Excitement is literally in the air! Bohemia Interactive (Czech developers of Operation Flashpoint and Arma II fame/infamy) have announced Take On Helicopters, a new simulator focusing on the rewarding challenge of flying helicopters as well as “beautifully rich landscapes”. I will admit to some disappointment that Take On Helicopters is not a game about taking on helicopters mano-a-mano, nor is it a game about taking on helicopters like you might take on an adopted child, having to then tutor your fledgling helicopter in the ways of right and wrong. “Well done, baby helicopter! It was RIGHT to chew up that taxman in your small yet deadly rotor blades!” And you could stroke its grille and listen to its silky purr.
What can you do, eh? The announcement trailer follows…
On the one hand, it’s a terrible trailer. Awful. So slow! On the other hand, I quite like it because instead of making false promises about the game, it manages to simultaneously convey the thrill of controlling this monster machine and the creeping boredom of playing a simulator. Good work, Bohemia!
31/03/2011 at 16:07 Small Ivory Knight says:
“May contain content inappropriate for children”
Damn it, they promised scantily clad pilot babes and failed to deliver.
Also, if that was made with the in-game engine, count me in.
31/03/2011 at 21:46 Lord Byte says:
Knowing their current engine I’d say, yes, easily!
31/03/2011 at 16:07 Turin Turambar says:
“it’s a terrible trailer”
It’s more of a teaser.
31/03/2011 at 16:10 Quintin Smith says:
Well, sure. But then all teasers are terrible trailers! Not sure where that leaves us.
31/03/2011 at 16:17 royaltyinexile says:
I hate you Quintin.
You’ve called my trailer terrible. And it’s broken my heart. I’ll never be fooled again by this love.
Also, listen to it on some decent speakers. We like our audio porn. Philistine.
31/03/2011 at 16:19 Hoaxfish says:
Shoulda gone with this
31/03/2011 at 16:27 John Walker says:
I totally said I liked the trailer, but he wouldn’t listen. There’s still love for you here.
31/03/2011 at 16:27 Quintin Smith says:
Haha. Hi there!
I will totally admit that the ripping sound of the blades as the helicopter flies past at the end got me very excited. I just hope we get to see some in-cockpit stuff soon! C’mon, man. You and me? This thing we’ve got going on? It means too much to just let it go. We can rebuild!
31/03/2011 at 16:28 bascule42 says:
*Launching MiGs from Chernarus to enforce a no fly zone over Quintins head*
31/03/2011 at 16:31 John Walker says:
Back off Quintin – he’s mine.
31/03/2011 at 19:18 royaltyinexile says:
Just why is it always about the cockpit for you, Quintin..?
You tell him, Mr Walker. I can tell you’re a man that knows how to wait until the time is right. You make me want to still believe.
Er, so that aside, we’ll get more explicit as development continues.
31/03/2011 at 21:55 Dozer says:
For beautiful helicopter cockpits, there is no comparison with Nils Danielsson’s BK-117 for X-Plane. link to nd-art-and-technology.com
31/03/2011 at 16:11 Electricleash says:
Less simulation, more Simcopter for 2012… at least that’s what I imagine.
31/03/2011 at 16:18 shoptroll says:
Is it bad that I have fond memories of SimCopter as a kid?
EDIT: Looking at their info page, comparisons with SimCopter don’t seem terribly out of place. This makes me happier than it should.
01/04/2011 at 00:32 Hunam says:
Sim Copter was amazing. Any good feelings about the game mean you are a great person.
01/04/2011 at 01:36 Brian Rubin says:
I still play SimCopter now and then, one of my favorite games, and it is still amazing.
31/03/2011 at 16:20 Oneironaut says:
This is funny. Just yesterday for my engineering class I had to do a research paper on Igor Sikorsky, known for making the first successful helicopter. Now after all that reading about them, I’m looking forward to this game.
31/03/2011 at 16:32 ZIGS says:
What’s with the ghost helicopter at the end?
31/03/2011 at 17:14 RadioactiveMan says:
Its a different helicopter, but I cannot tell what kind. It has too many rotor blades to be the famous Huey, although it sounds somewhat like it.
31/03/2011 at 22:00 Rii says:
Bell 412 perhaps?
31/03/2011 at 16:33 Oak says:
Do helicopters have grilles?
31/03/2011 at 18:21 Quintin Smith says:
Maybe…
31/03/2011 at 19:21 Sassenach says:
They have grills in the Airborne Barbecue Squadron.
31/03/2011 at 16:34 Quintin Smith says:
*head hits desk*
I grew up playing flight sims! I used to play Operation Flashpoint all the time! I’m looking to do a Wot I Think of Omnibus Driving Simulator at some point in the future!
