FS1 Flight Simulator

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FS1 Flight Simulator
FS1 Flight Simulator.jpg
TRS-80 cover art
Developer(s)Sublogic
Publisher(s)Sublogic
Designer(s)Bruce Artwick
Stu Moment
Programmer(s)Bruce Artwick
Platform(s)Apple II, TRS-80
ReleaseApple II
TRS-80
1980
Genre(s)Amateur flight simulator
Mode(s)Single-player

FS1 Flight Simulator is a 1979 video game published by Sublogic for the Apple II. A TRS-80 version followed in 1980. FS1 Flight Simulator is a flight simulator in the cockpit of a slightly modernized Sopwith Camel.[2] FS1 is the first in a line of simulations from Sublogic which, beginning in 1982, were also sold by Microsoft as Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Sublogic later released updated versions for both the Apple II and TRS-80 on 5 1⁄4 inch diskettes. The updates include enhanced terrain, help menus, and a bomb sight.

Gameplay[]

Apple II screenshot

Development[]

Computer-graphics specialist Bruce Artwick and pilot and marketing student Stu Moment were roommates at the University of Illinois. A2FS1 Flight Simulator, their first product after forming Sublogic,[3] had black and white wireframe graphics, featured a very limited scenery consisting of 36 tiles (in a 6 by 6 pattern, which roughly equals a few hundred square kilometers), and provided a very basic simulation (with only one aircraft simulated).

Sublogic advertised that the $25 FS1 "is a visual flight simulator that gives you realistically stable aircraft control", with a graphics engine "capable of drawing 150 lines per second".[4]

Ports[]

The simulator was later ported to the TRS-80 Model I, which had only rudimentary graphics capability. To squeeze the simulator into the TRS-80 limited memory and display, the instrument panel was dropped and the resolution of the cockpit window display reduced.

Reception[]

J. Mishcon reviewed FS1 Flight Simulator in The Space Gamer No. 31. Mishcon commented that "All things considered, this is single most impressive computer game I have seen. It creates a whole new standard. I most strongly urge you to buy it and see for yourself."[2]

Bob Proctor reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, and stated that "Although there are other flight simulators, the Sublogic program remains unique for the built-in dogfight game. While raving about the simulation, reviewers have called the game 'difficult', 'challenging', and 'next to impossible.'"[5]

Flight Simulator sold 30,000 copies by June 1982, tied for third on Computer Gaming World's list of top sellers.[1]

Reviews[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Inside the Industry" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. September–October 1982. p. 2. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  2. ^ a b Mishcon, J. (September 1980). "Capsule Reviews". The Space Gamer. Steve Jackson Games (31): 28.
  3. ^ Hockman, Daniel (April 1987). "Bruce Artwick's Flight Simulator / You've Come A Long Way, Baby! / The History of an Epic Program". Computer Gaming World. No. 36. pp. 32–34. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  4. ^ "New for the Apple II & TRS-80... the subLOGIC FS1 Flight Simulator!". BYTE (advertisement). January 1980. p. 94.
  5. ^ Proctor, Bob (March–April 1982). "You Too Can Be an Ace!". Computer Gaming World. Vol. 1, no. 3. pp. 32–33.
  6. ^ "SoftSide Magazine Issue 28 (Convoy)". January 1981.
  7. ^ "80 Microcomputing Magazine August 1981". August 1981.
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