flight simulation

F5’s Flight Project [Wii – Prototype]

In May 2009, Factor 5’s american studio was closed down, because (as we can read from the official F5’s website) “obstacles created by the sudden bankrupcy of Brash Entertainment for the continuation of operations have turned out too great to overcome in the current economic climate”.  The projects that were still in development should have been moved to the german studio, but it’s currently unknow if  they will be able to complete them or if those games are going to be cancelled.

2 unannounced Wii games were in development at Factor’s 5 as we can read from an interesting article over at GoneIsGone, one of which was a flight simulation game. From the few 3D models available from this “Flight Project” it seems that we would have been able to fly all over the world with different aeroplanes and space-crafts (probably an easter egg from previous F5’s Star Wars titles). We can speculate that this prototype was  developed from the concept of the – never released – F5’s Pilotwings for the GameCube and created with the Wii Lair Engine.

On December 2009, ShockingAlberto from the NeoGAF forum, posted some more assets from this project. One of the images has a different graphic style from the other assets, with a more cartoony / stylized characters. We can speculate that at some point in the development, Factor 5 decided to change the style of the game to appeal more to casuals and families.

It would be really nice to play a new flight simulation developed by F5 and we really hope that they could be able to finish and release this project.

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Airport Inc. 64 [N64 – Cancelled]

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Despite the high quality of strategy games released for the Nintendo 64 (Ogre Battle 64, Star Craft), not many games in that genre were released for the system. It’s probably for this reason that many fans were happy to hear about the development of this managerial simulator for the Nintendo 64: Airport Inc.

As can easily be determined from the title, this Telstar game was going to simulate an airport over all fields, from internal structures to air traffic coordination. The ultimate goal for the player would have been to avoid displeasing the customers and keeping their expenses balanced in order to maintain an optimal financial situation.

The graphics engine would have taken full advantage of the Nintendo 64’s capabilities, offering, as in Sim City 2000, a perfect 3D representation of the airport’s life. The game (i)was(/i) ultimately released for the PC in 2001, but the N64 version of Airport Inc. was ultimately destined to oblivion. Doubts still subsist as to the effectiveness of even the primary development on Nintendo’s little black console.

Please note: It is our understanding that these screenshots are from the N64 version, but as even the initial development is uncertain, it is possible that these images are actually from a beta of the PC version, as both would have look similar to the point of being exactly the same.

italian_flag.jpg [spoiler /Clicca qui per la versione in Italiano/ /Nascondi la versione in Italiano/]

Nonostante la qualità dei giochi strategici su N64 sia piuttosto alta (Ogre Battle, Star Craft), il genere non è certo fra più rappresentativi della console Nintendo. E’ molto probabile quindi che gli appassionati abbiano seguito con grande attenzione l’annuncio per 64 di questo simulatore gestionale, Airport Inc.

Come si può facilmente intuire dal titolo, il gioco Telstar era incentrato sullo sviluppo di un aeroporto in tutti i suoi settori, dall’organizzazione interna della struttura alla coordinazione del traffico aereo. I giocatori avrebbero dovuto fare attenzione a non scontentare (o non farli perire in un disastro aereo) i propri clienti, equilibrando le spese per mantenere una situazione finanziaria ottimale.

Il motore grafico avrebbe dovuto sfruttare le capacità del Nintendo 64, offrendo, come in Sim City 2000, una perfetta rappresentazione tridimensionale del nostro piccolo dominio. Il gioco è uscito per PC nel 2001, ma purtroppo la versione di Airport Inc. per 64 era destinata all’oblio e non vide mai la luce. Addirittura sussistono dubbi sull’effettivo inizio dello sviluppo sulla console nera di Nintendo.

Forse gli screenshots di questa pagina si riferiscono ad una versione preliminare per computer, ma è probabile che l’aspetto della versione console sarebbe stato identico a questo, senza nemmeno l’aggiunta di features esclusive. [/spoiler]

[Original description in Italian by Yota, Translation by Take It Slow]

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