Fighter Squadron: The Screamin' Demons Over Europe
Encyclopedia
Fighter Squadron: The Screamin' Demons over Europe (SDOE) is a Windows
-based World War II
theme combat flight simulator
released in 1999. The game was written by Parsoft Interactive
and released by Activision
. It was designed for the Windows 95
/98 operating system
. SDOEs release came on the tail-end of a series of major WWII simulators through 1999, and missed most of the critical Christmas season. Parsoft broke up soon after the release. A version was under development for the Apple Macintosh platform but was cancelled by the Mac porting house during development and the title never made it to the Mac platform.
The simulation player can man all the positions on WWII bombers such as the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Avro Lancaster
and Junkers Ju-88. Few combat flight simulators of this time had this feature. In addition, other aircraft could be flown in the simulation including the Lockheed P-38 Lightning
, North American P-51 Mustang
, Supermarine Spitfire
, DeHavilland Mosquito, Hawker Typhoon
, Focke-Wulf FW-190 and the Messerschmitt
Me-262
. The simulation featured a mission editor that players could use to create their own missions. Fan websites created numerous modifications of flight theaters or eras (World War I for example), new aircraft and new missions.
was 1991's Hellcats Over the Pacific
, arguably one of the most advanced flight simulators of the era. One of the few common complaints was the fairly basic flight model. The game engine used hard-coded instructions for game maps, mission details and vehicle models and behaviours, making it difficult to modify for new missions. In spite of this, a mission pack was released in 1992. Another issue with the engine was that it was based on integer math, at a time when floating point unit
s were becoming more common. On these platforms, floating point math often ran faster than integer, as the processing was offloaded to a separate unit. At the same time the gaming market was changing; computers were becoming more powerful, screen sizes were growing, and networking was becoming increasingly common.
Parsoft took this opportunity to re-design their game engine. They started with a completely new concept that would allow any in-game element to be loaded from a separate file, and shared around a group of networked computers in what they referred to as the "Virtual Battlefield Environment" (VBE). After writing the engine, they used it to create a game based around the A-10 Thunderbolt II
. However, the new game was being released right when the Macintosh platform was moving from the Motorola 680x0 family to the new PowerPC
, and it ran poorly on these platforms. A new version for the PowerPC followed, and A-10 Attack!
was finally released in 1995.
A-10 fixed almost all of the problems in the original Hellcats engine; networking was built-in from the start, the aerodynamics went from too basic to extremely accurate, a new solid-body physics system was added to control interactions between objects, and the VBE system allowed new game objects to be added to the engine. With A-10's release, Parsoft turned their attention to a mission pack, A-10 Cuba!
which was released in 1996.
was in the process of becoming widely available and taking over from older LAN protocols, graphics cards supporting texture mapping
were becoming common, and Apple's market share was imploding. Once again, Parsoft's engine found itself in need of changes in order to keep up with a changing market. A version of VBE tuned for Intel machines, with a new graphics engine, and replacing LAN protocols with TCP/IP would address these concerns. But however good the VBE concept was, its use of shared libraries was a concern when the internal differences between one fighter and the next was limited. A system loading these details from flat files would be idea.
Parsoft started work on just such an engine some time in 1997, originally intending for a Mac and PC release some time in 1998. Returning to the World War II
time frame, the new system was originally referred to only as "Dogfight", an indication of its focus. VBE evolved into OpenPlane, which was in turn based on a "parfile", a text file that pointed to other resources for graphics and sounds.
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
-based World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
theme combat flight simulator
Combat flight simulator
Combat flight simulators are video games used to simulate military aircraft and their operations...
released in 1999. The game was written by Parsoft Interactive
Parsoft Interactive
Parsoft Interactive, or simply Parsoft, is a former computer game company known for their series of technically advanced flight simulators. Their first release was Hellcats Over the Pacific on the Apple Macintosh in 1991, which they followed in 1992 with Missions at Leyte Gulf, an expansion pack...
and released by Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
. It was designed for the Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
/98 operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
. SDOEs release came on the tail-end of a series of major WWII simulators through 1999, and missed most of the critical Christmas season. Parsoft broke up soon after the release. A version was under development for the Apple Macintosh platform but was cancelled by the Mac porting house during development and the title never made it to the Mac platform.
The simulation player can man all the positions on WWII bombers such as the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Avro Lancaster
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other...
and Junkers Ju-88. Few combat flight simulators of this time had this feature. In addition, other aircraft could be flown in the simulation including the Lockheed P-38 Lightning
P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
, North American P-51 Mustang
P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
, Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
, DeHavilland Mosquito, Hawker Typhoon
Hawker Typhoon
The Hawker Typhoon was a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. While the Typhoon was designed to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, and a direct replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, several design problems were encountered, and the Typhoon never completely satisfied...