But simulators are in part defined by their laconic pace that can and will be boring in places, thereby making moments of tension that much more tense. That’s all I meant.
31/03/2011 at 16:35 Stranglove says:
I LOVE HELICOPTERS
And I love ARMA II, so will I like this? Only time will tell…
31/03/2011 at 19:45 Harlander says:
Oh God, I hope they do joystick throttles properly in this!
31/03/2011 at 16:43 Oak says:
Just because I love linking it, here’s Tim Stone’s piece on the very subject about which you are talking.
31/03/2011 at 16:44 kyrieee says:
This is awesome.
Scenario based civilian helicopter sims can be awesome. It depends on how many scenario types the add though. Helicopters are very versatile so there’s a lot of potential.
31/03/2011 at 16:59 aldo_14 says:
I don’t normally like simulators, yet this gives me a strange tingly feeling inside.
31/03/2011 at 17:04 Spinoza says:
Hey, I AM Taxman (TM) .What actually you have against us?
31/03/2011 at 18:29 Ultra Superior says:
Perhaps you’ll find out if you audit RPS –
THOROUGHLY!
31/03/2011 at 17:08 Wulf says:
Blast you. Now I want to play a pet game that involves Transformers.
31/03/2011 at 18:18 Ultra Superior says:
uh 8o
31/03/2011 at 17:09 RadioactiveMan says:
Wow- I love the helicopter that they picked for this trailer! I am fortunate enough to have spent quite a bit of time in that particular helicopter variant. Can anyone else name it? :)
Its one of the main workhorse helicopters in North America (not sure about elsewhere) both in the city, and in the bush. My experience with them is in Alaska and the Canadian north. They can lift a quite alot for their size. The small diameter of the rotor disk and the high clearance of the landing struts means they can get into some tight spaces. I’ve seen them carry people, carry all sorts of loads on a long line, and I’ve even seen them carry christmas trees.
Many of my finest work-related memories involve navigating in a helicopter like that via map and gps, flying to some distant location, and climbing out to hit rocks with a hammer all day. Truly, those are blessed days.
Edit: Also, regarding the video: That high pitched whine at start-up is reproduced just right! However, by the time they are up to full power the rotor noise upon lift off is MUCH LOUDER.
31/03/2011 at 17:49 Zenicetus says:
Hughes 500C? I used to do a lot of commercial airphoto work, flown in those things many times. Mostly South Florida, a little in Mexico, Puerto Rico. Always with the door removed on the passenger side for the camera, which is great fun. It’s a fun little machine, but a Bell Jet Ranger is a steadier platform for photo/video work, and I always tried for those when we had the budget.
This new game might be fun, but it’s going to be tricky to find the right balance between simulation and action game. The hardcore helo simmers already have DCS Black Shark for combat and some excellent civilian helos in FSX and X-Plane. The action gamers won’t want to put up with what it feels like to actually fly one of these things; not to mention lacking the right sim hardware (stick, throttle/collective, pedals).
There is a very good free model of the 500C available for X-Plane 9, and two outstanding payware models of the BK-117 Eurocopter and Bell 206. I think the consensus is that X-Plane currently has the best civilian helo sim flight models, and it will run on PC, Mac, or Unix PC’s. Just make sure it’s a FAST computer with higher-end graphics. What you won’t get are canned missions like this game will have, but there are ways to get a little more involved than just flying over scenery., like virtual airlines and charter companies run by fans of the simulation.
31/03/2011 at 18:30 Zenicetus says:
Here’s some video in the link below of the BK-117 in X-Plane 9. I still haven’t practiced enough to land on a dime, like some of the clips here. My landing zone is “approximate,” and I’d be bending metal in any of the real ones, but it’s still fun to fly this model:
31/03/2011 at 20:59 RadioactiveMan says:
@Zenicetus: I was thinking i was the 500D, but to be honest, looking at pictures now, i can’t tell the difference between the two! I know the 500E looks a bit different. with a more pointy nose. The strangest variant I have seen is the 520, which has no tail rotor, but instead has an rotational exhaust fan on the tail. It performs similarly to the regular 500, but has safety advantages because it lacks the dangerous tail rotor.
aerial photo work in Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Florida with the doors off? Sounds lovely! Flying without the doors is quite a rush, but my experience is more with cold rainy days. Less opportunity for that sort of thing. I’m a bit jealous :)
31/03/2011 at 22:04 Rii says:
I was gonna say “Little Bird”, and that’s still good enough for me. So there!
31/03/2011 at 23:22 Dozer says:
Little Bird is the name of the military version of the Hughes 500.
