''Fly!'' is a flight simulator video game for

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

and

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

developed by

Terminal Reality Terminal Reality is an American video game development and production company based in Lewisville, Texas. Founded in October 1994 by ex-Microsoft employee Mark Randel and former Mallard Software general manager Brett Combs, Terminal Reality deve ...

and published by

Gathering of Developers Gathering of Developers, Inc. (shortened as G.O.D. or GodGames, and branded as Gathering between 2003 and 2004) was an American video game publisher based in New York City. Founded by Mike Wilson and associates in January 1998 and originally b ...

Gameplay

It includes simulation of

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

features as well as aircraft's on-board systems, and was acclaimed for its highly detailed fully working interactive cockpits. Featured

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

are fixed-wing light to medium aircraft. An enhanced version, ''Fly! 2K'', and add-on, ''Wilco's 737 for Fly!'', were released in 2000. ''Fly! 2K'' added user-created add-ons, enhanced graphics, real world and real-time weather generation via the ability to import

METAR METAR is a format for reporting weather information. A METAR weather report is predominantly used by aircraft pilots, and by meteorologists, who use aggregated METAR information to assist in weather forecasting. Raw METAR is the most common form ...

reports from

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

, and support for Roger Wilco. The improvements were made available for owners of the original ''Fly!'' via a free

patch Patch or Patches may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Patch Johnson, a fictional character from ''Days of Our Lives'' * Patch (''My Little Pony''), a toy * "Patches" (Dickey Lee song), 1962 * "Patches" (Chairmen of the Board song) ...

. Another version titled ''Fly! 2K: German Edition'' was released in early 2001. It added

Ruhr area The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

to the game. It is intended to replace the Fly! 2 main program (exe) and remain fully compatible with previous versions, scenery, aircraft, etc. The first publicly available version was released in 2010.

Development

The game was in development for more than three years.

Reception

''Fly!'' and ''Fly! 2K'' received mixed or average reviews according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

. It sold 93,000 units by October 2001.

Sequel

''Fly! II'' is a sequel to ''Fly!'' released on April 26, 2001 for Windows and Macintosh. Macintosh version was distributed by

MacSoft MacSoft was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1993 by Peter Tamte as subsidiary of WizardWorks, specializing in the production of video game ports from Microsoft Windows to Macintosh operating systems, as well as producti ...

. Said sequel and ''Fly! 2K'' sold combined 47,000 units by October 2001.

Reception

Danny Atkin for

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

said ''"Fly! II is this year's poster child for programs shoved out the door before completion–publisher Gathering of Developers not only shipped FLY! II with bugs and missing features, it even left out most of the manual. The shame of it all is that the finished parts are quire good, and developer Terminal Reality has been very quick to post patches and missing terrain data."''

Gameplay

Development

Reception

Sequel

Reception

See also

References

External links