B-17 Flying Fortress (computer game)
Encyclopedia
B-17 Flying Fortress or B-17 Flying Fortress World War II Bombers in Action is a flight simulation/role-playing video game
released in 1992 for DOS
on the IBM PC compatible
personal computer
by MicroProse
. Commodore Amiga and Atari ST
versions were released a year later. The game simulates training, combat
missions and sorties in a tour of duty
in the Eighth Air Force
of the United States Army Air Forces
in the European Theater of Operations
aboard a Boeing
B-17 Flying Fortress bomber
during World War II
.
M2 Browning machine gun against enemy fighters, and releasing the B-17 Flying Fortress's ordnance
on the target as well as piloting or copiloting the B-17 bomber
. All 10 aircrew
positions could be controlled either manually or under AI
control, however the main character and captain is the primary pilot. His successes, failures, capture, injury or death affects the direction and conclusion of the campaign.
The simulation
player could pick out his chosen bomber with its particular nose art
and was shown target briefing information and briefing films in the simulation before entering on any mission with his crew. A map of the flight path and waypoint
s were also shown in the simulation. Although a mission is assigned to the crew before every sortie, the player may break formation and roam freely around Europe if desired, looking for and attacking targets of opportunity. The success of this decision relies on the skill of the crew, particularly if the navigator is skilled enough to navigate Europe on his own and the crew is able to withstand stronger Luftwaffe
and Flak attacks due to being alone. The most difficult but prestigious targets were the Nazi strongholds in and around Berlin
.
If the player's Fortress is severely damaged, the player may drop out of the formation and continue the mission on one's own or attempt to return to England
, in which one can land on any Allied runway and be taken back to the home base at Alconbury
. In terms of the artillery, the player is unable to damage his or her own plane using the guns, however, dropping bombs at a low altitude would destroy the plane. The player is also able to shoot down ally Flying Fortresses as a result of friendly fire
. An ill-timed shooting of a Luftwaffe fighter may cause the enemy to lose control and collide with one's Fortress or others in the formation.
The game's graphics are very simple (MCGA
and VGA) and the requirements are meager when running on an antiquated IBM PC compatible
Personal Computer
; a Intel 80286
microprocessor
based (or comparable AMD) based PC is required at 16 MHz with DOS
5.0 (a soundcard is desirable). However a 80386 or better microprocessor
is recommended for this software with at least 640k of RAM
. The PC version came out in several floppy disk
media types (5- 5.25" high density disks), compact floppy disks, 4-3.5" high density disks) and CD-ROM
versions.
Graphics are crude by today's standards, but different targets could easily be discerned from the bombsight
, whether a factory or a U-boat pen. Terrain graphics though were very minimal. Luftwaffe forces are also easily seen through the eyes of the gunner. B-17 Flying Fortress came with a 230 page manual which details how to play the simulation, in addition to an in-depth historical section with numerous illustrations and photograph
s. The simulation also included a keyboard overlay so that the function of keys on the players computer keyboard
wouldn't be so confusing during gameplay. For a while B-17 Flying Fortress (DOS version only) was released with permission as freeware
by MicroProse on the Internet
website http://bombs-away.net.
The simulation is so complex that the player has to have some of the same knowledge (yet only partial and simplified) as the aircrews performed as Pilots, Copilots, Bombardiers, Navigators, Flight Engineers, Radio Operators and Aerial Gunners during that historical time frame. As an interesting sideline note one of the technical advisors to the development of the simulation was Major Joseph N. Worsley (USAAF, Retired) one of the top bombardiers in the USAAF trained in the use of the Norden as well as Sperry bombsights on Boeing B-29's. Dominic Robinson, Technical Director for B-17 Flying Fortress The Mighty 8th also was listed in the software credits for the original title and Andrew Walrond was the Managing Director in the sequel. The sequel B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th
was eventually acquired by Atari
.
Its sequel came out in the year 2000 and B-17 Flying Fortress as freeware
was made into a Microsoft
Windows 9x
running application from the DOS based version for the PC platform. Shockwave Productions has since bought the rights to the code. It can sometimes be found at different abandonware
website
s on the Internet
.
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
released in 1992 for DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
on the IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
by MicroProse
MicroProse
MicroProse was a video game publisher and developer, founded by Wild Bill Stealey and Sid Meier in 1982 as Microprose Software. In 1993, the company became a subsidiary of Spectrum HoloByte and has remained a subsidiary or brand name under several other corporations since...
. Commodore Amiga and Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
versions were released a year later. The game simulates training, combat
Combat
Combat, or fighting, is a purposeful violent conflict meant to establish dominance over the opposition, or to terminate the opposition forever, or drive the opposition away from a location where it is not wanted or needed....
missions and sorties in a tour of duty
Tour of duty
In the Navy, a tour of duty is a period of time spent performing operational duties at sea, including combat, performing patrol or fleet duties, or assigned to service in a foreign country....
in the Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
of the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
in the European Theater of Operations
European Theater of Operations
The European Theater of Operations, United States Army was a United States Army formation which directed U.S. Army operations in parts of Europe from 1942 to 1945. It referred to Army Ground Forces, United States Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces operations north of Italy and the...
aboard a Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
B-17 Flying Fortress bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The game
Some aspects that the player has control over are inflight crew management (a crewman might become injured during combat and temporary medical aid inflight given to him whilst another aircrewmen tends another crew position), manning an onboard .50 caliber.50 BMG
The .50 Browning Machine Gun or 12.7×99mm NATO is a cartridge developed for the Browning .50 caliber machine gun in the late 1910s. Entering service officially in 1921, the round is based on a greatly scaled-up .30-06 cartridge...
