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SimCopter is a 1996 computer game from Maxis. This game is a 3D offshoot from Maxis's normal fare, putting the player into a 3D city. Like Streets of SimCity, SimCopter lets the user import SimCity 2000 maps into the game. Image File history File links This is the cover art for a video or computer game. ...
A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates video games. ...
Maxis Software is an American company that was founded as a video game developer and is now a brand name of Electronic Arts (EA). ...
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Electronic Arts (EA) (NASDAQ: ERTS) is an American developer, marketer, publisher, and distributor of computer and video games. ...
A game designer is a person who designs games. ...
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Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ...
Video games are categorized into genres based on their gameplay. ...
A flight simulator is a system that tries to replicate, or simulate, the experience of flying an airplane as closely and realistically as possible. ...
In computer games and video games, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. ...
The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (or ELSPA) is an organisation set up in 1989 by British software publishers. ...
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, advertising guidelines, and online privacy principles for computer and video games and other entertainment software in the United States and Canada (officially adopted by individual provinces 2004-2005). ...
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Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. ...
Windows 98 (codenamed Memphis and formerly known as Windows 97[2]) is a graphical operating system released on June 25, 1998 by Microsoft and the successor to Windows 95. ...
A Compact Disc or CD is an optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio. ...
Pentium MMX - top view The Pentium is a fifth-generation x86 architecture microprocessor by Intel which first shipped on March 22, 1993. ...
Die of an Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor (actual size: 12×6. ...
Random access memory (usually known by its acronym, RAM) is a type of data storage used in computers. ...
The CD-ROM (an abbreviation for Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (ROM)) is a non-volatile optical data storage medium using the same physical format as audio compact discs, readable by a computer with a CD-ROM drive. ...
Super Video Graphics Array, almost always abbreviated to Super VGA or just SVGA is a broad term that covers a wide range of computer display standards. ...
Operating a mechanical 1: Pulling the mouse turns the ball. ...
It has been suggested that Keystroke be merged into this article or section. ...
Operating a mechanical 1: Pulling the mouse turns the ball. ...
Joystick elements: 1. ...
Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ...
A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ...
Maxis Software is an American company that was founded as a video game developer and is now a brand name of Electronic Arts (EA). ...
The rewrite of this article is being devised at Talk:3D computer graphics/Temp. ...
Look up city, City in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Streets of SimCity is a 1997 racing and vehicular combat computer game published by Maxis. ...
SimCity 2000 (SC2K) is a simulation/city building computer game and the second installment in the SimCity series. ...
For the acronyms, see MAP and MAPS. A map is a symbolized depiction of a space which highlights relations between components (objects, regions, themes) of that space. ...
Objective As the name suggests, SimCopter puts the player in the role of a helicopter pilot. A helicopter is an aircraft which is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors, each rotor consisting of two or more rotor blades. ...
For other uses, see Aviator (disambiguation). ...
There are two modes of play: free mode and career mode. The free mode lets the player import and fly through cities of their own or any of the 30 cities supplied with the game. However, user cities sometimes need to be designed with SimCopter in mind, and most of the time the player must increase the number of police stations, fire stations, and hospitals to allow for speedier dispatches. The second mode -- the heart of the game -- is the career mode. This puts the player in the shoes of a pilot doing various jobs around the city. These jobs include: This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ...
Look up city, City in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
- Rescues - There are three things that people are rescued from in this game. They are: Rooftops (are easy but sometimes difficult because of a fire or impossible because of shape of the building), capsized boats (moderately hard) and runaway trains (very hard). A harness is required for both boat and train rescues. Be aware that boats can be moved by wind from the helicopter.
- Traffic jams - A simple type of mission that involves using the megaphone to redirect the traffic, or using the following police dispatch to clear traffic.
