<p>In Birds of War, a pilot can only play in the era he or she has chosen i.e. you cannot use a 1920 era pilot in the 1990 era, for obvious reasons!</p>
<p>In each era, there are six campaigns, each containing eight missions. These campaigns are graded <i>Easy, Fair</i> and <i>Hard</i> . Once a pilot has completed all six campaigns (48 missions), then he or she must retire. When this happens, or you simply die in combat, then the pilot cannot be selected again - corpses and retired pilots cannot fly planes!</p>
<p>The screens you will come across in Birds of War will now be described, including a broad account of the cockpit screen.</p>
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<h4>The Pilot Roster</h4>
<p>This is the first screen that is displayed upon loading. It is a record of pilots past and present. To use an existing pilot, simply click on the entry with <b>SELECT</b>. To read a more detailed description of a pilot, click <b>MENU</b> over the required entry.</p>
<p>To actually enter a new pilot, which is what you're more likely to do, click <b>ADJUST</b> on an entry. You can now enter the new pilot's Surname, Christian name and Callsign. <b>Retired pilots and dead pilots are not permitted to fly</b>.</p>
<p>This screen is displayed when a new pilot is entered, and is thus not on assignment. Choose one of the four eras by clicking <b>SELECT</b>. The four eras are:</p>
<ul>
<li><b>1920</b> : Dogfight over the skies of Europe during World War I. You will be flying the famous <i>Sopwith Camel</i> and <i>Triplane</i> against a variety of monoplanes, biplanes and triplanes. You will also encounter <i>Zeppelins</i>, barrage balloons and all manner of land and sea vehicles/targets.
<li><b>1945</b> : Fly such famous aircraft as the <i>Spitfire</i> and <i>Hurricane</i>, the <i>P-47</i> or <i>Mustang</i> against <i>Messerschmitt 109's</i>, <i>Zero-Sens</i> and <i>Junkers JU88's</i> among others. Strafe <i>Tiger II's</i> on the ground or battle the Pacific fleet.
<li><b>1960</b> : Battle for the Korean or Vietnam skies flying <i>F-86 Sabres</i> or <i>F-4 Phantoms</i> against <i>Migs</i>, <i>Mirages</i> or <i>Sukois</i>. Try your hand at close ground support or at high level interception.
<li><b>1990</b> : Fly the latest jets all over the world. Take a <i>Tornado Mk 3</i> or an <i>F-16</i> up against <i>SU-27's</i> or try to sneak past coastal <i>SAMs</i> using the latest <i>F117a Stealth Fighter</i>. You can even try the unproduced <i>EFA</i> jet in combat conditions.
<p>Once an era has been selected for your pilot, you must specify his or her first campaign location. Each era comprises of six possible campaigns which are represented on screen by miniature maps of the campaign area. Any campaigns which have been completed by the pilot are marked with a red cross and are unselectable. The difficulty level of the campaign will be displayed as you move the mouse pointer over it. Click <b>SELECT</b> on your chosen campaign map. Your commanding officer will now appear to give you a general briefing on the campaign and the type of missions you are likely to face. Use <b>SELECT</b> to step through the briefing, or <b>ADJUST</b> to skip the briefing and go on to the <b>Operations Room</b>.</p>
<p>This screen is where you can choose various options before taking to the skies. To select an option, click <b>SELECT</b> over the appropriate door or item. The available options are:</p>
<ul>
<li><b>BRIEFING</b> - This is an important option because without it, you won't have a clue as to your mission objectives. If you are re-attempting a mission, the briefing isn't so vital. A more concise version of the mission briefing can be found on the <b>INTELLIGENCE</b> screen. Like the campaign briefing mentioned earlier, your commanding officer will appear to give you the mission details. Use <b>SELECT</b> to step through the briefing, or <b>ADJUST</b> to return to the operations room.
<li><b>INTELLIGENCE</b> - The intelligence department gives you access to a large map of the campaign area. Various information can be overlaid, such as your target locations and proposed flight plan. For more modern eras, waypoints can be set for the <i>Inertial Navigation System</i> on the plane. The location of friendly and neutral units can also be investigated to help you avoid innocent casualties.
<li><b>CONTROL</b> - This door gives access to various difficulty and control settings. These settings are saved as part of the pilot roster, so they can be set independently for each pilot.<br>
<li><b>Enemy pilots</b> : Sets the skill of the enemy pilots.
<li><b>Ground forces</b> : Sets the skill of the enemy ground forces.
<li><b>Landing Difficulty</b> : Sets how exact your landings have to be. Beginners should select the Easy option, as with the previous options.</p>
<li><b>Music</b> : <i>(not available on Risc PC)</i> Controls the music volume. The music is not played during a mission.
<li><b>Sound FX</b> : Controls the volume of the in-game sound FX.
<li><b>Cockpits</b> : Lets you specify either normal, full cockpit displays or a reduced, faster version for lower-powered ARM2 machines.
<li><b>Control</b> : Lets you specify the default control method, either the mouse or keyboard. The control method can also be altered within the game.
<li><b>Detail</b> : Lets you specify the default graphics detail level. The more detail you have, the slower the game will run. The detail level can also be altered within the game.
</ul>
<i>The remaining options are aimed at novice players, and having them all activated makes for extremely easy missions!</i>
<ul>
<li><b>Infinite fuel/ammo</b> : Stops you running out of fuel or ammo.
<li><b>Infinite FCD</b> : <i>(1960 and 1990 eras only)</i> Gives you an endless supply of <i>Flares, Chaff</i> and <i>Decoys</i>.
<li><b>Invulnerable</b> : Prevents you from being damaged by enemy fire. You can, however, still fly into objects or hit the ground.
<li><b>No SAMs</b> : Disables any <i>SAM (Surface to Air Missile)</i> bases.
