APDL Flight Simulator Games

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<html>  <body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <h2>Chapter 3 - Playing the Game</h2> As mentioned earlier, even though the wide variety of aircraft available offer many different features and instruments, they are all controlled in a similar manner. The following pages will list all the controls available to you. If you want to change them (or you own a Risc PC) then you can use the !BOWKeys application. Full instructions are available within the program. The mouse and keyboard are used to give fully proportional control inputs for the elevators and ailerons. The controls are quite sensitive which gives very fine control. Moving the mouse forward (or ' on the keyboard) will make the aircraft dive, back (?) will make it climb. Moving it left (Z) or right (X) will roll the aircraft in the appropriate direction. The equivalent keyboard controls are shown in brackets from here onwards. The throttle is controlled by two of the mouse buttons. SELECT (+) will increase, and MENU (-) will decrease the throttle. The third mouse button, ADJUST (Alt) will fire the currently selected weapon. <a name="L0019"></a> <h4>Principal Flying Functions</h4> <ul> <li>L - RAISE/LOWER UNDERCARRIAGE - When lowered, the undercarriage produces drag which reduces the aircraft's maximum speed. At very high speed damage can be caused, signified by a dull thud. Note that not all aircraft have a retractable undercarriage, especially very early ones such as biplanes. <li>D - DEPLOY/RETRACT AIRBRAKE - Some aircraft, notably the more modern ones, have airbrakes which, when deployed, produce drag to slow the aircraft down. This is primarily used during a landing procedure. <li>F - RAISE/LOWER FLAPS - Some aircraft, notably the more modern ones, have flaps in the wings which can be lowered to produce more lift and improve the aircraft's stall speed. These are especially useful for ground attack and when landing but may get damaged if used at high speed. This is indicated in the same way as a damaged undercarriage - a dull thud. <li>E - RE-START ENGINE - Used to restart the engine after it has stalled due to you exceeding your aircraft's maximum ceiling altitude. Note that a stalled engine may sometimes be difficult to restart. <li>B - WHEELBRAKES ON/OFF - Wheelbrakes are used for stopping the aircraft on the runway. A mission is only complete when you come to a complete halt on the correct destination runway. </ul> <a name="L0020"></a> <h4>Navigation Controls</h4> The following keys on the keyboard aid you with navigation during a mission: <ul> <li>M - VIEW MAP - This key lets you view the campaign map. In the 1920 and 1945 eras, pressing M toggles the map on/off. In the 1960 and 1990 eras, however, electronic maps in the aircraft can be viewed in five orders of magnification, by repeatedly pressing M. <li>W - TOGGLE WAYPOINT - On more modern aircraft, waypoints for targets can be set for the Inertial Navigation System (INS). Pressing W will cycle through the available waypoints. Use this with the tape compass on the HUD, to guide you to the required target. <li>H - TOGGLE HUD ON/OFF - This toggles the Head Up Display (HUD) on/off, on the modern aircraft. <li>Cursor Left/Right - STEER NOSE WHEE - These keys are used for nose-wheel steering while on the ground. Note that this feature only works on modern aircraft. <li>I - INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM - This key displays the Instrument Landing System (ILS) information on the aircraft's HUD, if it is available. This will help you to line up with the runway. <li>DELETE, COPY (END on Risc PC), PAGE DOWN - 1st/ 2nd/3rd MULTIFUNCTION DISPLAY = These keys cycle through all available modes on the first, second and third Multi-Function Display (MFD) of the modern aircraft's HUD. </ul> <a name="L0022"></a> <h4>Weaponry Controls</h4> These keys help you to select weapons and targets: <ul> <li>SPACE - TOGGLE WEAPON - This cycles through the available weapon stations. <li>RETURN - SELECT TARGET - This selects the next target for the currently selected weapon. Repeated pressing will cycle through all suitable targets. </ul> <a name="L0023"></a> <h4>Defence Controls</h4> Defending yourself is important - you wouldn't last very long otherwise, so these keys will aid you during your mission: <ul> <li>R - SELECT RANGE FOR RADAR - If the aircraft has radar, this key cycles its range through 10km, 5km, 2.5km and 1.25km before resetting to 10km. <li>T - SELECT RANGE FOR THREAT DISPLAY - If the aircraft has a threat display, this key cycles its range through 5km, 2.5km, 1.25km and 0.625km before resetting to 5km. <li>LEFT SHIFT - DROP CHAFF - Chaffs are used to mask your radar signal from radar guided missiles. If this is present on your aircraft, then the missile