- Aerial fire fighting - The mission involves extinguishing a fire somewhere in the city. It is usually on buildings, but sometimes a fire mission can be as small as a burning car or a tree. Sometimes a plane or train crash will start a few fires scattered over a small area. Putting out a fire involves going to a body of water and filling a Bambi water bucket, flying directly over a fire and dropping the water on it either by tipping the bucket or using the water cannon if it has been purchased. The player has to be careful not to fly too low over a fire as it is extremely dangerous to the helicopters. Providing that the fire is near a road, a fire engine can be dispatched to help put out a fire.
- Catching criminals - There are four types of criminals in this game; robbers, arsonists, muggers and burglars. Arsonists may additionally put fire on another building, and muggers may kill Sims if approached. The first three types roam the streets on foot and can be arrested by simply picking up a police officer from the roof of a police station and dropping them near where the crook is, or dispatching squad cars. Foot criminals can also be stopped by landing on top of them with the helicopter, but this risks damage to it. Burglars drive around the city at high speed and are difficult to catch. To catch a burglar, the player must dispatch police cars and guide them to the crook. It becomes easier to catch by slowing and/or stop the car through the use of a spotlight, water bucket, or water canon. Another more direct but more risky method is landing (slamming) on top of the getaway vehicle while in motion, at which time the burglar will pull over and exit the car, making capture a mere matter of dispatching police units to the scene. The arrest ought to be made as soon as possible, or more burglars will get out of the car and will make the problem more difficult.
- Riot Control - There are three ways to stop a riot. The first way is to use the megaphone to order the rioters to disperse. The second way is to dispatch police cars and take police officers to the site to quell a riot. The third way is to throw tear gas from the helicopter. Tear gas, however may injure or even kill people, making the player lose points. Riots often cause MEDEVAC, traffic jam and fire missions. Riots do not appear in career mode until level eight.
- MEDEVAC - These missions involve transporting a given number of sick or injured Sims to the roof top (need not be but easier) of the nearest hospital. Help is available in these missions in three ways. The first way is to pick up a paramedic from the rooftop of a hospital and taking him to where the victims are. He will help carry the victims back to the helicopter. The other way to get help is to dispatch an ambulance to the area. The third way is for the player to get out and carry the victim to the helicopter and drop him or her off at the nearest hospital (This can be dangerous as the patient may still die on the way to the hospital if the player takes too long). In the third way, a paramedic will help the injured get out of the helicopter. The player should not attempt to manually eject the victims. Sometimes the injured fall through the roof top floor and die if dropped.
- Transporting Sims – Involves picking up a number of Sims at a given location and transporting them to a randomly selected destination. The rewards for these missions are based on how soon the player picks up the clients, how comfortable the clients are during the ride depending on speed and altitude, and the time the ride takes.
- If none of the above jobs are available, the player can earn some cash and points by seeking out speeding drivers by commanding them to pull over and dispatching the police to charge them. The player can tell if a car is speeding if its tires are squeaking around corners. They can be stopped by the same way as burglars can be. For the player to earn the points, they must stay where the speeder is until the police arrive or else the speeder will just drive off. Catching speeders rewards the player with points and cash.
This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ...
A fire engine of the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, England. ...
For the 1967 film, see Robbery (film). ...
The Skyline Parkway Motel in Afton, Virginia after an arson fire on July 9, 2004. ...
Look up mugging in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Burglars attempted to break into an apartment by pulling away the lock. ...
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police service. ...
Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor of the United States Federal Protective Service. ...
It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ...
A [PC-12] of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. ...
A Paramedic is a specialized health care professional who responds to medical and trauma emergencies in the pre-hospital (out-of-hospital) environment for the purpose of stabilizing and transporting the patient to an appropriate medical facility, usually by ambulance. ...
An ambulance in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico A Helicopter used as an Ambulance. ...
A speed limit is the maximum speed allowed by law by vehicles on a road. ...
