Amiga Empire by Chris Gray - Aircraft


Aerial activities in Amiga Empire are not as developed as naval activities.
There is only one kind of airplane. It can fly around and observe things
and can carry a few bombs. Airplanes are automatically constructed from
production units at airports. They can be moved and delivered just like
other commodities, but it is often easier to just fly them from place to
place. The 'fly' command allows you to select how many airplanes to fly as
a group, and how many bombs (shells) to load on each one. Movement of
airplanes with the 'fly' command is much like movement of other things with
the 'move' command. The mobility of flying aircraft comes from fuel put on
them when they take off. This fuel comes from mobility in the sector or
carrier. Flying is more efficient with a higher technology factor. Adding
bombs to planes increases their weight, and reduces their range. When
planes land, their remaining fuel becomes mobility in the sector or carrier
they landed on.

When airplanes are to stop moving, they must land. Landing is one of the
trickiest parts of flying, so it doesn't always work. Landing an airplane
in good weather on an airport or aircraft carrier will always work. Bad
weather and different sectors have different probabilities of success. If
airplanes crash into a sector or ship, they will do damage. If an airplane
successfully lands on an unoccupied sector, the 2 military on the airplane
will take over the sector. When landing on a harbor sector, you will be
asked whether you want to try to land on the actual harbor, or on a ship
in the harbor.

If you are flying over sectors of a country which is at war with you, and
the sectors are not checkpointed or you don't know the checkpoint code,
certain sectors (airports, capitals, forts and banks) will attempt to fire
at your planes with anti-aircraft fire. This will, of course, only happen
if the sectors are at least 60% efficient and have shells, guns and gun
crews available. Similarly, ships belonging to countries at war with you
will shoot at you.

When flying, airplanes have the added option of bombing. The damage done by
bombing depends on how many planes you have in the group. You can bomb the
same sector several times, but it will have the opportunity to fire at you
each time. You can also bomb ships, but each enemy ship will also have the
opportunity to fire at you. When bombing over a harbor sector, you will be
asked whether you want to bomb the harbor itself, or a ship in the
harbor.