A-10 Tank Killer

A-10 Tank Killer is a simulator of the American combat aircraft A-10 Thunderbolt II. This is a typical “first wave” flight sim, in which there is an almost complete set of basic elements that set the classic brand format for subsequent games, called the “flight simulator of the early 1990s”.

It is necessary to briefly talk about the subject of the game. A-10 Thunderbolt II - American armored attack aircraft, designed to destroy tanks, armored vehicles or other armored ground targets. It has been in operation since 1975, therefore, in fact, I have not found known events in Vietnam. Although his birth was due precisely to the experience and failures of the Air Force, which manifested itself with the participation of the United States in the Vietnam War. But the most effective this combat aircraft proved to be during the operation "Desert Storm" in 1991. Now a little performance characteristics: the crew - one person, the number of engines - two. The main cannon armament is a 30 mm seven-barreled cannon, of course, a frantic rate of fire. Suspension points - 11. Our symmetrical Soviet response to the Americans is also an attack aircraft, it is called the Su-25. In the early 1990s, this model of a combat aircraft was also awarded attention in computer games in the form of a great simulator Su-25 Stormovik. But this is a completely different story ...

In connection with the very first stage in the development of the simulator theme for 1989, we often have to talk about many elements in the style of “so far” about many elements in this game. There are no engine sounds yet. A full-fledged indication, too - for the time being ... Yaw rudders have not been implemented. What is there? Well, firstly, the flight itself. There are already elements of modeling side-to-side stalling at low speeds of 50–100 knots and large roll angles. It is also already possible to meet in the game a sound, light indication of exposure and collision with the ground. Sounds from machine gun fire are well implemented. With the possibility of landing, I had questions. As such, I could not find navigation elements — neither route points, nor azimuth indicators. Also, no signs of a landing gear were found in the aircraft, so I assume that the landing as such in this simulator was still not implemented. Although other sources indicated some kind of automation of the landing process in this game. This is fundamentally from the historical point of view of the evolution of the “flight simulator” genre: when the game first appeared with a full landing process, the question remains open.

But minor flaws, the inferiority of the simulation and display at low screen resolutions (320x200) in games of those years were fully compensated by the atmospheric component. In this sim, you will see an abundance of text dialogs, backdrops will depict the everyday routine of the service at an ordinary US Air Force base. Even in flight you will be constantly “haunted” by vigorous textual explanations, atmospheric radio communications, for example: “I’m hit! I’m hit! Mayday! ... ” It was the player’s immersion in the role of the Air Force pilot that could “stretch” such games in those years.

It is well known that in any self-respecting simulator there must necessarily be an encyclopedia of military equipment. And in the game A-10 Tank Killer, of course, not without it. In the encyclopedia of this flight sim, you will see static 3D models not rotating on a stand, as it "settled down" later in later games, but a full-fledged demonstration of combat shooting, and even in motion! Let me remind you that it was only 1989 in the yard. The mode of organizing flights is divided into two groups: single-player missions and a campaign. By the way, after the epic “performance” of the A-10 in Kuwait in 1991, the developers released several additional missions. I don’t know how gamers rated them, because at that time flight sims began to develop very dynamically and the “old” immediately lost to the “new” in terms of the schedule, the number of bells and whistles in the simulation and organization of the game process.

The game, of course, is interesting and, perhaps, in some ways revolutionary. This is more accurately established by historians who study the main developmental milestones within the genres of old computer games. I do not in any way claim that the shortcut for this game is simply obliged to be on the desktop of each oldgamer, but Tank Killer is more than fully suitable as an honorary copy for the museum of development of flight simulators A-10.