Game PC Their Finest Hour User Manual

OZ I

SOFT

Their Finest

Hour

FOR

AMIGA

AND

IBM

Reference

Card

IBM/Tandy

This card contains

start-up

and

addi-

tional Mission

Instructions

specifically

for

your

IBM

or Tandy computer. These

instructions tell you:

•how

to load

and

play Their Finest

Hour: The Battle

of

Britain from the

enclosed floppy disks

• how to install the program on a

hard disk drive,

and

start

it

up

• how to load the Mission Builder

•how

to

fly

a mission right away

(Quick Start)

• how to save your Combat Records

on a floppy disk

• how the colours described in the

manual

will look

if

you're playing with a

CGAmonitor

• how to use the Frequency Cipher

Wheel to

tune

your aircraft radio

Also,

for

general reference, you'll find
a list of keyboard controls, which allow
you to

fly

the three types of aircraft In

Their Finest Hour

But

first, to see

any

important

last

minute updates

about

Their Finest Hour

the Mission Builder or the manual, look

at

the

file called "READ.ME." To

read

this

file,

Insert the 5 1/4" disk labelled

"Disk

1"

or

the 3.5" disk labelled "Disk 1

and

2,"

then

type:

readme

and

press

RETURN.

LOADING

INSTRUCTIONS

Package

Contents

Inside

the

package for Their

Finest

Hour,

you

should

find

the

following

items:

• a game manual

• four 51I4" floppy disks

• a reference card

• a registration card

• a Frequency Cipher Wheel

•

an

order form

for

3 disks

• a game catalog

If

you're missing any of these items,

please

contact

Lucasfilm

Games

Customer Support

at

1415562-1902.

1

Starting

Up

from

the

Floppy

Disks

NOTE:

To

greatly reduce loading

and

running times,

we

recommend

that

you

play the game from a

hard

disk drive,

if

you

have one. To

Install

Their

Finest

Hour on a hard disk, see the Hard Disk

Installation section below.

Before

starting

Their

Finest

Hour

remove all

RAM

resident programs, since

they might conflict with the game.

Their

Finest

Hour Is

not

copy-pro-

tected. Before you load

it, we urge you to

make a

backup

copy of the game disks

by

following

the

instructions

in

your

DOS

manual.

The program comes on four 5

1/4"

floppy disks, labelled "Disk l," "Disk

2,"

"Disk 3,"

and

"Disk 4."

It

Is also available

on

two

3.5" floppy disks, labelled "Disk 1

and

2"

and

"Disk 3

and

4."

If

you have a

3

1/2" drive

and

the program

asks

for

"Disk l" or "Disk 2," insert "Disk 1

and

2." If the program

asks

for "Disk

3"

or

"Disk 4," insert "Disk 3

and

4."

Start

at

the

A>

prompt,

and

insert

the 5 1/4" disk labelled "Disk l," or the

3.5" disk labelled "Disk 1

and

2,"

in drive

A. From there type:

bob
then

press

RETURN.

Hard

Disk

Installation

The

program

can

be

easily

trans-

ferred from the floppy disks to your

hard

disk

drive.

First,

boot

your

machine,

then

insert "Disk l" or "Disk 1

and

2"

in

drive

A,

and

type:

a:

followed by

RETURN.

Your computer

will respond with the prompt

"A>".

Now

type the word:

install

followed

by

a space, the letter of your

hard

disk, a colon.

and

RETURN. For

example,

if

your hard disk is

"C,"

type:

install c:

and

press RETURN. This will auto-

matically

create a directory

labelled

"BOB1940" on drive

C.

Starting

Up

from

a

Hard

Disk

To

play the game once it

has

been

installed on your hard disk, first get to

your hard disk prompt.

If

the disk

Is

·c,"

type:

c:

and press RETURN. Then access the

BOB1940 directocy by typing:

cd

bobl940

and press RETURN. From there type :

bob

and press

RETURN

.

Starting

Up

Options

When the game

starts

up, you'll be

asked

to

enter

the

graphics

display

you're using.

You

can

skip this graphics

display prompt by adding a space

and

the

appropriate

letter

after

you type

"bob".

For example,

to

start

right

up

in

EGA

mode, type:

bob e

and press

RETURN.

In addition, there are three settings

you

can

use

to

change the

amount

of

ground detail displayed in the game.

If

you're playing with a slower computer,
such

as a PC

or xr the game will

run
slower if more ground detail is displayed.
For faster machines,

such

as

a newer-

model

AT

or a 386, displaying a large
amount of ground detail won't slow the
game

down

at

all.

To

change

the default

settings

for

ground detail,

start

the game up

by

typ-

ing:

bob

followed

by a space, then the letter of
your graphics mode, another space, and
one of these numbers:

0 (minimal amount of ground detail)

1 (moderate amount of ground detail)

2

(maximum

amount

of

ground

detail)

You

can

also change these settings

anytime

during your mission

by

pressing

Alt-G

LOADING

INSTRUCTIONS:

MISSION

BUILDER

Since the Mission Builder is a sepa-

rate utility from the game program, you

2

use a different procedure

to

start

it

up.

If

you've been playing Their Finest

Hour from a hard disk

drive, you'll need

to

get Into the BOB1940 directocy to use

the Mission Builder by typing:

cdbobl940

From the directocy, type:

mb

then press

RETURN.

You'll then be

asked

to

indicate which graphics display

you're using.

If

you're playing the game from

flop

-

py

disks, start

at

the

A>

prompt, insert

"Disk

4"

or "Disk 3 and

4"

into drive A

and type:

mb

then press

RETURN.

You'll also be

asked to choose a graphics display

from

the list on the screen.

To

continue, see Using the Mission
Builder in the Appendix section of the
manual.

QUICK

START

If

you'd like

to

take Their Finest Hour

for

a test

flight:

• First. load

and

start

up

the pro-

gram by following the Loading Instruc-

tions above.

• When you finish you'll see a title

screen,

followed

by the Main Menu

fea-
turing a list of choices surrounded by a
painting

of

the

Battle of Britain. Use

your game controller

to

move

the arrow

on the screen to the menu choice

FLY

TRAINING

FLIGHT

. Then click your con-

troller button.

• Next,

you'll

be

at

an

Aircraft

Selection menu.

Move

the arrow

to

SPIT-

FIRE,

and click your controller button.

•The

menu you'll see

now

will

have a

list

of

Training

Flights

that

you

can

choose

from

for

Spitfire pilots.

Move

the

arrow to the

first one, labelled #

1,

and

click your controller button.

• Now

you'll

be

sent

to

Flight
Briefing, which is a screen containing a
large

map

of

Southern

England,

the

English

Channel, and

Continental

Europe, along with a row of

buttons

Mo

ve

the arrow

to

the button

at

the

bot~

tom of the screen labelled

GO

FLIGHT,

and click your controller button.

•You'll immediately find yourself

fly

-
ing in a Spitfire over the chilly waters of
the English Channel. Several Luftwaffe
Bf

109 fighters are flying around,

but

won't

fl.re

back

at

you. Your fighter

has

unlimited

fuel

and

ammunition,

and

can't

crash.

If you need to

pause

the

flight, press:

alt-p

Your mission objective Is to shoot
down all the German fighters. Refer to
the angle Seat Fighter Cockpit Controls
section in the Mission Instructions: In-
Flight

chapter

of the

manual

for more

information about

flying

your fighter and

using its machine guns.

•

To

end your mission, type:

q

at

any time. This will first

give

you a

post-flight evaluation, then return you

to

the Main Menu.

You

may also press:

esc

anytime

during

your

mission

to

return to

DOS.

• For more comprehensive instruc-

tions,

tum

to

the Mission Instructions

..

Pre-Flight chapter of the manual.

SAVING

COMBAT

RECORDS

ON

A

FLOPPY

DISK

If you're running the program from

the

floppy disks

and

wish to save the

Combat Records of the pilots and crews

you create, you

must

format a floppy

disk before you

start

playing the game.

Then,

at

various times throughout the

game, the program will ask you to insert
this Combat Records disk

If

you're playing

the

game from a

hard

disk,

your

Combat Records will

automatically be saved on

that

disk in

the

BOB1940 directocy.

CGA

COLOUR

CHART

If you're using a

CGA

graphics dis-

play,

the

colours on

your

screen may

look

dilierent from those described in

the manual. This is especially critical

when you're

flying

in

a medium bomber.

3

The colours of a medium bomber's gun

indicator lights tell you where enemy
planes are attacking

from,

and

give

you

the

status

of

your

machine

gun

posi-

tions.

The chart

at

left can be used

as

a ref-

erence if you're playing the game in

this

mode.

Colour

CGA

Colour

Described

in Displayed

on

the

Manual

Your

Screen

Black Black

Yellow

White

Blue Blue and Black

Red

Magenta

Green Light Blue

KEYBOARD

REFERENCE

The

following

keys are a summary of

the controls used

in

Their Finest Hour.

