SFS PC 3.0: The Soaring Simulator
Description
SFS PC 3.0: The Soaring Simulator is a flight simulator focusing on gliders (also known as "sail-planes") - aircraft that have no engines and fly silently, using thermals (rising expanses of hot air) to stay aloft for extended periods of time.
A sophisticated flight model emphasizes the unique characteristics of these special aircraft. Players have the choice of flying a KA-8, LS-1F, SB-10, ASW-27 or a radio control model. In order to get airborne, players have an option of using a tow-plane, a winch, or by-passing the take-off and starting in the air.
Much of the game centers around learning how to ride thermals so that the glider will gain altitude. Players can seek out thermals using clues found in the layout of the land, cloud formation, and weather. Weather effects can be customized. Additional planes and geography are available for download on the developer's site.
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Credits (DOS version)
Programming | |
Additional Programming |
Reviews
Players
Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 1 ratings)
The Soaring Simulator 3 offers a solid flight model with so-so graphics.
The Good
The Soaring Flight Simulator 3, or SFS3 (named after its German title, Segelflug Simulator), gives you a chance to fly a number of gliders (also known as âsail-planesâ). While a number of later games would also come to simulate the flight of gliders, in the late 90s SFS3 was the only such game around.
The flight model of SFS3 is fairly solid, giving the user a good feel of what it is like to sit in a glider. For the aspiring glider pilot, SFS3 could serve as a training aid. The flight model is very good, correctly simulating such things as adverse effect of yaw. The program offers a sophisticated modelling of weather, including wind and thermodynamic effects. Joystick and rudder pedal support is provided.
SFS3 is well supported by its developers, with a website that offers good background information, additional downloads (of gliders and landscapes) and links, as well as newer versions of the program.
The Bad
The graphics of SFS3 are passable but not as sophisticated as some of its contemporaries of the late 1990s, such as Microsoftâs Flight Simulator 95.
Multiplayer is not supported. Despite this, many players have competed against each other by posting statistics and records online.
The Bottom Line
The Soaring Simulator 3 dishes forth a good flight model of gliders. If you are a glider pilot, or an armchair simulation pilot with a hankering for something a little different, give SFS3 a try.
DOS · by Les Nessman (265) · 2005
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Les Nessman.
Additional contributors: formercontrib.
Game added September 22, 2005. Last modified February 22, 2023.