B17 Flying Fortress
Released: 1992
Published by: MicroProse Software
Developed by: Vektor Grafix Ltd
Author(s): Graham Baird, Ian Martin, Dominic Robinson, Terry Spencer, Derrick Austin, Mark Griffiths, John Broomhall, Andrew Parton, Mike Brunton.
Introduction
B-17 Flying Fortress is a flight simulation developed by UK-based Vektor Grafix and published by MicroProse in 1992. Based around the WWII heavy bomber, you take your B17 and its entire crew on bombing missions into Germany. What makes B17 a little different is that it's also focussed on crew management - you can (and will need to) control every one of the 10 stations on the aircraft, including two pilots, six guns, navigation, and the Norden bomb sight. While you are operating one of these stations, the computer controls the others.
You start off by choosing the B-17G, attached to the United States 8th Air Force operating in the European Theater of Operations. Name it, put 'nose art' on it, and select your crew. In addition to getting your plane to its destination, drop the bombs, and get back again, at times you will need to assign personnel to treat wounded crew, extinguish fires, or manually open jammed bomb bay doors. As you progress through the missions, your crew members will become more proficient at certain tasks and get promoted - the more experienced your crew, the better they will be able to handle their post without your aid. Some of your crew won't make it back alive, and you must choose replacements.
You complete the game by successfully competing 25 missions on a tour of duty, striking the heart of Nazi Germany by bombing strategic targets from high altitude during the day.
The developer of B17 Flying Fortress, Vektor Grafix, was acquired by MicroProse in July 1992, during the game's development. Their offices became Microprose Leeds (UK) as a satellite office.
System Requirements
| System Requirements | Minimum: 80286, 640 KB of RAM, DOS 3.0 or higher. Recommended: 80386, 1 MB of RAM, DOS 5.0. Graphics: VGA/MCGA (320 x 200 in 256-colours). Audio: PC Speaker, Ad Lib/Sound Blaster, and Roland MT-32. Peripherals: Joystick, mouse, keyboard |
|---|---|
| Original Media | Four 3.5" high-density (1.44 MB) floppy diskettes or five 5.25" high-density (1.2 MB) floppy diskettes. |
| Installed Size (MB) | 4.75 MB |
From where can it be run?
The game must be installed to your hard disk.
Copy Protection
B17 comes with manual copy protection. When the game has loaded, you will be asked a question:
If the page starts mid-way through a paragraph, don't count that as Paragraph 1. The game helps you a little in providing the first letter of the word to be sure you've got the right one. You have 3 attempts to get it right before the game exits to DOS with the message "Manual Protection Failed."
If you are running v2.0 of the game, you can download a revised B17.EXE file that skips the copy protection.
How to Setup
The Technical Supplement incorrectly tells you to run INSTALL from Disk 'A', but in my version (1.0?) this only configures the game in terms of graphics, sound, and peripherals - it does not actually install the game. You can, however, just copy all files from each disk to a single directory, e.g. C:\B17, and the game will run successfully. Don't forget to create and copy subdirectories as well.
Running INSTALL.EXE:
This configuration is stored in the file B17.CFG. It is not text-readable. The game does not have any command-line options to override these settings.
Problems
Symptom: The game runs too slowly on my machine.
Cause: While technically B17 will run on a fast 286 or slow 386, you won't be able to play the game at its maximum detail.
Resolution: Adjust the detail level down to minimum via the Configuration Screen (accessed
after the Mission Briefing or pressing ALT-C while in-flight) or by pressing ALT-D (Detail Level) and
ALT-H (Horizon Complexity).
It is also recommended that you turn the detail level to minimum during air
combat but remember to restore detail level during the bomb run and for
accurate navigation.
Symptom: When I run B17.EXE it returns immediately to DOS with the message "Internal error: 055B" or "Internal error: 099B".
Cause: Not all files were detected in the game directory.
Resolution: Be sure you have all files in your game directory, including the DRIVERS subdirectory that contains two files and any MISSIONS subdirectory if it exists.
Keys
Click to enlarge
To Quit the Game
Press Ctrl-Q at any time. When you see the screen advertising other MicroProse titles with 'QUIT TO DOS? Y/N' at the bottom of the screen, hit 'Y' to return to the DOS prompt.
Supporting Documents
- Quick Reference Guide (PDF)
- Copy Protection codes (TXT)
Additional Files, Drivers & Utilities
- Version 2.0 update (install this into your existing v1.0 game directory, overwriting any files that already exist)
- Version 2.0 Setup utility (must be used instead of INSTALL.EXE if using version 2.0)
- New B17.EXE for version 2.0 that skips the manual protection - rename your existing file to B17.OLD or something and then put this file into your game directory.
- B17 Crew - A DOS utility that allows you to print information about your crew members. Only works with B17 v2.0. Written by BushWacker Productions.
- B17 Cheat - A DOS utility that changes the rating of all your crew to "excellent" in morale, health, bombing, piloting, etc. By $yndicate.
- B17 Editor - A DOS utility to view and edit your save games (.BSG files). You will need to use "Load/Save" to load the save game. By Shamus Richter.
Save Games
After each mission in your tour of duty, you can save your progress:
Go back to the Roster and on the 'Select Your Bomber' screen, click the 'Load Save' button, enter a filename and click 'Save'. To load a previously saved game, select it from the list and click 'Load'. Save games are stored in the game directory with a .BSG extension.
Versions of the game known to exist
| Version | Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 30th July 1992 | Initial public release. |
| 2.0u | 17th November 1992 | Version 2.0 update. To be installed on top of the game directory. Some files have changed size (_INDEX, _INSTALL, INSTALL.EXE, and B17.EXE), and there is a new file, _NEWRES. |
Original Floppy Disk Contents
The floppy disks have a volume label of 'B17-UK-1', 'B17-UK-2', and so on. Here are each disk's contents:
Disk A (3.5" 1.44MB floppy, v1.0):
Directory of A:\ |
|
Disk B (3.5" 1.44MB floppy, v1.0):
Directory of A:\ |
 .jpg) |
Disk C (3.5" 1.44MB floppy, v1.0):
Directory of A:\ _MAPS1 1,153,141 30-07-1992 18:07 |
|
Disk D (3.5" 1.44MB floppy, v1.0):
Directory of A:\ _AIRBASE 1,566 30-07-1992 18:07 |
 .jpg) |
.jpg)
.jpg)
Installed Directory Contents
Once installed, the following directory structure exists in the game directory:
(Version 1.0 of the game) |
Screenshots
Box Art
