While going through the process of reinstalling sims on my new rig, I came across Bohemia Interactive’s Take On Helicopters series in my Steam library. EinsteinEP and I were generally impressed with the original TOH. My biggest two complaints remain the clunky user interface and the lack of good external camera controls. The storyline, game-like approach of TOH really appealed to me though, and it does strike the right balance between simulation and game. For my new install, I used Fred’s nice flight model tweak which definitely seems to make the helicopters fly a bit closer to what one would expect.The Larkin StoryThe premise of the story is that you and your brother are trying to help carry forward the dream of your dead father by salvaging his ailing helicopter company. We start out flying – me the rusty helicopter pilot and my brother trying to talk me into coming to work for him since the company is doing so poorly. During the intro, you get to try your hand at some level flight and turns before you get recalled back to the heliport.
The sim really is beautiful and my new rig handles it with no problem. I do have the viewing distance turned down just slightly to keep 30FPS or so.
Due to an emergency having to do with a freighter that has run aground, we are recalled back to the company heliport to drop me off and allow my brother (Joe) to assist with the rescue…
After dropping me off..Joe takes off but suffers a mechanical issue and plummets into the water. A few days later we learn that Joe is OK, but he is unable to fly, so we have to step up and help out the company. Things are a bit shaky though and Joe seems to know something about the company finances, but isn’t revealing a lot of information.
A few days later Joe introduces me to the team at our home heliport…
My first mission is to demo one of our helicopters to a potential buyer…
The mechanic comes along for the ride – always a promising sign..
Our heliport is quite nice…
As I give the demo ride, the buyer instructs us to head over to a luxury yacht they just acquired before sending me to the company compound…
At the landing zone a man is waiting to pick up his boss…
I actually can’t even recall the original story (it has been that long ago), but there might be some tie in between the guy buying the helicopter and the tanker/freighter incident that happened a few days prior. The man agrees to buy the helicopter, so we have to walk out of the compound to find a ride home.
To be continued….
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If anyone can tell me how to pause the game without the screen going blurry - I'll buy you a beer. Trying to grab screens without the ability to pause is a PITA..!BeachAV8R