31/03/2011 at 17:09 fiezi says:
It’s puns like this headline that make me love RPS. Did you get that? I love you RPS. No-Homo.
31/03/2011 at 17:15 dwpenney says:
I hate to be negative here but the words simulation and Bohemia Interactive don’t go together when you are talking anything that flies. Correct me if I am wrong here as it’s been a while since I started up ArmA II and headed into the air but the flight model is … simplistic … to say the least. I’m not trying to knock ArmA II or anything but that is not a serious (even moderate) representation of flight. Casual, yes. User friendly, yes. Simulation? About as much as Tetris prepares me for blocks falling from the sky or Minecraft prepares me to build … anything :-)
31/03/2011 at 18:27 Ultra Superior says:
Don’t say that!!
I’m using minecraft to plan my new flat.
31/03/2011 at 17:16 patricij says:
I can’t wait for BI’s Take On Helicopters…
awful pun is awful, etc. :)
31/03/2011 at 17:18 Turin Turambar says:
Nah, being honest, i suspect they thought the title saying something like that. This is our take on helicopters… so let’s call it “take on helicopters” and we are finished!
31/03/2011 at 18:49 Atomosk says:
Also the pun on “Rotoscope”. The most exciting department in the visual effects industry. Do non-art school people even know what rotoscoping is?
31/03/2011 at 19:51 Harlander says:
Yes.
Next question?
31/03/2011 at 17:17 Joshua says:
Fly helicopters and do missions?
Like in Flight Simulator X, but with more helicopters and more detailed ground?
Sounds good.
31/03/2011 at 17:20 Marcin says:
I’m rather impressed with that teaser, a little. In the era of fast fast shooty bang bang bleed death something more deliberate and downright slow like this really stands out.
Any chance of a list of machines that will be available?
Also: mmm, the audio. So meaty.
I’ll probably end up getting this.
31/03/2011 at 22:06 Rii says:
News and reviews of Pilotwings Resort for 3DS touched that particular spot for me recently. But I ain’t payin’ that much for a flawed machine and one game. I’ll wait on V2.0…
31/03/2011 at 17:23 westyfield says:
What happened to that Carrier Command game Bohemia were developing? That looked fun. More fun than flying helicopters, and flying helicopters looks fun.
31/03/2011 at 19:00 Sunjumper says:
Good question. I was looking forward to that.
I think* it is still an ongoing project.
*hope
31/03/2011 at 22:02 Rii says:
Yeah, I was very much anticipating the new Carrier Command. Hope it’s still a thing.
31/03/2011 at 17:24 Marcin says:
Quintin, you better not be messing by promising a WIT on Omnibus! Greatly looking forward to that.
31/03/2011 at 17:34 Marcin says:
Also: we desperately need a zombie evacuation scenario for this game.
31/03/2011 at 17:42 jonfitt says:
That’s an A+ headline right there. You’ll have trouble topping that today.
31/03/2011 at 17:45 kyrieee says:
I was just wondering if all these headlines are ironic. Game publications / blogs are infamous for bad puns in headlines
31/03/2011 at 17:51 tomeoftom says:
link to bit.ly
Mute the left vid, and for the love of god don’t watch the right (don’t worry, SFW)
31/03/2011 at 19:17 D says:
Surprisingly decent due to good timing.
31/03/2011 at 17:51 The Hammer says:
I wonder: is this going to turn into the Czech version of Carry On?
31/03/2011 at 17:56 lucasdigital says:
Great stuff! I’m a late arrival to the ARMA 2 party, but most assuredly a convert. I’d have liked a combat helicopter sim although if they deliver on the detailed (read: hilly-telegraph-pole-festooned) landscape then maybe it will have excitement enough.
It’s looking like us flight sim dogs will have our day again…
31/03/2011 at 20:00 Noc says:
And, the obligatory (and surprisingly apropos) dub.
[Edit: Oop, tomeoftom beat me to it by a couple of hours. SORRY MR. OF TOM, I failed to notice!]
31/03/2011 at 20:13 tomeoftom says:
Think nothing of it, Mssr. Noc! For, after all, you’ve done it much better than I. (With vanilla timing, the intro works so incredibly well.)
01/04/2011 at 00:39 Hunam says:
I’m interested in this. I don’t think I could do a proper flight sim, I haven’t got the patience for that, but if it’s a bit more simmy than ArmA2 but not too far and has nice missions then I think I’d snap this up.
01/04/2011 at 17:29 akaleus says:
I’m extremely excited about this….. I love flight simulator and have been playing it since the beginning. However, I was pretty disappointed with the helicopter flight in ARMA2… so I hope this is better.