Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe
Encyclopedia
Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (SWOTL) is a World War II
air-combat flight simulation video game released in August 1991
and expanded in 1992 by LucasFilm Games. It is a MS-DOS game for IBM PC compatibles.
It was the last of a trilogy of World War II titles by LucasFilm
Games, the others being "Battlehawks 1942
" (1988
) and "Their Finest Hour
" (1989
). It enabled the player to fly aircraft of the USAAF Eighth Air Force
and the German Luftwaffe
, including some experimental aircraft that did not see operational service during World War II.
The game was initially released with a codewheel and a 225-page manual, detailing the air war over Western Europe between 1943 and 1945. The game also featured a campaign mode, similar to that found in "Their Finest Hour", where the player had to make the strategic decisions on which targets were to be attacked (as USAAF 8th Air Force) or defended (by the German Luftwaffe).
Some gameplay elements included, such as the historic missions section, are evident in later Lawrence Holland
games including X-Wing
.
offensive against Germany, from August 1943 towards the end of war in 1945. It is focused more on action than on realistic simulation. SWOTL airplanes can be efficiently flown with a mouse, keyboard or joystick. The game sets up German secret weapons, with fast jet propulsion and a variety of missiles and bombs, against slower but more numerous American piston-engined airplanes.
There are a number of ways into the game, covering full Tours of Duty, historical missions, campaign battles as well as a custom mission builder.
for the 8th USAAF:
The "Waves" function allows the player to automatically replicate, up to 9 times, any planned non-bombing Flight; so that it is possible to simulate, for example, several waves of enemy interceptors against a Bomber formation, planning a single Flight of interceptors and setting the "Waves" option as desired.
Campaign Battles are the heart of SWOTL, allowing the Player to plan missions inside the Campaign Battles, using the Mission builder. This feature allows the player plan their own way to fight the air war, without any limitations. Whatever the player's tactics, the success or defeat are determined by several overall Winning/Losing conditions. In particular, there are 8 factors which make up the German war economy in SWOTL:
Of these 8 factors, only the first 4 have direct impact on the Luftwaffe. The last 4 factors are general war industries, and so they affect only the German ground forces. American Campaign Battles will have as a goal the destruction of the war industries (Strategic Bombing), the Luftwaffe (D-Day Air Superiority), or both (Final Victory). German Campaign Battles concern the defense of the same elements.
bitmaps, whereas the landscape and structures are 3D
polygons. Nevertheless, among the other games at that time that were playable on i386 based computers, SWOTL scored as one of the best video games in 1991 (Award Winning). The last patch (v2.2) was released in 1992 and allowed SWOTL to run properly on the faster i486-based machines of the time. However, SWOTL experiences problems when installed on a PC utilizing a processor that is newer than a 486, such as the Pentium family.
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...
air-combat flight simulation video game released in August 1991
1991 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*Microprose creates Civilization, Sid Meier's most successful game .*Electronic Arts releases James Pond 2 and Road Rash for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, starting a series of games that were popular in the 1990s....
and expanded in 1992 by LucasFilm Games. It is a MS-DOS game for IBM PC compatibles.
It was the last of a trilogy of World War II titles by LucasFilm
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm Limited is an American film production company founded by George Lucas in 1971, based in San Francisco, California. Lucas is the company's current chairman and CEO, and Micheline Chau is the president and COO....
Games, the others being "Battlehawks 1942
Battlehawks 1942
- External links :*****...
" (1988
1988 in video gaming
-Events:*June — Nintendo releases the last issue of "Nintendo fun club news";*July — Nintendo releases the first issue of Nintendo Power magazine.-Notable releases:*January 8, Konami releases Super Contra....
) and "Their Finest Hour
Their Finest Hour (1989 video game)
Their Finest Hour is a World War II air-combat flight simulation video game, released in October 1989 by LucasFilm Games.-Summary:This video game was the second of a trilogy of World War II titles by LucasFilm Games, the others being "Battlehawks 1942" and "Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe"...
" (1989
1989 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* October 3, Brøderbund releases the Prince of Persia game, the first in a series of games, noted for its advancements in animation....
). It enabled the player to fly aircraft of the USAAF Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
and the German Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
, including some experimental aircraft that did not see operational service during World War II.
The game was initially released with a codewheel and a 225-page manual, detailing the air war over Western Europe between 1943 and 1945. The game also featured a campaign mode, similar to that found in "Their Finest Hour", where the player had to make the strategic decisions on which targets were to be attacked (as USAAF 8th Air Force) or defended (by the German Luftwaffe).
