| E3: Desert Fighters Report
By Jim "Twitch" Tittle |
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7. Custom paint and squadron markings are on the list too. I may want to paint my Macchi bright red! The huge number of custom aircraft for Red Baron II shows just how much appreciated this feature has become. It really is cool to fly a personally marked plane in multi-player situations! Allegedly, there will be free, multi-player support for sanctioned and rogue servers alike with capabilities for up to 64 pilots. Let's hope somebody finally gets this right. This has been a big gripe for many people who feel other companies did not deliver "as promised" multi-player hook-ups. It remains to be seen what Dynamix can accomplish, but I hope it is a viable system since interest is strong and the industry is being driven with similar on-line commercial successes. WISH LIST FULFILLED Hacking is encouraged. AOTP and AOE were modified to unbelievable levels after their releases and Desert Fighters will be no exception. This time Dynamix have built a web sight for folks to post and download patches. There will be guidance from Dynamix on how to modify files. This was unheard of from a manufacturer prior to Activision's Fighter Squadron, but it's very welcome! Designer Doug Johnson is going to make some people angry but more people happy. Game play will not be thwarted for realism; Doug is concerned that players have fun. So long as we have "hardcore" settings and hacks everyone will be appeased. You will be able to "paint" your Stuka and others plus take the rear gunner position. Remember Lucasfilm's "Their Finest Hour-Battle Of Britain?" The lesser aircraft will not be just targets. In AOTP you could survive, with skill and difficulty, in a dive bomber. Many pilots want to slide into the 3-D cockpits to fly dive bombers and lesser-known planes such as the French Dewoitine D520. Sure there will be Spits, Hurris, P-51s and Bf 109s. The translucent cockpit frames are a curious compromise between solid, view-blocking rails and dash clear screen. |
 The sim's time line will be March, 1941 with the British incursion and later with the Yanks as well, pitted against the Luftwaffe's desert fighters and the Reggia Aeronautica's long wished for planes. Mission types include sweeps, offensive and defensive patrols, heavy and light raid escort, scramble, combat air patrol. Best of all your contributions to success against enemy supplies will affect the outcome ending in December, 1943. Yes, the Axis can win the battle for North Africa! I know the wish list is endless, but these are the points I have heard discussed incessantly over the years. Dynamix should accomplish these things in Desert Fighters' October release without sweat. HIGH TECH- LOW PRICE The hot hardware I saw at E3 was the Rainbow Six headset with microphone that is a direct derivative of the AH-1 Huey gunship of the Vietnam era! The Huey's gunner had an eye reticule that made the 7.62 mm GE Mini-gun track wherever he turned his head to look. Now you can have the same technology working for your flight sim with this headset by UR Gear. It is programmable so that a small movement in the desired direction changes the view you see on screen in that position. Game Commander is the other "must have," along with the headset. Voice commands replace those dreary key punching antics we are all bored with. These are the two things I envisioned long ago when I began flying simulators- voice commands and all-around vision. The combined cost for both will be around the $150 mark. Watch for a detailed Game Commander this week. I only wish Microprose's superb looking new B-17II was an add-on to the excellent European Air War. Always check six! Join a discussion forum on this article by clicking HERE.
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