AIRWARE

World War II aircraft take center stage in the current crop of simulation offerings.

Bernard Dy has been reviewing software for Aviation History for more than a year. We have welcomed his straightforward evaluations and his practical comments on the whole range of CD-ROM, Internet and diskette versions of the latest software offerings. Beginning with this issue, Bernie will have a regular column with more of the same. If you come across aviation-related software that has not been reviewed, drop Bernie an e-mail by visiting www.thehistorynet.com.

The last year turned up a variety of interesting offerings for flight simulation players, with World War II aircraft taking center stage. In this issue we review the contestants in this competitive category.

Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator (CFS) was the first to arrive ($50; requires Pentium 133, Windows 95, 16 MB RAM, 200 MB hard drive space, double-speed CD-ROM). This product is really the latest in the Flight Simulator series of general aviation simulations. Microsoft enhanced the simulation engine to handle guns, combat damage, WWII-era aircraft and new artificial intelligence. This simulation also features real world geography, realistic flight modeling and the tremendous expandibility of Flight Simulator 98, which allows users and third party organizations to create aircraft and terrain for CFS. This feature is a classic strength of the Flight Simulator line and should add tremendous longevity to the title. The caveat with this feature is that it is not easy for a novice user to implement. Some fine planes from Interactive Magic’s RAF Collection, an add-on to Flight Simulator 98, for example, can be imported for use in the game, but would require further editing to be fully usable.

Users need not be experts in creating new material for the simulation, however, as plenty of material comes in the basic package. Centered on the air war over Europe, CFS offers eight flyable aircraft, encompassing the popular single-engine fighters in the British, American and German arsenals. Flight models are realistic, supporting stalls, spins, compression and appropriate craft limitations such as maximum speeds and maneuverability.

The graphics are good and the terrain is photo-realistic, based on European geographical data from 1944. Individual sorties and simulated careers are available for the American, British and German air forces. Missions offer diverse tasks, spanning many air-to-air and air-to-ground challenges. The documentation is also very nice, blending history and illustrations into the instruction.

An otherwise competent effort, CFS does have a few flaws. It lacks a system for wingman communication, tends to prefer faster hardware to run well, and has poor 3-D “virtual cockpits,” though its two-dimensional cockpit art is well-done.

European Air War, from MicroProse ($45; requires Pentium 166, Windows 95, 32 MB RAM, 50 MB hard drive space, quad-speed CD-ROM drive), is the next entry in this race. The bar of standards is never a stable one in such a competitive environment, but one does not always expect an underdog to move it. European Air War (EAW) may lack the visual polish and cutting technological edge of some of its contemporaries, but it sets a lovely standard for WWII simulations.

EAW is like the overachieving athlete that isn’t the fastest, strongest or smartest, but above average across the board and capable of achieving substantial results. A good simulation must juggle realism, accessibility and entertainment value, and this is what EAW does extremely well. It provides nice flight modeling, lush visuals and excellent touches like native language briefings. If you take a tour as a pilot in the Luftwaffe, you will hear flight briefings and wingmen speaking in German.

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