From: Dave Daniels [dave_daniels@argonet.co.uk]
Sent: 23
October 2002 14:29
To: Ron Walker; adrian brown
Subject: Fly
Instructions
Introduction
These notes summarise the keyboard commands and game menus
in Fly. There is also a list of command line options that can be used when
starting the program. It contains the following sections:
Keyboard Commands
These can be split into several groups:
Flight Controls
The simulation can be flown using a joystick, mouse or
the keyboard. Joystick is best. The game defaults to keyboard if no joystick is
attached. Keyboard controls are as follows:
- Cursor up or Keypad 8
- Pitch down
- Cursor down or Keypad 2
- Pitch up
- Cursor left or Keypad 4
- Roll left
- Cursor right or Keypad 6
- Roll right
- , or Keypad 0
- Rudder left
- . or Keypad .
- Rudder right
Other Flying Controls
- Space bar
- Fire selected weapon
- Backspace or enter
- Cycle through weapon selection
- f
- Fire a flare
- c
- Drop chaff
- Ctrl j
- Jettison stores
- Ctrl e
- Eject from aircraft
- g
- Toggle gear down or up
- s
- Lower flaps in ten degree steps. Maximum flap angle is thirty degrees.
- x
- Raise flaps in ten degree steps.
- b
- Open/close airbrakes.
- w
- Apply/release wheel brakes.
- Keypad -
- Decrease elevator trim.
- Keypad +
- Increase elevator trim.
- Keypad *
- Set elevator trim to 0.
- Ctrl n
- Switch altimeter to radar altimeter mode. This shows the height of the
aircraft above ground level
- Ctrl b
- Switch altimeter to barometric altimeter mode. This shows the height of
the aircraft above sea level
Throttle
- 1 to 9 and 0
- Set throttle to between 25% (1) to 100% (0)
- = or Keypad 9
- Increase throttle setting by 1%
- - or keypad 3
- Decrease throttle setting by 1%
- e
- Start/stop engine
- _ (Underscore)
- Reduce throttle setting to 0
- +
- Set throttle setting to 100%
Viewing
- F1
- Look forwards
- Shift F1
- Look back
- F2
- Look left 60 degrees
- F3
- Look right 60 degrees
- F4
- Move cockpit image up and down
- F5
- Look left 120 degrees
- F6
- Look right 120 degrees
- F7
- Pan left (anticlockwise when viewed from above) whilst key is held down
- F8
- Pan right (clockwise when viewed from above) whilst key is held down
- F9
- Pan up whilst key is held down
- F10
- Pan down whilst key is held down
- Page Up
- Increase viewing magnification by a factor of two.
- Page Down
- Decrease viewing magnification by a factor of two.
- Alt F1
- Reset viewing direction and elevatio to straight ahead and magnification
to one
- Alt v
- Return viewpoint in game to aircraft the player is flying
- v
- Switch viewpoint to a position following the aircraft. The viewing
direction controls, F1, F2 and so forth, can be used to move around the
aircraft.
- o
- Switch viewpoint to an observer in front of the aircraft. The view tracks
the aircraft.
- Alt m
- Switch viewpoint to that of the missile if a missile has just been fired.
- d
- Turn on/off target tracking.
- p
- Turn on/off padlock view.
- tab
- Switch viewpoint to the next friendly or hostile object within five
kilometres of the aircraft
- Alt h
- Display a HUD when using either the track or outside views for aircraft
that have HUDs. A radar display is also shown in the bottom left-hand corner
of the screen.
- Alt f
- Display the aircraft bearing, height and speed at the top of the screen
when using either the track or outside views. This can be used for any
aircraft types. Alt hturns on this display for aircraft that do not
have HUDs.
- Alt j
- Display an indicator that shows the aircraft control column position in
the top right-hand corner of the screen when flying the aircraft using either
the keyboard or mouse.
