PC/CD Gamer UK 43/PCGAMER43.bin/walkthru/fcorps.txt

Text File | 1997-02-20 | 22KB | 342 lines

Flying Corps - Playing Guide

GENERAL FLYING TIPS
Many people scoff at flight sims, claiming that they are all the same. However,
Flying Corps exposes this myth better than any other. Air-to-air combat in
biplanes is very different from all this modern business with jets, radar and HUDs.
The low power of these aircraft makes gaining altitude while manoeuvring
extremely difficult. Therefore having a height advantage over your opponent
gives you the chance to decide when and how to initiate combat. As a result,
tactics and dogfighting are more important in historical fighters than their
technology-led modern-day counterparts.
The lack of radar means you can literally fly up to the enemy if you know where
his blindspot is, and as for a HUD, well, you have a few dials, a compass and gun-
sight - not much really. But without the advanced technology it becomes a battle
of wits, skill and instinct as opposed to loosing off a couple of Mavericks and
turning for home. This is why men such as Von Richtofen and Albert Ball were
able to win so many battles and stand out against the backdrop of carnage that was
the First World War.
The aircraft in Flying Corps are among the first real fighter aircraft ever built, and
their designs reflect the different tactics that the pilots used in combat. The two
most important properties in a fighter are speed and quick turning, but an
improvement in one will limit the other. Knowing your aircraftÆs abilities and the
abilities of your opponent will mean the difference between life and death.

DOGFIGHTING
In a dogfight you have to keep your head. There is no point in rabidly chasing one
enemy plane when you have another enemy about to dive on to your tail. These
are frail planes, so try to spray as many of them as quickly as possible - just a few
bullets are needed to affect the performance of your opponents, and many pilots
will turn for home as soon as they are hit. Learn to turn (both vertically and
horizontally) without losing height and then see how far you can ease down the
throttle while keeping your nose up. This is the key because the slower youÆre
going the smaller your turning circle is.
Always make saving your wingmen a priority. If you see an enemy closing in on
one of your men, join the chase and try to save him. The slower, more agile
aircraft like the Camel or the Fokker DR1 are perfect for dogfights because they
are able to turn on a sixpence and therefore quickly shake off (or shoot down)
their opponents.
Squadron fighting may seem a random mess at first, but there is a semblance of
order to it. At the point when the formation splits up it is vital that you donÆt start
to pull sharp turns as you could go ploughing through your wingmen. A neat tactic
is to dive under the approaching planes and then pull up and spray them as the
two formations collide. Use your speed to climb your way to the top of the fight
and find the enemy CO. Take him out (he is always the most skilled) and then
work your way down, forcing the enemy aircraft lower and massing your
squadron above them.

GROUND ATTACKS
When bombing a ground target you put yourself at great risk as you have to give
up all your height and run the gauntlet of anti-aircraft guns that will almost
certainly be guarding your victim. There are two different tactics I use, depending
on what IÆm aiming at. For buildings and stationary targets I dive bomb my
victims. This involves climbing and approaching the area at around 3,000 feet,
then cutting your engines and diving at the target almost vertically. At 1,500 feet I
power up again while still heading for the target. This is the tricky part now. You
must release your bombs at the last moment possible while pulling up and away
but not passing too low over the explosion. YouÆll damage your own plane if you
go too low, so try to keep at least 100 feet away from the target.
For the convoys or trains you should fly up behind them at around 150 feet and
strafe them. This is always dangerous, but if they donÆt blow you out of the sky by
the time you reach them, drop one bomb off and fly away at least 1,000 yards
before you turn for another run.
The tanks in Flying Corps generally drive along in lines next to each other, so a
different approach is necessary. Fly at them from the side and let off no more than
two bombs on each pass from a low altitude. They are normally so close together
a hit is guaranteed.

ZOOMING
Zooming is a technique used by the faster and less manoeuvrable aircraft like the
Spad. Using the superior climb rate of your fighter, climb above your opponent
until you are around 1,000 feet above them. Position yourself behind them and
then slow your engines as you dive on your helpless victim. As you begin to get
close to them pull up hard, put on full throttle and climb back to a safe distance
where you can prepare for another dive. If youÆre doing it right, you should be yo-
yo-ing up and down just behind them. Care must be taken not to stall or overshoot
your opponent, because youÆre likely to become the helpless target. Any of the
fighters can use this technique against bombers as they are extremely slow.