For a more detailed discussion of

the

cockpit controls for each of

the

three

types of aircraft in the game (single-seat

fighters, doubleseat fighters

and

dive
bombers, and medium bombers), see the
Mission Instructions: In-Flight chapter of

the manual

Game

Controls

Key

f»'a

'Qi\e

Ae
Ae

AfA

A•

A

Function

Pauses game; press any
key

to

continue

Tums

all game sounds off

and on

Turns engine sound off
and on

Gives version number of
game

Lets you adjust joystick

Changes amount of

ground detail

to

speed

up

game

if

it is running slug
gishly Exits the game;
returns you

to

your com-

puter's operating system

Weapons

Controls

Key Function
Left controller Fires forward machine
button

or guns or gunner position

SPACE BAR machine gun

Right controller Fires

20

mm cannon

button or

(Bf

109

and

Bf 110

only)

peiiod

(.)

key

Left

AND

right Drops bombload
controller (except fighters)
buttons

or

RETURN

Lets you toggle between
bombload settings

(dive

bombers

and

medium bombers

only)

Fires

gunner

position machine

guns automatically

Cockpit

Controls

Key Function

e

Increases throttle l• (shift key
not needed)

e

Decreases throttle

a

Lowers

and

raises landlng gear

(except

Ju

87 Stuka)

a

Lowers

and

raises flaps

~

Extends

and

retracts dive

brakes (Ju 87

Stuka

and

Ju

88

only)

e

Turns

replay camera on

and

off

e

Sends you to Review Combat

Film

to watch your replay

camera movie

e

Sends you to In-Flight

Map/Radio

e

Turns

on the automatic pilot

e

Lets you

and

your crew,

if

any,

jump

from plane

and

parachute

to

safety

e

Ends

mission;

sends

you

to

post-flight evaluation

4

V'lfNf

Controls

Key

e

e

e
e
e

e

Function

Forward view

View

Iight

View

left

View

straight down

Scan view

Rear view (slngle-seat fighters),

or moves you

to

rear gunner's

seat (double-seat fighters

and

dive bombers)

Switching

lo

Different

Positions

Moves

you to gunner position

(except fighters)

Moves

you to bombardier posi

tion(medium bombers

only)

Moves

you to pilot position

(except slngle-seat fighters)

Toggles you between pilot

and

gunner

or

bombardier positions

(except single-seat fighters)

Moving

lo

Different

Gun

Positions

imedium

bombers

only)

e

e

e

e

e

Nose

gunner

Right fuselage gunner
(except

Ju

88)

Left fuselage gunner
(except

Ju

88)

Belly gunner

(Lower

fuselage, rear-faclng)

Dorsal gunner

(upper fuselage, rear-faclng)

TUNING

YOUR

RADIO

WITH

THE

FREQUENCY

CIPHER

WHEEL

Inside

the

game

box

you'll

find a

wheel

with

various

German

unit

insignias

around

Its peiimeter. This

is

the Frequency Cipher Wheel. You'll

use

it to

tune

the frequency of your plane's

radio so you

can

receive vital information

about

enemy

aircraft

sightings. These

sightings

will be shown

on

the In-Flight

Map/Radio,

and

you'll

also

be

given

information

about

the

number

and

type

of

enemy

aircraft,

their

altitude,

and

their course. If you don't

tune

your radio

properly, you

won't

be

able to receive

any

enemy sighting reports, which will

greatly

hinder

your

chances

for a suc-

cessful mission.

When you first begin a mission you'll

be in the cockpit of your chosen aircraft.

You'll need to

tune

the frequency of the

cockpit radio

if

the light next to

It

Is not

lit.

You'll

also

receive

on-screen

reminders to

tune

your radio.

To

move to

the In-Flight Map/Radio screen, where

you

can

tune

your radio, press

M.

Once

you're

at

the

In-Flight

Map/Radio,

use

your

con-

troller

to

move

the

arrow

to a

button

labelled

TUNE

RADIO, located

at

the bottom of

the

screen.

Then

click

your

controller

button.

You'll

then

see a

unit

lnslgnla,

plus the name of

an

airfield, in a column

at

the Iight of the screen.

Now

pull

out

your Frequency Cipher

Wheel.

Move

the wheel around, and line

up

the notch to the unit insignia on the

wheel's

peiimeter

that

matches the

unit
lnslgnia on the screen. Next look on the
inner

wheel

of

the

Frequency

Cipher

Wheel,

and

find

the

airfield

name

that

matches the one

on

the screen. Next to

the airfield name on the wheel, you'll see

a window with three coloured

numbers

Inside.

These

three

numbers

together

make

up

your

correct radio frequency.

Use the controller to move the arrow

to

the

up

or

down arrow icons in the lower

right-hand

corner

of

the

screen. Click

the controller

button

on

these

Icons to

select the correct number. Then, move

the arrow to

the

colour display,

and

click

the controller button to select the correct

colour.

Make

sure

that

the

three

coloured

numbers

in the window match

the

ones

you've

just

selected

on

the

screen.

5

When your radio

Is

tuned

correctly,

move

the

arrow to the box titled

CON-

TINUE,

and

click your controller

button

to resume your flight.

For

more

information

about

the

radio,

turn

to

the

InFlight

Map/Radio
section of the Mission Instructions: In-
Flight chapter of the manual.

Reference Card Amiga

This card provides

start-up

instruc-

tions

for

playing Their Finest Hour. The

Battle of

Biitain on

an

Amiga

500,

1000,

or

2000 computer. You'll also find addi-

tional Mission Instructions, lncludlng a
list of keyboard controls for

flying

all

three

types of

aircraft

In

Their

Finest

Hour

The

Information

on

this

card describes how

to:

• load

and

play Their Flnest Hour

from floppy disks

• Install the program on a

hard

disk

diive

•

save

your

Combat Records

on

flop-

py disk

• load the Mission Builder

• fly a quick training mission (Quick

Start)

•

use

the Radio Frequency Cipher

Wheel to

tune

your aircraft radio

Before proceedlng with these instruc-

tions, you should examine the

READ.ME

text

file

on Disk l to

learn

of

any

last

minute

updates

to

the

program,

the

Mission

Builder,

or

the

manual.

To

access this

file:

1.

Insert Disk 1 into any disk diive.

2.

Type

read me

and

press

RETURN

Game

Controllers

You

can

use

a mouse, a joystick, or

the

keyboard

controls

when

playing

Their Finest Hour.

Memory

Requirements

The more available free memory you
have in your computer, the more game
features you'll

be

able to use.

Examlne the

READ.ME

file

on Disk 1

for more

details.

You

can

play

Their

Finest

Hour

on a 512K

machine,

but

you'll

hear

no

sound

effects

and

certain

graphic

enhancements

will

be

missing

.

Also,

a 512K machine only allows you to

run

the

program

from floppy disks,

and

you'll

be

unable

to

use a hard

drive.

Sound

effects,

enhanced

graphics,

and

the

ability to

run

the

game

on a hard

drive

are

features

available

only

on

machines

with

IMB

of memory

or

more.

LOADING

INSTRUCTIONS

Package

Contents

The

game

package

contains

the

fol-

lowing Items:

•

one Game

Manual

• two

3.5inch

disks, labelled "Disk

l"

and

"Disk

2"

• one Radio Frequency Cipher Wheel

• one Reference Card

• one Game Catalog

If

you're missing

any

of

these items,

please

contact

Lucasfilm

Games

Customer

Support

at

1-415-662-1902.

Running

the

Program

from

Floppy

Disk

NOTE:

Running

Their

Finest

Hour

from a hard

drive

will

greatly

reduce

loading

and

running

times.

To

install

the

program

on a hard

drive, please refer to

the

Hard

Drive

Installation

section

of

this

Reference Card.

Since Their Finest Hour Is

not

copy-

protected, we urge you to

make

backup

copies of

the

two game

disks

by following

the

Instructions In

your

Amiga manual.

If

you

use

the

Duplicate

function from

the

Workbench,' 1 you

must

change

the

name

of

Disk

1 to

"bobl,"

and

Disk 2

must

be

renamed

"bob2."

Cold

Start

If

your

Amiga

hasn't

been

started

up

yet:

1.

Tum

on

the

computer.

2.

When you're

asked

for

the

Workbench

disk

, Insert Disk 1 Into drive

df0:.

3.

Insert

Disk 2 into

any

drive

when

prompted.

6

Wann

Start

If

your

Amiga

is

already

up

and

run-

ning:

1. Take

out

the

Workbench disk.

2.

Insert

Disk 1 into drive df0:.

3.

Press

the Ctr! key

and

the

two

Amiga keys simultaneously.

4.

Insert

Disk 2 into

any

drive

when

prompted.

HARD

DRIVE

INSTALLATION

To

install

Their

Finest

Hour

on

a

hard

drive:

1.