Money and Points The player starts with a small, weak helicopter that comes with just a megaphone and a bambi bucket; it can only hold two passengers. As the player accumulates money in the game, they can purchase better helicopters and new equipment. Some jobs require certain equipment in order to complete them, and better helicopters offer greater speed, handling, and can carry more passengers. By completing jobs, the player earns money and points. When the player has accumulated enough points, the game lets them move on to the next city. The player then has a choice of going into a new city of the same difficulty or advancing to the next level. There are twelve levels of difficulty, with new types of jobs being introduced and previous types of jobs increasing in difficulty. Jobs will be randomly spawn around the city, but the player's actions can also create jobs (see below). A megaphone, with a three-inch lighter to scale. ...
A USMC CH-53 Super Stallion drops water from a Bambi Bucket during a training excercise. ...
Various denominations of currency, one form of money Money is any good or token that functions as a medium of exchange that is socially and legally accepted in payment for goods and services and in settlement of debts. ...
Harmful actions Any of the following actions will cause the player to lose a substantial amount of points: - Ejecting a passenger from the helicopter while it is up in the air may injure or kill the person and may cause a MEDEVAC mission.
- Landing the helicopter on a road and keeping it there for more than a minute will block the traffic, causing a traffic jam mission.
- Crashing the helicopter into a car (exception: burglar getaway vehicle) will set the car on fire, creating a hazard for the copter.
- Crashing the helicopter in to a boat will either cause the boat to sink or start a boat rescue mission.
- Also, if you find a special military helicopter, shooting missiles at buildings may cause a Fire mission and shooting bullets at people or cars may also cause a Car Fire mission or a MEDEVAC mission.
- Using the Apache helicopter and destroying a Nuclear Power plant.
Crashing the helicopter into a building or slamming it into the ground will not destroy it instantly, but it will damage it. The helicopter can crash into a building about ten times before it is destroyed. The more damage there is to the helicopter, the harder it is to control. Money can be spent to repair a helicopter. If the helicopter is destroyed, it is lost forever as well as all of the equipment on board. When a helicopter is destroyed, it may set a fire to a nearby building or terrain. The player will also lose 100 points and must use their remaining funds to purchase another helicopter. If they do not have enough money to buy a new helicopter, then they are grounded, making it pointless to keep playing.
Helicopters in this game have a limited amount of fuel and must return to the hangar about once every half an hour to refuel, which costs money. If your helicopter runs out of fuel while in mid-air, player can either attempt to keep the motor spinning and land it, or just let it fall to the ground and suffer heavy damage. If the helicopter remains intact after falling to the ground, it can be refueled at a highly inflated price.
The Apache The AH-64 Apache is a special helicopter and cannot be bought from the hangar. It is found on military bases that have fighter plane tarmacs on them. If the base has at least two of these tarmacs, one will randomly have the Apache parked on it. This helicopter has a machine gun and missiles in place of the water cannon and tear gas respectively (both weapons have unlimited ammo). Despite having no seats and an inability to upgrade past the rescue harness, points and money can still be earned with the Apache by means of dispatcing the proper authorities to fires and medevac situations, and using the harness for rescues without retracting the harness into the helicopter (if fully retracted, the Sim will fall). Exclusive to the Apache, one can even earn points by shooting criminals with the helicopter's machine gun. The gun is also capable of killing innocent sims and destroying cars, boats, and planes, all of which have negative point values. Cars part of a traffic jam, however, are immune, and when planes are shot down they may start fires. Missiles are capable of doing the above as well as setting buildings on fire. Firing a missile at a nuclear power plant results in an explosion that destroys the whole city and your helicopter. The AH-64 Apache is the United States Armys principal attack helicopter, and is the successor to the AH-1 Cobra. ...
A nuclear power station. ...
Image File history File links Simcopter screen cap This work is copyrighted. ...
Image File history File links Simcopter screen cap This work is copyrighted. ...
UFOs Maps that have an Apache in them will also occasionally have a UFO that flies around. They abduct Sims with mysterious force (Sims will dance while they ascend). They generate an unpleasant sound when nearby. It takes an impractical number of bullets, but 10 missile hits from the Apache will destroy the UFO and award you with 1000 points and 4000 dollars. If the UFO falls into the water, one can rescue a surviving abductee for more points. An unidentified flying object, or UFO, is any real or apparent flying object which cannot be identified by the observer and which remains unidentified after investigation. ...
