Amiga Computing - Commodore Is Awesome

as old as home computing itself, this
type of game always attracted a
hardcore fan base. There were, and
still are, people who relish the oppor-
O tunity h. good to old immerse flight themselves snit. A genre in almost completely
authentic flying experiences -
people to whom accuracy is more important
than appearance.
An equally large number of game players.
however, found the whole genre deadly dull.
Ground details were bland and unconvincing.
There was no sensation of motion, and socalled
dogfights often boiled down to electronic
combat with specks on the horizon. Then
1
1
1
.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
L
I
T
Y
TFX stands for Tactical Fighter
Experiment, a fact which should remind
prospective buyers that this is not just a
flashy visual feast, but rather a very
serious simulation.
There are three hi-tech planes to
choose from: The Eurofighter 2000, the
Lockheed F-22 or the F-117 Stealth
Fighter. Each one handles differently and
possesses different armament capacities.
Several varying modes allow for different
levels of action and involvement To
start with, the arcade mode is a bit of nononsense
fun that sets the player off
right in the middle of the action. The
plain object here is to compete for kills
against the dock and work your way up
the hi-score board.
In preparation for more serious challenges,
ten training missions must be successfully
completed. This should give
players a good introduction to mastering
the navigation and weapon systems.
Once players prove themselves to be
up to the job, they can take on the role
of pilot flying for the United Nations in a
large variety of missions. Alternatively,
they may wish to test their skills against
all the different flying conditions in the
simulator mode.
Combat is realistic yet exciting. You'll
find it very difficult, for example, to bring
anything down with a chain gun, but
tracking MiGs with the right missile isn't
too tough.
The copy we had did still have some
bugs, most of which were minor, One of
the worst was the Chinook helicopters -
the models had been imported incorrectly,
leaving them distorted in design
DID are aware of these flaws so hopefully
they will be swiftly corrected.
IFX is highly configurable, so it's possible
to mess with various options during
flight. For example, players can alter how
strictly the laws of physics are applied to
their aircraft.
Similarly, adjustments can be made to
the level of G-force effects the pilot will
suffer. Set it to maximum and some players
will find it too restrictive - any
manoeuvre seems to have the pilot
blacking out and breathing heavily.
TFX came along to make the sceptics sit up and
think again. Developed originally for the PC it
featured convincing ground terrain, fluffy 3D
clouds, satisfying explosions and gorgeous,
state-of-the-art airborne technology. In short
here was a sim that looked exciting.
Now, Digital Image Design have unveiled
vx for the Amiga. Possibly the most demanding
piece of software your machine has ever
had to cope with, we test fly the state-of-theart
sim to see if the conversion was worth the
wait.
Taking a sideways look at the
night-life before I get down to
serious business
Action at the break of dawn:
The F2.2 swoops Over
., c i t y
Ws not all fun in the sun
INTRODUCTMII
features • whole range of climates.
including this all too familiar gloom
The F22 evading incoming missiles -
remembering to lift the undercarriage
would have helped
SOUPEII-up SIM
Forget the empty, flat landscapes and
the basic block-like shapes used by some
flight Sims to represent enemy units, TFX
was designed to inspire and awe, and
the words 'if looks could kill' have never
seemed so apt,
From the moment the player starts
the engines up, there are significant differences
between the look of this game
and the standard sim fare. The skies in
TFX have space and depth, and
once airborne, the player
has a panoramic view of
patchwork fi elds or
detailed cities passing
beneath them, It is a far
cry from the blue sky,
yellow desert simplicity of
some flying games,
Missions can take place in
a range of conditions including
day, night and dawn flights, and players
may encounter cloud cover or even
storm weather accompanied by sheet
lightning.
The visual realism gives each mission
a different flavour. Night-time bombing
doesn't just mean flying with a blacked.
out screen - the sky in IFX has a faint,
gradiated luminescence, while on the
Mission de tarts are given in • tmospheric brio fi ng scenes
Having read how demanding TFX is as a piece of software, you may be wondering
what the minimum amount of kit is to get it running properly.
The bottom line is that it can be played on a basic Al200 - just about - but you
will have to turn down the detail to its minimum setting, which means missing
out on some of the finer touches. Having said that, it still looks better than the
opposition in most respects.
If you've got an accelerator things start to get more impressive, and the more
fast RAM available the better. There's also an FPU version, so if you're lucky
enough to have an accelerator fitted with a maths co-processor you should be set
up for a pretty stunning experience.
Whatever your machine's specifications are, however, one thing must be
stressed if you want to enjoy playing the game: It needs an analogue joystick.
While there is an option to use a digital joystick or keyboard, this seriously undermines
the smoothness of control, especially when flying the planes at high speed
For whatever reason, the digital controllers can't keep up with the graphics_
ground, cities are represented by
convincing clusters of light.
Cross over enemy gun installations
and the air is filled by streams of rising
light as tracer bullets track onto your aircraft.
At times it can be breathtakingly
atmospheric.
Stormy conditions are gloomy and
grey, with the most convincing clouds
seen in any game I've played yet_ As
you pass into them the view
outside the window gradually
mists before becoming
completely obscured.
Explosions, special
effects and fancy camera
views are offered as a satisfying
reward for honing
those flying skills. Physical
danger is represented by more
than a flashing warning light in the
cockpit, as AA guns pump the skies full
of clouds of shrapnel.
It may not be politically correct, but
the kill is what a game like this is ultimately
about It's rewarding, therefore,
that explosions are impressive and that
it's easy to view any victim going down.
Players can launch missiles and watch
them streak off leaving a trail behind,