Starting

from

the

CU, type cd, a

space,

the

name

of

your

hard

drive,

and

a colon.

For

example,

if

you're

starting

from a

hard

drive

named

"dh0,"

you'd

type

cd

db•:.

2.

Press

RETURN.

3.

Type

makedir

bobl940

and

press

RETIJRN.

4. Insert Disk 1 into

any

drive.

5. Type copy

bobl: bobl940

ALL

QUIET

and

press

RETIJRN.

6.

Insert

Disk 2 into

any

drive.

7.

Type

copybob2:

bobl940

ALL

QUIET

and

press

RETURN.

8.

Type

cd

babl940

and

press

RETURN.

9.

Type

copy

bobl940.info

/and

press

RETURN.

10.

Type

delete

bobl940.info

and

press

RETURN.

The program will now

be

installed

on

your

hard

drive.

Starting

Up

from a Hard

Drive

When playing from a

hard

drive, you

can

start

up

the

program from either

the

Workbench

or

the

CLI.

From

the

Workbench:

1.

Click on

the

hard

drive icon con-

taining

the

"bobl940" directory.

2.

When

the

window opens, click

on

the

drawer labelled "bobl940."

3.

When the drawer opens, click

on

the icon labelled "bob.· This'wlll

start

up

the program.

To

start

up

the program from the

CU:

1. Get to the

CLI

prompt,

and

type

cd, followed

by

a space,

the

name

of

your

hard

drive,

and

a colon.

2.

Press

RETURN.

3.

Type

cd

bobl940

and

press

RETURN.

This will take you to

the

directory

that

contains

the

game.

4.

Type

bob

and

press

RETURN.

The

program will now

start

up.

SAVING

COMBAT

RECORDS

ON

A

FLOPPY

DISK

If

you're

running

the

program

from

floppy

disks

and

wish

to save pilot

and

crew

records,

Custom

Missions.

Campaign

Missions,

and

combat

film

replays,

you

must

format a floppy

disk

before

you

start

the

game.

This

disk

must

be

titled

"bobdata."

At

various

times

throughout

the

game,

the

program

will

ask

you to Insert

this

data

disk.

If

you 're

running

the

program

from a

hard

drive,

your

Combat

Records

will

automatically

be

saved

in

the

"bobl940"

directory.

To

format

a

disk

from

the

Workbench:

1.

Insert a blank

disk into

any

drive.

2.

Select

the

disk icon.

3.

Choose initialize from

the

disk

menu.

4.

Choose Rename from

the

Workbench

menu

after

the

disk

has

been

initialized.

5. Use

the

Cursor key

and

the Delete

key to

erase

the

word "Empty"

6.

Type

babdata

and

press

RETIIRN.

To format a

disk

from

the

CU:

1.

Insert a blank

disk Into

any

drive.

2.

Type

format

drive,

the

name

of

your

drive, a colon,

the

word name,

and

then

bobdata.

For example,

if

you're for-

matting a

disk

in

drive

dfl,

you'd

type:

format

drive

dfl:

name

babdata.

Be

sure

to include

the

proper

spaces

when

you're typing.

3.

Press

RETURN.

LOADING

INSTRUCTIONS:

MISSION

BUILDER

Since

the

Mission Builder

is

a sepa-

7

rate

utility from

the

game program, you

must

use

a special procedure to

start

It

up.

If

you've

been

running

Their

Finest

Hour

from a

hard

disk,

you

can

access

the

Mission

Builder

from

either

the

Workbench

or

the

CLI.

To

access

the

Mission

Builder

from

the

Workbench, simply click

on

the

Icon

labelled

"mb"

that

you'll

find

in

the

"bobl940" drawer.

To

access

the

Mission

Builder

from

the

CLI,

you'll

need

to

get

into

the

"bob 1940" directory:

1. Type

cd

bobl940

and

press

RETURN.

2.

Type mb

and

press

RETURN.

If

you 're

running

the

game from flop-

py disks, follow

the

procedure described

under

"Cold Start"

or

'Warm

Start,·

but

Insert Disk 2

when

you're

asked

for

the

Workbench disk.

To continue,

see

Using

the

Mission

Builder

in

the

Appendix

section

of

the

manual.

QUICK

START

Follow these Instructions

if

you'd like

to take Their

Finest

Hour for a quick

test

flighl

1. Load

and

start

up

the

program

by

following

the

Loading Instructions above.

A title screen will

appear

followed

by

the

Main Menu.

2.

Select

FLY

'IRAINING

FLIGHT from

the

Main Menu by clicking

on

il

An

Aircraft Selection

menu

will appear.

3.

Click

on

SPITFIRE. A Spitfire

Training

Flights

menu

will appear.

4.

Click

on

SPITFIRE #2. You'll

then

be

sent

to Flight Briefing, which

contains

a large

map

of

Southern

England,

the

English Channel,

and

Continental

Europe, along with a row of

buttons

at

the

bottom of the screen.

5. Click

on

the

GO

FLIGHT

button.

You'll soon find yourself flying

in

a

Spitfire over

the

chilly waters of

the

English Channel. Several Luftwaffe Bf

109 fighters

are

flying around,

but

won't

fire

back

at

you. Your fighter

has

unlim-

ited fuel

and

ammunition,

and

can't

crash.

Your mission objective is to shoot

down all the

Gennan

fighters. Refer to

the Single

Seat

Fighter Cockpit Controls

section in the Mission Instructions.' In-

Flight chapter of

the

manual

for

more

infonnation

about

flying your fighter

and

using Its machine guns.

If

you need to

pause

the flight, press

Alt-P.

To

end

your

mission, type q

at

any

time. This will first

give

you a post-flight

evaluation, then

return

you to the Main

Menu.

You

may also press esc

at

any

time during your mission

to

leave the

program.

For more comprehensive instruc-

tions,

tum

to

the Mission Instructions. '

Pre-Right chapter of the manual.

KEYBOARD

REFERENCE

The following keys

are

a summary of

the controls used in Their Finest Hour.

For

a more detailed

discussion

of

the

cockpit

controls

for

each

of

the

three

types of aircraft

in

the game (single-seat

fighters, double-

seat

fighters

and

dive

bombers,

and

medium bombers), see the

Mission Instructions: In-Flight chapter of

the manual.

Game

Controls

Key

Function

~

&.'f!'l

Pauses

game; press any

,_

·=

key

to

continue

fN'.

f»'&

f"'•

f»fa

Tums

all game sounds off

and

on

Tums

engine sound off

and

on

Gives version

number

of

game

Changes

amount

of
ground detail to any of
three settings

to

speed

up

game

if

it

Is

running slug-

gishly

Exits the game.

(If

you're

playing from a hard drive,

you'll leave the program.

If

you're playing from floppy
disks, you'

ll

need

to

reboot

the

system.)

Weapons

Controls

Key

Function

Left mouse Fires

foIWard
button or machine guns (fighter) ,
SPACE

BAR

position machine gun

(all other aircraft)

Fires 20

mm

cannon

(Bf

109

and

Bf 110 only)

Right mouse
button or
period

(.)

key

RE11JRN

Drops bombload

(except fighters)

Joystick button Fires machine

guns

or cannon (see X below)

Lets you toggle joystick

button

between machine guns

and

can-

non

(Bf

109

and

Bf 110

only)

Lets you toggle between
bombload settings

(dive

bombers

and

medium bombers

only)

Fires

gunner

position machine

guns automatically

Cockpit

Controls

Key

Function

Increases throttle

(shift key not needed)

Decreases throttle

Lowers

and

raises landing gear

(except

Ju

88 Stuka)

Lowers

and

raises flaps

Extends

and

retracts dive

brakes (Ju 87

Stuka

and

Ju

88

only)

Tums

replay camera

on

and

off

Sends you to Review Combat

Film to watch your replay cam-

era movie

e

Q

-

fi

e

Sends you to In-Flight

Map/Radio Dorsal gunner

Turns

on

the automatic pilot

Toggles between normal

and

accelerated time

Gives you the location of

your

aircraft

Lets you

and

your crew,

if

any,

jump

from plane

and

parachute

to

safety

Ends mission;

sends

you to

post-flight evaluation

View

Controls

a.

,

, FoIWard view

e ViewRight
e Viewleft

e

View

straight down

e Scanvlew

Switching

to

Different

Positions

\'I

e

e

e

•

Moves you to

gunner

position

(except fighters)

Moves you to bombardier posi-

tion (medium bombers

only)

Moves you to pilot position

(except fighters)

Toggles you between pilot

and
gunner positions (except fight-
ers)

Moving

to

Different Gun Pos-

itions (medium bombers only)

Nose

gunner

Right fuselage gunner
(except

Ju

88)

Left fuselage gunner

Belly gunner

Uower

fuselage, rear-facing)

Dorsal gunner
(upper fuselage, rear-facing)

9

TUNING

YOUR

RADIO

WITH

THE

RADIO

FREQUENCY

CIPHER

WHEEL

Inside

the

game

box

you'll

find

a

wheel

with

various

German

unit

insignias

around

Its perimeter. This Is

the

Radio

Frequency

Cipher

Wheel.