Radio There are five virtual radio stations that can be listened to while in the helicopter: classical, rock, jazz, techno and a mix station featuring all songs from every other station. All stations occasionally play spoof commercials and public service announcements, of which there are more than 100 in the game. The file format of the audio is low-quality WAV (uncompressed 8-bit, 11,025 Hz, mono). It is possible for players to import their own music and commercials into the game as long as the audio uses an uncompressed WAV format. More information on adding stations is in the Maxis help manual which is available during the game by pressing F1. Unlike other sim games, voices on the radio are not incoherent Simlish, but are actual English voices. A radio station is an audio (sound) broadcasting service, traditionally broadcast through the air as radio waves (a form of electromagnetic radiation) from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. ...
This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...
Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ...
This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...
For the comic book character previously known as Techno, see Fixer (comics). ...
WAV (or WAVE), short for Waveform audio format, is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing audio on PCs. ...
Simlish is a fictional language featured in Maxis Sim series of games. ...
Custom videos for drive-in It is also possible for the user to make custom videos for the drive-in theaters included in the game. The user would have to insert a specially edited Smacker video file somewhere in the SimCopter installation directory for it to work. Hulls Drive In Theatre, outside Lexington, Virginia A drive-in theater is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large screen, a projection booth, a concession stand and a large parking area for automobiles. ...
Controversy The game gained controversy when a designer inserted sprites of men in trunks kissing each other that appear on certain dates, which was caught shortly after release and edited from future copies of the game. He cited his actions as a response to the intolerable working conditions he allegedly suffered at Maxis. [1] [2] The designer, Jacques Servin, was fired afterwards. Servin later became a leading member of The Yes Men, a culture jamming activist group, under the alias Andy Bichlbaum. Jacques Servin (also known as Andy Bichlbaum) is one of the leading members of The Yes Men, a culture jamming activist group. ...
Wikinews has news related to: HUD hoaxer calls attention to lack of affordable housing The Yes Men are a group of culture jamming activists who practice what they call identity correction. They pretend to be powerful people and spokespersons for prominent organizations, accepting invitations received on their websites to appear...
Culture jamming is the act of transforming existing mass media to produce commentary about itself, using the original mediums communication method. ...
Quirks SimCopter contains some bizarre, if endearing, quirks. For example, even though the helicopter modeling, air physics, and building modeling are all well-done (considering the time during which it was made and the budget), certain other aspects of the game seem like they were added at the last minute with little or no testing or effort going into their creation. A helicopter is an aircraft which is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors, each rotor consisting of two or more rotor blades. ...
The most obvious of these quirks are the civilian models, which appear normal while in the air but are actually borderline grotesque when seen up-close. The "faces" of the civilians seem to wrap the wrong direction around their heads, as there is usually a line that runs down the front of their faces. They speak in a bizarre, grunting language that almost seems like a precursor to Simlish. Car modeling is very, very basic, with little or no actual textures. In addition, the placing of Sims in various missions appears to be random, for example, Sims to be rescued in the rescue missions can be placed anywhere on the building, which can be difficult if not impossible if said Sims appear on certain buildings (for example, the inner arcs of some of the special buildings) or on the sides of buildings. Simlish is a fictional language featured in Maxis Sim series of games. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
Spherical texture mapping Texture mapping is a method, pioneered by Edwin Catmull, of adding detail, surface texture, or colour to a computer-generated graphic or 3D model. ...
Emergency vehicles, especially the police car, would often not pull over to the side of the road, resulting in a traffic jam mission.
It is also of note that the helicopters themselves appear to be smaller than their real-life versions, with the player's character appearing too big for some, especially the introductory Schweizer 300 (it is 2.65m tall in real life).
