Tornado

Possibly the peak of Digital Integration work. Later DI flight sims eventhough improved on the audio/visual presentation bit didn't improved much on the campaign / mission planning aspect. In fact Tornado was their last flight sim that featured dynamic compaigns, all subsequent titles (Apache Longbow, Hind, F-16, F/A-18) provided only scripted missions. I never sank much into this flight sim, but now I guess I have no excuse. It comes with nicely scanned, full 338 page manual along with the thinner one for Desert Storm expansion, there's even CD soundtrack thrown in in form of flac audio files. There are few tweaks needed to get this game to full potential though, but don't worry - I have you covered, just head to the Guide section in the Community tab and look for my guide. It's a really fine gem for any retro flight sim enthusiast. Highly recommended.

Tornado is one of the finest flight simulations you can buy, bar none. With multiple dynamic campaigns, multi-flight command, a very detailed simulation and a brilliant sense of place (thanks to very beautiful and active maps) and you're really setting yourself up for a good time. It has an amazing manual, plenty of training simulation missions, plus live training as well, so you'll be plenty prepared to take on this detailed and amazing sim. If you have any interest in flight sims, do check this one out. It's still one of the best, thirty years later.

Tornado takes me back to 1993 when I was 27 and had a lot of free time to play sim games. One of the earlier sims I bought, I didn't play this very much back then (did the training missions and just started a campaign) as I played TFX, Gunship 2000 and then Frontier: Elite II more. We were spoiled for combat sims back then. So when I saw this was finally on Steam I had to try it again, and very glad I did. This is definitely worth playing even though it is pixellated. The game is still great even after all this time! There is nothing like attacking a heavily defended airbase flying over 600 knots at 200 feet at night with AA tracer fire arcing all around you. There are lots of really good simulator and training missions, as well as lots of single missions before trying the numerous dynamic campaigns which are superb, especially when you realise how flexible the campaigns are. There is everything in this game - retarded bombs, laser guided munitions, runway cratering weapons, bvr (beyond visual range) air combat, cluster munitions, dogfighting (although the Tornado is not a good dogfighting plane), night missions, plane damage, loss of engines and systems, eight dynamic campaigns including Desert Storm, other wingmen attacking targets simultaneously - you name it. This is why this remains one of the best flight combat sims ever made. It really does prepare you for more detailed sims like Falcon 4.0 and DCS as the documentation here is extensive and detailed. This also features one of the best mission planners ever made for a flight sim allowing time on target calculations to create multi-directional timed attacks. The game was made with lots and lots of detail and options but its also a lighter sim that can be enjoyed without a degree in aeronautics. The flight dynamics are fairly good, not the fidelity of modern games obviously, but acceptably realistic for the time. The Tornado is slow to turn especially in wing swept mode which is how you do the bulk of your attack missions for speed and fuel conservation, so getting into a dogfight is definitely not recommended. The best tactic is to run way at 650+ knots and at 200ft which makes tracking difficult, most planes will break off if they cannot catch you and get an effective missile solution. If you stop to fight you will have to jettison all your weight which will scupper the mission and you will still likely never get on the fighters tail long enough to get off a shot. The game does feature ADV (air to air) missions as well as IDS (ground attack) ones and they both require different strategies, luckily the Skyflash is a pretty potent long range missile. When you get fired on by an IR or Radar missile bank steeply and let out a few chaff (radar missiles) or flares (IR missiles) and try to get low and out of sight behind a hill if possible. Because you are so low you can come across a SAM or AA gun with little warning. You will find it very useful to take along a few Alarms on every mission to take out the defences and sometimes its best to take these out first then do your run. There are plenty of tactical decisions to make in this game as you carry out your missions. All adds up to a very specific enjoyable flight sim to play. If you die or even just bale out in enemy territory you have to create a new pilot to continue, or repeat the same mission again. There is a level of fear that this game creates. Whereas in Falcon 4.0 you carry on with the campaign of you die so you are tempted to fly around taking a pop at other targets or dogfighting, in this game you just want to do your mission and get home in one piece. I've had some worrying times where I've had to nurse a wounded plane back to base several times already. It certainly helps with the sense of realism, but it can get annoying if you keep having to replay the same mission several times. Some of the mission are difficult as they come from the campaign. For example one I had to do was take out an EW Radar site deep in enemy territory near two enemy airfields protected by SAMs, AA and a CAP. I tried lots of variations but never managed to do it. In the end I decided to first use that mission to instead take out the SAMs and AA and then alter the next mission's target to the EW site and attack it once the defences were lessened. So you do have an option to change the missions and follow your own strategies. This adds a lot to the addictiveness. You can get your joystick working in this but I had to delete the mapper file first (as mentioned on the forum), I couldn't get the hat or throttle working. The game otherwise works well in Win 10 using the included Dosbox and installation is painless. The screen has black sides to it as widescreen is not available for an old game like this, but after an hour of playing I didn't even notice them. There is a key conflict with Dosbox which you need to resolve by editing the Dosbox keys (done by pressing Cntrl F1 then choosing Fullscreen and changing the key combination). The Air Weapons activation setting uses Alt+Enter in Tornado which Dosbox also uses to shrink the window size. It's easy enough to change the Dosbox command to another key such as Scroll Lock. I think in terms of combat sims over the years for me there has only been Tornado, Eurofighter 2000, Gunship 2000, M1 Tank Platoon and Falcon 4.0 and that I have truly enjoyed. Those were the years when slightly lighter less complicated flight sims ruled the PC (well except for Falcon 4.0 which was a beast to learn and still is). Compare it with now where there is only DCS available as a jet combat sim which requires months of learning just to fly a plane. Falcon 4.0 was worth learning for it's superb campaign but Tornado is so immediate I can start a mission knowing its only going to last less than half an hour and no complex keys to remember. Although I do use a printed keyboard sheet that comes with the game as there are still a fair amount of commands, as with all flight sims. This just needs someone to remake this game with a higher resolution (Microprose?). The large pixels do make it a little difficult to distinguish your height and targets, but you do get used to them strangely, in that you learn to rely on instruments more. The other day I crashed into another plane on the runway which I couldn't even see until I was on top of it - the problem with low resolution. In this age of modern games with fancy visuals though it says a lot that I am still playing an old flight sim with pixellated graphics, because it has far better gameplay than the sims that we have around today. But my god is it scary doing these night missions hoping you don't get pounced on by a Russian fighter. Edit: Recently DiD has released a remastered F22 ADF on Steam, another old game that came out a few years after Tornado. This has canned missions but otherwise is enjoyable despite it being a lot simpler than even Tornado. But the fact DiD are releasing their old games gives me hope for F22 TAW and EF2000. I still think though a remastered Tornado would be the best flight sim ever. And I am still playing it !!! Why aren't Digital Integration planning to remaster their best game?

