SimCopter

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SimCopter
Studio Maxis
Publisher Electronic Arts
Senior Developer Will Wright
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 1996
platform Windows
genre Flight simulation
Game mode Single player
language English
Age rating
USK released from 6

SimCopter is a 1996 published flight simulation - computer game made by Maxis and Electronic Arts , in which the player as a pilot a helicopter controls. What is striking about the game is, on the one hand, the purely civil interpretation of the game content, and on the other hand, the compatibility with the previously published strategy game SimCity 2000 .

Game content

Unlike many flight simulations that deal with civil aviation, SimCopter has defined tasks for the player. When used as a rescue helicopter, this includes rescuing people from roofs or moving trains, recovering the injured, extinguishing fires, transporting people from one place to another, etc. When working as a police helicopter, the tasks are to clear traffic jams, To drive out demonstrators (with tear gas if necessary) and to support the police in their search for fugitive criminals. Coordination with the fire brigade , police and paramedics plays a role in this ; On the one hand, it is possible to take appropriate personnel to hospitals, police stations or fire stations and bring them to the operational area. On the other hand, for example, fire engines can be used to support the fire fighting. In addition, injured persons have to be taken to hospital and criminals to the police station, so that the sequence of the various incidents occurring at the same time has to be adjusted.

Successful bets are rewarded with cash, which, as usual in computer games, can be converted into power- ups . It is atypical that the power-ups do not mainly consist of weapons: the player can upgrade his helicopter with various equipment, for example with improved rescue equipment. Also the purchase of new helicopters with playful advantages such as a larger passenger capacity, e.g. B. is useful when transporting the injured, paramedics or police officers hunting down criminals is possible.

Despite its name, it is not aimed at extreme realism like many common flight simulations. B. by a simplified flight control to a broad audience, which enables, for example, spectacular flight maneuvers between high-rise buildings or over or under bridges.

In addition to a number of predefined city scenarios, it was also possible to import cities created with SimCity 2000 into the game. As a result, the cities previously shown in SimCity 2000 in two-dimensional form can now be traveled in three dimensions. Similar compatibility was also given in the racing game Streets of SimCity released in 1997 .

The competitive elements of the flight orders together with classic video game mechanisms such as the powerups and the (largely) non-violent game theme show that SimCopter was designed as a family-friendly action game for a target group similar to the very successful SimCity games from the same manufacturer.

Simulated helicopters

Others

  • The background music for the game included the Ride of the Valkyries from Richard Wagner's opera Die Walküre , which pays homage to the anti-war film Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola .
  • The AH-64 helicopter, which was armed with machine guns and rockets instead of fire cannons and tear gas grenades, was only playable if there was a military base in the city and the helicopter was picked up there.
  • In SimCity 2000 , small helicopters could already be seen circling over the city after the construction of an airport. Therefore, this helicopter was very often associated with SimCopter .
  • SimCopter has many Easter eggs on. Among other things, UFOs fly over the city, kidnap the city's residents and can only be destroyed by the player with the Apache helicopter (which gives it a bonus).
  • SimCopter is the first game in which the characters speak Simlish .

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