You'll

use

it

to

tune

the

frequency

of

your

plane's

radio

so

you

can

receive

vital information

about

enemy

aircraft

sightings. These

s~tings

will

be

shown

on

the In-Flight Map/Radio,

and

you'll

also

be

given

information

about

the

number

and

type

of enemy aircraft. their

altitude,

and

their

course

.

If

you

don't

tune

your radio properly, you won't be

able

to

receive

any

enemy

sighting

reports, which will greatly

hinder

your

chances for a successful mission.

When you first begin a mission you'll

be in the cock

pit

of

your

chosen

aircraft.

You'll

need to

tune

the frequency of the cockpit

radio

if

the

light

next

to

it

is

not

lit.

You'll also receive on-screen reminders

to

tune

your

radio.

To

move to the In-

Flight Map/Radio screen, where you can

tune

your

radio, press M.

Once

you're

at

the

In-Flight

Map/Radio:

1. Click on the

11JNE

RADIO

button

at

the

bottom

of

the

screen.

A

unit

insignia

and

the name of

an

airfield will

appear

in a column

at

the

right of

the

screen.

2.

Move

the Radio Frequency Cipher

Wheel around, until the notch lines

up

with

the

unit

insignia

on

the

wheel's

perimeter

that

matches the insignia

on

the screen.

3.

Look

on

the

inner

wheel

of

the

Radio Frequency Cipher Wheel.

and

find

the

airfield

name

that

matches

the

air-

field name

on

the screen. Next

to

the air-

field name on the wheel. you'll see a win-
dow with three coloured numbers inside.

These three

numbers

together make

up

your correct radio frequency.

4.

Click

on

the

up

and

down arrow

icons to select the correct numbers.

5. Click on

the

colour display

on

the

screen to select the correct colours

for

each number.

Make

sure that the three
coloured numbers in the window match
the

ones

you've

just

selected

on

the

screen.

6.

Click on the

DONE

button when

you've finished setting the radio frequen-

cy.

If

your radio is tuned properly, the

light

at

the

top of

the

screen

next to

the

frequency

display

will now

be

illuminated.

7. Click on the

CONTINUE

button to

resume flight.

For

more

information

about

the

radio,

tum

to the In-Flight Map/Radio

section of the Mission Instructions

.•

Pre

Flight

chapter of the manual.

10

LOADING

INSTRUCTIONS

Remove

the

floppy

disks

marked

Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain

from

the

disk envelope inside the box,

along with the Frequency Cipher

Wheel.

Then look

at

the

Reference Card, also

inside

the

box,

to

find

the

Loading
Instructions. These instructions tell you
how

to

start

the

game from the floppy

disks,

plus

how to install

and

play

it

from a hard disk drive. When you've

fin

-
ished loading the game, see the Game
Controllers section which

follows

.

GAME

CONTROLLERS

(MOUSE/

JOYSTICK/KEYBOARD)

In this manual, the word "controller"

will be used

to

refer

to

your mouse, joy-

stick, or keyboard

cursor

keys (arrow

keys) . "Controller buttons"

will refer

to

the buttons on the mouse or joystick. If

you're playing with a keyboard, there

will

be corresponding keyboard keys that will
serve

as

controller buttons.

To

find out which controllers the pro-

gram supports on your computer please

see your Reference Card.

If your computer doesn't support a
mouse or a joystick, the keyboard will
control all of

the

game functions , and

the cursor keys used

to

pilot aircraft and

move

machine guns around.

However,

if

your computer does support a joystick or

mouse,

we

urge you

to

use

it

,

as

control-

ling

the

game

is

easier

than

with the
cursor keys. The joystick gives the best
true-to-

life

control, particularly

for

pilot-

ing

the

plane

and

performing

aerial

maneuvers. The mouse gives the

best

fine

control, which is important

for

preci-

sion

maneuvers

such

as

aiming

guns

and

moving a fighter into a favorable

position from which to attack.

Adjusting

Your

Joystick

If

you are using a joystick when you

first

start

up the game, the program

will

ask you

if

you want to use

it.

Press the Y

key

if

you're using a joystick, and the N

11

key

if

you're using a different controller.

If

you press the Y

key,

the program

will
walk you through a three-step joystick
adjustment process:

1.

First, centre the joystick

and

click

any joystick button.

2.

Next,

while holding the joystick in

the

top left

comer,

click

any

joystick

button.

3. Finally, while holding the joystick
in the lower right comer click any but-
ton.

You

can adjust your joystick anytime

during the game by pressing Alt-C.

Using

the

Controller

to

Select

from

the

Menus

and

Screens

After you've loaded Their Finest Hour

you'll need to move

through

several

menus that

allow

you

to

select missions,

choose aircraft, keep

track

of Combat

Records,

and

more. You'll also need to

select

icons

on

different

screens

throughout

the

program.

Whenever

you're

at

a menu or screen, you'll see a

list of choices, or icons, along

with

a

floating arrow.

To

make your selection,

use your controller to move the arrow
over

the

desired choice or icon,

then

click your controller button.

Non-Standard

Mouse

or

Joystick

Buttons

If

you're playing the game with a joy-

stick or mouse that has

an

unusual

but

-

ton configuration, you may be confused

when

the

game

instructions

call

for
pressing the "left" or "right" controller
button. Here's

an

easy way to find out
which of your buttons is considered left
and

which is considered right. First,
read the following Main Menu section,
then read the Training Flights section.
Select a Bf 109 from the list of aircraft
shown on

the

Training Flight screen.

You'll

soon find yourself in the cockpit of

this fighter, where you'll see

two

num-

bers, showing

the

number of ammuni-

tion rounds you have in your machine

guns

and

cannon. Pressing one of the
buttons on your joystick or mouse will
make

the

top

number

decrease

. This

button

is the one referred to

as

the

Mleft"

button. The

other

button

will make

the

bottom

number

decrease. This

button

is

the

Mright"

button.

MAIN

MENU

When

you

get

to

the

Main

Menu,

you'll

see a box

with a list

of choices,

surrounded

by

scenes from

the

Battle of

Britain.

On

the

left, Spitfires

soar

high

above

the

English Channel, barrage bal-

loons,

radar

installations,

and

the white

cliffs

of

Dover. On the right,

Stukas

dive-

bomb

ships

in

the

Channel while medi-

um

bombers

roar

off toward England.

Use

the

floating arrow to choose any

of these Main Menu selections:

FLY

TRAINING

FLIGHT

This lets you hone

your

flying, shoot-

ing,

and

bombing skills

in

a variety of

practice situations. The

results

of these

Training Flights will

not

count

on

your

Combat Record.

FLY

COMBAT

FLIGHT

This lets you fly

an

actual

mission,

the

results

of which will

count

on your

Combat Record.

FLY

CUSTOM

MISSION

This

lets

you

fly

in

missions

that

you've created with the Mission Builder

(see

your

Reference Card for more infor-

mation

on

using the Mission Builder).

PLAY

CAMPAIGN

This

lets

you

take

part

in

various

campaign

missions,

where

you

can

change

the

historical

outcome

of

the

Battle

of

Britain if you're good enough.

REVIEW

COMBAT

RECORDS

This lets you look over

the

records of

the pilots

and

crews who have flown on

your

missions.

REVIEW

COMBAT

FllM

This

sends

you to the Review Combat

Film

room,

where

you

can

watch

the

combat action you've recorded

and

saved

from

your

various missions.

EXIT

FROM

PROGRAM

This

lets

you

leave

the

game

and

12

return

to

your

computers operating sys-

tem.

TRAINING

FLIGHTS

To

learn

and

practice

the

skills you'll
need when flying a combat mission, we
encourage you to

fly

as

many

Training

Flights

as

you

can.

Since

the

results

won't

count

on your Combat Record, you

can

experiment,

take

foolish

chances,

and

make

lots

of

mistakes.

Training

Flights are the

best

way to develop

that

Mcombat

edge" you'll need in battle.

When

you

choose

FLY

TRAINING
FLIGfIT from the Main Menu, you'll be
presented

with

an

Aircraft

Selection

menu. There you'll see eight German

and

British

aircraft

you

can

choose

from.

Move

the arrow to either the aircraft sil-

houette

or

the name next to it,

then

click

the controller

button

to make

your

selec-

tion.

Next

you'll

be

shown a Training

Flight Selection menu. This

has

a list of

four

Training Flights specific to

that

type of aircraft you've selected.

For example,

the

training missions

you

can

choose for a fighter include forward
gunnery practice, intercepting bombers,
and

escorting bombers. The first mission

on

each

of

the

lists

is

fairly easy,

but

subsequent

ones

become

increasingly
difficult. Once you've selected a Training
Flight, you'll be

sent

to Flight Briefing

before you

begin your flight.

