogue adaptor I went out a brought a Quickshot
"Warrior 5" analogue joystick from K-Mart for $59.95 (because I knew I
could return the stick if I did not like it). It is a well constructed
stick with a contoured "fighter" style grip . There is one fire button
which falls under your thumb and one which falls under the index finger
(imagine you're holding a pistol). there are two trim wheels on the base
to fine tune the centre point of the stick and under the base two buttons
which disconnect the springs which self-centre the stick. Obviously for
some programmes you would not want the stick trying to self-centre, as the
springs are quite strong. The connecter is the 15 pin IBM type (which the
phoenix adaptor supports). Joystick travel from full forward to full back
is twenty cm which means you have a good progression of control
sensitivity. The cable is over 150 cm long. I have found this to be a
really good flight simulation stick, far better than other types I've
tried. It also has a 1 year warranty. Quickshot boast over 20 million
joysticks sold worldwide, so they must be doing something right.
The F-104 and the F-15
Incidentally both F-104 Starfighter and F-15 Eagle were designed as air
superiority aircraft. The F-104 first flew in 1954 (the prototype had
white wall tyres) based on air combat lessons learned during the Korean
war, it weighed 14,060 kg fully loaded and developed 8,120 kg of thrust in
its later versions, but lacked range and manoeuvrability. It was known as
"The Missile with a Man in it". The F-15 first flew in 1972 incorporating
ideas gleaned from pilots who flew air combat over Vietnam, it weighs
18,824kg, armed for interception, and develops 10,885kg of thrust. Both
were developed into all-weather strike aircraft. The F-104 was phased out
of service with NATO forces in the 80s, being replaced by the F-16 Falcon
the "Electric Jet".
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