What is currently the single most demanded setting for a World War II simulation? You guessed it: the Pacific Theatre.

Abacus has enabled Combat Flight Simulator fans to relive Pearl Harbor, flying on the American or the Japanese sides in that deadly surprise attack. You won't rewrite history, but you can get into the melee.

Comes In a Box

Pacific Theatre includes a fifty+ page manual that holds both installation and historical information. A short history of the Pacific Theatre sets the stage, followed by a number of CV's... try Major Richard I. Bong and Sergeant Satoru Anabuki for starters, top Aces of the Pacific.

Pacific Theatre allows you to fly in or against twelve classic WWII fighter aircraft. The aircraft are described in detail in the manual and are these:

USAAF:

• Bell P-39Q Airacobra
• Curtiss P-40B Warhawk
• Curtiss SB2C-3 Helldiver
• Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat
• Grumman TBF-1 Avenger
• Republic P-47D Thunderbolt

Japanese:

• Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien
• Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero
• Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero
• Mitsubishi J2M3 Raiden
• Nakajima B5N2 "Kate"
• Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate

The manual gives a brief history of the Pacific theatre, focussing on Pearl Harbor. What makes this scenario so attractive to simulate is this:

"WWII's Pacific Theatre marked a change from battles fought with guns to battles fought with aircraft. Aircraft filled a support role in Europe, but they became the primary weapon and reconnaissance tool in the Pacific.

"When the US joined the war, the Imperial Japanese Navy boasted the best-trained and best equipped naval air force in the world. The premiere Japanese naval fighter, the Mitsubishi Zero, could outmanouver any landbased or carrier-based aircraft. Also, the skills of the pilots impressed everyone they met who lived to tell a tale."

Installation and Configuration

Test System:

• PII 400 with 128 MB
• Banshee 16 MB
• SB Live
• Toshiba 40X CD
• Quantum Viking II SCSI
• Microsoft SS80
• Logitech Wingman Force
• CH Pedals

Installation was a snap. The only condition is selecting your default CFS directory.

I loaded up CFS and configured it for 1024x768. CFS is Direct3d only, a bit of a handicap for a Banshee board which was later reflected in challenging frame rates. I set full realism including HARD flight model and limited gas and ammo. I set enemy AI on the middle Veteran level.

Pearl Harbor from the air.

The Attackers

I dove into the first mission, flying an A6M2 Zero for the Japanese. The Zero was indeed a fantastic aircraft, but in this first flight I began noticing some of the limitations of the Pacific Theatre package. Before I tell you what I didn't like, however, let me tell you the good stuff.

I took off from the Carrier and then circled for a look around at the Fleet. Quite nicely done. The "feeling" of flight is good. Once my wingmen were in the air I hit X to arrive a Pearl Harbor.

The Japanese Fleet

There is tons of action and a lot of radio chatter. Within the first minute my comrades are making hits on ships, and there is flak in the air and smoke rising from the crippled ships. A few Kates are being shot down or hit by flak, but the impression is visceral. I feel odd flying in a Japanese crate instead of defending the Pacific Fleet!

There are far too many USAAF aircraft in the air, this is history with a twist. Obviously, the mission wouldn't be much of a challenge without a good number of airborne opponents.

On the tail of a P40-B

Pearl off the left wing.

I am thinking, "I like this." But there are some things beginning to nag at me.

First, it's too easy to yank and bank. This Zeke doesn't seem to bleed speed at all. Second, why does the engine sound not change when I reduce throttle? I asked Abacus' Jim Rhoades about this and he replied:

"It may be the fact that some of the airfiles pertaining to the planes with tail hooks for carrier landings are FS98 optimized air files. CFS airfiles do not seem to handle tail hooks (spoilers) very well so a few FS98 air files were used and optimized for these models. Consequently, FS98 air files especially prop planes, do not bleed speed very quickly and the sounds you may be hearing could be a result of that factor."

Next I noticed that the graphical modeling of damage appears to be different than in CFS. I didn't see pieces flying off aircraft when I hit them with guns or cannon. While it's not a big deal, that graphical effect was a great way to give notice that your shells have found their mark. You WILL, however, see smoke when appropriate and the effective damage modeling itself is intact.

I flew that first mission about four times to get a feel for the situation. My job was to protect the Kates from the American aircraft. I did only moderately well; there are MANY American aircraft and I found myself flying too fast most of the time.

The Defenders

I then switched to the USAAF, taking off from an inland field against the incoming Japanese fighters.

View to my wingman.

The P40B Warhawk cockpit is one of the better ones, though not as good as the original Microsoft cockpits. The same goes for the aircraft skins themselves. But the downer for some will be that there are no moving control surfaces modeled here and the propellers are transparent rather than animated.

In spite of that I found the mission to be a good one, and enjoyed the feeling of flight. The Warhawk is a FAST airplane, however, and it's a challenge not to overfly your target.

Into Pearl in the P40-B.

The Warhawk is very well armored, so you are less likely to be killed outright while flying this one. It's also fairly well armed, and once you get on the tail of a Zero it won't take you long to dispatch your opponent. Recommended: boom n' zoom tactics.

