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Digital Integration

psj3809psj3809
edited June 2010 in Games
Remember this classic old company ? Used to play Fighter Pilot a lot as a kid, yeah theyre dated now but back then it was one of my first looks at a flight simulation and i loved it.

TT Racer was great but a bit too difficult for me.

Over on the Retro Gamer forum someones joined who has a claim to fame, his dad founded Digital Integration ! Hopefully he'll come over here soon and give us any old stories he knows from his dad back in the day.
Post edited by psj3809 on
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Comments

  • mel the bellmel the bell
    edited May 2010
    Night gunners what i played most of by them
    awesome

    i have tomahawk by em too (with the lenslok)
    Professional Mel-the-Bell Simulator................"So realistic, I found myself reaching for the Kleenex King-Size!" - Richard Darling
  • fogfog
    edited May 2010
    I currently have both listed on a certain auction site ;) hehe

    tbh I was cack at both..
  • Dwayne DibleyDwayne Dibley
    edited May 2010
    DI were a final software comapany , Bobsleigh was an unusual but really fun simulator , but Tomahawk tops them all ; how on earth a beeper can be made to sound so like helicopter rotors spinning up I'll never know , and the game itself was absolutely brill. Never had much time for their plane sims , mind but the arcade game ATF II on the 'miggy , which had the player jointly weilding mouse and stick to control your craft was a thing of beauty
  • sirclive1sirclive1
    edited May 2010
    I still enjoy a game of Tomahawk every now and then , the main gameplay were you have to obliterate all the enemy forces marching across the map is bloody fantastic.
  • HairyHairy
    edited May 2010
    Used to play fighter pilot loads back in the day. Can't say I've played any recently.
  • beanzbeanz
    edited May 2010
    One of my favorite software houses, Tomahawk was awesome on the speccy...and I just picked up F16 falcon for the Amiga by DI off ebay yesterday.
  • STeaMSTeaM
    edited May 2010
    F-16 Combat Pilot, bloody loved it back in the day.

    It was games like this that made me want to join the RAF - damn my poor eyesight!
  • GrazGraz
    edited May 2010
    Fighter pilot and Night Gunner. Two games that are as good today as the day they came out. Wasn't as keen as any of the games that followed, although F16 Combat pilot is pretty nifty.

    Night Gunner still has the best crash-landing sound-fx in any game. Yikes, crunch!
  • FrankieFrankie
    edited May 2010
    Only ever really played and like Night Gunner back then. However, later on I discovered Taxi through Emulation. Kind of fun to :)
  • WinstonWinston
    edited May 2010
    The thing about Fighter Pilot is they actually did a pretty decent job of modelling flight. I remember doing "knife edge flight" - no other Spectrum flight simulator would do that - this is where you roll to 90 degrees and use the rudder to keep the nose up, with sufficient speed the fuselage makes enough lift that you stay up. It actually has a fair crack at modelling more than just lift from wings. Other things you notice is as you slow down you progressively have to increase the pitch angle to maintain altitude.

    I'll have to have a go at Fighter Pilot again to make sure my memories aren't deceiving me, but I'm certain that it was probably the best flight sim in terms of flight dynamics of anything that was on the Speccy (and many flight games that came out later on more powerful computers).
  • mel the bellmel the bell
    edited May 2010
    Winston wrote: »
    The thing about Fighter Pilot is they actually did a pretty decent job of modelling flight. I remember doing "knife edge flight" - no other Spectrum flight simulator would do that - this is where you roll to 90 degrees and use the rudder to keep the nose up, with sufficient speed the fuselage makes enough lift that you stay up. It actually has a fair crack at modelling more than just lift from wings. Other things you notice is as you slow down you progressively have to increase the pitch angle to maintain altitude.

    tch geeky

    i cant do flight sims, im great at crashing thats about it
    Professional Mel-the-Bell Simulator................"So realistic, I found myself reaching for the Kleenex King-Size!" - Richard Darling
  • GrazGraz
    edited May 2010
    Winston wrote: »
    The thing about Fighter Pilot is they actually did a pretty decent job of modelling flight. I remember doing "knife edge flight" - no other Spectrum flight simulator would do that - this is where you roll to 90 degrees and use the rudder to keep the nose up, with sufficient speed the fuselage makes enough lift that you stay up. It actually has a fair crack at modelling more than just lift from wings. Other things you notice is as you slow down you progressively have to increase the pitch angle to maintain altitude.

    I'll have to have a go at Fighter Pilot again to make sure my memories aren't deceiving me, but I'm certain that it was probably the best flight sim in terms of flight dynamics of anything that was on the Speccy (and many flight games that came out later on more powerful computers).

    I used to like knife-edging it. Something I only repeated on the Amiga on F16.
  • CUCHULAINNCUCHULAINN
    edited May 2010
    That's mad. I recognise all the names of the games you've all mentioned, but the company name doesn't ring a bell. Can't say I've ever heard of 'em.
  • Paul van der LaanPaul van der Laan
    edited May 2010
    Big respect for Digital Integration! Although I could never come to terms with Fighter Pilot nor TT Racer, I thoroughly enjoyed Night Gunner, Tomahawk, Bobsleigh and ATF.
    With Tomahawk being my favourite: very playable, fast wireframe graphics and good sound fx too. Was always relieved when both loading and passing the lenslock security was a success though...
  • GrazGraz
    edited May 2010
    Ooooh, well done, I forgot about ATF. That's a really groovy game!
  • zx1zx1
    edited May 2010
    Loved ATF 'back in the day'. Haven't played it for many years, it's not really a flight sim though, more of an arcade game.
    I never really got into flight sims, i found them too hard and usually ended up crashing, so i gave up pretty quickly. The ones i remember playing are Ace of aces and snow strike.
    The trouble with tribbles is.......
  • mel the bellmel the bell
    edited May 2010
    dammit i wanna play night gunner now and i dont own it on tape......im trying to stick to proper hardware and tapes now its out rather than emulation :P
    wonder if its in the bag of c90s in the loft :P

