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A History of Military Flight Simulations on the PC
by Len "Viking 1" Hjalmarson The Mature Years: 1997-2000 Graphic Simulations released a new iteration of F/A-18 3.0 titled F/A-18 Korea, complete with 3DFX support. This detailed simulation of the F/A 18 had the most beautiful skies and clouds yet seen on the PC. In this same year Looking Glass Technologies released Flight Unlimited III, and Microsoft released Microsoft Flight Sim 98. Imagic released iF-22, Eidos released Joint Strike Fighter and EA released US Navy Fighters '97. Joint Strike Fighter was developed by Innerloop in Norway. The graphics were stunning, but required high end hardware to notch them up (Pentium 233MMX with 64MB and 3DFX. The 3d accelerator wars were heating up at this time, with Nvidia, S3, ATI, Matrox, and 3DFX vying for top honors.
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Jane’s Combat Simulations released Longbow 2
in mid year, a game many consider the best helicopter simulation ever. With a fully dynamic campaign system, and the first use of dynamic lighting seen in a PC simulation, the game was both beautiful and challenging. Mission variety was huge, and a powerful mission planner made it even better. Jane’s innovations included voice narrative in-flight training, first seen in the original Jane’s Longbow. Longbow 2 modeled three flyable helicopters: the AH-64D Longbow, the Kiowa Warrior and the Black Hawk troop transport. Multiplayer support was good, and many dedicated Longbow squadrons sprang up on the Internet. |
This article is copyright ThrustMaster and Leonard Hjalmarson. It may not be reproduced in whole or in part by any means without permission. Email MiGMan with your experiences or any information related to this sim. |
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The contents of this website are copyright © 1998 - 2007 by MiGMan |
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