After Hours-Commanche Maximum Overkill

Comanche uses a lot of system resources, including 12 megabytes of hard disk space and 4 megabytes of RAM. You are led through the installation process without any drama, including setting up a sound card. To get the most from this game, a sound card is highly recommended, as some of the comments are quite amusing. I once shot down my wingman with an air- to-air missile. As he was plunging earthward, his parting comment was, “That’s pathetic!” I tried much harder in future games. The sound is appropriate and of high quality, and adds a lot to the game.

While the installation instructions are clear, you have to either operate from a boot disk, or know a bit about how IBM compatible computers use memory. Comanche promises some dazzling graphics, and to achieve this Nova Logic have taken advantage of the 32 bit modes of the 386 and 486 processors. Sorry-if you have a 286 processor, you cannot play this game. The software is also incompatible with memory managers. such as QEMM, EMS simulators and SMARTDRV if it uses too much XMS memory. The answer is to let Comanche manage its own memory from a very simple CONFIG. SYS and AUTOEXEC. BAT setup. I have a way of selecting these configurations from a menu, but using a simple boot disk is the easiest way to start.

Learning to fly really is a one minute job. Both collective and cyclic controls are provided, and on my CH Flightstick, the throttle became the collective. I had to reprogramme my brain though, as forward on the throttle meant lower power and height which is of course different from normal flying. After I thought back to my Iroquois days, I remembered that up collective meant more power, and back on the throttle wheel was the closest simulation. After that mental readjustment, I had no further difficulty with the collective control.

Just flying around is a lot of fun, and the power of the graphics processing method was immediately apparent. The world is composed of small blocks of colour, presented in perspective. Overall, the effect is stunning and very, very fast. An experimental fly on one direction showed that the Comanche world is only about 10 minutes around. If you fly in one direction for this time, you come back to where you started. However, for the purposes of this game, this amount of space provides a quite adequate theatre of operations.

There are a lot of terrain features such as hills and canyons, and you can keep below the radar and visual horizon if you learn to fly on a combination of the TACmap and the view from the cockpit. If you use too much collective and fly too high, you soon learn the error of your ways.

After a few tentative minutes, I started to experiment with “Nap of the Earth (NOE)” flying. Initially, I thought that the Comanche was indestructible, which would have been a pity as far as the reality of the game is concerned. Running down a twisting ravine, my copilot yelled “Watch Out” and after some chopping and flailing sounds, my Comanche was destroyed. There is a neat external view that allows you to see your battered helicopter burning, surrounded by enemy armour if they are in the area.

One of the challenges for any game is to provide a training facility to get you up to speed. Ideally, this should provide as much fun and excitement as the real action. Comanche has one of the best systems I have seen. There are several training missions you must complete before you are allowed into the real world missions.

The first training mission is set in the jungles of central America. The scenery is quite amazing, with swamps, lakes and even a Mayan temple. I had fun flying to the top of the temple, then hovering for a landing on the upper level.

This mission starts you using the various weapons. If you press the second joystick button, an image recognition system locks onto the nearest target. Subsequent presses cycle through all targets in the area. On the first mission, the only targets are oil tanks, but it is quite a feat to position the Comanche, then lock on and fire at each oil tank until they are all gone. The blow up scenes are impressive! When you have eliminated all targets, the copilot says in a relieved voice: “We did it – let’s go home!” and the helicopter flies out on autopilot. That phrase quickly becomes a much sought after stimulus, and you flop back mentally exhausted after it happens.

The training missions become rapidly harder, requiring you to use increasing skill and situational awareness. On each of the successive missions, you will find you need to use one or more new tricks. The first is to set up your two TAC screens, one on ground mapping and the other to assist weapons lockon. They have identical controls, so you can use one screen if you lose the other. Scraping into a hill almost guaran-tees you will lose a screen, and you have to have pretty fancy fingers to change TAC modes after that. The “burning on the ground” scene is usually the result.

Next, you learn how to use all the weapons. At first, there are more weapons than you need in both number and type. On successive missions, you need to be more careful and take care to use the right weapon on the right target. Selections include cannon, small rockets, Hellfire, Stingers, artillery, your wingman’s Hellfires, large rockets. Pretty soon, your left hand becomes skilled as your fingers dance over the “Z-X-C-V-B-N- M” keys to select the weapon you want. Each of the weapons has different characteristics. Hellfire is especially good for armour, but you have to stay locked on to the target until it hits. You are vulnerable while exposed. You can get your wingman to fire Hellfires, but this aircraft will stay exposed all the time it is selected, and you soon learnt to pop the wingman up, fire, and select another weapon. This tactic helps avoid cynical and critical comments during the battle and in the post battle debriefing. Losing a wingman is considered to be a very poor show.

