THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE



ATF



PUBLISHER

Digital Integration



AUTHOR(S)



YEAR

1989



CATALOGUE NUMBER



CATEGORY

Strategy



DESCRIPTION

ATF is a simplified aircraft simulation.



CONTROLS

Keyboard, Kempston and Cursor joystick.



 KEYS : 5 or left arrow    - bank left

        6 or down arrow    - climb

        7 or up arrow      - dive

        8 or right arrow   - bank right

        0 or SPACE         - fire

        Q   - increase thrust

        A   - decrease thrust

        

        U   - undercarriage up/down

        L   - automatic landing

        T   - terrain following

        SYM/SHFT - terrain lines on/off

        J   - jammer

        M   - missile launch

        N   - select missile type



        C   - select computer screen

        D   - select allied or enemy database

        E   - select database category

        F   - forward step

        R   - reverse step

        G   - nearest target in category

        ENTER    - database lock-on





INSTRUCTIONS

War has broken out in a future island archipelago. Both sides

are evenly matched on the ground... but one side has a single

squadron of ultra-modern Lockheed ATF fighter-bombers. Can you

alter the balance of power with these few planes?



Your first decision is over what ammunition you will take on your

mission. The ATF can be loaded with cannon shells,

visually-guided ASRAAM missiles (which are not much use!) and

more powerful Maverick missiles with a range of 100km which can

take out over-the-horizon targets, selected from a database. Your

refuelling and rearming is vital, and weaponry must be balanced

against fuel supplies so that the ATF can fly within safe weight

limits. The levels of arms and fuel are shown on bar graphs.



Once you've armed and fuelled you can begin your main mission.

After a takeoff using maximum thrust, the ATF's speed must be

maintained to avoid stalling and crashing. Flying low over a

vertically-scrolling landscape, the ATF comes under constant

attack from enemy forces.  Enemy radar can be avoided with

terrain-following equipment, but this reduces your speed and

carries the risk of a crash.



A head-up display superimposed on the main screen shows engine

thrust, the ATF's speed, ground height and altitude. The missile

system available, the current direction of flight and a target's

range and bearing are also shown.



Beneath the main screen, further indicators show fuel level and

undercarriage status (UC), and warn of incoming missiles (SAM).

An in-flight message window gives vital information on your

mission, and a short-range scanner to the side of the main screen

shows the type of terrain below and nearby enemy objects. 

Approaching ground-to-air SAM missiles trigger a warning alarm

and with luck you can jam them in time using the ATF's onboard

jammer.



The ATF also has an on-board flight computer, showing, on a

series of flick-screens, enemy positions on a world map and the

status of weapon systems and the ATF itself. The computer also

holds a database for locking onto targets which is updated

regularly as your intelligence service and on-board detectors

find new targets.



An automatic landing light (AL) is activated when the ATF enters

the cachement area surrounding allied bases. When a base has been

chosen, an automatic landing sequence can be activated.



A war situation report - giving a rundown of all recent gains and

losses of allied and enemy bases, ground and sea forces, and

communications and industrial complexes - is called up whenever

the ATF return to an allied base. Your intelligence services will

give you extra information at this point on the location of enemy

forces.



ORIGINAL INLAY CARD TEXT



HINTS/CHEATS



SEQUELS/PREQUELS

None



SCORES RECEIVED

The following review appeared in the YS Tipshop Tipsionary.



ATF

Digital Integration

Even people who normally shy away from flight sims might find it

worth their while to take a peek at ATF, a little-known arcade

jobby from the poeple who brought us Fighter Pilot, Tomahawk and

lots more besides.  There are no awkward controls to get to grips

with, and the manual isn't too gigantic.  The view you get is of

your little stealth plane bobbing up and down over a

rapidly-scrolling 3D landscape (with the help of

terrain-following radar if you're a bit chicken).  You're meant

to shoot things, of course - mainly buildings and other planes. 

It's got plenty of complicated strategy, but should be accessible

enough for most arcade game fans.  Nice really.  ****





URLS

ftp.dcc.uchile.cl/pub/OS/sinclair/snapshots/a/atf.zip





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