Additional information - SimCopter runs by default at 640x480 at 256 colors with a combination of 3D rendering and 2D sprites and at full screen mode (which can be changed by adding command line parameters). The game uses Smacker (.smk) video files, 256 color bitmap images, and uncompressed wave audio as their corresponding file formats. A patch (1.02) was later released and featured a demonstration of the game with Voodoo 3Dfx acceleration and enhanced joystick controls. The patch also fixed several bugs and improved the appearance of fire in the game.
- SimCopter contains a special tweak program hidden within the SimCopter installation directory which allows the users to change many parameters of the game engine like helicopter parameters, physics, and triggers.
- Maxis released two update patches for the game. The first patch, version 1.01 was later recalled by Maxis. The second 1.02 patch was the official and supported patch released by Maxis. Version 1.02 is contained in the EA Classics release of SimCopter.
- Despite these patches, the game still has many easter eggs, bugs, and left-over content that the developers never implemented. Indeed, when browsing the SimCopter installation directory, one may see several images and sounds never seen or heard in the game. For example, there is an image that suggests the possibility of having a fireman on board, but this never happens in the game.
The format of the game would serve as a precursor to the U-Drive-It mode of the SimCity 4 expansion pack, Rush Hour. SimCity 4 (SC4) is a 2003 simulation/city building computer game; the fourth installment in the SimCity series of games. ...
Helicopters The Schweizer 300 family of light utility helicopters was formerly produced by Hughes Helicopters and is now manufactured by Schweizer Aircraft, a subsidiary of Sikorsky Aircraft, and has been in production for almost 50 years. ...
The Bell Helicopter Model 206 JetRanger is a two-bladed main rotor, turbine powered helicopter with a conventional, two-bladed tail rotor. ...
The MD Helicopters MD 500 series is a family of light utility civilian and military helicopters. ...
The MD Helicopters MD 500 series is a family of light utility civilian and military helicopters. ...
The Bell 212 Twin Huey (also known as the Twin Two-Twelve) is a medium civilian helicopter that first flew in 1968. ...
The Agusta A109 is a helicopter manufactured by Agusta (now AgustaWestland) of Italy. ...
The Eurocopter Dauphin (Dolphin) is a medium-weight multipurpose twin-engine helicopter manufactured by Eurocopter (originally by Aérospatiale). ...
MD-900 (N900MH) Helicopter Noise Abatement Test MD 902 Explorer of the Kent Air Ambulance The MD Helicopters MD Explorer is a light twin utility helicopter. ...
The AH-64 Apache is the United States Armys principal attack helicopter, and is the successor to the AH-1 Cobra. ...
Equipment The term harness has been used for many centuries for part of the collection of equipment known as horse tack, essential in the domestic, military, and agrarian use of horses. ...
A USMC CH-53 Super Stallion drops water from a Bambi Bucket during a training excercise. ...
// Water cannon of the French National Police deployed in prevision of rioting following Nicolas Sarkozys election, May 6, 2007 A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-pressure stream of water. ...
A megaphone, with a three-inch lighter to scale. ...
A riot control agent is a type of lachrymatory agent (or lacrimatory agent). ...
Equipment of the AH-64 Apache The Hughes M230 Chain Gun is a 30 mm automatic cannon developed and manufactured by Hughes (McDonnell Douglas). ...
Type Air-to-ground and surface-to-surface Missile Nationality United States Era Cold War and through Global War on Terrorism Launch platform Rotary- and fixed-wing platforms, Unmanned aerial vehicle, tri-pods, ships, and ground vehicles Target Three warhead variants defeat an array of targets including tanks, light armored...
References It has been suggested that this article be split into articles entitled PC Gamer US and PC Gamer UK. (Discuss) PC Gamer US April 2005 cover covering Call of Duty 2 PC Gamer is a computer games magazine, founded in 1993. ...
Future Publishing (FTSE:FUTR) is a magazine publishing company based in Bath, UK. Future Publishing employs more than 1,500 people worldwide, and is one of the largest publishing houses in the UK. It is responsible for publishing over 150 magazines, in the UK, US, France and Italy. ...
Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...
February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...
February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
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