Shuttle (video game)

Shuttle is a space flight simulator game developed by Vektor Grafix and published by Virgin Games. It was released in 1992 for the IBM PC, Amiga and Atari ST.

Shuttle
Developer(s)Vektor Grafix
Publisher(s)Virgin Games
Platform(s)IBM PC, Amiga, Atari ST
Release1992
Genre(s)Flight simulator
Mode(s)Single-player

Description

In the game, players control a space shuttle that departs from the Vehicle Assembly Building and as it returns to Earth at the Shuttle Landing Facility.

Realistic switches, knobs, and displays of a shuttle were simulated in the game. However, only a limited number of these controls were functional, while the others would cause the shuttle to explode. Operation of the General-Purpose Computers necessitated input according to simplified program commands that were adapted to the current flight situation.

Gameplay consisted of flying through simulations of several different space shuttle missions, starting with the Approach and Landing Tests where the original space shuttle, Enterprise, was flown from the back of a modified Boeing 747 to a gliding landing at Edwards Air Force Base, to launching the Hubble Space Telescope, building a space station, using the Manned Maneuvering Unit to capture satellites for repairs, and launching 'secret' military satellites.

Thanks to the complexity of the missions, players could receive optional guidance. Instructions were passed to the player through a 'teleprinter', and when those instructions required the player to use the shuttle controls, a flashing box would indicate the appropriate switch or knob. This meant that players could play without needing to memorize the manual, a feature which was highly praised upon its release.

The camera zooms in on the Space Shuttle launch stack (MS-DOS)

To further ease gameplay, the game supported multiple different camera, more than the standard control panel and external view found in most simulators of the time. The player could also look out of any of the cockpit windows, including back into the payload bay when retrieving or releasing satellites, and some of the CCTV cameras on the Remote Manipulator System. In addition, for those who wanted to know a little more about the shuttle but did not wish to read NASA technical details, the developers also provided an in-game primer giving a few pages of information and some diagrams on each of the major Space Shuttle systems. Finally, the publishers supplied a game manual and a large poster showing the control panels.

Given its scope and complexity, the game was released with numerous bugs and issues, particularly with the autopilot often getting confused and leading to some peculiar re-entry trajectories. In earlier versions, the final mission was impossible to complete.

Reception

Computer Gaming World applauded the level of detail accomplished in Shuttle,[1] and Stanley Trevena reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, and stated that "Players with an interest in space and hard-core simulation fans alike will blast off into orbit with this new simulation from Virgin."[2] The magazine ran it in their 1992 "Simulation of the year", which ultimately went to Falcon 3.0 by Spectrum Holobyte.[3]

In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared Shuttle the 50th-worst computer game ever released.[4]

See also

References
  1. Staff (February 1992). "Review". Computer Gaming World. No. 91. Anaheim, California: Golden Empire Publications. p. 14. ISSN 0744-6667. OCLC 8482876. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23.
  2. Trevena, Stanley (May 1992). "Shuttle off from Vandenberg: Virgin's Shuttle". Computer Gaming World. Vol. 1, no. 94. pp. 34, 36.
  3. Staff (November 1992). "CGW Salutes The Games of the Year". Computer Gaming World. No. 100. Anaheim, California: Golden Empire Publications. p. 112. ISSN 0744-6667. OCLC 8482876. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23.
  4. Staff (November 1996). "150 Best (and 50 Worst) Games of All Time". Computer Gaming World. No. 148. pp. 63–65, 68, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 84, 88, 90, 94, 98.
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