Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!emory!mephisto!mcnc!rti!dg-rtp!hunt From: hunt@dg-rtp.rtp.dg.com (Greg Hunt) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.games Subject: Re: F/A-18 Interceptor; How do I recover stolen F-16's? Message-ID: <1990Oct1.011508.11649@dg-rtp.dg.com> Date: 1 Oct 90 01:15:08 GMT References: Sender: usenet@dg-rtp.dg.com (Usenet Administration) Reply-To: hunt@dg-rtp.rtp.dg.com Organization: Data General Corp., Research Triangle Park, NC Lines: 121 In article , jkh@meepmeep.pcs.com (Jordan K. Hubbard) writes: > Ok, I admit it, I'm stumped a bit early in the game, but.. > > Having finally gotten the hang of the controls (through no fault of > my documentation; it's all in German!) and whatnot, I managed to > qualify myself and do a reasonable job on the first couple of > missions. Then comes the "Stolen Aircraft" bit. I simply cannot > figure out a way to get the buggers to turn back, surrender, whatever! > It ain't easy, that's for sure. I launch, go to afterburners and race to where the MIGs are, and blow both of them out of the sky even if they don't attack me (I know it's against the rules of engagement, and I'd get courtmartialed in real life, but it's sooooo much fun!). This gives me enough time to get the stolen planes turned around before they are "beyond recovery" or whatever the message is that comes up if you take too long. Now the hard part. By now the F-16's are usually headed due west on course 270. I line up also on 270 and use afterburners until I'm about 5 miles from them. Get a missle radar lock on one of the planes to get flight information on them (course, speed, and altitude). Match course and altitude as close as you can. Use the + and - keys (I think that's right) to adjust your thrust in small increments until you have only a 30 to 40 knot speed advantage on them. Creep up on their tails. Once you have that done, use only the rudder (< and >) keys to position your plane directly between both of the stolen F-16's. You need to be real gentle here, because making changes too rapidly will send you off course. Make sure your altitude is the same as theirs within about 20 feet or so. They sometimes change altitude so stay sharp. Keep creeping up on them. Align your plane and then play with the thrust only. When you get close to them, decrease your thrust till you have only a 4 or 5 knot speed advantage. Then - fly right between them (try the outside view if your confident enough, it's neat!). You have to get ahead of them by a plane length or so, and BINGO! you get the CONGRATULATIONS! message. The stolen planes will climb and turn around (try the outside view backwards so you can see them turn). Go back to 100% thrust and fly back to the carrier. If you keep your radar lock on them and fly slowly back to the carrier, you'll notice the stolen F-16's turn back around to 270 after you leave the area. First time I saw that, I did a vertical half-loop, hit the afterburners, charged back at them, and blew them both up. Later, I realized the game isn't smart enough to land them. Oops. I took me several attempts to get them to turn around. I even smacked into one once when I hit the rudder too hard. I only got minor structural damage, but he crashed and burned. Ouch! If you're quick enough on the spot, you can get the stolen F-16's to turn around before the MIGs jump you. I've only gotten that to happen once in all the times I've tried. Sometimes I just line up on them and practice hitting them with the canon, which is fun too, and they just sit there. Except for once in a while after I've nailed one of the F-16's, the other one is declared "hostile", it turns red on the radar screen, and he turns to a new course and punches up the thrust. I got him with a missle. > > Also, what's that nifty little code wheel for? I've wanted to use it > but the game always prompts me for "Any countercode" and hasn't given > a hoot for what number I type in to it. Bear in mind that my docs are > in german, so if somebody knows of a special use for this little wheel, > I'd be glad to hear it. > Sounds like whoever sold you that game "fixed it" to remove the code validation. Before each mission you have to enter a code from the wheel where your game is saying "any countercode". The game gives you a four digit code, each digit of which you match up on one ring of the wheel. The final digit is matched against the windows in the center of the wheel. That indicates the window with the proper countercode, which you type in. > > It would also be nice to have more missions, esp in the air-to-ground role. > Russion tanks moving up from Mexico and going after Silicon Valley would be > something (still not sure whether I'd mind or not :-). Considering that > the missile object tracking stuff seems to be already well done, they could > also add a ground-to-air threat (SAMS) without too much extra effort. That > would add a lot! Helicopters, enemy missile boats, mumble mumble.. > I agree completely! I'd really like to see more missions. Fighter/bomber missions would be alot of fun. How about a NIGHT mission requiring a landing on the carrier (gives me the shivers just thinking about it)? I'd also like to see something cute when you blow up the EA headquarters. Lots of folks (like me) have spend lots of time doing all sorts of wierd things to the building, only to end up having a couple of craters in their parking lot to show for it. > Jordan > PCS Computer Systeme GmbH, Munich, West Germany -- Greg Hunt Internet: hunt@dg-rtp.rtp.dg.com DG/UX Kernel Development UUCP: {world}!mcnc!rti!dg-rtp!hunt Data General Corporation Research Triangle Park, NC These opinions are mine, not DG's.