, Focke-Wulf FW-190 and the Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt AG was a famous German aircraft manufacturing corporation named for its chief designer, Willy Messerschmitt, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 and Me 262...
Me-262
Messerschmitt Me 262
The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe was the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began, but engine problems prevented the aircraft from attaining operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944...
. The simulation featured a mission editor that players could use to create their own missions. Fan websites created numerous modifications of flight theaters or eras (World War I for example), new aircraft and new missions.
Previous efforts
Parsoft's first flight simulatorFlight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and various aspects of the flight environment. This includes the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they react to applications of their controls and other aircraft systems, and how they react to the external...
was 1991's Hellcats Over the Pacific
Hellcats Over the Pacific
Hellcats Over the Pacific is a flight simulator computer game for the Apple Macintosh computer written by Parsoft Interactive and released by Graphic Simulations in 1991. Hellcats was a major release for the Mac platform, one of the first 3D games to be able to drive a 640 x 480 x 8-bit display at...
, arguably one of the most advanced flight simulators of the era. One of the few common complaints was the fairly basic flight model. The game engine used hard-coded instructions for game maps, mission details and vehicle models and behaviours, making it difficult to modify for new missions. In spite of this, a mission pack was released in 1992. Another issue with the engine was that it was based on integer math, at a time when floating point unit
Floating point unit
A floating-point unit is a part of a computer system specially designed to carry out operations on floating point numbers. Typical operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and square root...
s were becoming more common. On these platforms, floating point math often ran faster than integer, as the processing was offloaded to a separate unit. At the same time the gaming market was changing; computers were becoming more powerful, screen sizes were growing, and networking was becoming increasingly common.
Parsoft took this opportunity to re-design their game engine. They started with a completely new concept that would allow any in-game element to be loaded from a separate file, and shared around a group of networked computers in what they referred to as the "Virtual Battlefield Environment" (VBE). After writing the engine, they used it to create a game based around the A-10 Thunderbolt II
A-10 Thunderbolt II
The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is an American single-seat, twin-engine, straight-wing jet aircraft developed by Fairchild-Republic in the early 1970s. The A-10 was designed for a United States Air Force requirement to provide close air support for ground forces by attacking tanks,...
. However, the new game was being released right when the Macintosh platform was moving from the Motorola 680x0 family to the new PowerPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
, and it ran poorly on these platforms. A new version for the PowerPC followed, and A-10 Attack!
A-10 Attack!
A-10 Attack! is a combat flight simulator for the Apple Macintosh computer released by Parsoft Interactive in 1995. The game features an A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft that takes part in a variety of missions in West Germany during a hypothetical limited conventional attack by the Warsaw Pact...
was finally released in 1995.
A-10 fixed almost all of the problems in the original Hellcats engine; networking was built-in from the start, the aerodynamics went from too basic to extremely accurate, a new solid-body physics system was added to control interactions between objects, and the VBE system allowed new game objects to be added to the engine. With A-10's release, Parsoft turned their attention to a mission pack, A-10 Cuba!
A-10 Cuba!
A-10 Cuba! is a flight simulator computer game released by Parsoft Interactive in 1996.-Gameplay:It features an A-10 Thunderbolt II on a mission to defeat guerrilla forces at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba...
which was released in 1996.
Dogfight
As had happened between the release of Hellcats and A-10, during the release of A-10 the market had moved once again. In this case the internetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
was in the process of becoming widely available and taking over from older LAN protocols, graphics cards supporting texture mapping
Texture mapping
Texture mapping is a method for adding detail, surface texture , or color to a computer-generated graphic or 3D model. Its application to 3D graphics was pioneered by Dr Edwin Catmull in his Ph.D. thesis of 1974.-Texture mapping:...
were becoming common, and Apple's market share was imploding. Once again, Parsoft's engine found itself in need of changes in order to keep up with a changing market. A version of VBE tuned for Intel machines, with a new graphics engine, and replacing LAN protocols with TCP/IP would address these concerns. But however good the VBE concept was, its use of shared libraries was a concern when the internal differences between one fighter and the next was limited. A system loading these details from flat files would be idea.
Parsoft started work on just such an engine some time in 1997, originally intending for a Mac and PC release some time in 1998. Returning to the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
time frame, the new system was originally referred to only as "Dogfight", an indication of its focus. VBE evolved into OpenPlane, which was in turn based on a "parfile", a text file that pointed to other resources for graphics and sounds.