    edit:- just checked and..............nope it aint :(
    Professional Mel-the-Bell Simulator................"So realistic, I found myself reaching for the Kleenex King-Size!" - Richard Darling
  • itsallgooditsallgood
    edited May 2010
    Couldn't you record the TZX from here onto a tape and then load it into the Speccy, Mel? Aw go on - its only cheating a little bit ;)
  • mel the bellmel the bell
    edited May 2010
    itsallgood wrote: »
    Couldn't you record the TZX from here onto a tape and then load it into the Speccy, Mel? Aw go on - its only cheating a little bit ;)

    tbh its someat ive thought about but ive never done it and all seems a lot of faffing around :P
    be easier just to forget about night gunner and go back to playing cookie or chuckie egg :D
    Professional Mel-the-Bell Simulator................"So realistic, I found myself reaching for the Kleenex King-Size!" - Richard Darling
  • RetrobrothersRetrobrothers
    edited May 2010
    Yep - great software house.

    I spent MONTHS playing Fighter Pilot (D K Marshall) - and once I watched Top Gun the game got a second lease of life!

    I also really enjoyed Night Gunner. What a great shoot em up that was - with proper 'deflection shooting' - awesome. Managed to get through all 30 levels too. Very addictive and still plays well today. How scary was it as your turret 'went sluggish' or your engine was on fire?
  • JuanF. RamirezJuanF. Ramirez
    edited May 2010
    Fighter Pilot was one of the first simulators I've played, and my favourite. Psion's Fight Simulation was very boring compared with FP, which was easier and funnier.
  • MorkinMorkin
    edited June 2010
    Never really got into the flight sim scene but loved ATF. Think this was about my limit for technical complexity back then.

    Just had a look at their software list, might have to give this one a go. (Was considering trying the footy pools next season - if 2 people have rated this 10/10, does that mean it's a guaranteed pay-off..? :smile:)
  • joefishjoefish
    edited June 2010
    Tomahawk was very impressive. I traded my Currah ?Speech for a Kempston Pro joystick interface so that I could play it with two joysticks.
    Joefish
    - IONIAN-GAMES.com -
  • gandulfgandulf
    edited June 2010
    Night gunner was a great game! it was one of my first "original" speccy games, purchased with "Blue Thunder"
  • SteveSmithSteveSmith
    edited June 2010
    Fighter Pilot was the first game I bought for my Speccy. Did anyone ever manage to land the plane? Bloody impossible!
    Speccy games remade in 3D or multiplayer
  • GrazGraz
    edited June 2010
    SteveSmith wrote: »
    Fighter Pilot was the first game I bought for my Speccy. Did anyone ever manage to land the plane? Bloody impossible!

    Fighter Pilot was the first-ever flight sim in which I managed to land the plane. Not too difficult really, and stood me in good stead for when playing all subsequent flight-sims. Go on, have another go now, you'll surprise y'self!
  • ArjunArjun
    edited June 2010
    SteveSmith wrote: »
    Fighter Pilot was the first game I bought for my Speccy. Did anyone ever manage to land the plane? Bloody impossible!

    Yes! After many attempts and guidance from my uncle, who was director of Chennai Airport at one time, I finally managed to land the plane. After that, I could land the plane nearly every single time. I've forgotten much since and really should have another go on FP...

    I see a lot of people saying Tomahawk is a great copter simulator. I wonder how it compares to Gunship from Microprose. Anyone played both for comparison?
    Zero - A modern Spectrum emulator for Windows.
    Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
  • beebulbeebul
    edited June 2010
    I only ever landed the plane in Fight Pilot by accident!
  • Matt_BMatt_B
    edited June 2010
    Arjun wrote: »
    Yes! After many attempts and guidance from my uncle, who was director of Chennai Airport at one time, I finally managed to land the plane. After that, I could land the plane nearly every single time. I've forgotten much since and really should have another go on FP...

    I see a lot of people saying Tomahawk is a great copter simulator. I wonder how it compares to Gunship from Microprose. Anyone played both for comparison?

    I'd say that Tomahawk has a much more realistic feel and better graphics. It has to be said that all the Microprose simulators have a fairly simplistic model of flight.

    Gunship has better missions and provides more of a long term challenge though; once you've mastered flying the helicopter in Tomahawk there's not really that much more to it. All the enemies can be offed with a Hellfire missile at well outside the range where they can shoot back, so the combat is rather unsatisfactory in it.
  • ArjunArjun
    edited June 2010
    Matt_B wrote: »
    I'd say that Tomahawk has a much more realistic feel and better graphics.

    Interesting you should say that about the graphics because I was just reading one of the magazine reviews (Crash I think) and it says Gunship has better graphics! lol. But I know whom to believe. ;)

    Interesting, I had a mate who owned the +3 disk version of Gunship and he couldn't stop raving about the manual. Even went on to claim that the manual was so detailed that one could probably fly a real Apache after reading it. Funny how everything seemed so believable at that age!
    Zero - A modern Spectrum emulator for Windows.
    Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
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