Knights of the Sky

[Gunstar]

This (Knights of the Sky)is a new favorite game of mine on the ST. I got it among a bunch of other software I was given recently. It's the perfect type of flying game for old-school solid vector/polygon (whatever they are) graphics becuase the planes go slower, in KOTS(I also think the WWII games are as well for the same reason) and therefore don't overwhelm the graphics engine. So the framerate is smoother, instead of skippping frames to compensate for speed like in the jet-fighter games. It reminds me a an expanded, and therefore better, version of the Lynx game Warbirds. The choice of 4 levels of detail can allow either a smoother frame rate or more detailed graphics, which is also cool. But one of the best things about this game to me personally is that it runs perfectly at 16Mhz on my Mega STE, so I can have a really smooth frame rate, even at high detail. And since they are simple old-school planes, the controls are also simple. This game has some real depth too, and is just plain fun to play.

[Minardi]

Totally agree. I play It from hard disk on my Falcon, which is great.

[Gunstar]

Totally agree. I play It from hard disk on my Falcon, which is great.

 

I bet it runs a lot smoother on the Falcon, even over the MSTE at 16Mhz. Funny thing though, I've tried to install the disks onto my HD twice, but when I attempt to run it from HD, once the screen goes black (soon after is when it asks for disk B if loading from floppy), it seems to crash or freeze and just sit there. I can push keys and I hear their speaker click, but otherwise nothing happens. So I just made backup floppies and have been playing it from floppy. These are original disks I'm trying to install, not hacks. Is yours an original install or is it the D-BUG team's STE/Falcon/HD/16Mhz hack?

Edited February 21, 2008 by Gunstar

[Minardi]

Trying to remember, as I also have the original. Still think it was the hacked version.

[ppera]

Knights of the Sky is very fine game/simulation. I played it a lot in old days.

 

On Falcon it should run faster some 30% than on Mega STE at 16MHz (because of less cycles by newer CPU).

 

I will check it on Falcon - I have some old crack, what will require some corrections for sure...

[ggn]

Runs silky smooth on Falcon here. And I agree, it's a brilliant and addictive game

 

(P.S. it should be ok on TT too, I should test, it should really run fast )

Edited February 22, 2008 by ggn

[Gunstar]

Runs silky smooth on Falcon here. And I agree, it's a brilliant and addictive game

 

(P.S. it should be ok on TT too, I should test, it should really run fast )

 

Something to look forward to when I get a Falcon. It's certainly not "silky smooth" on the 16Mhz MSTE, I'd guess 10-15fps depending on graphic detail, but certainly much better than what was less than 10fps on the standard ST/STE. Though I'm playing the original unhacked version at 16Mhz off of floppy, as I can't seem to get it to load with either the original installed on HD, or the hack version, so the hacked version may run even faster.

 

I love vintage 3D/polygon/vector games on the ST. I would have put up with the 8Mhz frame rate back in the day, but today I won't play it if it won't work at 16Mhz on my MSTE. So far I've had better success than I'd have thought, with unhacked games, and of course the D-bug Falcon030/MSTE 16Mhz hacks are great.

[icbrkr]

I haven't tried the game out on my STE, but this was also one my favorites on the Amiga back in the day. Does the ST version support multiplayer through nullmodem? There wasn't anything better than playing head to head on that game back in 1992.

[Gunstar]

I haven't tried the game out on my STE, but this was also one my favorites on the Amiga back in the day. Does the ST version support multiplayer through nullmodem? There wasn't anything better than playing head to head on that game back in 1992.

KOTS doesn't seem to have any head-to-head on the ST version. I have several other flight sims for the ST that not only allow modem and null-modem head-to-head play, but they can be a mix of ST, Amiga and Mac computers! I think Reach for the Skies is one, IIRC, and Falcon and several others. It's too bad the ST version of KOTS doesn't have it...unless it's an option that doesn't show up unless another computer is detected as connected...