This is an official mission pack for Jane's United States Air Force (USAF) which includes three missions featuring the Thunderbirds acrobatic maneuvers and a specially themed F-16C model.
Thunderbirds Patch Release Notes
Installation Steps
The Thunderbirds patch is a self-extracting executable. The installation process is as follows:
1. Run the USAF-Thunderbirds.exe. The installation files will be copied to a temporary folder and the installation will begin with a dialog saying: "USAF Thunderbirds patch is about to be installed on your computer " with <OK> <Cancel> buttons.
2. Choosing the <OK> button will continue the installation (which is a silent installation, meaning no other dialogs will appear during the installation). Choosing <Cancel> will exit the installation.
3. Please note: the Thunderbirds installation will install the required files on an existing installation of USAF (therefore USAF must be previously installed in order to install the Thunderbirds patch).
4. The Thunderbirds patch can be executed in two ways – by double-clicking on the Thunderbirds icon on the desktop or choosing the Thunderbirds option from the USAF start menu options. Note: these executable options are in addition to the Play USAF already installed options.
Keyboard Commands
The following keyboard commands were added especially for operation of the Thunderbirds patch:
Alt-K – activate tail smoke (toggle on/off).
Ctrl-H – display red hoops marking the maneuvers flight path (toggle on/off, default=on).
Thunderbirds Patch Missions
The patch features 3 training missions highlighting Thunderbirds aerobatics solo maneuvers:
Split
Invert
Cuban
In order to fly the missions follow these steps:
1. Double-click the Thunderbirds icon on the desktop or select the Thunderbirds option under Jane's Combat Simulation/USAF/Thunderbirds in the Start Menu.
2. On the Main Menu screen press the Single Missions button.
3. In the Single Missions screen 3 additional missions display: Split, Invert and Cuban. These are the Thunderbirds missions, press to select any one of the three.
4. The briefing displays as in any other mission in the game. The briefing includes 2 links:
F-16C Thunderbird model -- press this link to view the Thunderbirds plane.
Press the next link below to view an illustration of the maneuver, and hear Thunderbirds #6, Dean Wright, briefing the maneuver.
5. Fly the mission by pressing the Fly button. A "Mission Pass" or "Mission Fail" message will display according to your performance. The parameters for Pass/Fail are general and relate to player flight according to the general pattern of the maneuver. So you may get a mission pass even if you have not flew perfectly through all of the circles.
Notes
Other USAF missions will not play properly when run from the Thunderbirds version (players can not use the Loadout screen for adjustments of planes loadout, F-16 skin will be TB etc), and vice-versa –the Thunderbirds missions are not designed to be played from the regular USAF version. The Thunderbirds patch is a separate application, with its separate data files. It means that whatever the player is doing while playing the Thunderbirds version will not affect the USAF statistics whatsoever (even if playing regular USAF missions from the Thunderbirds application).
Multiplayer gaming in the Thunderbirds version is allowed, but only if all players (host and all joiners) are running the Thunderbirds application. But the Thunderbirds version is not supported through JCN.
In order to uninstall the patch, the player needs to delete the files manually (there is no un-install version to the patch).
For all of you who have ever seen the Thunderbirds perform, this is your chance to try your hand at performing a few of their amazing maneuvers. Have fun!!!
Jane's® Combat Simulations USAF ©1999 Electronic Arts. All rights reserved.
©1999 Jane's Information Group Ltd.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.
