I have no doubt that the astronauts that pilot the space shuttles are highly trained, and exceptionally competent. Space flights are exercises in precision, and tiniest mistake could result in disaster if not properly diffused. While I’ve never actually participated in an actual space mission, I have sent a few virtual pilots into space, and if real spaceflight is as boring as this game, I feel very sorry for the technicians.
Just like real astronauts, you have to ride the elevator and flip various switches outside of the ship, then go get your crew and load the ship in the time limit. This is as exciting as it gets, it’s all downhill from here.
Once the ship is launched you have a few tasks to do: pitch so many degrees, release the ballast, etc. You do this in one of two ways, either stop a line advancing across a meter in the ’safe zone’, or mimic one arrow with your arrow. It’s kind of tough to explain, so I’ll let this excruciatingly boring video illustrate.
I understand that there are other control methods as you progress in the game, but I never got much past the first mission. A game about launching a space shuttle should not be boring, tedious, or annoying, and yet this game manages to be simultaneously all three. An impressive feat. Not impressive in the good way, though.
Do you know Orbiter? It’s available from http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/ and comes very close to the real thing. But that also means quite a bit of learning is involved.
BTW: I am going to visit a real shuttle launch. If you’d like to know what I experience during the trip and planing, please visit my blog at http://shuttlelaunch.gerhards.net
Rainer
That looks significantly more engaging. I’ll have to try it out.