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Can a flight sim offer too much detail, even for dedicated players?

If it seems like it’s been a while since a meaty technical helicopter simulation hit the shelves, that’s because it has been. Deep simulations like Jane’s AH64 Longbow came out in the late 1990s, and while some nice fixed-wing products have since made it to market, a truly detailed helicopter simulation has been a long time coming.

Rotary wing fans should be thankful for DCS: Black Shark ($40, requires Microsoft Windows XP/Vista, 2.0 Ghz processor, 2GB system RAM, 5GB hard drive space, 3D video card with 256MB video memory, Digital Combat Simulator, digitalcombatsimulator.com), a sophisticated simulation that rewards patience and dedication. If you’re interested in learning everything possible about the Kamov Ka-50 Black Shark down to the last switch in the cockpit, this is the sim for you. Playing can be a demanding exercise, however. Suffice it to say that the “abbreviated” start – up checklist includes more than 30 steps— performed by toggling specific switches and buttons on the simulated cockpit panels— just to taxi to the runway.

While an interactive 3D cockpit isn’t new, few sims manage this level of detail and such fine graphics. Black Shark even models the switch hoods. Everything looks great, including the aircraft and terrain, though as usual for higher-end sims you’ll get the best results with a faster PC and hardware. The flight model feels great, but players will crash a lot until they develop a steady hand.

If Black Shark seems daunting, it is. But the game also features aids for less experienced players. An arcade mode gets them airborne quickly, and support for NaturalPoint’s TrackIR head-tracking peripheral reduces the situational awareness workload. Several tutorial videos and more than 550 pages of digital manuals explain Ka-50 operations. The Ka-50 itself helps out a little, as the coaxial rotor system relieves the torque issues inherent in traditional rotary wing systems.

Black Shark certainly doesn’t look like the last gasp of a struggling software genre. The title is as stout as the best of them, ensuring that users get plenty of play value between single sorties, campaign missions and a useful mission builder. Cooperative multiplayer via the Internet will add months if not years to gameplay. Moreover, the developers promise that Black Shark is just the first title in a new series of flight sims. It’s a great offering— even better news for the diehards.

 

Originally published in the November 2009 issue of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here.