Dogs Of War Vu

Network of Friends => Tornado => Topic started by: Frankie on November 01, 2016, 01:08:04 PM

Title: Made a mention by Home of the Underdogs
Post by: Frankie on November 01, 2016, 01:08:04 PM

It is not everyday that I get a mention on a website. Nice to have one when it happens.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/hotu.png) (http://homeoftheunderdogs.net/game.php?id=1173)

Text reproduced for those of us who need bi-focals but refuse to wear a pair:
"Underdogs note: Check out the review and the two fan sites listed below, especially the new extremely devoted, extremely comprehensive one created by Frankie Kam. You are not to play the game without it! I highly recommend putting aside an hour just to take in all of what's on offer. The Olpes site also has a good deal of information including hints on getting started."

Tornado 'comprehensive' Fansite: http://www.moodurian.com/tornado (http://www.moodurian.com/tornado)
Modern Landing site: http://www.tornado2.com (http://www.tornado2.com)

Title: Re: Made a mention by Home of the Underdogs
Post by: Asid on November 01, 2016, 02:33:33 PM

Great you have been recognised for your contribution to Tornado.  8)

Keep it up my friend. There are many treasures out there which could use some love :)

Title: Re: Made a mention by Home of the Underdogs
Post by: Tom N on November 03, 2016, 10:37:26 PM

Nice one: "extremely devoted, extremely comprehensive" .

BUT, there it says Tornado is not multiplayer-capable, it actually is/ was, but it is via modem pvp and that in dosbox i did not figure out yet.
Or the site relates only to the basic game without the expansion pack and maybe that basic stuff was without MP?

Who knows, who would care ... ?

Who would reestablish that option?
Flying a multiplayer-flying sim from 1993, multiple times  :)

Title: Re: Made a mention by Home of the Underdogs
Post by: Frankie on November 04, 2016, 02:39:03 AM

I think the modern term multiplayer is different from the 1990s term of multiplayer. In today's gaming world it means playing with others AND also multi-crew/multi-team/multi-station/co-op like SteelBeasts or HMS Marulken. Back in the 1990s, you could link up two machines with a physical null modem cable and fly head-to-head with your friend. The drawback is that you needed 2 computers in the same room, within 2 feet of each other! This was true of Spectrum Holobyte's Flight Of The Intruder.

I have never used the multiplayer feature of Tornado which went one step further than null-modem, using an IP address connection. Something that Flanker 1.0 and Flanker 1.5 used. Also, in the 1990s, the speed of dial-up Internet was excruciatingly slow, compared to the insane Mbps speeds these days. So the multiplayer feature of Tornado was limited to duplex flow of data allowed by the Internet access speeds of the day.

Here's what  Rob "Bomber" Henderson said about Tornado's multiplayer curtesy of Migman's review of Tornado (http://www.migman.com/sw/Tornado/amiga_08.php):
The actual Tornado, although not a complete sloth, isn't the hottest of dogfighters ( even F-4's can run circles around them! ) but with a bit of battle damage it really made your life hard. The game also featured a multi-player option, which was perhaps the weakest point of the whole sim.
     You could only do head-to-head combat in the Tornado ADV using only Skyflash, Sidewinder and cannon. It was such a shame that the two man aspect of the Tornado wasn't developed for the 2 player option, with one player as the pilot and the other as the navigator, then have the ability to fly in the campaign mode.
     The complexity of both cockpits and associated systems plus the intensity of the actual combat missions would have made this, without doubt, the most thrilling 2 player set up ever. Perhaps it's time Digital Integration did an update on the game and brought it upto 2002 standards? If they could do co-operative multiplay as in pilot / nav, they would definitely have one customer here!


So Rob wished that Tornado could allow two friends to pay co-op. One person playing the pilot's role and another playing the navigator's role. Erm... like the two Johns. He hit the nail on the head when he said that if this were achieved, it would be the "most thrilling 2 player set up ever". And we know how thrilling multi-crew and co-op SteelBeasts is!

Now that the assembly language source code is available, can Tornado be updated to grant Rob's 2002 wish? 

Title: Re: Made a mention by Home of the Underdogs
Post by: Asid on November 04, 2016, 01:18:30 PM

Quote from: Frankie on November 04, 2016, 02:39:03 AM

Back in the 1990s, you could link up two machines with a physical null modem cable and fly head-to-head with your friend. The drawback is that you needed 2 computers in the same room, within 2 feet of each other!

Ahhh. I remember it well. Not easy having the 2 computers in same room. Especially if your friend lived any distance away...Not to mention a different continent  ???

How things have changed. This is one thing I do not miss.