Customer Reviews

Fleet Defender: the F-14 Tomcat Simulation

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Crying shame Microprose can't/won't upgrade to run this on newer Windows! I keep an old IBM DOS PC to run it! It's the greatest fighter sim ever. I'll bet, with upgraded graphics etc. to modern specs it would sell rapidly for $75 to $100. I know I'd buy it again! The radar backseat and weapons are awsome. Not to mention the realistic night time carrier landings. Plus the "Sissy" mode for non-pro fighter pilots. The absolute greatest ever Flight Sim. Where are you Microprose?...get busy with an upgrade!!!

I got this game 10 years ago for my then top of the line computer. I play it even to this day on windows XP, even though the sound doesn't work. It is a fine game, and its level of accuracy and realism is yet to be matched in a combat flight sim. Good job by the guys at MicroProse labs!

*Recently, I found a DOS emulator for XP that allows FD to run with sound. I'm still tweaking it but it's pretty amazing.

I started playing this game again about a week ago, I'm using Windows XP SP2. I got Gold Edition back in 95 when I got my first computer, a Compaq 486 DX2/66. I'm using a program called VDMSound to run it, the only issues I've had are sometimes the mouse will only move within the left hand side of the screen. Once you try and move it to the right half, it acts like it's up against the side of the monitor, which makes TWSM mode impossible to use since you can't get to the Highlight or Designate target buttons under the TID. Also, I had to map the - and = keys to the buttons beside the throttle on my stick, since I haven't been able to find a way to get the throttle to work. I got used to hitting a button for up and down on the throttle pretty quick anyway, so no big deal. Other than having to use buttons for the throttle and the occasional mouse problem, the game runs great. I'm surprised at how quick I was able to remember all the commands and stuff, but I guess I did spend a TON of time playing this after it came out. Plus I'm a waaaaaay better 'pilot' than I was as a kid, I now know a lot more about ACM tactics so it's a lot less deadly if any bandits get in close. I'm a Tomcat nut so I'll put up with the graphics, which really aren't that bad since the game's so fun.

Together with the Falcon series from Spectrum Holobyte (or Graphsim, now), this is a classic simulation. It had everything - wingman interaction, full-immersion campaign, detailed avionics systems, beautiful graphics, excellent flight model, and awesome carrier ops. I'm in the process of setting up an old laptop to play the pre-Windows 95 PC games - I can't wait to get back to this one. The campaign missions suffered from some strange bugs, such as a portion of a strike package turning around and heading home half way into a flight, but this is only a minor detraction. The Gold version fixed a lot of this, in addition to adding a ton of features.