GREED OR GENEROSITY
When leading a squadron you can make your job a lot easier by examining the
mission briefs in detail first and then deciding on a formation. I use the above
formations for the two very different jobs of hunting for kills to increase my
personal score or trying to win a squadron vs squadron encounter while
minimising our losses.
Often the missions will contain much more than is shown in the description and
this may mean that you get separated from your squadron or lose them to enemy
fire. When alone you must climb as high as possible, because if you contact an
enemy squadron that is above you, then youÆll be at their mercy (and they donÆt
have any). If, however, you are a few thousand feet above them, you can continue
to fly to your destination and they will not be able to catch up with you - when
they climb they lose speed and you pull away from them. If youÆre on your way to
a target, then remember that theyÆll be waiting for you on the way back.
One general tip when youÆre trying to rack up as many kills as possible is to try to
get damaged enemy aircraft as they fall out of the dogfight - whoever puts the last
bullet in gets the kill. Also, try spraying bullets at a whole formation, because
even though only a few bullets hit each plane there is always a chance they will hit
the pilots or disable the plane and force a crash landing. If an enemy manages to
pull off a crash landing and you donÆt see their aircraft explode, dive down and
strafe them till they blow up. This is war, after all.

THE CAMPAIGNS
Flying CorpsÆ campaigns are the heart and soul of the game. Their dynamic
progression and small differences make it impossible to provide a foolproof
walkthrough, but the following will certainly help you take out the worst the
enemy has to offer.

Flying Circus
In this campaign you lead Jasta 11 at a time when they were the undisputed rulers
of the sky.
Fearless and spirited, they became famous for their complete disregard for
camouflage, which gave rise to the flamboyant, colourful paint schemes that
earned them their nickname, The Flying Circus. Von Richtofen painted his plane
red so his enemies would recognise him and immediately drop their loads.
You play Lothar Richtofen, and have to deputise for the man himself while he
takes a month off. Your objective is to take your kill score from 16 to above your
brotherÆs score of 52, as well as having a squadron left at the end of the month to
hand back to your brother. During the campaign you may be able to attract some
aces from other squadrons and turn some of your novices into aces.
In the first mission you scramble as four bombers pass over the airfield without an
escort - you should have no problems clocking up three or four kills. After the
debrief you will get a choice of three missions, each in a different area.
Cambrai is definitely where the action is, but itÆs a risky place to go and is often
patrolled by the 56th squadron, which is led by the British ace Albert Ball. If you
take all your wingmen, you risk losing the lot and being relieved of your
command. If you take only a few, then youÆll almost certainly be outnumbered.
The usual way to deal with this would be to save your position just before you
take off and then if you did badly, you could go back to your save and change
stuff round before trying again. Unfortunately, you canÆt do that in Flying Corps
because there are lots of versions of each mission and you wonÆt know the
situation until youÆre in the middle of it. So play it safe and stay away from this
area until you are confident that you can take a few losses.
Douai is the second mission area and here you can take a few more flying risks
and concentrate on your squadron management. The combat can still get intense
but thereÆll be plenty of opportunities to get easy kills, which will improve your
score and the morale of your men. You should be the dominant force in this area.
Douai is also an easy place to go hunting, but the lack of enemies may make it
hard for you to attain a high enough score of kills while keeping the other pilots
happy with theirs.

Tank Battle
In the Tank Battle campaign you are set the task of surviving a huge assault on the
German lines by the British tanks backed up by artillery and the Royal Flying
Corps. The campaign takes place over three days and your squadron is driven to
the limit flying five missions per day and only returning to base to re-fuel and re-
arm.
When you start the first mission in this campaign you will be thrown into the
middle of a surprise attack by the British against your airfield. Forget the
buildings; you wonÆt be able to save them. Concentrate on the trucks, which you
see to your right as you take off, because theyÆre evacuating your supplies to a
safer airfield and the more trucks you keep alive, the more planes you will have
for the rest of the campaign. The trucksÆ main threat is from the tanks, which are
so close that if you donÆt take off immediately, youÆll ram them. Use up your
bombs as soon as possible doing one or two low passes over the tanks. Then turn
your attention to your wingman Otto Konnecke. Being a hero, Otto is trying to
take out all the camels alone and will get himself killed unless you help him. You
can either help him and have a killer wingman for the rest of the campaign or save
the trucks and get more aircraft for the rest of the campaign. Nobody here has
managed both... yet.
After the evacuation, your missions will all be planned on the map screen, where
you have to position your squadronÆs waypoints. If you make that waypoint a
group of enemy tanks, then your squadron will attack them automatically. When
choosing waypoints try to defend the German anti-tank guns as theyÆre able to kill
a few stray tanks but cannot withstand a full-on assault. If theyÆre also being
bombed by the enemy fighters, you should engage these on sight.
About halfway through the campaign things will probably start to look worrying.
If the tanks reach the middle of the map, you must take out the bridges to prevent
any of the tanks finding an easy path through the guns. Your superiors will start to
encourage you to hit the enemy bases, but even if you have Otto, youÆll have to be
in and out. Going in alone in an Albatross, diving vertically out of the clouds
directly over the base and dropping my bombs on the enemy airfield is a tricky
but effective way of bombing the large enemy hangars. After your dive you will
have a lot of speed, which you should use to get out of there sharpish. DonÆt try to
climb if youÆre being chased by camels.
By the third day you should be either picking off the remaining enemy ground
units or frantically defending your last line of defence. If the latter is the case,
then take as many planes up with you as you can and just attack the tanks, because
they will have little air support.