The third training phase involves tactics. A fundamental rule of combat is to first gain total air superiority, then attack ground targets. Most scenarios have the KA-50 Werewolf (nee Hokum) attack helicopter in the area (refer p93 Nov 92 AA), so these should be dispatched first, ideally with Stingers, but Hellfire works, and you can even enjoy some active air-to-air with the cannon. Next, you dispatch the radar vehicles placed on strategic hilltops. With total air superiority, you can enjoy a turkey shoot of tanks and APC’s, though some of the short range missile vehicles can cause trouble. Soft targets such as oil tanks are left until last.

Towards the end of the training phase, the battle gets very sticky, especially your palms as you grip the joystick tensely, making every shot count. Having progressed smoothly through to the second last training mission, I lost concentration and did poorly. I was greatly shocked to be relegated to the previous mission which I had to pass before attempting the one I had just botched. The harder I tried, the more I fouled up, and eventu-ally retired very annoyed and keyed up, several levels back. Next day with a fresh mind, I managed to keep my skill and concentration levels up and completed the last of the training missions.

Once you have cleared the training schedule, you can access the “real” missions. There are no complex battlefield scenarios or wargames to set up. You are given mission orders, and launch straight into battle. Your performance determines how well the force does overall – a sort of “David versus Goliath” arrangement. I have not had sufficient time to fly all the missions, but the training missions, which seemed hard at the time, are simple in comparison. Most of the battles feel like NATO versus Eastern Bloc during World War III, with targets and weapons everywhere, causing the high degree of chaos you would expect in such a situation.

The aircraft is modelled very effectively. While the helicopter is easy to fly, you must observe the normal precautions such as not flying into rising ground. There is some degree of ground effect which makes NOE flying possible, but you need to take care. To become really skilled at the game, you need to concentrate and not fall for the trap of shooting everything that moves – especially your wingman! Technically, the game is brilliant. There is an excellent balance between the ease of use and the complexity of the simulation of weapons and scenarios. If you purchase a copy, try to remember your first fumbling attempts to hit an oil tank, and compare your skill levels a few hours later in a fully developed battle situation. The ability of human beings to learn complex problems is nothing short of amazing.

Nova Logic make a lot of their graphics processing method, and full marks to them. They use an entirely new approach that takes advantage of the 32 bit capability of the latest 386 and 486 processors. I notice that their latest simulator, F-15 Strike Eagle III uses a similar method. At first, the blocks are a bit distracting in comparison with polygon graphics, but the added speed is a great advantage. Scenery is breathtaking and fast moving.

Controls are smooth and precise. Instrumentation seems simple but provides via the two screens and some other readouts, clear information on the tactical situation and on the firing opportunities for individual weapons. The moving vector display quickly allows you to gain precise directional control in harrowing situations.

I also liked the way other helicopters and vehicles are modelled. You can get close, really close, and they expand to show a high degree of detail. Best of all is the satisfying way they blow up and disappear when hit with the right weapon. You can destroy a tank with rockets if you are really desperate, but it takes several hits and you have to aim the rockets with the aircraft, which is quite tricky.

After playing this game for several hours, I wondered how real this representation would prove to be in the future. The game is set in 1999, and with the rapid development of composite materials, computers, flight management systems, weapons, image recognition and so forth, Comanche could be more accurate than we might believe from a 1993 perspective. Are the aircraft manufacturers using games software to test the concepts of what a warbird should be a decade from now? Now for scores: Comanche Maximum Overkill – Scores Factor Training Controls Reality Complexity Excitement

You can see from this score that I felt the game provided excellent value for money. In the graphics department, it breaks new ground and sets the scene for other producers of games and simulations. The balance between complexity and interest is very skilled and works to keep your interest and commitment.

You might notice that I have used the term “game” rather than “simulation”. The emphasis in this case is on entertainment rather than reality, and the mix works. Some highly realistic simulators are too slow or require so much effort and time to learn that they are not entertaining at all. As a result, they stay on the hard disc or on the shelf. Not Comanche.

In contrast, Comanche provides tremendous entertainment. I invited a friend to view my prowess after completing about half the training missions. For days after, he made excuses to come over and fly as his own pilot, eventually completing all missions. His aim now is to purchase his own 486 machine so he can fly all the battle missions. Now that’s a clear recommendation for this excellent game.