User:Andy29/FU3

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Note: I am currently starting to write this page, which is why it's in my user space; please don't edit it until I've finished and moved it to it's proper name.

Flight Unlimited III ... Flight Unlimited 3

Flight Unlimited III
[[Image:Fu3_beechjet_01.jpg A Beechjet flies over the Seattle region at 10,000 ft]]
Developer(s) Looking Glass Studios
Publisher(s) Electronic Arts
Engine ZOAR engine
Platform(s) PC (Windows 98)
Release date September, 1999
Genre(s) Flight simulator
Mode(s) Single player
Media CD
Input methods Keyboard, Mouse, Joystick

Flight Unlimited III was the third and last flight simulator in the Looking Glass Studios Flight Unlimited series, released in 1999. It included ten user-flyable aircraft in total, and several new features. It was preceded by Flight Unlimited and Flight Unlimited II.

Some of the Flight Unlimited community still exists, with some websites remaining, and third-party updates still being produced.

Contents

[edit] Features

Weather editor
Weather editor
FLED
FLED

One of the most significant new features was the new weather engine. Before a flight the user could generate and manipulate weather fronts, which would then change dynamically while flying.

The simulator also included the Raytheon Beechjet 400A. In previous versions, only small- to medium-sized propeller-powered aircraft were included. The Beechjet added a fast jet to the line-up, with a glass cockpit, GPS, an autopilot and a working weather radar using the new weather engine.

The Lake Renegade added a unique seaplane, which had a fuslage shaped like a boat's hull on the bottom, and unlike the 'Muskrat' could taxi directly between land and water.

The Stemme S10-VT motorglider had a propeller which could be retracted into the nose cone, allowing it to take off under its own power, and then stop the engine to become a glider.

As with Flight Unlimited II, the simulator concentrated on one small but highly detailed part of the USA, in this version Seattle. It was once again sourced from USGS satellite photos and real-life elevation data. Outside of the Seattle area, covering more of the Pacific West, was a less detailed area called the outer terrain region.

AI controlled aircraft would populate the airspace and displayed all phases of a flight, from taxi and takeoff to landing. There were a large variety of aircraft, meaning the user could see airliners at larger airports as well as small private aircraft flying the traffic pattern at local private airfields.

Air Traffic Control was also programmed into the simulator and was much more advanced than any other home flight simulator at the time, such as Microsoft Flight Simulator 98 which had none at all. The user would build up a message from options and transmit it over the radio. ATC would then reply with instructions. These were accompanied by voices speaking the messages. The many various computer controlled aircraft flying in the airspace were also taken into account.

Other features from Flight Unlimited II include 3d cockpits (although still without working dials), more realistic crashes, water landings, challenges and flight lessons.

If the user had Flight Unlimited II, the high-resolution San Francisco scenery could be installed, making flights between there and the high-resolution Seattle area possible.

The simulator also came with a program called the Flight Unlimited Editor (FLED), which allowed the user to edit the simulator's scenery.

Some features were also removed, such as the FBO airport interface used in pervious versions which was replaced by a standard menu.

[edit] Aircraft

The simulator included ten user-flyable aircraft, with the six from Flight Unlimited II being carried over and updated with new external visual models. Some of the names were changed, possibly due to licencing issues.

New:

Carried over:

[edit] Key commands

General:

  • Page up: Move aircraft up 1,000 ft
  • Page down: Move aircraft down 1,000 ft
  • Alt + 12: Show taxi guide line. This will only work after recieving taxi instructions from Air Traffic Control.

Autopilot:

  • A: Autopilot on/off
  • Alt-A: Altitude hold
  • Alt-H: Heading hold
  • Alt-N: NAV 1 hold
  • Alt-S: Speed hold
  • Alt-V: Vertical speed hold
  • Alt-W: Wing leveler
  • Alt-M: Instrument approach hold.

[edit] External links