Get this game NOW. Digital Integration's 1993 Tornado, with 1995 Operation Desert Storm add-on, is a game that belongs in every flight simmer's Steam library. This is Digital Integration's gift to the flight sim community. Realistic navigation, combat avionics, well crafted campaign mode, and underlying solid game play makes it one of the best combat flight sim ever. If you are able to look past its dated graphics, and the fact that there is no shadow below the modelled GR1 and F1 Tornado, this is the best DOS Combat Flight Simulator out there. Still not convinced? Here are N reasons to change your mind. 1. OUTSTANDING ADVANCED MISSION PLANNER The AMP has remains unchanged for over 30 years. It is an amazing tool that allows you tio set up a 6-plne synchronised strike, with up to 15 waypoints! Back in 1993, it was the gold standard by which all current and future mission planners would be judged. AMP is a WHOLE game on its own. Planning a mission involves much thought and planning. Much like chess. Time spent playing Tornado could consist of an hour meticulously planning a 6-plane coordinated strike on a military target, followed by 15 minutes of game play. The AI of the AMP allowed you to provide precise time-on-target strikes, involving up to 6 coordinated Tornados. Unheard of in its day. Even in 2011, which was 18 years after Tornado was launched, flight sim gamers were comparing it to Lock-On. 2. REALISTIC AVIONICS AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL (NOT BAD FOR A 90'S DOS FLIGHT SIM) The team led by the late David Marshall, based their simulation on actual Tornado data charts and avionics data from the RAF. See Mike Foley's mission debrief of a Tornado session recorded on OBS and available on Youtube: http://www.frankiekam.com/tornado/tor/mission_analysis01.html Pilot gauges modelled by Digital Integration and their real-life counterparts http://www.frankiekam.com/tornado/seats/pilot.html WSO gauges modelled by Digital Integration and their real-life counterparts http://www.frankiekam.com/tornado/seats/navigator.html 3. FIVE(!) AUTOPILOT MODES F6 - Approach Mode (automatic landing with ILS) F7 - Track Mode (waypoint flying) F8 - Standard Mode (maintaining constant heading and altitude) F9 - TRN Mode (terrain following radar) F10 - IAS Mode (Indicated Airspeed autopilot) Unheard of in many flight sims of the same era, and beyond. 4. THE PAPER GAME MANUAL Back in the mid-1990s, Tornado was sold in a large box which needed two hands to lift up. The box came with tons of goodies like full-sized maps, keyboard command cards and 332-paged. The manual is a work of art. A classic. The Steam version doesn't come with a paper manual. For that you could give eBay a visit. The PDF version of the 332-paged manual is, however, available on the Internet for download. 5. DYNAMIC CAMPAIGN Written in C++ by Robin Heydon, who later went on to work on Falcon 4.0's mission planner and dynamic campaign. Even up til 2022, Digital Integrations Tornado was still superior in terms of the overall content for "cold war gone hot". You would fly against the right foes at the right time with the right equipment. 6. MODDING ACTIVITY (EVEN IN 2025!) Digital Integration's Tornado is the only 1990-era DOS flight simulator, that is to this day, being actively modded and improved. Not in the sense of increasing the screen resolution - that would require a total rewrite. The original Tornado Version 1.0, running at 320x200 pixel resolutions, offers much to be improved upon, and it has happened! See this link of the 1990s mods: http://www.frankiekam.com/tornado/tor/mods.html See this link for CURRENT active Tornado user forum and modding news: http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/board,50.0.html Back in 1993-1995, there were a slew of quality mods mostly written by Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein. Thanks to DOSBox, Heinz's mods can still be applied to the Steam edition of Tornado. See: http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg51897.html#msg51897 7. TRIBUTE SITES TO WHET YOUR APPETITE If you're still on the fence about whether to purchase a 32-year old pixelated DOS flight sim, please check out these two websites. The judge for yourself if the sim is worth your time and money: https://moodurian.com/index_tornado.html http://www.frankiekam.com/tornado/home.html One tribute site even includes a major strategy work in html formaat, originally created as a Windows 3.1 help file, by a team known as the TCSC back in the 90s. See here: http://www.frankiekam.com/tornado/tcsc/tcsc.html 8. OTHER USEFUL INTERNET RESOURCES Dogs Of War Virtual Unit Tornado forum http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/board,50.0.html What gamers said about Tornado's Mission Planner http://www.frankiekam.com/tornado/tor/MissionPlanner.html The Tornado (Digital Integration) guide by Darkenedroom https://www.tales-from-darkenedroom.com/post/the-tornado-digital-integration-guide Tornado flight sims over the yeaars https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-flare-path-a-tornado-miscellany Digital Integration's Tornado (1993): An Excellent Flight Simulator - by Tupo's Aviation Channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0YgZpKzoyM Review of Tornado by Simone Serponi, an Italian tech-blogger https://nottiavideogiocare.blogspot.com/2016/01/momento-amarcord-tornado-digital.html http://www.frankiekam.com/tornado/pdf/TornadoReview2016.pdf (English translation) MY CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY Forget the low-resolution graphics. Tornado is (almost) the full package. Even DCS gamers come back to this flight sim for a 20 to 60 minute blast of nostalgia. What are you waiting for? Get this game. Regards Frankie Kam Malaysia

