66. New ZSU-23-4 (Shilka) -and- ZRK Romb (Gecko) views
Mod: Shilka and Gecko View
By Frankie
Description: The 1993 Tornado simulator was always about the Panavia Tornado. Now in 2018, with this mod, you will come face-to-face with two dreaded anti-aircraft Soviet weapons. This mod adds the ground anti-aircraft element to the game, bringing Digital Integration's Tornado into a new Quantum of gameplay.
If you have ever played Tornado, you will know that the AAA and SAM launchers are always a speck on the ground. Even if you did see one up close, it was only for a micro-second using the Weapons (ALARM) view where the enemy appears for a brief split-second before being reduced to toast. Well with my new mod, it is time that we give these two dread and highly respected weapons their due.
You can now see them up close in real-time. Watch them fire cannon shells and SA-8 missiles at your Tornado as you make your bomb run. You can even, if you are lucky, see your missile strike home and reduce them to a crater. These views are what Tornado badly needs. An ode and a shout-out to the ground enemy vehicles which were always there in the simulator, but you could barely see them or touch them. Now you can see them up close in action firing away at your Tornado, from any angle or elevation with this mod.
The ZSU-23-4 Shilka is a 23mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun.
The 9K33 Osa (English: wasp) is a highly mobile, low-altitude, short-range tactical surface-to-air missile system designed in the Soviet Union. "9K33" is its GRAU designation. Its NATO reporting name is SA-8 Gecko. Its export version name is Romb.
Here they are with their own new views. Activate by pressing
Shift+Ctrl, followed by Alt+Shift
-OR-
Ctrl+Alt, followed by Alt+Shift
If after you press Shift+Ctrl or Ctrl+Alt and you do not see any SAM launcher of AAA vehicle, wait until the enemy has you in its radar and you start seeing tracer fill the sky or you start hearing SAM launch sounds. Then hit the Alt+Shift key for a surprise!
View control keys coded specially for this mod:
1. Press and hold Shift+Ctrl see the vehicle from a higher angle (e.g. imagine being higher than the vehicle, looking downwards);
2. Press and hold Shift+Alt see the vehicle from a lower angle (e.g. imagine lying on the grass and you are looking up towards);
3. Key "1" to shift the horizon down so that more sky is seen;
4. Key "0" to shift the horizon up so that more ground is seen;
5. Key "2" to shift the view point right-wards, perspective of vehicle shifts leftwards
6. Key "9" to shift the view point right-wards, perspective of vehicle shifts leftwards
Caveat: if you zoom in or zoom out and if you use the Z and X keys to rotate the vehicle, your Tornado in the F1 Tracking View will also zoomed and rotated accordingly. I haven't figured out how to decouple F1 view from these two new views when it comes to the zooming and rotating actions.
Some screenshots below. In 1991-1994, this was 'cutting edge'. Seeing them so up close, at last, is amazing, for me at least.
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These two new views are similar to F11 (Hack#63) and F12 (Hack#65), yet so different. The F11 and F12 screens are tracking screens, meaning that they will follow the Tornado from the ZSU or ZRK's point of view, but those screens cannot be rotated, height-adjusted or changed. Hack#66 is all about showing off the ZSU or ZRK in al their glory, with pannable and height-adjustable viewings.
Here is a Youtube video showing you what these two new views are all about.
In the video, my Tornado is that black speck in the sky letting off flares. The SAM launcher and AAA are taking pot shots at me. The views you see in the video were not possible for 25 years. Now it is possible, thanks to the wonderful, extensible code of the 3D engine written by Kevin J. Bezant. There are many other modding possibilities, limited only by the imagination. As usual, I attach the latest mod-cumulative FLIGHT.EXE below. Enjoy.
Regards
Frankie Kam