Flight Simulation - Come fly with me (just don't ask me to land it)
So far, dear reader , we have talked about educational games ( boo , hiss) and fun games ( yay) . However there was another category on the ZX Spectrum , the 'let's have an experience game, the simulators . My father had served his National Service in the RAF , so when he heard about Flight Simulation ( Psion 1982) he just had to have it. Unlike his experiences in the RAF there was no simulation for towing Lancaster Bombers around an airfield with a tractor and then getting in trouble with a superior officer for speeding in the tractor , but , still, he had his heart set on flying. With his love of sporty cars I did wonder just what he thought this little 48K box was going to present him with.
I did have a few goes on this , but it was certainly Dad's game. If I was playing it , he was my co -pilot ( press this, do that, pull up...pull up....PULL UP...) and, indeed, when he was playing some of the time I was his co pilot ( are you finished yet Dad?, Dad, can I play Pogo?, Dad, Mum says get off the floor and dry the dishes ....that sort of thing ) . This program took patience, you didn't play it for the wild times and excitement. Other than the cockpit there wasn't much to hold the mind of an 11 year old , with no real interest in flying a plane.
There were lots of exciting gauges and dials and you could fly around , you could also take off , or land. You could try putting your landing gear down in mid flight and even try to pull yourself out of a nosedive (possibly caused by putting your landing gear down in mid flight!) . Here we come to my Dad's obsession, to land the plane. Taking off and flying we could both do , it even had a nice yellow map so you could see where you were going , as you flew through these impossible clear and uncluttered skies.
My father was determined to land this beast. After I went to bed he would stay sat on the floor , in front the TV, fixated, this pixalated runway getting closer and closer and closer and then .....kersplat . Every morning I would be greeted by tales of his progress from the previous evening, how close he had got, nearly, oh so nearly...but still kersplat. We would have other families over for meals and once us kids had exhausted our supply of games, the Dads would gather around the TV, in a serious manner, heads bowed , fingers on the keyboard, hushed muttering, brows furrowed....kersplat.
My Dad will tell you he never landed that plane, however, in my memory there was a morning where he told me he had landed it (perhaps this was wishful thinking). He certainly lost interest in the game , the airport was safe again ( however, dragons guarding hoards of gold were not , neither were fellow dwarf adventurers .) We rarely revisited the game, possibly because Fighter Pilot had been released and this meant the plane now had a gun.
I want to believe , in the early hours of one morning, he did land the plane , he beat the computer , he succeeded. As an older family member once said 'Our family may not be the first across a finishing line, but they will always cross that finishing line'. Possibly ,whether he did or not doesn't really matter to this narrative, what matters was he was hooked, beguiled by this little black box. It had found his weakness , it could amuse an adult as well as a child. It had now become well and truly a part of our little family and the adventures could now really begin.
My Dad will tell you he never landed that plane, however, in my memory there was a morning where he told me he had landed it (perhaps this was wishful thinking). He certainly lost interest in the game , the airport was safe again ( however, dragons guarding hoards of gold were not , neither were fellow dwarf adventurers .) We rarely revisited the game, possibly because Fighter Pilot had been released and this meant the plane now had a gun.
I want to believe , in the early hours of one morning, he did land the plane , he beat the computer , he succeeded. As an older family member once said 'Our family may not be the first across a finishing line, but they will always cross that finishing line'. Possibly ,whether he did or not doesn't really matter to this narrative, what matters was he was hooked, beguiled by this little black box. It had found his weakness , it could amuse an adult as well as a child. It had now become well and truly a part of our little family and the adventures could now really begin.