F-19 Stealth Fighter
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''F-19 Stealth Fighter'' is a
combat flight simulator Combat flight simulators are vehicle simulation games, amateur flight simulation computer programs used to simulate military aircraft and their operations. These are distinct from dedicated flight simulators used for professional pilot and mili ...
developed and released in 1988 (PC
DOS DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems. DOS may also refer to: Computing * Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel * Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...
) and 1990 ( Amiga and Atari ST) by MicroProse, featuring a fictional United States military aircraft. It is the
16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two mo ...
remake of the 8-bit game '' Project Stealth Fighter'', which was released for the Commodore 64 and
ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...
in 1987. It was also ported to the
NEC PC-9801 The , commonly shortened to PC-98 or , is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2000. The platform established NEC's dominance in the Japanese personal computer market, and, by 1999, more th ...
in Japan only, and the DOS version was re-released on Steam distribution platform in 2015. ''F-19 Stealth Fighter'' was developed before the public unveiling in 1988 of the F-117 Nighthawk attack aircraft – which the video game sought to represent – and MicroProse's rendering of the jet bears little resemblance to the actual F-117, including its designation. Instead, game designers relied on a 1986 F-19 model kit released by
Testors Testor Corporation (or Testors) is an American manufacturer of tools and accessories for scale model kits. The business is based in Rockford, Illinois, and is part of RPM International. It was founded in 1929 and its products are made in the US a ...
. Critically acclaimed, the game was followed in 1991 by '' Night Hawk: F-117A Stealth Fighter 2.0'', which offered the player a choice between the old, fictitious aircraft design and a new, realistic one.


Gameplay

In the game, the player takes on the role of a pilot flying missions of varying difficulty over four geographic locations: Gaddafi's Libya, the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
, the North Cape, and
Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...
. The game can be played under conditions of conventional warfare, limited warfare, or cold war (in the latter, even being detected by the enemy can lead to a major diplomatic incident). The player can choose appropriate ordnance from a wide range of realistic armaments, and the game features convincing behavior from AI-controlled units such as enemy aircraft, SAM sites and
radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...
stations. These behave in accordance with the situation – patrolling at first, but launching into a highly aggressive search if the player is detected. Other features of the game are a realistic system of radar detection, where the player's varying radar signature is visually compared with the energy of incoming radar pulses at different ranges and powers, and a variety of endings appropriate to the outcome of each mission. These include the player being rescued by a V-22 Osprey, a ''
Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...
'' newspaper headline proclaiming the capture of the pilot, or an outraged ally or neutral nation protesting the destruction of their aircraft. The pilot roster in the pre-game menu keeps track of the missions, rank, score and medals awarded to each player. Pilot fatalities are permanent, which contributes to the extended campaign feeling of the game.


Copy protection

At the beginning of the game, the player has to pass "Aircraft Identification Exam" - a picture of a plane is shown and the player must select the correct plane from a list. If the player selects the wrong plane, they will be restricted to flying training missions with preset equipment.


Development

After the completion of '' Project Stealth Fighter'' for the Commodore 64 by designers Jim Synoski and Arnold Hendrick,
Sid Meier Sidney K. Meier ( ; born February 24, 1954) is a Canadian-American programmer, game designer, designer, and video game producer, producer of several strategy video games and simulation video games, including the ''Civilization (series), Civiliz ...
and
Andy Hollis Andy Hollis is an American video game designer, programmer and producer, mainly known for his flight simulators. He was one of the founding members of MicroProse. Video game development He began his career at MicroProse Software, where he was ...
were brought in to work on the PC conversion. Hendrick wrote of the new game: "The only thing borrowed from the C64 would be the game scenario concepts, military equipment research data, and perhaps some flight dynamics algorithms". Despite its planned 30 September 1988 release being delayed to mid-November ''F-19 Stealth Fighter'' was very popular, selling out in just two months. MicroProse released the game on the same day that the United States military first admitted the existence of its
F-117A Nighthawk The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a retired American single-seat, twin-engine stealth attack aircraft developed by Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works division and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). It was the first operational ai ...
stealth fighter. Before the game's release, many had speculated on a missing aircraft in the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
's numbering system, the F-19. The game was based on an educated guess about what the secret stealth fighter would be like. Subsequent revisions of the game incorporated the actual F-117 as well as the F-19. The original boxed version of the game came with a range of accessories, such as a thick manual full of information on the late 1980s flying machines of the U.S. and the USSR, various keyboard overlays, a comprehensive manual covering stealth and fighter tactics, and roughly-sketched maps of each warzone.


Reception

'' Computer Gaming World'' in 1989 gave ''F-19 Stealth Fighter'' a very favorable review and acclaimed the game's level of realism, stating that "to master this program you are going to have to do your homework. The documentation includes tutorials on aerodynamics and flight principles, radar, stealth technology, air-to-ground tactics, and air-to-air tactics". A 1992 survey in the magazine of wargames with modern settings gave the game three stars out of five, and a 1994 survey gave it two-plus stars. ''
Compute! ''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', was an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET ...
'' favorably reviewed the IBM PC version's graphics and realism. ''Computer Gaming World'' recognized ''F-19'' as the "Simulation Game of the Year", calling it a perfect marriage of modern technology and game.
Software Publishers Association The Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) is a trade association dedicated to the entertainment, consumer and business software industries. Established in 1984 as the Software Publishers Association (SPA), the SIIA took its new na ...
gave the game its Excellence in Software Award for "Best Simulation". The
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Na ...
selected ''F-19 Stealth Fighter'' for a 1989 exhibition on "Flight Enters the Computer Age". In 1990 the game received the sixth-highest number of votes in a survey of ''Computer Gaming World'' readers' "All-Time Favorites". The game's ports won the
Golden Joystick Award The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be voted ...
s '91 in the category "Best Simulation - 16 Bit". ''F-19'' was ranked as the 29th best Amiga game by '' Amiga Power'' in 1991, and as the 52nd best game of all time by ''Computer Gaming World'' in 1996. ''F-19 Stealth Fighter'' was awarded the
Origins Award The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 a ...
for "Best Military or Strategy Computer Game of 1988" and "Best Screen Graphics in a Home Computer Game of 1988".


References


External links

*
''F-19 Stealth Fighter'' (Amiga)
at the Hall of Light
''The Official F-19 Stealth Fighter Handbook''
at FlightSimBooks.com
A Look Back at F19 Stealth Fighter by Microprose
at FlightSim.com
''Most Dramatic Dogfights F-19 Stealth Fighter''
from Retro Dream {{Authority control 1988 video games Amiga games Atari ST games Cold War video games Combat flight simulators DOS games Golden Joystick Award winners MicroProse games NEC PC-9801 games Origins Award winners Sid Meier games Single-player video games Video game remakes Video games developed in the United States Video games set in Germany Video games set in Iran Video games set in Libya Video games set in Poland Video games set in the 1980s Video games set in the Soviet Union