A-10 Tank Killer
Released: 1989
Published by: Dynamix, Inc.
Developed by: Dynamix, Inc.
Author(s): Lincoln Hutton, David McClurg, Mark Brenneman, Cyrus Kanga, Kobi Miller, Damon Slye, Alan McKean, Bryce Morcello, Piotr Lukaszuk, Jerry Luttrell, Randy Dersham, Christopher Reese, Nels Bruckner
Version 1.5 in MCGA
Version 1.5 in EGA
Introduction
A-10 Tank Killer was first released in 1989. It was followed up in 1991 with version 1.5, which added seven more scenarios that covered the Iraqi war and Operation Desert Storm.
While there were more technically complex flight simulators out there, this A-10 Thunderbolt II simulation was designed to be "as realistic as possible without bogging the game down with complicated controls.", according to the manual.
System Requirements
| System Requirements | Intel 8088/8086 CPU, 512 KB of RAM (640 KB for Tandy) Graphics support for Tandy/PCjr, CGA, EGA, MCGA and VGA (320 x 200 in 256-colours is the maximum). Audio support for PC Speaker, Tandy/PCjr, PS/1 Audio Card, Ad Lib, Sound Blaster, and Roland MT-32/LAPC-I. Keyboard, Joystick and Mouse supported. |
|---|---|
| Original Media | v1.1: Two 3.5" 720 KB (DS/DD) floppy diskettes. v1.5: Four 3.5" 720 KB (DS/DD) floppy diskettes. v1.51: Two 5.25" 1.2 MB (DS/HD), or four 3.5" 720 KB (DS/DD) floppy diskettes.. |
| Installed Size (MB) | 2.7 MB |
From where can it be run?
A-10 Tank Killer must be installed to your hard disk. Simply run INSTALL and choose the option to "Copy A10 to Hard Drive". The installer intelligently works out the specifications of your computer, including graphics, audio, input devices and speed capability. Dynamix calls this Smart StartTM.
INSTALL.COM expects to use drive A: or B: as its source for files, so if you are installing the game with all game files from the floppies already copied into a single directory you must use the DOS SUBST command to mimic a floppy disk drive. For example, if you have copied all the game files from the floppy disks into a subdirectory on your C: drive called A10FILES, use this command:
SUBST A: C:\A10FILES
Then go to A: and run INSTALL.COM from there, and the option to copy A10 to hard drive will then work without error. The files are copied to a new subdirectory called C:\DYNAMIX\A10. It also creates a batch file in C:\DYNAMIX called A10.BAT. This simply changes to the A10 directory and runs A10.COM.
Copy Protection
A-10 does not use any copy protection.
How to Setup
Run the file INSTALL.COM, both to copy the game to your hard disk and to configure your hardware:
1) Main menu:
2) Graphics options (note that because of SmartStart, if you only have a CGA or EGA card fitted, only valid options will be listed):
2) Sound options:
3) Installing to the hard disk:
4) Making a backup copy of the original disks:
Your configuration settings are saved to a file called CONTROL.PRF. This file is not text-readable/editable.
Problems
Symptom: ?
Cause: ?
Resolution: ?
To Quit the Game
Press ESC to return to the main menu, and choose "Exit to DOS".
Supporting Documents
- User Manual (v1.5)
- User Manual (alternative) (v1.5)
Additional Files & Utilities
- Patch to remove the IRQ2/9-only restriction for Roland MIDI
Save Games
Your progress when in a campaign is automatically saved as you complete the various missions.
Versions of the game known to exist
| Version | Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | December 1989 | Initial public release, with 6 missions. |
| 1.1 | 14 May 1990 | 3.5" disk release |
| 1.5 | 1 July 1991 | Box came with both 5.25" and 3.5" floppy diskettes. Now with 21 missions including 7 new Iraq scenarios. |
| 1.51 | 22 August 1991 | Minor patch release |
| 1.52 | 19 March 1992 | Updated joystick driver to work on faster computers. Updated mouse driver detection. |
Original Floppy Disk Contents
The floppy disks have a volume label of "A10 " followed by 1-4, denoting the disk number. Here are each disk's contents:
Disk 1 of 4 (3.5" 720 KB DS/DD), v1.50:
Directory of A:\ A EXE 206,972 01-07-1991 1:50 |
|
Disk 2 of 4 (3.5" 720 KB DS/DD):
Directory of A:\ VOLUME 002 724,070 01-07-1991 1:50 |
|
Disk 3 of 4 (3.5" 720 KB DS/DD):
Directory of A:\ CMP1 001 266,286 01-07-1991 1:50 |
|
Disk 4 of 4 (3.5" 720 KB DS/DD):
Directory of A:\ CMP1 002 123,390 01-07-1991 1:50 |
|
Installed Directory Contents
Once installed, the following directory structure exists in the game directory:
Version 1.5:
Directory of C:\DYNAMIX\A10\ |