.

COMBAT

FLIGHTS

With these missions, you'll

be

reliv-

ing

historically

authentic

flights

that

took place during different

phases

of

the

Battle

t>f

Britain

(see

the

Historical

Overview chapter for more information).

When you're flying one of these Combat
Flights,

you'll

select

from a

roster

of
pilots you've created for the side you're
flying on. Their

successes

and

failures
will be kept track of in a Combat Record.
Medals

and

promotions will

be

won by

those who are skillful

and

courageous

in

battle,

but

a far

less

glorious fate awaits

those who are not.

To select a Combat Flight, move the

arrow

to

FLY

COMBAT

FLIGfIT

on

the

Main

Menu,

and

press

the

controller

button.

Next

you'll

be

at

an

Aircraft

Selection

menu,

where you'll

see

eight

German

or

British aircraft silhouettes.

Click

on

either

the

silhouette

of

the

plane you

want

to

fly

or

the

name next to

it. You'll

then

move to a Flight Selection

menu, where

you

can

choose from eight
historically-based missions appropriate
for

the

type of

aircraft

you've selected.

These choices

are

ranked in order of dif-
ficulty. with the first choices being rela-
tively easy,

and

the

succeeding choices

becoming

increasingly

difficult. You'll

only see the first four mission choices

when you come to

the

menu.

To

see the

next four choices,

press

FORWARD.

If

you'd like to see

the

previous four choic-

es

again,

press

BACK.

To

make

your

selection,

move

the

floating

arrow

to

either the mission text

or

the

number

on

the

left side,

and

press

your

controller

button.

To leave

the

Flight

Selection

menu

altogether

press

EXIT

When you
have selected a mission, you'll move to
Flight Briefing.

CUSTOM

MISSIONS

When

you

pick

this

selection from

the Main Menu, you'll

be

shown a list of
all the missions you've previously creat-
ed with

the

Mission

Builder

(see

your

Reference

Card

for

more

information

about

building

your

own missions).

If

the

list

is

a long one, move the floating arrow

to

the

down arrow icon next to

the

list,

and

hold down

your

controller

button

to

view all

the

missions

on

the

list. Move

the

arrow to the

up

arrow icon

and

hold

down

your

controller

button

to move

back

up

the list. When you've found the

mission you

want

to fly, click the arrow

on

it to select it. You'll

then

go

to Flight

Briefing.

13

CAMPAIGN

MISSIONS

When you play Campaign Missions,
you get a chance to change the historical
outcome of the Battle

of

Britain. You

can

choose to command either

the

British

or

the

German side,

and

fly a number

of

consecutive missions on

that

side start-

ing from

July

10, 1940,

the

date

general-

ly

recognized

as

the

commencement

of

the

Battle of Britain. Due to the chang-

ing

weather

conditions

at

that

time of

year, you'll only

be

flying a mission every

two

or

three days. The success

or

failure

of

each

of

your

individual

missions

is

magnified, since

each

outcome reflects

upon your entire side during the battle.

Also,

the effects

of

one mission are car-

ried over to

subsequent

missions.

For

example, if you're playing on

the

German

side,

and

you bomb certain installations,

those

installations

will

remain

out

of

action for a given length of time.

Alter every mission, a scoring screen

will let you know how close your side is

to

winning

or

losing

the

campaign.

If

you're directing

the

British side, you'll

win

the

Battle

of

Britain

by

surviving

until September 16. This

was

the date by

which

the

Luftwaffe needed to gain

air

superiority

so

that

Operation

Sea

Lion,

the

invasion

of

England,

could

be

launched.

You'll

also

win

by

shooting

down

enough

Luftwaffe

aircraft

to

deplete

their

air

strength

to

the

point

where they

can

no

longer continue their

aerial

assault.

If

you're

directing

the

German

side, you'll win

by

destroying
enough Fighter Command aircraft, either
in

the air

or

on

the

ground,

so

that

the

Luftwaffe

gains

air

superiority

over

England

and

the

invasion

can

take

place.

No

matter

which side you chopse,

final

victory may require

that

you direct
from fifteen to twenty-five missions. (For
more information

about

actual

British

and

German

campaign

strategies

you

might

want

to experiment with, see

the

Historical overview chapter.)

Starting

a

Campaign

To

begin a campaign, choose

PLAY

CAMPAIGN

from the Main Menu.

You'll

then see another menu, with the

follow

-

ing choices:

START

NEW

CAMPAIGN

DIRECTING

THE

RAF

Tills creates a new British campaign,

with

the

starting

date

set

at

July

10,

1940.

At

the

text

cursor,

type In

the

name

of

your

campaign,

and

press

RETURN

. You'll then

go

to the Campaign

Map.

START

NEW

CAMPAIGN

DIRECTING

THE

LURW

AFFE

This

creates

a new

German

cam

-

paign, which

will

also

start

on

July

10,

1940. Type in

the

name

of

your

cam-

paign, press

RETURN,

and you'll be sent

to

the Campaign

Map

.

CONTINUE

CAMPAIGN

IN

PROGRESS

Choosing

this

displays

the

list

of

available campaigns

that

have already

been created

and

saved on disk.

lf

this

list is a long one,

move

the floating arrow
over the down arrow icon, and hold the
controller button

to

look down the list.

To

look back up the list, hold the con-

troller button after you

move

the floating

arrow over the

up

arrow icon.

At

the bot-

tom of the list, you'll also see

two

but

-

tons, labelled

RETRY

and

CANCEL

.

If

you're saving your campaigns on

floppy
disks, and want the program to search a
particular disk

for

your campaign, Insert

that disk and press

RETRY

lf

you don't
want to direct any of the campaigns list-
ed,

and want

to

direct a

new

one instead,

press

CANCEL.

Once you've selected

an
available campaign, you'll move to the
Campaign

Map.

EXIT

This

sends

you

back

to

the

Main Menu .

Campaign

Map

After you've started a new campaign

or chosen

an

existing one, you'll

go

to

the

Campaign Map. At

the

top of

this

map

is

the

word

"CAMPAIGN,

" along

with the name of your campaign, plus its

14

historical date and time. From this map

you'll send your forces into combat on

the

date

shown above.

You

'll organize

your aircraft into flight groups,

give

them

orders, and begin

that

day's mission by

taking the controls of one of the planes.

This Campaign Map resembles the

Flight Briefing Map, with

the

English

Channel,

Southern

England,

and

the

north coast of France displayed

(see

the

Flight

Briefing section for comparison).

The map

will contain different informa-

tion for each side.

If

you're playing

an

RAF

campaign, you'll see icons on the

map representing all the different

British

ground installations

and

ship convoys,

with a special highlight on those

that

are

about

to be

attacked. These

targets
include airfields, radar sites, and facto-
ries.

You

may

also

see Icons that repre-

sent

formations of incoming Luftwaffe

aircraft.

If

you're playing a Luftwaffe
campaign, you'll see icons representing
all the possible targets you can attack,

including ground installations and ship
convoys.

You'll

then

have

to

decide

which

ones

to

send

your

aircraft

to

assault.

To

reveal

information

about

the

ground installations on your map,

move

the floating arrow over any installation

icon. In the column in the lower right-
hand corner of the screen, you'll see

th

e

name of the installation, along with

Its

status (whether or not

It

has

been previ-
ously damaged or destroyed in the cam-
paign).

For both German

and

British cam-

paigns, you'll see four

buttons

at

the

bottom of the screen:

BRIEFING

This gives you a description of the

status

of your campaign,

and

tells you

how close

each

side

is

to victory

or

defeat.

ROSTER

Tills lets you create and select pilots

and crews

for

that day's mission

(see

the

flight Roster section for more informa-

tion).

CANCEL

This

sends

you

back

to

the

Main

Menu.

GOFUGHT

Tills lets you begin your mission.

Ftight

Groups

Before

you

begin

a

Campaign

Mission, you'

ll

need to assign the aircraft

under

your

command to various flight

groups. A flight group

Is

a given number

of aircraft that

fly

together

as

a unit.

You

determine the

number

and

type

of air-

craft

in

each

flight

group,

and

then

assign It to a specific mission objective

by creating a flight plan.

Next to the words

"PLANES

AVAIL

-

ABLE"

on the screen

is

a number indi-

cating how many aircraft are available

to
be placed in your flight groups. Below
these words are

five

buttons which you

use

to

determine the composition of each

group:

FUGHTGROUP

Click your controller button

to

cycle
through the flight groups you have on
hand, plus those you have yet

to

create.

To

create a flight group, you must select

a plane

type

(see

below)

and allocate

at
least one plane to that flight group from
the pool of available planes.

PlANETYPE

Click your controller button

to

cycle

through the different types of aircraft

you

can

allocate to a particular flight

group. Each flight group must be made

up

of

the

same

type

of

aircraft.

