Terminal Reality Inc.'s FLY! The making of a simulator

Flight Journal, Feb 2000 by Lert, Peter

I need to begin this "Virtual Pilot" with a disclaimer and an explanation: in my role as a reviewer of flightsimulation programs and similar software products, I obviously state my own point of view. Less obvious, perhaps, is that I try to be impartial. If I espouse a particular position-for example, my general distaste for most "first-person-- shooter" combat flight simulations-I take pains to make sure you know that this is my own bias.

This month, however, the situation isn't quite as clear. I've been asked to write about one of the newest, most ambitious-and, to my admittedly biased mind, best-general-aviation flight-simulator packages: FLY! from Terminal Reality Inc. (released by Gathering of Developers). Like many other such products, it has its strengths and weaknesses. My problem is that I can't write impartially about it or even claim to do so, since I wrote the flight-- instruction manual that accompanies FLY! and have thus been intimately involved with both the product and the people behind it.

So, though I certainly touch on the program's features, I didn't write this as a review. Instead, I'll give you a look behind the scenes as a new flight-- simulator is conceived, developed, refined and-at last!-released.

Terminal Reality Inc. (TRI) is in a gray, nondescript, one-story building in the northern suburbs of Dallas, Texas. From the outside, it could be anything, but inside, the constant undertone of grunge music and the fact that-with the exception of the motherly receptionist-almost all the employees are Levi'd, flannel-shirted and goateed young guys suggests that it has something to do with the computer industry.

The show cards in the lobby reveal that the firm first made a big name for itself with a game called Monster Truck Madness, which was developed for and released by Microsoft and was apparently very successful with the 18-and-under crowd (mental age). Buoyed by the success of this and similar products, some three years ago, TRI decided to go it alone (actually, as a part of Gathering of Developers-a group of independent software publishers) and to enter the much more sophisticated and demanding field of "mid-range" flight simulators. By "mid-range," I mean products that have considerably more accurate and refined "flight model engines," scenery and weather displays than some of the lower-end (and generally cheaper) combat-- style military flight sims. At the same time, TRI wanted something with a more general appeal than some of the much more expensive "serious simulators" that can be used for actual FAAapproved instrument flight training but that usually offer only a single type of aircraft and limited visual effects.

Right now, the mid-range is an extremely competitive market niche that's dominated by Microsoft's Flight Simulator 98 and offers competitors such as Looking Glass's Flight Unlimited 11 and Sierra Online/Dynamix's Pro Pilot 99. Moreover, TRI knew that by the planned release date for its new simulator, followon versions of competitive programs (Flight Simulator 2000, Flight Unlimited III) might also be poised to enter the field.

What would be needed, then, was a unique product-one that would offer features its competitors lacked. Work began on a simulator that, it was hoped, would offer not only an extremely accurate and versatile flight model (developed partly by the programmer responsible for an earlier version of Microsoft Flight Simulator), but would also provide superior instrument-panel displays and exterior views-the latter complete with the sort of "eye candy" (31) scenery, weather, fancy lighting effects, etc.) that today's consumers take for granted. Ultimately, the stated goal was to develop a complete simulation package that would break entirely new ground in this market segment-one that would provide unparalleled realism in both flight model and systems/display areas. Moreover, noting the entire "cottage industry" that has sprung up around Microsoft FS98 (with "aftermarket" panels, aircraft and scenery areas), TRI decided to make FLY! an "open architecture" product that would lure third-party developers into the fold.

A particular design point was to be a "virtual panel." In many earlier sims, the user is offered only one view of the instrument panel (or perhaps a limited number of alternatives) in which all the instruments actually work. Other "look-- around" modes either dispense with the panel or provide only a static picture without working instruments. TRI wanted users to be able to look around the cockpit, just as a pilot in a real aircraft sees everything that's visible working from any conceivable view. Similarly, other than the primary flight controls (which would be operated by a yoke or joystick), any visible controls would also be required to work in any view; whenever a switch, button, knob, or lever was visible on the screen, the user would be able to "grab" it with the mouse and operate it with correct results-no need to remember an arcane combination of keystrokes.