Hat In The Ring
The Hat In The Ring campaign is all about glory-flying. As pilot in the American
94th squadron you must work your way up the ranks until you take command of
your own flight and eventually the squadron. The objective of this campaign is to
win the Congressional Medal Of Honor. You get this by equalling the exploits of
Eddie Rickenbacker, the American Ace of Aces.
At the start of this campaign you donÆt have control of your missions. YouÆll find
the main difference is that the other planes will follow the squadron leader rather
than yourself, and you must therefore do the same. This forces you to play the
game differently because you have to stick with their plan and play as a team
rather than steaming in and letting them clear up.
But, as IÆve said, this one is about glory, so when the fighting does kick off, go in
as fast as you can and try to take out a few extra enemies while your more
cautious wingmen manoeuvre for position. Another good way to show how
glorious you are is to dive to the rescue of any aircraft that are being attacked.
Protect your bombers, but donÆt get distracted trying to finish off crippled
opponents.
When you do this, you may notice that your squadron is continuing to fly to its
next waypoint, offering you no backup at all. The squadron leaderÆs priority is to
complete his mission successfully and safely rather than charging off to take on a
squadron of Fokkers alone. Strange that, because after getting yourself promoted
you may well be flying off into the distance and leaving your more reckless
wingmen to fend for themselves because the missions get harder and much longer.
As you advance through the ranks, a small icon becomes active on the left-hand
side of your mission-selection screen. This takes you to the volunteer missions,
which are in four separate groups.
The Balloon Busting is perfect for the lone pilot. Try to dive down below the
balloon about 1,500 meters away from it, slow down and pull up to shoot at it. By
doing this you get enough time to finish off the balloon in the first pass while not
letting the man jump out.
The æThree Fingered LakeÆ is a good mission to accept once you have access to
Spads. With the superior speed of the Spad itÆs possible to zip around the lake
taking out all three balloons and leave the enemy patrols behind before they can
get close. The AA around the balloons is intense, to say the least, so keep up your
speed. If you try to climb while youÆre still in range, youÆll be an easy shot. In the
escort missions use a Nieuport because youÆll be able to manoeuvre quickly at
low speed. Take your cavalier pilots with you in a separate flight with orders to
engage all enemy aircraft on sight and they should be able to get a few kills in
before the enemy aircraft get close to the aircraft youÆre defending. As the war
and the campaign near their end, youÆll have to take up more and more dangerous
missions. Whichever type of missions you choose to fly, make sure you finish the
assigned tasks before you go glory-hunting.

