Last Update: 3/6/07
Flight Unlimited
Flight Unlimited is the first of the Flight Unlimited series of General aviation Flight Simulator games created by Looking Glass Studios. It focuses mainly on Aerobatics. It was released in 1995 for DOS and in 1996 for Windows 95. Notable features are the pioneering physics system, landscapes and FBO interface. It was one of the first games to use 3D elevation mesh and photo-realistic images to create realistic terrain representing small areas of country in the USA and France. It supplies challenges in the form of aerobatic lessons and hoops courses, where it is required to fly through virtual "hoops" in the sky against the clock.
The physics system was innovative, as it was possibly the first flight sim game (at least in the home) to use the idea of fluid dynamics. Instead of the control inputs directly affecting the plane, the controls affect the control surfaces on the plane, with the flow of air doing the rest. For example, in an older game, pushing forwards on the keyboard or joystick would directly make the plane pitch down (relative to its orientation), as though a 'magic hand' was rotating the plane. In Flight Unlimited, pushing forwards on the keyboard or joystick tilts the elevators, and the flow of air over the tail and elevators causes the planes orientation to change accordingly.
Rather unusual (for the time) is the FBO interface. It allows the player to walk around a room in 3d and select objects to access functions in the game. For example, a whiteboard allows access to the lessons, while a world globe allows the player to go to other world locations.
The game has a demo recording facility very similar to that in the X-wing space combat simulator. Recordings can be saved and played forwards or backwards, at various degrees of speed. Camera views can be changed, as in normal flight, and at any time, the player can 'eject the tape', and play the game from the current point of the recording. The game comes with several recordings, some of which show a range of manouveres, while others show how 'not' to fly a plane.
The physics system was innovative, as it was possibly the first flight sim game (at least in the home) to use the idea of fluid dynamics. Instead of the control inputs directly affecting the plane, the controls affect the control surfaces on the plane, with the flow of air doing the rest. For example, in an older game, pushing forwards on the keyboard or joystick would directly make the plane pitch down (relative to its orientation), as though a 'magic hand' was rotating the plane. In Flight Unlimited, pushing forwards on the keyboard or joystick tilts the elevators, and the flow of air over the tail and elevators causes the planes orientation to change accordingly.
Rather unusual (for the time) is the FBO interface. It allows the player to walk around a room in 3d and select objects to access functions in the game. For example, a whiteboard allows access to the lessons, while a world globe allows the player to go to other world locations.
The game has a demo recording facility very similar to that in the X-wing space combat simulator. Recordings can be saved and played forwards or backwards, at various degrees of speed. Camera views can be changed, as in normal flight, and at any time, the player can 'eject the tape', and play the game from the current point of the recording. The game comes with several recordings, some of which show a range of manouveres, while others show how 'not' to fly a plane.
Publisher: Virgin Interactive