For

example,

If

you're flying

an

RAF

cam-

paign, you

cannot

have a flight group

with both Spitfires and

Hurricanes in it.

However,

you can create one flight group

of Spitfires

and

a second of Hurricanes.

NUMBER

OF

PlANES

This lets you select the

number

of

aircraft

for

the flight group you're creat-

ing. There must be

at

least one plane

In

a flight group before that group can

fly

your mission. Press

the

left controller

button to increase the number, and the

right controller

but

ton to decrease it.

15

FORMATION

Click your controller button

to

cycle

through and set the flight formation

for

the current flight group you're creating.

ORDERS

Click your controller button to cycle

through and

set

the mission orders

for

your

current

flight

group

.

If

you're

directing

the

RAF,

you

can

choose to

have your fighters attack either enemy

bombers or fighters .

If

you're directing

the

Luftwaffe,

your choices vary, depend-
ing upon the type of aircraft. German
fighters

can

fly

in a bomber

escort

role, or a free -ranging role.

Jabo

fight-

er/bombers can either

fly

bomber escort,

drop bombs, or strafe installations.

Ftight

Plan

Alter you've created a flight group,

you must implement ment a flight plan

for

It.

To

do

this you'll plot a course

by
placing a series of navigation points on
the Campaign

Map

for

the group

to

fol-

low.

A flight plan is composed of up

to
six of these points, including a starting
point

(BEGIN).

four rendezvous points

rwAY

POINI'S 1-4).

and

an

airfield

at

a

home-base point to return to

(LAND)

. For

fighter Combat Alr

Patrol

(CAP)

mis-

sions, the flight group

will

patrol

an

area

by repeating the flight plan until it

runs

low on fuel.

For

fighter

escort

and

bomber missions, the flight group

follows

the flight plan only once.

To

create a flight plan, look below the

flight group buttons. There, you'll see a

chart which looks like

this:

FLIGHTPLAN

ALT

ATK

BEGIN

WAY

POINT

I
WAYPOINT2
WAYPOINT3
WAYPOINTf

LAND

DEIEIB

To

choose where the flight group will

begin its mission

from,

click on

BEGIN

.

A

star

will

appear

to

the left of the word.

Move

the floating arrow

to

the desired

location on the Campaign

Map

, and click

the controller

button. A starting

point

icon

will

appear

on

the

map.

If

you

change your mind, move the arrow

to

a

new location,

and

click the button again.

RAF

flight groups

can

only begin their

missions

over England

or

the

English

Channel.

Luftwaffe flight

groups

can

only

begin

their

missions

over

Continental

Europe

or

the

English

Channel.

Now

look on the screen for the

word

"ALT"

next to the words

"FLIGHT

PIAN." This shows the

current

cruising

altitude for this flight group,

and

is

given

in thousands of feet.

(For

example, If the

number reads

"11," the current cruising

altitude

is

11,000

feet.) Click

the

left

controller

button

to increase the altitude

at

which

the

flight group begins its mis-

sion,

and

the right controller

button

to

decrease the altitude.

You

set the locations of the four

Way

Points

the

same

way you

set

the

BEGIN

location. First, click on Way Point

1,

move the arrow to the desired location

on

the

map,

and

click

your

controller

button.

An

Icon will appear on the

map

to

represent

the

location of

that

Way

Point. Click on the number below

ALT

to

adjust

the altitude

for

your flight group

flying toward

Way

Point

1.

If you wish,

repeat this procedure for

Way

Points

2,

3,

and

4. You

can

plot a

course

with

these different Way Points to confuse or

divert the enemy.

If you're directing a Luftwaffe

campaign,

bomber

or

fighter/bomber

flight groups will automatically bomb a
target

if

it

is located where you've placed

a Way Point Icon. If you don't

want

to

attack

this

target,

look for

the

word

"ATK"

(attack)

next

to

ALT.

The word

YES

will appear

if

an

attack will occur.

To

call off the attack, click on

YES

and

that

word will

go

away.

To

assign each flight group to a

home-base landing area, click on

lAND,
move the arrow to the desired airfield on
the map,

then

click the controller but-

ton.

16

After you've created a flight plan, you

may want to modify

It

by removing one

or

more

of

the

Way Points.

To

do so,

click

on

the

Way

Point

you'd

like to

remove, then click the

DELETE

button

,

which

Is

located to the light of the lAND

button. This will remove

that

Way Point

icon from the map.

Campaign

Results

Although

it

may

seem

like
you're fighting the Battle of Britain with
just

a handful of aircraft, the success of

each

of

your

missions

represents

the

degree

of

success

for

your

entire side.

For example,

If you successfully bomb

radar

installations on a Luftwaffe bomb-

In g

mission,

then

the

rest

of

the
Luftwaffe will have been equally success-
ful bombing

similar targets elsewhere in

Southern England.

On

the

Campaign

Results

screen

at

the end of your mission, you'll

see a

chart

outlining how your mission

results affected the

status

of each side.

It

also

shows the total

air

strength remain-

ing

for

both

sides

. The

percentage

of

available

RAF

pilots, planes,

and

air-

fields will fluctuate,

as

will the number

of available Luftwaffe planes

and

crews.

These percentages determine how close

each

side

is

to

winning

or

losing

the

Battle ofBiitain.

REVIEW

COMBAT

RECORDS

When you choose

REVIEW

COMBAT

RECORDS

from the Main Menu, another

menu

will appear listing

five

categories of

pilots

and

crew whose records you can

review:

RAF

PILOTS

Bf 109

PILOTS

Bf llOCREWS

Ju

87

STIJKA

CREWS

BOMBER

CREWS

You

can also choose

EXIT,

which will

return you to the Main Menu.

Use the floating arrow

to

make your
selection. The next menu you'll see will
have two lists. The list

on

the

left will

show all the current pilots

or

crews

that

exist in

that

category.

If

this is a long

list. move to the down arrow

Icon

next to

the list,

and

press

and

hold

your

con-

troller

button

to see all of

the

names on

the list. Press

and

hold your controller

button on the

up

arrow Icon to move

up

the

list. The list

on

the right will show

the

"Top

10" pilots or crews, with their

names, the

number

of missions flown,

and

evaluation

numbers

rating

their

past

combat experience.

To

look

at

the

record of

an

Individual pilot

or

crew,

move

the

arrow to their name, and click

the

controller

button.

The

next

screen

you'll see

will give you detailed informa-

tion, including rank,

status, number

of

missions

flown,

number

of air victories,

number

of

bombioads dropped, targets

destroyed,

and

number

of planes lost.

Choosing

REVIEW COMBAT

RECORDS only

lets

you look

at

pilots'

and crews' records.

To

create pilots and

crews

go

to

the

Flight Roster screen,

which you

access

from Flight Briefing

(see the Flight Roster section for more

information).

REVIEW

COMBAT

FllM

Whenever

you're

flying a mission,

you

can

record your combat action with

the replay camera. Pressing

the

C key

turns

on the camera, which

Is

located in

the cockpit

of

your

aircraft. A

number

next to the camera indicates the percent-

age of

film

you have left.

You

can

tum

off

your

camera

by

pressing

C again,

by

waiting

until

the

film

runs

out,

or

by

pressing

R,

which

sends

you

to

the

Review

Combat

Film

screen

. You

can

also

get

to

this

screen

by

selecting

REVIEW

COMBAT

FILM

on

the

Main

Menu.

Once

you've

made

your

film

and

pressed

R,

you'll be

at

a screen with the

words

"REVIEW

COMBAT

FILM"

In the
upper part, along with the name of the
plane you were

flying

in when you made

your film.

At

the bottom _ of the screen,

17

you'll see a floating

cursor

which you

can

move with

your

controller

. You'll

position this cursor over the desired red

buttons on the bottom of the screen,

and

press your controller button to activate

them

The

V"MIW

Window

The

playback

of

your

film will

be
shown in the view window in the centre
of the screen.

To

the left

and

light of the

view window,

you'll

see

two

numeric

lists, one marked

YOU,

the other marked

CAMERA. The

YOU

list

shows

flight

statistics

for

the aircraft you were flying,

while

the

CAMERA

list

shows

flight

statistics

from

the

camera's

vantage

point, which you

can

change with

the

view mode

and

vantage point controls

(see

below).

Both of these displays show

the aircraft's

IAS

(Indicated Alr Speed),

the

ALTITUDE

, the RATE

OF

CLIMB

(+

or - in feet per minute], the

HEADING

(in
number

of

degrees), the

PITCH

(the angle

of

the

nose

of

the aircraft

In

degrees

above

or

below

the

horizon),

and

the

amount of

AMMUNillON

left.

Playback

Controls

The

playback

controls

in

Review

Combat Film are located directly below

the

view

window. These controls are sim-

ilar

to

those of a VCR

To

start

the play-

back of your film, press

PLAY.

