Airfight is an early 3D graphics-based multi-user flight simulator, created on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Control Data Corporation (CDC) PLATO system in the early 1970s.[1][2][3]
The software was the first ever 3D flight simulator and the first multi-player flight simulator.[2] The first version was developed by Brand Fortner with Kevin Gorey in the summer of 1974.[4] After its release, it became the most popular game on PLATO until Empire became more popular. This software probably inspired the UIUC student Bruce Artwick to start the company Sublogic,[4] which was acquired and later became Microsoft Flight Simulator.[5]
See also
[edit]- SGI Dogfight (1985), a Silicon Graphics multi-user flight simulator
References
[edit]- ^ Fortner, Brand (1974), Airfight (3-D flight simulator)
- ^ a b "Airfight (PLATO) 1974". Ultimate History of Video Games. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ "My first flight sim? 'airfight' on the PLATO system in the mid 70s". Reddit. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ a b "Bruce Artwick and Stu Moment – The Flight Simulator Men". History of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
- ^ "Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0 (DOS) 1982". Ultimate History of Video Games. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
Further reading
[edit]- Dear, Brian (2017). The Friendly Orange Glow: The Untold Story of the Plato System and the Dawn of Cyberculture. Pantheon Books. ISBN 978-1101871553.
External links
[edit]- "Airfight (1974) – First 3D flight simulator". Ultimate History of Video Games. YouTube. 4 May 2018.
- "The history of Airfight, one of the first multiplayer flight combat simulation games". The Life & Times of Video Games. YouTube. 4 May 2018.