(PC DOS) Sopwith(1983) -- by David Clark - BMB Compuscience
6Long before someone even thought about 3D flight simulators, we had one of the coolest flight games that still didn’t loose any of its magic. Still today, over 21 years after it was created, there is a huge fan-lobby dedicating all their free time to building new levels and new clones of it. Even the developer, David Clark, still spends some time on improvments. Yes, Sopwith is a classic even though it was never meant to be a commercial game. It was programmed in 1984 to demonstrate the capabilities of BMB’s new network product - later known as “Imaginet”. Therefore it is today still impossible to play the original version in a multiplayer mode but David is still working on that.
The game itself is quite simple, but not too easy. First of all, I need to explain the not so intuitive controls: , (comma) makes your Sopwith go up . (period) to flip her upside down and / (slash) to go down. These are the controls from pilots view. When flying from right to left you somehow need to manage to think different, but after some time you give up and fly upside down instead. Additional keys are Z for throttle down, X for throttle up, H to return to base to refuel and reload ammunition, Spacebar for the onboard gun, B will throw a bomb and with S you switch the sound on or off. Ctrl + Break ends the game immediately.
When the game starts you can choose between two working game modes - Single Player and Single Player against Computer. To learn how to get around, take the first option. When you manage to finish the game in this mode easily, then try the computer opponent option. While you fly around on your own just bombing and shooting at static targets in the single player mode, in the computer opponent mode there will be an enemy aircraft. Beware! Your PC will shoot at you and try to kill you in kamikaze-style. So, while being chased by the enemy aircraft, you still need to destroy your normal targets to win the game - and that‘s hard work. To make it even harder, you do not have unlimited fuel, health, bombs or ammunition. So keep the bars next to the radar in mind and check from time to time. When you see that you are running low in any of these, hit the „H“ key to return to base.