Unkillable Cat
LEST WE FORGET
- Joined
- May 13, 2009
- Messages
- 27,237
Oh man...
I'm going through my game collection, sorting through the boxes and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of, when I come across a copy of "Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe" from 1990 by Lucasarts (or Lucasfilm as they called themselves back then). For those not in the know, this is a WWII flight simulator that's a little long in the tooth by today's standards, but was a decent hit back in the day.
Anyway, I got the box from my friend's storage as he moved abroad, so I hadn't really taken a hard look at its contents. The box has a chewed-up codewheel (my friend also owned a small yapping dog), a big and worn manual and three of the four floppies needed to play the game, riddled with bad clusters. The box is in good condition so I'm gonna hang on to that, but I figured I would scrap the rest. But I thought I'd leaf through the 225-page manual first, see why it's such a tome.
It opens up with this:
Keep that name in mind for later.
I leaf through some pages and find this:
I turn a few more pages and the damn manual is full of these sideboxes with stuff like this. There's even a section in the back on how to do barrel rolls. I realized that this is one of those manuals, the kind that doesn't just contain information needed to play the game, but to understand it. I own another game with a similar manual, "Red Baron" from Dynamix. That manual is monstrous, but not a single page is wasted. Want to know how to do an Immelman Turn? Read the Red Baron manual.
But the difference between the Red Baron manual and the Luftwaffe one are the stories and snippets from men that fought in the war, on both sides.
On a whim I looked up James Finnegan online, and found his obituary from 2008. Reading through it, I spot a familiar name - Adolf Galland.
Turns out Finnegan shot down "Germany's top ace, Adolf Galland" in the war, but didn't learn about it himself until 30+ years later, and then got in contact with Galland himself, with the two meeting in 1979.
...this isn't a manual, this is a keepsake, a historical reference. It ain't going anywhere.
As I put Luftwaffe away, I find another box from that same friend of mine: "Their Finest Hour - The Battle of Britain", another flight sim from Lucasfilm. Hesitantly, I open up the box...and there's another 200-page manual/tome in the box! I do a quick leaf, and find the story of Al Deere, the luckiest RAF pilot to ever live.
To the people that made these two flight simulators and had the sense to make these manuals as awesome as they are - I salute you.
To the men that contributed to these manuals with their life experiences of war - I salute you moreso.
I'm going through my game collection, sorting through the boxes and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of, when I come across a copy of "Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe" from 1990 by Lucasarts (or Lucasfilm as they called themselves back then). For those not in the know, this is a WWII flight simulator that's a little long in the tooth by today's standards, but was a decent hit back in the day.
Anyway, I got the box from my friend's storage as he moved abroad, so I hadn't really taken a hard look at its contents. The box has a chewed-up codewheel (my friend also owned a small yapping dog), a big and worn manual and three of the four floppies needed to play the game, riddled with bad clusters. The box is in good condition so I'm gonna hang on to that, but I figured I would scrap the rest. But I thought I'd leaf through the 225-page manual first, see why it's such a tome.
It opens up with this:
Luftwaffe General Adolf Galland said:Only the spirit of attack, born in a brave heart, will bring success to any fighter aircraft, no matter how highly developed it may be.
Keep that name in mind for later.
I leaf through some pages and find this:
One of the guys I came over to Europe on the ship with, Joe Cagney, he and I slept in the same tent. This one particular day, everybody from the C.O. on down decided to get drunk, and I mean drunk. After we ran through all our booze, the flight surgeon pulled out his alcohol, and we mixed it with grape powder and water. Suffice to say, all of us were in pretty bad shape. I had an early morning mission the next day, and they came in and rousted me, and I said "Aw jeez, I can't make it," and Joe, the nice guy he was, said "Aw Finnegan, you flake, I'll do it," and I switched missions with him. This early morning flight was led by a captain who I swear had a death wish, and everybody hated to fly with him. And this captain led the flight down a valley, and he was flying low and the valley was lined with antiaircraft. He got through, but Joe didn't, he got it. I was over in Normandy in '84, and I went through the American cemetery and found his grave there.
US Army Air Force Captain James Finnegan
I turn a few more pages and the damn manual is full of these sideboxes with stuff like this. There's even a section in the back on how to do barrel rolls. I realized that this is one of those manuals, the kind that doesn't just contain information needed to play the game, but to understand it. I own another game with a similar manual, "Red Baron" from Dynamix. That manual is monstrous, but not a single page is wasted. Want to know how to do an Immelman Turn? Read the Red Baron manual.
But the difference between the Red Baron manual and the Luftwaffe one are the stories and snippets from men that fought in the war, on both sides.
On a whim I looked up James Finnegan online, and found his obituary from 2008. Reading through it, I spot a familiar name - Adolf Galland.
Turns out Finnegan shot down "Germany's top ace, Adolf Galland" in the war, but didn't learn about it himself until 30+ years later, and then got in contact with Galland himself, with the two meeting in 1979.
...this isn't a manual, this is a keepsake, a historical reference. It ain't going anywhere.
As I put Luftwaffe away, I find another box from that same friend of mine: "Their Finest Hour - The Battle of Britain", another flight sim from Lucasfilm. Hesitantly, I open up the box...and there's another 200-page manual/tome in the box! I do a quick leaf, and find the story of Al Deere, the luckiest RAF pilot to ever live.
To the people that made these two flight simulators and had the sense to make these manuals as awesome as they are - I salute you.
To the men that contributed to these manuals with their life experiences of war - I salute you moreso.
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