- Alt b
- Turn on/off lag mode. When viewing the aircraft using the track or outside
views, the viewpoint lags behind the aircraft when it manoeuvres rather than
is fixed in position relative to the aircraft
Navigation Aids
- Ctrl m
- Display a map. The aircraft is the white dot. Press any key to return to
the aircraft view.
- /
-
- Scan for the next NDB with a higher frequency
- Shift /
- Scan for the next NDB with a lower frequency
- ;
-
- Scan for the next VOR on NAV radio 1 with a higher frequency
- Shift ;
- Scan for the next VOR on NAV radio 1 with a lower frequency
- '
-
- Scan for the next VOR on NAV radio 2 with a higher frequency
- Shift '
- Scan for the next VOR on NAV radio 2 with a lower frequency
- [
- Select next radial on VOR 1
- Shift [
- Select previous radial on VOR 1
- # or \
- Select next radial on VOR 2
- Shift # or Shift \
- Select previous radial on VOR 2
- i
- Select nearest ILS
Game Controls
- Alt-x
- Leave the game.
- Esc or Alt-o
- Show game options menu (See the section Menus)
- Alt-p
- Pause the game. To resume press p. it is possible to save a copy of the
screen by pressing g. (See Alt-g below.)
- q
- Toggle engine sound on or off
- Ctrl-q
- Turn all sounds on and off
- Alt-g
- save a copy of the screen in a file. The file is called either
GRABx.PCX or GRABx.BMP where x is a number. The
first screen saved would be put in file GRAB1.BMP, the second in
GRAB2.BMP and so forth. The files created are BMP format files if the
command line option -b is used.
- Ctrl s
- Increase the haze effect
- Alt s
- Decrease the haze effect
- Ctrl g
- Superimpose a grid showing 0.5 Km squares on the screen.
- Alt t
- Show information on how the program is running in the top left-hand corner
of the screen
Menus
Pressing either the Alt o, Esc or Menu
key brings up a menu that allows a number of game options to be set. +----------------+
| FST Simulator |
+----------------+
|Controls |
|Display |
|Simulation |
|Sounds |
|Save as Default |
|About |
|Exit Simulation |
+----------------+
The menu entries carry out the following tasks:
- Controls
- This is a submenu used to set the main flight controls to either the
joystick, keyboard or mouse. See the section Controls
Menu below.
- Display
- This leads to a submenu that is used to control the game's on-screen
appearance covered in section Display Menu below.
- Simulation
- Various aspects of the game can be controlled from this submenu, which is
described in the section Simulation Menu.
- Sounds
- Another submenu, this controls the game sounds. It is described in the
section Sound Menu.
- Save as Default
- Save the current settings from the controls, display, simulation and sound
menus as the simulator default values. The information is stored in the file
MENU.CFGin the same directory as the one containing all the file of
the simulation being played.
- About
- Copyright and contact information on the simulator.
- Exit Simulation
- End the simulation.
Controls Menu
This sets the main flight controls. It contains the
following entries: +----------+
|Joystick |
|Mouse |
|Keyboard |
+----------+
- Joystick
- This selects the joystick. If it needs to be calibrated the program will
prompt you. The joystick has another menu that pops up automatically when the
joystick is selected. This says what the joystick is to be used for and is
described in the section Joystick Controls
- Mouse
- This selects the mouse as the main flight control
- Keyboard
- This selects the keyboard as the main flight control
The program
defaults to 'keyboard' if nothing else has been selected and there is no
joystick plugged in.
Joystick Controls
+-----------------+
| Roll/pitch only |
| Analog Rudder |
| Analog Throttle |
+-----------------+
- Roll/pitch only
- The joystick controls the roll and pitch of the aircraft in the normal
way.
- Analog Rudder
- If the joystick has an extra analogue control, this is used to control the
rudder.
- Analog Throttle
- If the joystick has an extra analogue control, this is used to control the
engine throttle setting.