will lose track of you. <li>LEFT CTRL - DROP FLARE - Flares are used to confuse infra-red guided missiles away from your aircraft, if they are present. <li>TAB - LAUNCH DECOY - Decoys, if present on your aircraft, can be deployed against both infra-red and radar guided missiles, and have a higher success rate than chaff and flares. <li>PRINT - EJECTOR SEAT - If you are in danger of being killed, then the only way is out. Press this key to eject yourself from your plane. Do not use this when you are close to ground level, otherwise your parachute will not be deployed in time, killing yourself. </ul> Although there may appear to be a lot of controls, most of them are only used occasionally. <a name="L0024"></a> <h4>Game Function Controls</h4> These keys are concerned with graphic and sound output, plus the effect of time in the game: <ul> <li>N - TOGGLE ENGINE SOUND ON/OFF - If the engine sound gets irritating, use this to switch its noise off. <li>S/Q - TOGGLE SOUND EFFECTS ON/OFF - If all the sound in the game gets irritating, then these keys will be useful. <li>K - TOGGLE CONTROL METHOD - This key toggles between mouse and keyboard control. The control method can also be selected from the Options screen. <li>F1 - TOGGLE SOLID/WIREFRAME DRAWING - This key toggles the display between wireframe and solid graphics modes. <li>F2 - TOGGLE GRADUATED HORIZON ON/OFF - The graduated horizon does look nice, doesn't it? No? Well, if you feel you don't want it, then this key is for you. <li>F3 - TOGGLE GLOBAL SHADOWS ON/OFF - This key toggles the ground shadows on and off. <li>F4 - TOGGLE HUD COLOUR - Press this key to toggle the HUD display colour between a selection of the finest hues. <li>F5 - NORMAL TIME MODE - Does this make sense? If not, then read on... <li>F6 - ACCELERATED TIME MODE - During brief periods of inactivity in your mission, you can speed up the game moderately, by pressing this key. The effect is cancelled if any gun or missile fire takes place. Now you know the purpose of F5. <li>F7 - FAST ACCELERATED TIME MODE - For unusually long periods of inactivity, the game can be speeded up even more by pressing this key. Like the accelerated time mode, this effect is also cancelled if there is any gun or missile fire. Use with care - it is very easy to lose control of the plane! <li>F8 - TOGGLE CLOUDS ON/OFF - Some missions take place in bad weather. But if you want less cloud, don't wait for the weather to clear, just press F8 . Press it again to turn the clouds back on. <li>F9 - MINIMUM DETAIL SETTING - For less powerful machines, use either this or the medium detail setting to prevent the game from slowing down, or blowing up the computer. <li>F10 - MEDIUM DETAIL SETTING - This setting provides adequate detail for most missions. <li>F11 - MAXIMUM DETAIL SETTING - For owners of ARM3 machines or Risc PCs, use this setting for maximum graphics detail. <li>F12 - AUTO DETAIL SETTING - If you can't decide which setting is best for your machine, press this key, and the computer will choose the optimum detail setting to maintain game speed. </ul> <a name="L0025"></a> <h4>Action Viewpoints</h4> Birds of War would be extremely difficult to play if you could not look around for enemy planes. Hence, there are a number of ways you can view the outside world. If you fancy an out-of-body experience, then you can choose from a variety of different viewpoints from outside the aircraft. <ul> <li>ENTER - TOGGLE INTERNAL/EXTERNAL VIEW - This will cycle the chosen viewpoint between inside the cockpit, and outside the aircraft. <li>KEYPAD 8, 2, 4, 6 - AHEAD, BEHIND, LEFT AND RIGHT INTERNAL/EXTERNAL VIEW - These allow you to view the sides or rear of the aircraft. <li>KEYPAD 5 - INTERNAL FULL SCREEN AHEAD VIEW - This key removes the cockpit from the ahead view, and will display brief information such as airspeed and compass heading. <li>KEYPAD 0 - RESET TO DEFAULT INTERNAL VIEW - This reverses the effect of keypad 5. <li>KEYPAD . - INTERNAL/EXTERNAL UP VIEW - This allows you to look above for any enemy aircraft. <li>KEYPAD 7 - ORDNANCE VIEW - This allows you to view from the most recently fired ordnance, either a bullet or missile. <li>KEYPAD 9 - SELECTED TARGET VIEW - This allows you to view from the currently selected air or ground target. <li>KEYPAD 1 - TAKEOFF RUNWAY VIEW - This view tracks your position from the takeoff runway. <li>KEYPAD 3 - EXTERNAL TACTICAL VIEW - This view makes you airsick - it glides around your aircraft, so you can see targets without having to press too many keys. li>KEYPAD / - EXTERNAL CAMERA VIEW - A very fancy outside shot that tracks your aircraft's position. <li>KEYPAD *, # - SLOW DOWN/SPEED UP ORBITING CAMERA - These keys slow down the rate at which your tactical camera moves about the aircraft. <li>KEYPAD -, + - ZOOM IN/OUT EXTERNAL VIEW - These keys zoom in or out