SPRING OFFENSIVE
In the spring of 1918 the Germans launched a huge attack against the Allied lines
to gain as much ground as they could before the Americans could deploy their full
force to bolster the Allied lines. After the collapse of Russia, the Germans were
able to recall large numbers of ground troops and nearly 1,700 aircraft were used
against the British in an offensive so devastating that they were pushed back ten
miles and suffered 38,000 casualties in just the first day.
After landing youÆll receive your two most important training missions. This first
is staying within 100 meters of your COÆs tail, while heÆs pulling extreme
manoeuvres for three minutes. To be honest, the only tip here is practice. The
second is stalking your prey, and here youÆll want to climb above the clouds, cut
your engines and dive down when the CO is about halfway to the base. For this
one use the padlock views and information bars.
The outcome of each of these missions determines the forces available to each
side in the final battle of the campaign. You must take the initiative in every battle
and hit your assigned targets and the numerous enemy patrols on sight. As you
gain control of the squadron, try to save the best pilots for ground attack missions.
This will make a major impact on the outcome of the campaign.
The hardest mission is a suicidal attack on the home airfield of Jasta 11, deep
behind enemy lines and swarming with Fokkers. I would seriously advise you to
stay above the clouds until you get right over the airfield; even if your wingmen
drop away into combat, youÆll have enough bombs to take out the two main
hangars. Resist the temptation of helping your boys out and get rid of your bombs
and the airbase in one go. Then try to fight your way back to the remains of your
squadron. By the time you reach the last battle you should have a pretty good idea
of how the war is going from the news and messages you receive.
If the warÆs going badly, youÆll have only yourself to blame. ItÆs an awfully large
responsibility, but youÆll get a chance to level the scores in the final battle. On the
final mission, youÆll have to stop the German tank and infantry attack on Amiens.
Take everything you have and give at least three of your wingmen orders to attack
any free enemy aircraft that enter the area. DonÆt bother with the infantry, just
concentrate on the tanks. Ammo is a major issue in this battle as the tanks just
soak up your machine gun fire. ItÆs possible to get two tanks with one bomb by
dropping the bomb dead in the middle between them. This battle is make or
break: win, and win the campaign; lose, and lose all that hard work. But thatÆs
war.


AIRCRAFT THE PLAYER WILL FLY

German aircraft
Fokker DR1
This triplane is a good dogfighting aircraft because of its sharp turning abilities
and its fast climb rate, but this comes at the expense of top speed. I found the
triplane excellent for strafing, bombing tanks and ground positions. They are also
good for escort missions, as you can stay close to the aircraft you are defending
and recover height quickly after a fight.

Albatross D111
A fine and reliable plane, and a good choice for a beginner. Its speed and
manoeuvrability can be combined at low to medium altitudes, enabling it to
outperform most of the Allied aircraft. It also carries twin synchronised machine
guns, which fire between the propeller blades cutting down enemy aircraft at a
reassuring rate.

Allied aircraft
Nieuport 28
This is the weakest of the Allied planes offered to the player. Although it has
reasonable speed and manoeuvrability, it has the disconcerting habit of shedding
its wings in a fast dive, leaving the player piloting an oversize dart.

Sopwith Camel
Vicious to the enemy and a loyal friend to you. The aircraftÆs ability to turn tight
circles or dive and climb better than any of the enemy aircraft make it a great all-
rounder. The Camel has very light controls which need to be nursed constantly,
meaning only an experienced pilot can bring out its full potential.

SE5a
This is my personal favourite. It has greater speed and stability than the Camel
and can still turn and dive well. This aircraft can engage in a turning dogfight or
use zooming to great effect. When damaged, the stability of the SE5a means a
good pilot can often glide down to a safe landing.

Spad
The Spad is the fastest of the biplanes available and can dive at speeds in excess
of 200kph. The ultimate zoomer, this plane is superb for one-man missions
because you can take control of high altitude combat through being able to out-
dive or out-climb your opponent. Do not try to dogfight in this plane as it takes
ages to turn, and if you slow down, the plane will become tail heavy, resulting in a
dive. It takes a long time to recover from a stall in a Spad so donÆt take any risks
under 3,000 feet.



TOP TEN TIPS

1. Check that there are no other enemy squadrons lurking around before
committing your squadron to a confrontation.

2. Make sure you get close enough to identify potential targets. Friendly fire is the
last thing your countrymen need.

3. Get rid of your bombs if you get into a dogfight, as their weight will put you at
a disadvantage.

4. Always save 100 rounds of ammo for the journey back home.

5. If you canÆt shake an enemy pilot who is stuck to your tail, dive for the ground
and put on an aerobatics display under 1,000 feet. He will probably follow you
but be unable to follow your stunts. If he fluffs one and stalls, he will have no
space to recover.

6. Always be aware of your airspeed when diving, because even the Spads shed
their wings when they go too fast.

7. Let your wingmen bomb a target while you cover them from above. After they
have finished, you can clean up the leftovers.

8. If you donÆt have a joystick, then use the SHIFT+K feature to change the
keyboard sensitivity and increase the abilities of your aircraft.

9. DonÆt get too close to your victims as debris from their aircraft could fly back
and
damage yours.

10. Always try to land your aircraft. If itÆs damaged, try to glide it down to a
gentle landing. If youÆve had a piece of wing shot off, you will need the rudder
(æInsÆ and æDelÆ on number pad) to hold it level. YouÆll be amazed at what you
can land.