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Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES

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Re: Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES

#111

Post by scrame »

jordigh wrote: post #94

The information to properly land the plane is in the manual. The required air speed and altitude have never been a secret, if you read the manual (which I guess most kids didn't). The real difficulty, not explored in this disassembly, is that the game has semi-realistic physics! My older brother was in flight school at the time and was able to easily land the plane and taught me how to do it. As the article states, "…

if you rented it or borrowed from a friend it was very very unlikely you had the manual. I don't remember how I eventually figured it out, but it's the landing instructions that I think are misleading.

Re: Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES

#112

Post by Terr_ »

retrac wrote: post #109
IncandescentGas wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if you read the manual (which I guess most kids didn't). Most kids did't read the manual? I would rtfm for every game I got my hands on during the car ride home from toysrus or blockbuster. If Mom had several errands to run, I may rtfm a dozen times before I finally got home with the game.

In my experience used games were often traded or passed around as bare cartridges. And that's how I got most of my games.

Ahhh, nostalgia: Some games like Super Mario and Duck Hunt were quite doable without a manual, but I specifically remember Legacy of the Wizard [0]. With no manual and almost zero in-game text to work from, our progress was limited to stumbling around a giant labyrinth, never realizing certain obstacles required switching characters to use unique abilities, and then finding special items that unlock abilities for other characters...

[0] https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Legacy_of_the_Wizard/Walkthrou...

Re: Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES

#113

Post by chasd00 »

debo_ wrote: post #25

I never had much trouble landing on the carrier, but refueling in the sky? I think I only managed it a few times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vetEg8J-wcw

ugh i had forgotten all about this game until I clicked your link and then promptly closed the tab. Carrier landing was frustrating enough but the re-fueling was another level. I played this at my friend's house whenever I would go there and spend the night.

That was an actual thing back in the day, you'd get your parents to let you stay the night at a friend's house and then you'd stay up all night playing NES, eating pizza and watching movies.

Re: Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES

#114

Post by Barrin92 »

IncandescentGas wrote: post #106
jordigh wrote: post #94

The information to properly land the plane is in the manual. The required air speed and altitude have never been a secret, if you read the manual (which I guess most kids didn't). The real difficulty, not explored in this disassembly, is that the game has semi-realistic physics! My older brother was in flight school at the time and was able to easily land the plane and taught me how to do it. As the article states, "…

> if you read the manual (which I guess most kids didn't). Most kids did't read the manual? I would rtfm for every game I got my hands on during the car ride home from toysrus or blockbuster. If Mom had several errands to run, I may rtfm a dozen times before I finally got home with the game.

I've been on a bit of a retro bender and have intentionally limited myself to nothing but the manuals and games and it's been so fun to rediscover how much thought people used to put into the manuals including the presentation and art. Extreme shame half of the time now even if you go and grab a physical copy you basically just get a key in a box.

Re: Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES

#115

Post by chasd00 »

wat10000 wrote: post #68
jcalvinowens wrote: post #62

I love sim hijinks. It's possible to reliably land a 737 on the carrier in X-plane: just take off with 30min of fuel, drag it in with full flaps and high power, and set the parking brake before you touch down.

I wouldn't be surprised if it's possible in real life. The Navy tested a C-130 on the USS Forrestal and accomplished 21 landings. I'm sure a C-130 has better short-field performance than a 737, but they were also testing it with substantial cargo on board. Official figures for required runway distance for a 737 are far in excess of a carrier's deck length, of course, but those figures include weird things like "safet…

> The Navy tested a C-130 on the USS Forrestal and accomplished 21 landings.

my son plays DCS and that game just got a C-130 module and he showed me youtube vids of people landing on carriers. I had to think hard if that was an actual thing or not. Seems like a C-130 can land/take-off pretty much anywhere so why not a carrier?

Re: Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES

#116

Post by wat10000 »

JanNash wrote: post #90
wat10000 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't be surprised if it's possible in real life. The Navy tested a C-130 on the USS Forrestal and accomplished 21 landings. I'm sure a C-130 has better short-field performance than a 737, but they were also testing it with substantial cargo on board. Official figures for required runway distance for a 737 are far in excess of a carrier's deck length, of course, but those figures include weird things like "safet…

Also, of course, the 73 would have to have a hook, which shortens the landing quite some (as well as the lifespan of the fuselage, I assume), as long as you catch the wire, that is. Wingspan-wise, this could also work. @RedBull, how bout it?!

Not necessarily. The C-130 didn't use one. That doesn't mean the 737 could get away with it, but with the carrier going max speed, a decent wind, the plane at min weight and speed, and touching down as early as possible, I wouldn't be surprised if the landing roll was shorter than the length of the deck.

Re: Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES

#117

Post by astrostl »

jordigh wrote: post #94

The information to properly land the plane is in the manual. The required air speed and altitude have never been a secret, if you read the manual (which I guess most kids didn't). The real difficulty, not explored in this disassembly, is that the game has semi-realistic physics! My older brother was in flight school at the time and was able to easily land the plane and taught me how to do it. As the article states, "…

> The information to properly land the plane is in the manual

Look, I already liked the nerdy blog post! I don't need even more reasons to like it.

Re: Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES

#118

Post by kingbob000 »

tuhgdetzhh wrote: post #73

Just for comparison, this is how the code could look like in Python: SUCCESS = 0 TOO_FAR_LEFT = 2 TOO_SLOW_OR_TOO_LOW = 4 TOO_FAST_OR_TOO_HIGH = 8 MIN_ALTITUDE = 100 MAX_ALTITUDE = 300 MIN_SPEED = 200 MAX_SPEED = 400 MIN_SPEED_200_RANGE = 238 MAX_SPEED_300_RANGE = 338 MAX_HEADING_RIGHT = 8 def landing_skill_check( altitude: int, speed: int, heading: int) -> int: if altitude = MAX_ALTITUDE: return TOO_FAST_OR_TOO_HIGH…

Your code is returning TOO_SLOW_OR_TOO_LOW for the case when the heading is too far right. The disassembly in the op looks like it correctly jumps to too_far_right.

Re: Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES

#119

Post by ekropotin »

jordigh wrote: post #94

The information to properly land the plane is in the manual. The required air speed and altitude have never been a secret, if you read the manual (which I guess most kids didn't). The real difficulty, not explored in this disassembly, is that the game has semi-realistic physics! My older brother was in flight school at the time and was able to easily land the plane and taught me how to do it. As the article states, "…

There was a manual =0

Re: Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES

#120

Post by proctorg76 »

joe_guy wrote: post #71
pikkoloassembly wrote: post #6

Oh god the trauma this brought back.

There was also that water level in TMNT https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PHiFNWJXWgI

That video was deeply cathartic, I only got that far once at a friend's house and it was great to finally have confirmed that it wasn't me, the physics were completely broken.
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