I'm genuinely surprised how much I like this. I must admit that I had to get used to it, but once it clicked, it made me realize how mind blowing this simulator is, especially for a 1993 DOS game. The flight model feels really good in this game. Tornado is a brick and this game simulates it very well. It has both IDS and ADV, although it's clear that this game was way more made for IDS. None than less, it can give you a solid impression on how it felt/feels like flying Panavia Tornado. What I also love about this game is the sheer depth of it. Not only in just system management, but also in planning and even single player modes. More simulators should take notes from it, honestly. The variety of weapons is also a very nice thing about it. You get pretty much what old school Nado's carried. Highlight of course is the JP 233. Always a spectacle to see it in action. My only genuine complaint so far is that radar modelling isn't really great (really shows in ADV), but I can't exactly blame them, because Foxhunter even to this day is a touchy subject. Overall, amazing flight simulator from the past and absolutely recommend it. Though, you'll probably need to be interested in Tornado as an aircraft first and foremost. EDIT: Played more of it, what I said still applies. This game is awesome!

For us that lived the times of these wonderful small studio flight simulators, Tornado was one of the best there was. As a first time player, you will most likely be in for a shock with the graphics of Tornado, they were cutting edge in there day. That said this sim is so very deep and well worth the asking price!

the tornado was literally the best aircraft ever built

1993年にイギリスの Digital Integrationがリリースしたフライトシム。 のちのApache LongbowやEECHに繋がる重要なタイトルだったりする。 グラフィックは1990年代初頭でありながら、高機能な自動操縦/対レーダーミサイル/作戦立案に関する再現度は非常に高い。訓練モードだけでも半日がざらで溶けるレベルである。 当時のマニュアル、湾岸戦争を再現した拡張パックも収録されているので、ぜひ遊んでみてほしい

Fantastique simulation sortie - entre autres - sur AMIGA 500 en 1993. J'ai passé des heures à tracer mes routes entre les collines pour éviter les batteries SAM jusqu'à l'objectif, des heures à maîtriser les armes et les modes de tir, des heures à comprendre et exploiter les différents modes d’auto pilote, des heures à utiliser l'excellent planificateur de missions, incroyable de précision. TORNADO s'illustre avant tout par sa fiabilité et la fidélité de la simulation, dont le développement a été encadré par d'anciens pilotes de la RAF. Du décollage à l'atterrissage, vous aurez une multitude d'opérations à réaliser pour mener à bien votre mission. Il est très important, voir indispensable, de connaître les contrôles élémentaires et secondaires par coeur, sans quoi vous cette simulation risque d'être frustrante. Il ne m'aura fallu que quelques heures pour retrouver mes automatismes d'antan, quel bonheur ! Un bémol cependant : pourquoi pas un remake HD et 16/9 ? A noter que les pdf du manuel et des raccourcis clavier sont fournis dans les fichiers locaux répertoire "manuals". Bref un excellent jeu, une excellente simulation de vol d'un appareil mythique aujourd'hui à la retraite.

Игра 1993 года лучше чем War Thunder, управление правда немного тяжёлое и непонятное но для этого в папке игры есть мануалы которые можно распечатать