on the currently selected view. <li>PAGE UP - FLY BY VIEW - Another fancy viewpoint - your plane passes a stationary camera that pans across with you, before moving to another location for another great shot. However, it is of limited use during combat. </ul> <a name="L0026"></a> <h4>Taking Off</h4> To take off, use SELECT (+) to increase throttle to 100%, press F to lower the flaps (if present), and then press B to release the wheelbrakes. The aircraft will now begin to move. If you are flying a modern plane, then it will start to move anyway, so make sure the wheelbrakes are off, otherwise you will not gain enough speed to take off. Once you are past the stall speed, pull back on the mouse (/) to about +5 degrees of pitch and press L to raise the landing gear (if present). Read Chapter 1 - A Quick Taste for more details. <a name="L0027"></a> <h4>Landing</h4> Landing is a little more tricky at first, and depends on the plane you are flying and whether you are landing on a ground runway or aircraft carrier. Here is one landing method. Fly towards the runway until you are about 1km away. Now turn and fly parallel to it until you are from 5 to 15km away (depending on the aircraft) at about 1000ft. Now execute a 180 degree turn towards the runway. If you are in a modern aircraft, use the waypoint indicator on the tape compass to direct you to the runway. You may need to press W to toggle to the right waypoint beforehand if you are flying a modern aircraft. Also switch on the ILS by pressing I to help you line up parallel with the runway. Reduce power and use the airbrakes and flaps to reduce speed as you start to descend. When you are about 1km away from the near-end of the runway, deploy the undercarriage, by pressing L. Try to cross the runway threshold at about 50 feet travelling about 40 knots faster than the stall speed. Pull the nose up at the last moment to flare the landing. Once touchdown is achieved, reduce power to zero, apply the wheelbrakes, and use the left and right arrow keys to keep your plane straight if necessary. Touching down with more than +10 or less than -5 degrees of pitch or with the wings too far from the horizontal will result in a crash. Of course this is not the only way to land. But this is a tried and tested method. Closing your eyes and hoping for the best is usually fatal in Birds of War. <a name="L0028"></a> <j4>Afterburners</h4> If the aircraft is fitted with afterburners, they will automatically engage when 100% thrust is selected. Afterburners give about 50% more thrust at the expense of greatly increased fuel usage. <a name="L0029"></a> <h4>Firing Weapons</h4> The amount of firepower available to you depends on the era you are in, and the plane you are flying. But all the aircraft have an integral gun/cannon fitted, fired by pressing ADJUST (Alt). More complicated weapons, however, require a target to be selected. Pressing RETURN will cycle through all the targets in the immediate area which are suitable for the selected weapon. The currently selected target is shown on the HUD by a square, or a diamond if the target is in range of the selected weapon. The weapons available fall into five basic categories: <ul> <li>BALLISTIC - These are unguided weapons such as cannon and rocket pods which are aimed by pointing the aircraft at the target. <li>AIR-TO-GROUND MISSILES - These are missiles such as the Maverick and Hellfire which are radar or infra-red guided to the target. The missiles can only track targets within a 45 degree cone in front of the aircraft. If the target leaves this cone, the missile will lose it. To fire these weapons, press RETURN until the correct target is selected then press ADJUST (Alt). The missile does the rest. <li>AIR-TO-SEA MISSILES - These are similar to the air-to-ground missiles, except they lock onto marine targets. <li>AIR-TO-AIR MISSILES - These are also similar to the air-to-ground missiles but are faster and more agile. They only lock onto airborne targets and can be confused by chaff, flares or decoys. <li>BOMBS - Although there are three types of bombs, they are all fired in the same way. Use RETURN to select the target as usual. A fall-line is shown on the HUD from the gunsight towards the ground to indicate the direction the bomb will fall. A short horizontal foot is drawn at the end of the fall-line to indicate the projected point of impact. A range-bar is shown across the top of the HUD to indicate how far from the target the projected impact point is. When the bar has reduced to a single line, it is time to drop the bomb. To hit the target, the bomb fall-line should pass through the target rectangle when it is released. Bombs are the trickiest ordnance to target, but they are also the most destructive and can be used against land, sea and even airborne targets! The three types of bomb are: <ul> <li>Free-fall : These simply fall from the aircraft until they hit the ground. Because they fly at the same speed as the aircraft, you have to fly high enough and not get caught in the blast. <li>Retarded : These bombs either have fins or use a parachute to slow their descent. This gives the delivering aircraft time to clear the blast area, so they can be dropped at lower altitudes. <li>Glide : These bombs incorporate lift surfaces which allow them to literally 'fly' towards the target. This means that their range is dictated by how high they are when you drop them. If dropped from above 3000 feet, they can often travel for several kilometers before impact. </ul></ul> <a name="L0030"></a> <h4>The Enemy</h4> The enemy, as you would expect, come in many forms. You will have to contend with enemy fighters armed with cannon and missiles on most missions. There are also ground based Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) and Surface-to-Air-Missile (SAM) emplacements. As well as this, most enemy vehicles and ships will carry one or more machine guns or 20mm Anti-Aircraft cannon. The enemy does not sit waiting to be destroyed. Enemy ships will patrol their waters and tanks and self-propelled guns patrol roads. You may also encounter bombers, cargo aircraft, oil rigs, trains and all manner of other vehicles and structures. Please remember that not everything you will see are enemies. There are both friendly and neutral targets which you should be careful not to destroy, or else you will get more than a slapped wrist from your commanding officer on your return! The skill level of enemy aircraft and ground emplacements can be selected from theOptions screen. <a name="L0031"></a> <h4>Combat Tactics</h4> When you are attacked by cannon/guns your best bet is to simply try to outmanoeuvre the gunner with evasive action. Avoiding missiles is a little more tricky. There are three types of missile: <ul> <li>1st GENERATION INFRA RED (IR) - These missiles can only lock on to exhaust heat from behind. They can sometimes be confused by dumping a flare and trying to turn to face the oncoming missile. <li>2nd GENERATION IR - These missiles can lock onto aircraft surface heat as well as the exhaust plume which makes them harder to avoid. Again, dump a flare and try sharp turns, dives or climbs to evade it. <li>RADAR GUIDED - These are the most difficult to avoid. Chaff can be used to mask your own radar signal followed by a high-G manoeuvre and some praying. </ul> Decoys can be used against both IR and Radar guided missiles and usually have a higher chance of drawing the missile away from you. Do remember that you are not the only one to have these defensive measures at your disposal, enemy fighters also have chaff and flares and will try their best not to get blown out of the sky. SAM sites are usually armed with radar guided missiles which again can be confused with chaff or decoys. Note that although they will show on the threat display and will light the incoming missile warning lamp, they will not sound the warning klaxon - sometimes the only warning is when one zips past your nose at mach 4! <a name="L0032"></a> <h4>Weather</h4> The forces of nature cannot delay the course of war. You may be sent on missions in any condition, day or night. Rain, snow, thunderstorms and sandstorms can all be somewhat distracting and will reduce visibility. All but thunderstorms can usually be climbed over. Sometimes there may be low cloud to contend with. This will obscure objects on the other side of it and reduce visibility to zero while flying through it! <a name="L0033"></a> <h4>Aircraft Carriers</h4> You will on occasion be required to take-off from and land back on aircraft carriers. The takeoff procedure is identical to the norm except that when you release the brakes, the carrier's catapult will accelerate you off the deck. Landing is a little more complex as you must come in from the rear of the carrier to catch the arrester wires - your wheelbrakes are not good enough to stop you on their own. If you try and approach from the front of the carrier, then you will miss the wires and plunge off the other end of the carrier. This is rather irritating after completing a particularly difficult mission. <a name="L0034"></a> <h4>Completing the Mission</h4> Once you have completed the mission objectives and have come to a halt on the specified runway, your commanding officer will re-appear to de-brief you. Your performance will be assessed and you will be informed whether the mission was a success or a failure. Your pilot can only progress onto the next mission once the previous one has been completed successfully. A pilot can, however, attempt a mission any number of times in order to complete it. Once all eight of the missions have been completed you must select another campaign. Once all six campaigns have been