M2 Browning machine gun against enemy fighters, and releasing the B-17 Flying Fortress's ordnance
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
on the target as well as piloting or copiloting the B-17 bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
. All 10 aircrew
Aircrew
Aircrew are the personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of the crew depends on the type of aircraft as well as the purpose of the flight.-Civilian:*Aviator** Pilot-in-command** First officer** Second officer** Third officer...
positions could be controlled either manually or under AI
Ai
AI, A.I., Ai, or ai may refer to:- Computers :* Artificial intelligence, a branch of computer science* Ad impression, in online advertising* .ai, the ISO Internet 2-letter country code for Anguilla...
control, however the main character and captain is the primary pilot. His successes, failures, capture, injury or death affects the direction and conclusion of the campaign.
The simulation
Simulation
Simulation is the imitation of some real thing available, state of affairs, or process. The act of simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviours of a selected physical or abstract system....
player could pick out his chosen bomber with its particular nose art
Nose art
Nose art is a decorative painting or design on the fuselage of a military aircraft, usually located near the nose, and is a form of aircraft graffiti....
and was shown target briefing information and briefing films in the simulation before entering on any mission with his crew. A map of the flight path and waypoint
Waypoint
A waypoint is a reference point in physical space used for purposes of navigation.-Concept:Waypoints are sets of coordinates that identify a point in physical space. Coordinates used can vary depending on the application. For terrestrial navigation these coordinates can include longitude and...
s were also shown in the simulation. Although a mission is assigned to the crew before every sortie, the player may break formation and roam freely around Europe if desired, looking for and attacking targets of opportunity. The success of this decision relies on the skill of the crew, particularly if the navigator is skilled enough to navigate Europe on his own and the crew is able to withstand stronger Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
and Flak attacks due to being alone. The most difficult but prestigious targets were the Nazi strongholds in and around Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
If the player's Fortress is severely damaged, the player may drop out of the formation and continue the mission on one's own or attempt to return to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in which one can land on any Allied runway and be taken back to the home base at Alconbury
Alconbury
Alconbury is a village in the English county of Cambridgeshire.-Geography:It is in the district of Huntingdonshire and gives its name to RAF Alconbury. It is near to the point where a major north/south road, the A1, crosses the only major east/west road: the A14...
. In terms of the artillery, the player is unable to damage his or her own plane using the guns, however, dropping bombs at a low altitude would destroy the plane. The player is also able to shoot down ally Flying Fortresses as a result of friendly fire
Friendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
. An ill-timed shooting of a Luftwaffe fighter may cause the enemy to lose control and collide with one's Fortress or others in the formation.
MCGA
MCGA may refer to*IBM Multicolor Graphics Array*Maritime and Coastguard Agency, in the United Kingdom...
and VGA) and the requirements are meager when running on an antiquated IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
Personal Computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
; a Intel 80286
Intel 80286
The Intel 80286 , introduced on 1 February 1982, was a 16-bit x86 microprocessor with 134,000 transistors. Like its contemporary simpler cousin, the 80186, it could correctly execute most software written for the earlier Intel 8086 and 8088...
microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
based (or comparable AMD) based PC is required at 16 MHz with DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
5.0 (a soundcard is desirable). However a 80386 or better microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
is recommended for this software with at least 640k of RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
. The PC version came out in several floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
media types (5- 5.25" high density disks), compact floppy disks, 4-3.5" high density disks) and CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
versions.
Graphics are crude by today's standards, but different targets could easily be discerned from the bombsight
Bombsight
A bombsight is a device used by bomber aircraft to accurately drop bombs. In order to do this, the bombsight has to estimate the path the bomb will take after release from the aircraft. The two primary forces during its fall are gravity and air drag, which makes the path of the bomb through the air...
, whether a factory or a U-boat pen. Terrain graphics though were very minimal. Luftwaffe forces are also easily seen through the eyes of the gunner. B-17 Flying Fortress came with a 230 page manual which details how to play the simulation, in addition to an in-depth historical section with numerous illustrations and photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
s. The simulation also included a keyboard overlay so that the function of keys on the players computer keyboard
Computer keyboard
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
wouldn't be so confusing during gameplay. For a while B-17 Flying Fortress (DOS version only) was released with permission as freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
by MicroProse on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
website http://bombs-away.net.
The simulation is so complex that the player has to have some of the same knowledge (yet only partial and simplified) as the aircrews performed as Pilots, Copilots, Bombardiers, Navigators, Flight Engineers, Radio Operators and Aerial Gunners during that historical time frame. As an interesting sideline note one of the technical advisors to the development of the simulation was Major Joseph N. Worsley (USAAF, Retired) one of the top bombardiers in the USAAF trained in the use of the Norden as well as Sperry bombsights on Boeing B-29's. Dominic Robinson, Technical Director for B-17 Flying Fortress The Mighty 8th also was listed in the software credits for the original title and Andrew Walrond was the Managing Director in the sequel. The sequel B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th
B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th
B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th is the sequel to the 1992 flight simulator B-17 Flying Fortress World War II Bombers in Action developed by Wayward Design and sold by MicroProse owned by Hasbro in 2000. It was released in the United States onDecember 13, 2000...
was eventually acquired by Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
.
Its sequel came out in the year 2000 and B-17 Flying Fortress as freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
was made into a Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Windows 9x
Windows 9x
Windows 9x is a generic term referring to a series of Microsoft Windows computer operating systems produced since 1995, which were based on the original and later modified Windows 95 kernel...
running application from the DOS based version for the PC platform. Shockwave Productions has since bought the rights to the code. It can sometimes be found at different abandonware
Abandonware
Abandonware are discontinued products for which no product support is available, or whose copyright ownership may be unclear for various reasons...
website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
s on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.