Jetset (video game)
Encyclopedia
JETSET is a 1980 flight simulator
, perhaps the first of its kind. The program simulates a Boeing 747
takeoff
from a non-descript runway. Terrain is unclear due to the ASCII
display, but the physics engine
was noteworthy for the time and considering the simulator was written entirely in BASIC
. It was originally written for the TRS-80
Model II. The code, by Eugene Szymanski, was published by Byte magazine in 1982. A reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald wrote in 1989 that it was "a great anticlimax".
Flight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and various aspects of the flight environment. This includes the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they react to applications of their controls and other aircraft systems, and how they react to the external...
, perhaps the first of its kind. The program simulates a Boeing 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
takeoff
Takeoff
Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle goes from the ground to flying in the air.For horizontal takeoff aircraft this usually involves starting with a transition from moving along the ground on a runway. For balloons, helicopters and some specialized fixed-wing aircraft , no...
from a non-descript runway. Terrain is unclear due to the ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
display, but the physics engine
Physics engine
A physics engine is computer software that provides an approximate simulation of certain physical systems, such as rigid body dynamics , soft body dynamics, and fluid dynamics, of use in the domains of computer graphics, video games and film. Their main uses are in video games , in which case the...
was noteworthy for the time and considering the simulator was written entirely in BASIC
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
. It was originally written for the TRS-80
TRS-80
TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation's desktop microcomputer model line, sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first units, ordered unseen, were delivered in November 1977, and rolled out to the stores the third week of December. The line won popularity with...
Model II. The code, by Eugene Szymanski, was published by Byte magazine in 1982. A reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald wrote in 1989 that it was "a great anticlimax".