Display Menu
The display menu controls the screen resolution and the
visual appearance of the scenery. +-----------------+
| Screen size |
| Horizon shading |
| Increase haze |
| Decrease haze |
+-----------------+
- Screen size
- This leads to another sub menu where the screen resolution can be set. See
the section Screen Sizes
- Horizon shading
- This turns off or on the distance haze and sky banding effects.
- Increase haze
- This increases the amount of haze. It has the same effect as the keyboard
command Ctrl-s.
- Decrease haze
- This decreases the amount of haze. It has the same effect as the keyboard
command Alt-s.
Screen Sizes
The program can run in a number of different screen sizes.
This can be changed when the game is running using the screen size menu. +--------------------------+
| 640 by 480, 256 colours |
| 800 by 600, 256 colours |
| 1024 by 768, 256 colours |
+--------------------------+
Screen sizes of 640 by 480, 800 by 600 and 1024 by 768 are allowed. The
program will switch to the new size positioning the cockpit bitmap in the middle
of the screen.
Changing the screen resolution affects the field of view. It does not alter
the level of detail.
The screen resolution cannot be changed if the cockpit bitmap is larger than
the resolution wanted, for example, it is not possible to change to 640 by 480
when the bitmap is 800 by 600. Increasing the resolution to 1024 by 768 is fine.
Simulation Menu
+------------------------+
| Simulator time |
| Restart after crash |
| Exit after crash |
| Ground crash |
| Blackout/redout effect |
| Show chase HUD |
| Show alt/asi/heading |
| Chase view lag effect |
| Show stick position |
+------------------------+
- Simulator time
- This pops up another menu that allows the game time to be set. It is
describe in the section Time Menu.
- Restart after crash
- If this option is selected the game restarts after the aircraft piloted by
the player crashes.
- Exit after crash
- If this option is selected the game ends after the aircraft piloted by the
player crashes.
If neither this nor the previous option are ticked, the simulator will ask
whether to restart or end the game.
- Ground crash
-
- This does not do anything at the moment.
- Blackout/redout effect Selecting this option means that the program will
simulate blackout and redout affects if aircraft manoeuvres are too
aggressive, for example, pulling up violently into a steep climb, will cause a
blackout effect where the screen is blanked.
- Show chase HUD A HUD is displayed (for those aircraft that can use them)
when either the chase ('v') or outside ('o') viewing positions are used. The
HUD allows the aircraft to be flown more easily when using these viewpoints. A
small radar display is also drawn in the bottom right-hand corner of the
screen. The HUD information is fixed and laid out as follows:
speed in knots altitude
VSI
Engine RPM
Selected weapon
An attitude ladder and a heading tape are also drawn.
The chase HUD can also be turned on and off using Alt-h on the
keyboard.
- Show alt/asi/heading
- This is an alternative to the chase HUD and can be used for any aircraft
when the viewpoint is outside the aircraft. It shows some information on the
aircraft at the top of the screen as follows:
HDG: 123 SPD: 1234 ALT: 1234
It gives the compass bearing (HDG) speed of the aircraft (SPD) and
altitude (ALT).
This information can also be turned on and off by using Alt-f on
the keyboard. Alt-h will also turn it on for aircraft that do not
have HUDs.
- Chase view lag effect
- This option affects the chase view (keyboard option 'v'). If it is
selected then the viewer's position lags behind that of the aircraft as the
aircraft rolls and turns and then catches up with it instead of always being
in a fixed place relative to the aircraft. This can also be turned on and off
using Alt-b on the keyboard.
- Show stick position
- This option is only of use if flying the aircraft using the keyboard or
mouse. If selected, it draws a small graphic in the top right-hand corner of
the screen that shows the position of the aircraft's control column. This can
also be turned on and off from the keyboard using Alt-j.
Time Menu
The menu is as follows: +------------------+
| Set time to now |
| Set time |
| Daylight change |
+------------------+
- Set time to now
- Selecting this option sets the game time to the time as set on the
computer.