Some gameplay elements included, such as the historic missions section, are evident in later Lawrence Holland
Lawrence Holland
Lawrence Holland is an American game designer, and president of Totally Games. He is most famous for the Star Wars: X-Wing computer game series published by LucasArts.-Early life:...
games including X-Wing
Star Wars: X-Wing
Star Wars: X-Wing is the first LucasArts DOS computer game set in the Star Wars universe, as well as the lead title in the X-Wing computer game series. It simulates the experience of combat in the A-wing, X-wing, and Y-wing starfighters of the Rebel Alliance...
.
Gameplay
SWOTL is focused entirely on the 8th USAAF vs Luftwaffe challenge during World War II, especially the American Strategic BombingStrategic bombing
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability and public will to wage war rather than destroying its land or naval forces...
offensive against Germany, from August 1943 towards the end of war in 1945. It is focused more on action than on realistic simulation. SWOTL airplanes can be efficiently flown with a mouse, keyboard or joystick. The game sets up German secret weapons, with fast jet propulsion and a variety of missiles and bombs, against slower but more numerous American piston-engined airplanes.
There are a number of ways into the game, covering full Tours of Duty, historical missions, campaign battles as well as a custom mission builder.
Flyable aircraft
for the Luftwaffe:- Bf 109 Versions G-6 and G-10.
- FW 190 Versions A-5 and A-8.
- Me-163 Komet.
- Me-262 Schwalbe.
- Go229 Flying Wing
- He162 Volksjager (expansion disk).
- Do335 Pfeil (expansion disk).
for the 8th USAAF:
- P-47 ThunderboltP-47 ThunderboltRepublic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
Versions C and D. - P-51 MustangP-51 MustangThe 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...
Versions B and D. - B-17 Flying Fortress.
- P-38 LightningP-38 LightningThe 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...
(expansion disk). - P-80 Shooting StarP-80 Shooting StarThe Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces. Designed in 1943 as a response to the German Messerschmitt Me-262 jet fighter, and delivered in just 143 days from the start of the design process, production models were flying but...
(expansion disk).
Tours of Duty
In Tours of Duty, the Player creates his own Pilot (or Crew, for B-17 Flying Fortress) and fights in the air war for a limited number of missions (from 25 to 55, according to the historical Squadrons). The Pilot/Crew gains experience points, ranks and decorations; and if he manages to survive his assigned Tours of Duty, he can even start another, without time limitations. The same Pilot/Crew can be deployed by the Player in Campaign Battles, or in Historical Missions or Custom Missions.Historical Missions
SWOTL features a numerous set of Historical Missions to play. These are pre-built missions designed by the game programmers, and re-create historical air battles, according effectively to historical data. These Historical Missions are not linked each other, but they are stand alone. TheMissions are always chosen by Airplane type. The Player is free to use his own Pilot/Crew in the Historical Mission to get experience points. However, in case of K.I.A. or M.I.A., the Player loses the Pilot/Crew assigned to the Historical Mission, as if he was in normal Tour of Duty or Campaign Battles.Mission Builder
Like many other Air Combat Simulations, SWOTL features a Mission Builder. Although not a complex one, the Mission Builder is flexible and allows the user to create exciting on the map missions.The "Waves" function allows the player to automatically replicate, up to 9 times, any planned non-bombing Flight; so that it is possible to simulate, for example, several waves of enemy interceptors against a Bomber formation, planning a single Flight of interceptors and setting the "Waves" option as desired.
Campaign Battles
- GERMAN FIGHTER PILOTS
- DEPLOYED GERMAN GRUPPEN (LUFTWAFFE GROUPS)
- AVIATION FUEL
- JET FUEL
- GASOLINE IN STOCK
- MUNITIONS IN STOCK
- BALL BEARINGS IN STOCK
- TRANSPORTATION CONDITION
Of these 8 factors, only the first 4 have direct impact on the Luftwaffe. The last 4 factors are general war industries, and so they affect only the German ground forces. American Campaign Battles will have as a goal the destruction of the war industries (Strategic Bombing), the Luftwaffe (D-Day Air Superiority), or both (Final Victory). German Campaign Battles concern the defense of the same elements.
Videos and quality
In order to conserve RAM and utilize the CPU more efficiently, graphics are "mixed": all aircraft are rendered using 2D2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
bitmaps, whereas the landscape and structures are 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
polygons. Nevertheless, among the other games at that time that were playable on i386 based computers, SWOTL scored as one of the best video games in 1991 (Award Winning). The last patch (v2.2) was released in 1992 and allowed SWOTL to run properly on the faster i486-based machines of the time. However, SWOTL experiences problems when installed on a PC utilizing a processor that is newer than a 486, such as the Pentium family.
External links
- The SWOTL Website
- SWOTL at MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...