BBC Microcomputer System

Aviator

Aviator was programmed by Geoff Crammond. Although it displayed in only black and white (a four colours version was also released) and had few of the features of modern simulators for more powerful computers, Aviator was of unparalleled quality at the time of its release, with a realistic flight model that included g-forces that could tear the wings off in a dive. The landscape was crudely rendered, and was basically a plane. Some scenic features were drawn as vector graphics, including low hills, fields, a lake, a suspension bridge over a river, and a small town which comprised a cluster of three buildings. Bonus points could be earned for flying under the bridge or along the main street of the town at a lower altitude than the buildings. Double points were earned for performing these stunts upside down. The game also had a shoot-'em-up mode in which alien vessels were seeded in the fields,feeding on the crops and growing until they could become airborne, at which point they headed for the town. The player could destroy the aliens on the ground as they fed, or (for reduced points) tackle them in the air (the aliens were agile but could not return fire). If an alien reached the town, the game was lost.