Flight simulation video game
[2] The game displayed three-dimensional terrain with buildings, produced using special belt technology along with fluorescent paint to simulate a night view.
[4] Sega's last EM flight simulator was Heli-Shooter (1977), which combines the use of a CPU processor with electro-mechanical components, screen projection and audio tape deck.
[9][11] Arcade flight simulator games began adopting 3D polygon graphics in the late 1980s, with titles such as Taito's Top Landing (1988).
Arcade flight combat simulators later began adopting 3D polygons with Taito's Air Inferno (1990) and Steel Talons (1991) by Atari Games.
The advent of flight simulators as home video game entertainment has prompted many users to become "airplane designers" for these systems.
Falcon 4.0 is an example of such modification; "modders" have created whole new warzones, along with the ability to fly hundreds of different aircraft, as opposed to the single original flyable airframe.
Simpits range in complexity from a single computer, with some effort to create a permanent area for simulation, through to complete cockpit reconstruction projects utilizing multiple systems.
The push for higher realism in desktop simulation, often fueled by real pilots looking to practice cheaply at home, has led to a wide array of suppliers growing up to satisfy the demand.
Hardware is available from a variety of commercial sources ranging from yokes, throttles and pedals, through to radios, lights and complete instruments.
However it is widely utilized as an unofficial training aid, allowing realistic procedures practice, as well as the opportunity to complete visual or IMC approaches prior to a real world flight.
[19] Professional opinion is divided about how effective this home simulation can be against real world flight, and this has been a subject of debate in popular flying magazines such as 'Pilot' through 2007.
Where commercial panels or controls do not exist, simulator builders will often create their own out of wood or similar easily worked materials.
Another common route for sourcing the specific hardware needed in a simulator, and one used by the commercial sector as well, is to obtain a real component from a scrapyard and convert it for PC input.
Interface hardware for these home-made controls is directly available from commercial suppliers, or can be obtained by dismantling cheap joysticks or similar components and rewiring them.
