Combat Lynx

edited October 2011 in Games
Did anyone manage to have any fun with this? I've tried loads of times, but I could never really work out what I was supposed to be doing, and even things like shooting seemed so difficult. It's frustrating cos it looks like it should be a brilliant game.
Post edited by SteveSmith on

Comments

  • edited October 2011
    I've always thought the same. IIRC it has many control keys. This might be the problem.
  • edited October 2011
    I've always thought the same. IIRC it has many control keys. This might be the problem.
    I absolutely agree. Looked great at first but when you realized you had to use so many keys and all of them at once (not in defined sequences like in, say, "proper" flight simulators), it quickly lost any appeal.
  • edited October 2011
    I used to love this game. It took me a long time to get used to but once I did it definitely got a lot easier. I wasn't a big fan of the flight-sim-with-lots-of-keys but back then I was hypnotised by the lush rolling hill graphics so stuck with it.

    In hindsight I reckon it's an OK game. ATF is a bit easier to get into and slightly more playable.
  • edited October 2011
    I stuck with it and got used to the myriad of keys - and it was a brilliant game.

    Nothing better than seeing an enemy tank roll towards your base and get destroyed by a minefield you had laid.

    As I remember Hellfire missiles were great for taking out ground vehicles and the rockets took 2 or 3 to destroy aircraft.

    Loved the perspective lines on the rolling hills etc. Great game that combined strategy and arcade action.
  • edited October 2011
    I liked the game a lot, for a variety of reasons. It's got an utterly huge open world that's algorithmically generated each game and you can't even hope to cover more than a fraction of it before your fuel runs out. I thought the graphics were great for their time, and a forerunner of the fractal landscapes that you'd see in later games.

    There aren't any Hellfire missiles in Combat Lynx. You might be thinking of Tomahawk or Gunship, which both feature them. Instead, the best weapon you've got is TOW missiles; these can be guided onto the target with the cursor keys and are pretty likely to be a one shot kill. Rockets, cannon, and gunpod are unguided, so you need to steer the helicopter to aim them and they're progressively less effective. Personally, I wouldn't bother with them, especially if you're just starting out.

    Mines are the other useful weapon. As well as laying them, you can also drop mines directly onto enemy units, although the TOW missiles are more effective.

    Air to air missiles are a bit random. You're unlikely to get a shot in until after the enemy aircraft or helicopters have flown past you, but you can sometimes get a kill for big points with them.

    In terms of what to do in the game, there aren't any set objectives, but I'd suggest the following:

    1. Lay minefields around all your bases and keep them topped up. This stops the enemy from taking the base cheaply by overruning it with a ground unit.

    2. Transport injured troops from the outlying bases back to the main one. Replace them with fresh troops. Bases that run out of troops will be lost, although this takes quite a long time.

    3. Search on the map for enemy units and go after them with TOW missiles. Taking out emplacements is very tricky, but trucks and tanks are fairly easy to deal with.

    4. You'll occasionally get an announcement that new enemy forces have arrived at a certain location. Load up with TOW missiles and fly there for a turkey shoot.
  • edited October 2011
    I got well into this one. Funnily enough though it works superb as a co-op 2 player game. Because you can redefine all the keys (and there is alot) you can enable 2 joysticks. I would set up the first one as the flight controller, with the fire button turning on and off the weapons guidance that was controlled by the other joystick.
    Basically I would pilot the chopper, and my mate sitting next to me would sit with the keyboard ,handling the navigation (bringing up the map, messages etc) and when we had a target, he would handle the TOW. Pilot and co-pilot at it were. Worked a treat :)
  • edited October 2011
    Sard wrote: »
    Basically I would pilot the chopper, and my mate sitting next to me would sit with the keyboard ,handling the navigation (bringing up the map, messages etc) and when we had a target, he would handle the TOW. Pilot and co-pilot at it were. Worked a treat :)

    I bet you had to take it in turns to pretend to be Stringfellow Hawke? :-P

    (wrong game - Ed)
  • edited October 2011
    Morkin wrote: »
    I bet you had to take it in turns to pretend to be Stringfellow Hawke? :-P

    (wrong game - Ed)

    Ah but even Dominic Santini was pretty cool!
  • edited October 2011
    Not a chance !! My speccy.. My pilot seat ! :D
  • edited October 2011
    loved it.

    as others have said, the best strategy was to lay mines all around your base, preferably two or three deep, and keep the mines topped up as they explode.
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