completed, the pilot has no choice but to retire from active duty. If a pilot is killed in action, his or her record will be retained on the roster but he or she cannot fly any more. Makes sense really. <a name="L0035"></a> <h4>Damage</h4> Depending on the aircraft being flown, there are some aircraft components which will fail as the aircraft is damaged by gunfire, or bad luck. Somewhere in the cockpit there will be a set of eight small boxes. As each of the following aspects of your plane are damaged, one of these boxes will light up. Some items may become completely inoperational while others will suffer from reduced performance. The various components are: <ul> <li>NAVIGATION - If the navigation system becomes inoperable you will lose ILS feedback, waypoint information and the electronic map. <li>HYDRAULICS - When the hydraulic system fails the flaps, airbrake, landing gear and wheelbrakes will all become inoperable, remaining in their current position. Do remember to raise your undercarriage and flaps on take-off, otherwise they may become inoperable, making it impossible to land! <li>WEAPONS - The weapons system can become damaged to the extent where you will get no feedback from the HUD. You therefore have no way of telling which is the current target, when a target is in range or have access to the bomb sight. <li>HUD - the HUD can suffer a catastrophic failure, rendering all HUD functions such as weapons information, heading and altitude inoperational. <li>RADAR - If the radar fails, you will lose the main radar display and the threat display. <li>FUEL - The fuel tanks can be damaged to the extent that they will leak at a constant rate. <li>ENGINE - If the engine is damaged, it will develop only 50% of its usual thrust. If afterburners are fitted, they will become inoperational. <li>AVIONICS - The avionics of the aircraft may be damaged, resulting in sluggish response and much reduced agility. </ul> Please note that aircraft of the first and second eras do not have indicators for damage suffered, so your only indication of this is when they stop working! <a name="L0036"></a> <h4>Modern Aircraft</h4> The last part of this chapter will cover some of the weird and wonderful instruments you will find in your plane. These instruments have been covered briefly earlier in this manual, but this section goes into more detail. <ul> <li>INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM (ILS) - Most of the aircraft have this feature, and is designed to assist you in making a smooth landing. The principle behind the ILS is that an imaginary beam is projected from the runway. A pilot must "ride down the beam" to make a perfect approach. Pressing I will display a large crosshair in the centre of the HUD. The vertical line shows horizontal deviation from the runway, while the horizontal line shows vertical deviation. So to achieve the right position, the crosshair must be centred precisely. If you are off-line, make minor directional adjustments to correct your alignment, using the mouse or keyboard control. <li>MULTI-FUNCTION DISPLAYS (MFDs) - These are the most important instrument in the cockpit after the HUD. You can have up to three MFDs in any one plane, mostly those of the 1990 era. Aircraft of the 1960s are less advanced, and have only one or two. Each MFD however, has several modes at your disposal. They can display waypoint information, electronic maps, threat displays, radar, and even tracking camera views of the currently selected target, although this does not function if you are using cannons. Some of the modes are visual representations of other instruments, such as damage. This is shown as a profile of your aircraft, with affected areas shown in red. To toggle through the available modes on your MFDs, use the Delete, Copy (or End on the Risc PC), and Page Down keys <li>INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM (INS) AND WAYPOINT INDICATOR - If your aircraft has a an INS and waypoint indicator, then they will prove useful in finding enemy targets mentioned in your briefing. You may need to toggle through the available modes of any one of your MFDs to find the waypoint information display. The display consists of a list of bearings, and your distance from them. One of the waypoints will be highlighted in a different colour. At the top of your HUD, just above the compass, you will see a yellow line, pointing either left or right. Read the bearing on your MFD, and turn to face the appropriate direction. A small vertical line will then show directly on the compass, showing you precisely the bearing of your desired target. To select a new viewpoint, press W and the next bearing in the list will be highlighted on your MFD. Once you know how to use the INS and waypoint indicator, you will find the missions of the 1960 and 1990 eras much easier to play.  </html>