Attempted to defend Pearl Harbor is a lost cause, of course. But you will experience the tension of the attempt as the Pacific Fleet gradually succumbs to the attackers. Mind you, you will also have more airborne help than the actual USAAF had back in 1941.

This mission, like the missions on the Japanese side are atmospheric. With the combination of AAA and flak around you, burning and smoking ships, exploding or broken aircraft... yep, it's exciting!

Ship Explosion

P40 B Warhawk Cockpit

The scenery itself does capture Hawaii. The mountains are nicely rendered and the geography itself is quite adequate. Pearl Harbor is crammed with ships, and they are accurately positioned, along with numerous other targets. If you are motivated you can even take out the fuel tanks that the Japanese missed in the actual battle.

Naturally, Pacific Theatre also allows you to access the free flight mode and you can place your aircraft on any of the Hawaiian bases. The odd omission is that while there is a tiny Pearl Harbor map in the manual (what a nice touch if this had been separate and larger!) there is no theatre map in the simulation itself. As a result, when selecting missions you get the map of Europeap so you can't view the mission routes.

As for frame rate, I hope you have better than a Banshee board. When flying with a couple of wingmen or going head to head with a few opponents the sim is smooth as can be. But once into the melee of Pearl, I saw rates as low as eight fps.

To their credit, Abacus released an enhancement download not long after the release of the original package. The Pacific Theatre Enhancement Pack is five meg and can be had on the Abacus web site. I installed this package before any of my flights in Pacific Theatre. Here is the info supplied by Abacus:

"An additional set of Artificial Intelligence (enemy) aircraft. When these aircraft are used in missions, they appear in "normal size" and have "normal performance" characteristics.

"The Pearl Harbor scenery area and coastlines have been optimized for faster frame rates across a wide variety of 3D video cards. A replacement set of missions have been created and redesigned for optimized frame rates, and there is an improved set of damage profiles for all aircraft.

"The entire fleet of Pacific Theatre aircraft have been redesigned to include a custom AI format. This means that you'll also be able to use them in your own custom missions where they will appear accurate in both size and speed."

Note: On Jun 25th Abacus released a set 12 new missions which combine into a campaign that takes the player on a "what-if" tour of how the war may have turned out. Players can download the FREE Bonus Campaign from their website.

SUMMARY

Pacific Theatre contains a limited number of missions and no campaign mode. The aircraft designs are somewhat limited in comparison to the CFS release itself.

Still, the opportunity to fly in a simulated engagement at Pearl Harbor isn't found anywhere else in an up to date simulation.

Some virtual pilots aren't going to want to pay $39.95 for this limited add-on. Unfortunately, you won't find the title at Chips and Bits, but you can find it at 4CDs for $29.95. For that price, some will consider it a nice enhancement to Combat Flight Sim.

Battle for Midway: Press Material

Combat Flight Simulator has proven to be a successful platform for Microsoft. CFS combines WWII fighter combat with an "open system" with plenty of opportunity for flexibility and expansion.

Following the launch of our Pacific Theatre add-on, we present our second complete add-on for CFS - Battle For Midway. We describe Battle For Midway as complete because it has all of the elements of a true Combat Flight Simulator add-on: New Aircraft, New Scenery and New Missions.

New Aircraft

First, Battle For Midway brings you twelve of the most famous U.S. and Japanese planes fromt Midway and the Coral Sea era created by noted designer Terry Hill.

Using newly discovered techniques, Terry is able to use paint schemes that add even more authenticity. These aircraft all include "moving parts" technology that animate the control surfaces. We recreate the fierce battles of the Pacific War in these authentic aircraft:

Zero Panel from Midway

• Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless
• Grumman F4F Wildcat
• Douglas TBD-1 Devastator
• Brewster F2A-3 Buffalo
• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
• BONUS: Lockheed P-38 Lightning Aichi D3A-1 "Val"
• Mitsubishi A6M2 "Zero"
• Kawanisi N1K1-J "George"
• Nakajima KI43-I "Oscar"
• Mitubishi G4M1 "Betty"
• BONUS: Kyushu J7W Shinden

New Scenery and Missions

Next, Battle For Midway includes the detailed scenery for the Midway Islands and the Coral Sea islands. Using new "elevated mesh terrain techniques", Tim Dickens juxtaposes the enchanting setting of tropical islands over the unforgiving background for such a devastating and horrendous war.

Additionally, Tim has created a set of "mission objects." These are finely crafted 3D enhancements that behave as you'd expect them to in combat - they explode when they're hit with artillery fire. The new "mission object" library is another exclusive feature from Abacus (you can use these mission objects in your own missions as well).

Finally, an add-on package for Combat Flight Simulator wouldn't be complete without missions. The Battle For Midway missions are created based on actual events of the Coral Sea and Midway Islands in 1942. You'll fly in the uncharted skies to face a relentless enemy. Here is a partial list:

• Attack on Kwajalein Feb '42
• Attack on Lae and Salamaua Mar '42
• Search and Destroy north of Louisade May '42
• Scramble from USS Lexington and Pt Moresby May '42
• Attack Japanese Carriers May '42
• Scramble to defend Midsay June '42
• Scramble from USS Yorktown June '42

Battle for Midway is slated for release in July '99.