<li><b>No AAAs</b> : Disables any <i>AAA (Anti-Aircraft Artillery)</i> bases.
<li><b>No fighters</b> : Removes any enemy fighter threat.
<li><b>Floppy</b> : Saves the above settings to disc or hard disc
</ul>
<li><b>ARMOURY</b> - This door gives you access to the immense range of firepower and ordnance that is available to you in the campaign.<br>
The ordnance available will depend on which era you are in. The aircraft's weapon stations are shown in the top left corner of the screen. Click <b>SELECT</b> to activate the current station. Click <b>ADJUST</b> to clear any contents. Click <b>MENU</b> on one of the offered items to bring up information onto the display panel. Clicking with <b>SELECT</b> on an item will bring up information in the same way as with <b>MENU</b>, but will also load the item into the current station. Clicking on the <i>Auto</i> button will set the ordnance to the recommended payload for the mission. Note that all aircraft have an integral gun/cannon in addition to the weapon stations.
<li><b>HANGAR</b> - The hangar is where you choose which of the eight available aircraft for the era you are going to use for the mission.<br>
Clicking on any of the eight aircraft buttons will select it as the current one and its information will be shown on screen. Each aircraft has its strengths and weaknesses, so it is important to choose an appropriate one for the mission at hand.
<li><b>EXIT</b> - This option returns you to the desktop, after confirmation.
<li><b>ROSTER</b> - Clicking on the pilot roster will return you to the pilot roster screen to select a new pilot.
<li><b>REPLAY</b> - This is where you can show off your favourite missions to your friends. This is a facility for replaying your previous mission. You can also save files here, so you can be vain and reload them again and again. The screen is divided into three areas. In the centre is the main view screen. To the left hand side are some video-recorder style icons, while on the right are some viewpoint icons. The left-hand icons, from top to bottom, are:
<ul>
<li><b>Eject</b> : Click on this to return you to the Operations Room.
<li><b>Play:</b> : Click here to play the recently played or loaded file.
<li><b>Fast/Very Fast</b> : These buttons alter the speed of replay. Click on Play to reset.
<li><b>Stop:</b> : This stops the replay. Click on play to continue.
<li><b>Step:</b> : Click repeatedly to step through frame by frame. Click on Play to reset.
<li><b>Rewind:</b> : Click this icon to return to the beginning of the replay.
</ul>
The icons to the right are fairly self-explanatory, but there are another set of icons which can be revealed by clicking <b>MENU</b>. These icons are:
<ul>
<li><b>Orbit+/Orbit-</b> : These speed up and slow down the orbiting camera, if it is selected. Click on the <b>!Orbit!</b> icon to stop the camera.
<li><b>Range+/Range-</b> : These let you zoom in or out on your external view, whatever the angle.
<li><b>Fly-by</b> : This positions a camera in mid-air, allowing you to fly past.
<li><b>Tactical</b> : This displays a tactical view of the action.
<li><b>Default</b> : Click on this to reset the viewpoint to inside the cockpit.
<li><b>Save/Load</b> : These icons let you save and load a replay file. Just enter a filename at the prompt, press Return, and your file will be saved or loaded.
</ul></ul>
<p>Please note that the Replay feature cannot be used to cheat and take over the plane at any time!</p>
<p>If Replay is selected before a mission is played, then you will be asked for a replay file to load. Press<b>RETURN</b> to take you back to the Operations Room.</p>
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<h2>The Cockpit Screen</h2>
<p>Clicking on the <b>TAKE OFF</b> icon of the Operations Room screen will bring you to the game proper. An animated sequence will begin from outside the aircraft, working its way towards it. You will then be placed in the cockpit ready to begin your mission.</p>
<p>Although there are 32 types of aircraft to choose from, the cockpits in them are basically the same, give or take several instruments. As you can see from the above screenshots, there are far more dials and instruments in the 1990 era than in the 1920 era, but don't let this put you off. Here is a brief guide to the most common instruments. Detailed diagrams of the 1920, 1945 and 1990 cockpits can be found in the centre pages (the 1960 era is too similar to the 1990 era, so is not shown).</p>
<td><b>ENGINE POWER INDICATOR</b> - This can be shown in two forms; as a small dial with a red strip on the top, or - on more modern planes - as a figure somewhere in the head up display. Engine power is calculated as a percentage, so 100% is full engine power.</td></tr>
<td><b>AIRSPEED INDICATOR</b> - Like the engine power indicator, but much larger, and has the letters 'ASI' in the centre. On more modern planes, it is shown as a figure somewhere in the head up display.</td></tr>
<td><b>ALTIMETER</b> - Like the engine power, this is shown as either a large dial, usually alongside the engine power dial, or a figure in the head up display of more modern aircraft.</td></tr>
<td><b>COMPASS</b> - Like the altimeter this is shown as either a large dial with the four compass directions on it, or as a tape compass on the head up display e.g north east shown as 045.</td></tr>
<td><b>WEAPONS</b> - In all the aircraft, there is a display showing the currently selected weapon, and the quantity left (depending on whether you selected <b>Infinite Ammo</b> from the Options screen). Pressing <b>SPACE </b> will cycle through the available weapons. In modern aircraft, pressing <b>RETURN </b> will cycle through suitable targets in the immediate area for the selected weapon.</td></tr>
</table>
<p>These are very basic descriptions of what you will find in the cockpit. The more modern planes have far more features than the older planes, but the above ones will be found in all of them. On older aircraft, there are usually no lamps to show the status of wheelbrakes, flaps or landing gear. They are more prominent on the modern aircraft, and are lit red or green. Some aircraft do not have the ability to lift the landing gear. There is more information on the instruments of the modern aircraft at the end of <b>Chapter 4</b>.</p>