To

stop

It

at

any time, press

STOP

To

fast-forward

it

at

any time, press

FWD.

To

rewind it,

which you'll need to do when the end of

the

film

has

been reached,

press

REW.

To

leave

Review

Combat Film altogether,

press

EXIT.

You'll be

sent

back to your

aircraft

if

you were

flying

a mission; oth-

erwise, you'll be sent back to

the

Main

Menu.

Button

REW

STOP

PLAY

FWD

EXIT

Function

Rewinds

film

to

start

Pauses the

film

Starts

the film play back

Fast-forwards the

film

Exits you from

Review

Combat Film screen

View

Modes

Below

the

playback

buttons

at

the
bottom are three additional red buttons,
which

control

different

view

modes

.

Whenever you have selected any of these

modes, the word above the

button

will

be

highlighted. In

the

CHASE

view mode,

the

camera

looks forward from directly

behind

your

aircraft.

This

is

the

view

mode you always

start

in when you first

come to the Review Combat Film screen.

The next button,

COCKPIT

gives you the

view from where the pilot is sitting. The

final button, FREE, is a free floating eye-
in-the-sky.

You

can

pan this eye in-the-

sky around by pressing

U (up), D

(down)

,

L

(left),

or

R (right) .

To

move the camera

forward in

the

FREE mode,

press

and
hold the square button in the middle of
U,

D,

L,

and

R.

To move

the

camera

straight

up

or down, press either the red

up

arrow

or

the red down arrow.

Button

Function

CHASE

Displays film from

behind aircraft

COCKPIT

Displays film from

cock pit of aircraft

FREE Displays film

from
free-floating position in
the sky

U,

D,

L,

R Pans camera position

up, down, left, or right
(FREE

mode

only)

Red square Moves camera forward

(FREE

mode only)

Red

up

arrow Moves camera view

up

(FREE

mode

only)

Red down arrow

Moves

camera position

down

(FREE

mode

only)

Switching

Vantage

Points

The

buttons

on

the far right allow the
camera to be switched to many vantage
points, including different aircraft

and

objects.

If

you press the

YOU

button, the

camera

will

be

positioned

on

or

near

your

aircraft,

depending

on

your

view

mode.

If

you

press

the

AIR

button

, the

camera

will

be

positioned

from

any

object

that

was

in

the

air

when

you

18

made your

film,

except for bombs. These

objects.

can

include other aircraft, bar-

rage

balloons

,

and

even

men

in

parachutes

who have bailed out. Press

the

AIR

button

repeatedly

to

cycle

through

all

the

different

airborne

objects,

and

change the view mode for

additional camera positions.

If

you press

the

GRND

button,

the

camera

will

be

positioned from targets

on

the ground.

If

any

aircraft dropped

bombs

while you

were

filming,

press

BOMB

to

get

a

bomb's

point

of

view. You

can

press

YOU,

AIR.

GRND,

or

BOMB

at

anytime

during

your

replay.

The

name

of

the

object or aircraft

that

the camera is posi-

tioned on will always appear on the dis-

play

at

the top of the screen, next

to

the

words

"REVIEW

COMBAT

FILM."

Button

Function

YOU

Moves vantage point to

your aircraft

AIR

Moves vantage point to
objects in air

GRND

Moves vantage point to
land

and

sea targets

BOMB

Moves vantage point

to
any bombs dropped
during filming

Saving

Replays

If

you'd like

to

save the movie of your

combat

action, look

at

the

lower left-

hand

comer

of the screen. There, you'll

see a nameplate titled

CURRENT

CLIP

with a display panel below it.

Move

the

cursor

to the display panel. Press your

controller button,

and

the arrow

will

be

replaced

by a text

cursor.

Type

in

a

name

for

your

film

clip,

then

press

RETURN.

This will restore the floating

arrow. Click on the

SAVE

button to save

your

film

under

the name you

just

typed

in. A directory of your film clips will

be

created, which you

can

only access by

coming

to

the

Review

Combat

Film

screen

from

the

Main Menu.

As

you

accumulate replays,

be

sure

not to

give

the same name to more than one

film,

or

else you will erase the older version.

Button

Function

SA

VE

Saves

current

replay

clip to disk

Loading

Replays

To

look

at

a film clip from any previ-

ous

missions,

press

the

LOAD

button. A

directory of

the

available film clips will

then

appear

in

the

centre

of

the

view
window. To look down the list, move the
floating arrow over the down arrow next

to the list,

and

press

and

hold the con-

troller button. To look back

up

the list,

press

and

hold the controller button over

the

up

arrow. To select one of these film

clips, click the floating arrow on the one

you'd like to watch.

Button

Function

LOAD

Loads films you have
saved

(will

not

func

tion

if

you

are

in the

middle of a mission)

FLIGHT

BRIEFING

Alter

you've

selected a Training

Flight,

Combat

Flight,

or

Custom

Mission, you'll

go

to Might Briefing. This

is where you'll learn

about

your mission

in

greater

detail,

choose

the

pilots

or

crew to

fly

it,

and

make any last-minute

modifications.

When

you

first

enter

Flight

Briefing,

you'll

see a map

of

Southern England

and

the west coast of
France. This Flight Briefing Map is simi-
lar to the In-Flight Map/Radio

that

you

can

access anytime during your mission.

Above

the

map

are

the

words

"FLIGHT

BRIEFING

MAP."

To the right will

be

the

title of

your

mission,

plus

the

name

of

the

current

pilot

or

crew who is assigned

to your plane.

On

the

Flight

Briefing Map, you'll

find

various

coloured

icons

scattered

around

the two countries. These icons

symbolise

various

land

Installations,

such

as

RAF

airfields, industrial targets,

radar

stations,

and

Luftwaffe bases.

To

learn

more

about

these

installations,

move the floating arrow over any icon

on

the

map.

The

information

will

then

19

appear in the column on the right side of
the

screen. You'll see

the

name

of

the

installation, a description

of

it,

and

its

status

(whether

it

Is

operational, or

if

it

has

been damaged or destroyed by any
previous action). Other Icons will Identify
the location of aircraft

and

ship convoys

in the battle area you

are

about

to enter,

along with the ground targets

that

are

about

to

be

attacked

by

Luftwaffe

bombers.

On the bottom of

the

screen, you'll

also find four

buttons

labelled:

BRIEFING

This brings

up

a detailed description

of

your

mission,

which

will

appear

In

place of the Flight Briefing Map.

ROSTER

This lets you assign pilots

and

crew

to

fly

your mission (see the Flight Roster

section which

follows)

CANCEL

This aborts your mission

and

sends

you back to the Main Menu, where you

can

choose

a different

mission

if

you

wish

GOFUGHT

This lets you begin your flight

Modifying

Your

Mission

Before you begin your mission, you

can

modify many of the combat condi-

tions of

your

flight by clicking

on

the

Mission

Setting

buttons

in

the

lower

right-hand corner of the screen. However

once

you

modify

a

Combat

Flight,
Custom Mission, or Campaign Mission,
the results

will not

count

in any Combat

Record. Whenever you select a mission

to

fly,

the Mission Settings you'll see will

reflect the values

for

that

particular mis-

sion.

· The Mission Settings you

can

modify

are:

SETUP

Use this

to

choose between a

STAN-

DARD

or

RANDOM

disposition of forces.

When you choose

STANDARD,

the

air-

craft on

both

sides will be in the same

location every time you play. When you

choose

RANDOM,

they

will positioned

differently

every time you play.

AMMO

Use

this

to

change

between

STAN

-

DARD

or

UNLIMITED

amounts

of

ammunition. In the

STANDARD

mode,

you'll carry

the

same

number

of

gun

or

cannon rounds

that

aircraft

in

the Battle

of

Britain

carried.

In

the

UNLIMITED

mode, you'll have

an

endless supply of

ammunition.

DAMAGE

Use

this

to

change

between

STAN

-

DARD

or

UNLIMITED

amounts of battle

damage

your

aircraft

can

sustain.

In

the

STANDARD

mode,

your

aircraft

can

be

damaged

and

even

shot

down by enemy

gunfire. In

the

UNLIMITED

mode, you

can't

be

damaged,

shot

down, or crash.

FUEL

Use

this

to

change

between

STAN-

DARD

or

UNLIMITED

fuel capacity. In

the

STANDARD

mode,

you'll

carry

a

finite supply of fuel,

and

use

it up

at

the

same

rate

as

aircraft

In

1940.

In

the

UNLIMITED

mode, you'll never

run

out

of fuel.

ENEMY

Use this to select the skill level

of

the
opposing pilots or crew members. These
settings

range

from

NOVICE to TOP

ACE.

START

This lets you choose where

to

start

your

mission

from.

If

you

choose

ON

GROUND,

you'll begin your mission on

the

runway

of

your

home airfield,

and

will have to takeoff

and

fly to the enemy

or the target. If you choose

IN

AIR.

you'll

begin your mission in mid-flight,

and

the

enemy or target will be nearby.