- Set time
- This allows the game time to be set to a specific time. A simple dialogue
box is displayed allowing the time to be typed in. It should be typed in using
the twenty-four hour clock, for example, half past four in the afternoon
should be entered as:
16:30
- Daylight change
- If this option is selected then the level of daylight changes according to
the time of day. After sunset, game time, it starts getting dark and stay dark
until shortly before sunrise.
The sunrise and sunset times in the simulator vary according to the time of
year. They are not very precise but are good enough. If this is inconvenient
then either the 'daylight change' option can be turned off or the supposed
date on which the simulation is being run set using the 'GAMEDATE' symbol in
the world.fst file. This gives the day and month, for example:
GAMEDATE 2103
would set the game date to March 21st.
Sounds Menu
This menu contains the following entries: +--------------+
| Engine noise |
| All sounds |
+--------------+
The two options on this menu turn on and off the aircraft sound effects.
- Engine noise
- Thus turns on and off the aircraft engine noise. It is the same as
keyboard command q.
- All Sounds
- This turns on and off all sounds, including the engine noise. It is the
same as keyboard command Ctrl-q
Joystick Buttons
The actions that can be carried out by the joystick
buttons are as follows. It depends on how many buttons a joystick has as to
which of these work, for example, a two button joystick could only carry out
the first two.
- Button 1
- Fire weapon
- Button 2
- Cycle to next weapon
- Button 3
- lower and raise undercarriage toggle
- Button 4
- Cycle flap position
- Button 5
- Turn on/off engines
- Button 6
- Toggle wheel brake on and off
- Button 7
- Toggle airbrake on and off
Joystick Configuration
Fly looks for a file called
ALLEGRO.JOY for the joystick configuration information. If it cannot
find it, the program will prompt the player to configure it. It displays on
screen the message: Move stick to the top left then press a key
Move the joystick to the top left limit of its movement and press a key
on the keyboard. The second message printed is: Move stick to the bottom right then press a key
Again, do that and press a key on the keyboard. That finishes the
calibration. The details are saved in ALLEGRO.JOY.
Note that it is not possible to request that the joystick be reconfigured.
If the joystick starts to misbehave, the only option is to delete ALLEGRO.JOY
and start from scratch.
Command Line Options
Fly has a number of command line options. The
general format of the fly command is: Fly <world file name> <options>
where:
- <world file name>
- This is the name of the world file to use. The name of the file can be
given here or after the option -w. It omitted it defaults to
WORLD.FST.
- <Options>
- These are the command line options, described below. They are broken
into two groups, Common Options for the more
commonly used options and Obscure Options for the
rest.
Common Options
These control things such as the screen size.
- -v
- This sets the screen size. The possibilities are:
- -v6
- 640 by 480, 256 colours
- -v8
- 800 by 600, 256 colours
- -v1
- 1024 by 768, 256 colours
The screen size has to be the same or
larger than the size of the cockpit bitmap. If the screen size is larger
then the cockpit bitmap is placed centrally on the screen with a black
border to mask the parts of the screen that should not be visible.
- -w
- This allows the name of the world file to be given if the program is not
to use the default of WORLD.FST. It is possible for more that one
world file to be used; the program merges their contents.
- -p
- It is possible to have more than one player aircraft in a simulation.
This option gives the name of the player aircraft to use. It omitted it
defaults to Player.
- -c
- This allows the name of the palette file to be given. Normally the
program will look for the file COLS.FCD or the one named in the
file FST.FPJ. This option allows it to be given on the command line
and takes precedence over any other.
- -d
- The game ends when the player's aircraft crashes.
Obscure Options
These control other aspects of the game.
- -nw
- Fly normally complains about any shape files it cannot find, giving the
player the option to give up or continue using a default shape in place of
the missing shape (a box). This option tells the program to skip the error
message and just use the default shape.
- -ns
- Turn off all sounds.
- -b
- This option tells the program to save screen grabs as BMP format files.
They can be viewed in Paint or even used as the Windows wallpaper! (Your
starter for ten points: which developer is that sad?)
- -e
- Start the game with the aircraft engine noise running.
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