THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE

ATF

PUBLISHER
Digital Integration

AUTHOR(S)

YEAR
1989

CATALOGUE NUMBER

CATEGORY
Strategy

DESCRIPTION
ATF is a simplified aircraft simulation.

CONTROLS
Keyboard, Kempston and Cursor joystick.

 KEYS : 5 or left arrow    - bank left
        6 or down arrow    - climb
        7 or up arrow      - dive
        8 or right arrow   - bank right
        0 or SPACE         - fire
        Q   - increase thrust
        A   - decrease thrust
        
        U   - undercarriage up/down
        L   - automatic landing
        T   - terrain following
        SYM/SHFT - terrain lines on/off
        J   - jammer
        M   - missile launch
        N   - select missile type

        C   - select computer screen
        D   - select allied or enemy database
        E   - select database category
        F   - forward step
        R   - reverse step
        G   - nearest target in category
        ENTER    - database lock-on


INSTRUCTIONS
War has broken out in a future island archipelago. Both sides
are evenly matched on the ground... but one side has a single
squadron of ultra-modern Lockheed ATF fighter-bombers. Can you
alter the balance of power with these few planes?

Your first decision is over what ammunition you will take on your
mission. The ATF can be loaded with cannon shells,
visually-guided ASRAAM missiles (which are not much use!) and
more powerful Maverick missiles with a range of 100km which can
take out over-the-horizon targets, selected from a database. Your
refuelling and rearming is vital, and weaponry must be balanced
against fuel supplies so that the ATF can fly within safe weight
limits. The levels of arms and fuel are shown on bar graphs.

Once you've armed and fuelled you can begin your main mission.
After a takeoff using maximum thrust, the ATF's speed must be
maintained to avoid stalling and crashing. Flying low over a
vertically-scrolling landscape, the ATF comes under constant
attack from enemy forces.  Enemy radar can be avoided with
terrain-following equipment, but this reduces your speed and
carries the risk of a crash.

A head-up display superimposed on the main screen shows engine
thrust, the ATF's speed, ground height and altitude. The missile
system available, the current direction of flight and a target's
range and bearing are also shown.

Beneath the main screen, further indicators show fuel level and
undercarriage status (UC), and warn of incoming missiles (SAM).
An in-flight message window gives vital information on your
mission, and a short-range scanner to the side of the main screen
shows the type of terrain below and nearby enemy objects. 
Approaching ground-to-air SAM missiles trigger a warning alarm
and with luck you can jam them in time using the ATF's onboard
jammer.

The ATF also has an on-board flight computer, showing, on a
series of flick-screens, enemy positions on a world map and the
status of weapon systems and the ATF itself. The computer also
holds a database for locking onto targets which is updated
regularly as your intelligence service and on-board detectors
find new targets.

An automatic landing light (AL) is activated when the ATF enters
the cachement area surrounding allied bases. When a base has been
chosen, an automatic landing sequence can be activated.

A war situation report - giving a rundown of all recent gains and
losses of allied and enemy bases, ground and sea forces, and
communications and industrial complexes - is called up whenever
the ATF return to an allied base. Your intelligence services will
give you extra information at this point on the location of enemy
forces.

ORIGINAL INLAY CARD TEXT

HINTS/CHEATS

SEQUELS/PREQUELS
None

SCORES RECEIVED
The following review appeared in the YS Tipshop Tipsionary.

ATF
Digital Integration
Even people who normally shy away from flight sims might find it
worth their while to take a peek at ATF, a little-known arcade
jobby from the poeple who brought us Fighter Pilot, Tomahawk and
lots more besides.  There are no awkward controls to get to grips
with, and the manual isn't too gigantic.  The view you get is of
your little stealth plane bobbing up and down over a
rapidly-scrolling 3D landscape (with the help of
terrain-following radar if you're a bit chicken).  You're meant
to shoot things, of course - mainly buildings and other planes. 
It's got plenty of complicated strategy, but should be accessible
enough for most arcade game fans.  Nice really.  ****


URLS
ftp.dcc.uchile.cl/pub/OS/sinclair/snapshots/a/atf.zip


GENERAL FACTS

NOTES