RESET

This reverts

the

values for the mis-

sion back to the original default settings.

FLIGHT

ROSTER

The

ROSTER

button

In

Flight

Briefing lets you create pilots and crews,

20

and

choose the ones who will fly in the

mission you've selected.

You

can

fly

your

mission without selecting

ROSTER.

but

then

you'll fly with

an

unnamed pilot or

crew,

and

the

results

of

your

mission

won't

count

on any Combat Records. In

addition to activating a pilot

or

crew for

the

plane

you're

about

to

fly,

you

can

select

the

pilot

or

crew

for

any

other

plane

on

your

side. At first, you won't

have a roster of pilots

or

crews to choose

from.

But

as

you create more

and

more

pilots

and

crews,

and

as

they gain expe-
rience in combat, you'll be able to choose
those

best

qualified to

support

you In

your current mission -

and

return

vic-

torious more often

as

a result.

When you press the

ROSTER button,

you'll

be

sent

to the Flight Roster screen.

At the top of the screen, you'll see the

words

"FUGITT

ROSTER,"

plus a list of

aircraft

Icons. These icons represent the

different planes

that

are

flying on your

side

in

the

particular

mission

you've

chosen. Next to each aircraft Icon will

be

the name of

its

assigned pilot

or

crew.

The aircraft

that

you yourself

are

going

to

fly

will

be

highlighted. The pilot

and

crew from your previous mission will be

automatically reassigned to

your

aircraft

if they survived. For example, let's say

your

last

mission was in a Spitfire with a

pilot named "Clive."

If

you are about to

fly

another

one,

you'll

see

the

name

"Spitfire"

highlighted,

along

with

a

Spitfire icon, plus the name

"CIJve.

• This
way, you won't have to create a new pilot
every

time you fly a new mission.

Creating

and

Managing

Pilots

and

Crews

In

the

middle

of

the

Flight

Roster

screen

you'll see six

buttons

. The first

five

buttons

are

various pilot

and

crew

categories

for

the

different

RAF

and
Luftwaffe aircraft. When you press one of
these

buttons,

the

roster

of available

pilots for

that

type of aircraft will appear

at

the bottom of the screen. A sixth

but

-

ton lets you create new pilots

and

crews

to add to the roster of whichever

type of

aircraft you choose.

The

five

pilot

and

crew category

but

-

tons are:

RAF

Use this to list the available Spitfire

and

Hurricane pilots.

Bf

109

Use this to list the available Bf 109

pilots.

Bf

110

Use this to list the available

Bf

110

pilots.

51\JKA

Use

this

to

list

the available

Stuka

crews.

BOMBERS

Use

this

to list the available

He

111,

Do

l 7z-2,

and

Ju

88 crews.

The

last

button

on

the list

Is

CREATE

PILOTS/

CREW.

Use this to create pilots

and

crew,

and

to add them to the roster

of

each

category. To do so, first select

one

of

the

pilot

or

crew categories

by
clicking on the appropriate button. Then,
click

on

the

CREATE PILOTS/CREW

button.

A text

cursor

will

appear

. Use

your keyboard to type in the name of the

pilot

or

crew,

then

press

RETURN.

The
name of the new pilot or crew will now
be added

to

the roster of available pilots

and

crews

for

that

aircraft.

Here's

an

example. Let's

say

you

want

to create a new crew for a

Ju

88.

Click

on

the

BOMBERS

button,

then

click

on

the

CREATE PILOTS/CREW

button

. Type In

the

crew name, which

we'll call "Blltzers," with

the

keyboard,

then

press

RETURN.

You

now have a

Ju

88 pilot

and

crew named "Blitzers."

Looking

Over

the

Roster

If

you've got a long list of pilots

and

crew

on

any

roster, move

the

floating

arrow to the down arrow

Icon on the left

side of the screen,

and

press

and

hold

the

controller

button

to

scroll

down

through

all the

names

. Press

and

hold

the

up

arrow

icon

to

move

back

up

through the names.

To

the right of each
pilot or crew name, you'll see their rank,
the

number

of

missions

they've flown,

21

and

an

evaluation number, which

rates

them

based on their

past

successes

and

failures.

Assigning

Pilots

and

Crews

To

assign

a pilot

or

crew to a
particular plane, first select the category
of aircraft you

want

them

to fly. Then,

use

your arrow to select their name from

the roster of available pilots or crews

at
the bottom of the screen. Finally, click
on

the

aircraft

Icon

at

the

top

of

the

screen

that

you want to assign

that

pilot

or crew to

fly

. The pilot's or crew's name

will

now

appear

next

to

that

aircraft

icon. Be

sure

to match the pilot or crew

with a plane from the category of aircraft

they're qualified to

fly. For example,

an

He

111 crew Is qualified

to

fly

the three

kinds of German medium bombers,

but

they cannot

fly

any other Luftwaffe air-

craft.

To

deactivate a pilot or crew, click on

their name when

It

appears next to any

aircraft

Icon.

Using

the

Roster

for

Mare

Successful

Missions

Whenever

you

complete a mission,

the

Combat Records for all pilots

and

crews involved will

be

updated. The more

experience

each

pilot

or

crew

member

gains, the better they'll perform in future

missions. When you select these proven,
experienced pilots or crews

for

your mis-

sions. they'll generally repeat their

suc

-

cesses

for

you. For example, If you have

a Bf

109

pilot

on

your

roster

named

"Heinz" who

has

flown

many

missions

and

Is a crack shot, you might

want

to

assign him

as

your wingman

If

you're

fly

-
ing a fighter intercept mission. Chances
are he'll distinguish himself in

that

role,

and

help you accomplish

the

goals

of

your

mission

. However,

as

in

real

-life

combat,

there's

always

the

possibility

that

he'll

be

shot down.

To

exit

the

Flight Roster

and

return

to

the

Flight

Briefing Map,

press

the

EXIT

button.

To

help you learn the tlight controls

and

Instruments of the twelve aircraft In

Their

Finest

Hour, we've divided

the

planes

into three categories,

based

on

their design, their role in combat,

and

the

number

of persons onboard.

Double-Seat

Single-Seat

Fighters

and

Med"ium

fighters

Dive

Bombers Bombers

(Pilot

only)

(Pilot

and

(Pilot.

bom

-

rear

gunner)

hardier,

and

three

to

five

gunners)

Spitfire

MK

l

Bf l lOC

-4

He

111

Spitfire

MK

11

Bf

llOC-4/B

Do

17z

-2

Hurricane

MK

I Ju

878-1

Stuka

Ju

88A

-l

Bf

109E

-3 Ju

878-2

Stuka

Bf

109E-4/B

Many

of

the

control

keys

and

the

flight

instruments

are

similar

for all

three

categories. However we

want

to

make sure

that

you have all the informa-

tion you need right

at

your fingertips

at

all

times. To

do

this,

we

deliberately
repeat some of the information In each of
the

category

discussions

below,

and

you'll find

that

there

is

a separate flight

controls

section

for

each

category

as

well.

Each flight controls section

begins

with a brief description of

that

category

of aircraft,

followed

by some charts. The
first chart shows you the controls you'll
need to operate the aircraft's guns, while
the second chart gives you a list of keys

you'll

use

to

fly

and

maneuver the air-

craft

itself. Another

chart

shows

you

how

to

look around outside your aircraft.

If

you're

flying

a medium bomber, there's

also a discussion on how to

move

to

the

different

gunner

positions

and

man

the

guns,

as

well

as

how to move

to

the

bombardier's position

and

drop bombs.

Finally, a section on cockpit Instruments

describes all

the

different gauges

and

levers you'll see

in

the

cockpit of

your

aircraft. One cockpit screen In

each

of
the three plane categories is displayed,
to

help you master the Instruments.

To

22

see

a cockpit screen

of

every aircraft,
along with additional information, see
the

German

and

British

Aircraft

and

Weapons chapter.

FLIGHT

CONTROLS

Your controller operates

just

like the

control stick on a real plane. For more

information, see

the

Flight Fundamen-

tals and Tactics chapter.

Controller

Direction

t Forward

(away
from

you)

{.Backward

(toward

you)

---+Right

+-Left

Function

Moves

the nose

of

the

plane

down

Moves

the nose

of

the

plane up

Banks the plane

to

the right

Banks the plane to

the

left

GAME

CONTROLS

The following game controls

can

be

used anytime during a mission,

regard-
less of whether you're flying a fighter,
dive bomber or medium bomber:

Keys

Function

• l'I Pauses game; press

' ' any key to continue

A.

~r:d~~game

sounds

-·~

Tums

engine sound

' '

off

and

on

m '9 gives version number

' ' of game

pm

e Lets you adjust joystick

~

~

Changes amount of

-

~

detail to

~peed

up game

if

It

Is

running sluggishly

Exits the game; returns
you to your computer's
operating system