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Isaiah Rainey
UWRT 1101
Malcolm Campbell
17 September 2014
An Analysis of simulator video games; Military Aircraft
Look to the skies and what do you see? A cloud? A bird? Maybe even the faint sound of
a propeller of a small privately owned craft chopping through the air. Needless to say its not
every day that you will look up to see the most advanced aircraft of military aviation. Video
game simulators are a type of genre used to make the audience feel like they are a part of what is
going on. For example, simulators using aircrafts make the viewer feel like they are actually
flying and preparing for battle. This genre analysis will describe how simulators are used as a
type of genre.
Conventions of Aircraft and Flight Simulation
Military Aviation began in 1903 when the Wright Brothers first took flight in Kitty
Hawk, NC. The bi-wing design made it possible to carry-out reconnaissance missions in WW1
and WW2. Since then aviation has taken off with faster, lighter, and stronger aircraft to
execute the several different missions of todays military. Military Aircraft can be broken down
into three main categories; fighters, heavies, and helicopters. Fighter crafts are responsible for
carrying out attack missions, while heavies and helicopters are responsible for cargo based
missions; however they can still perform attack-like missions. A common convention of fighter
aircraft in the military is that they are often small when compared to their heavy counter-parts.
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Fighter aircraft are typically quicker, and have small stubby wings for increased maneuverability.
Fighters often have their weapons mounted on the external parts of the craft. Bombs and missiles
can be placed under the wings or fuselage. However, newer generations of aircraft take
advantage of an internal weapon bay. By housing the aircrafts payload in the fuselage, engineers
are able to construct a stealthy exterior that is less susceptible to being located on radar. This also
increases the survivability of the air craft.
Cargo aircrafts are often called heavies for their immense size and carrying
capabilities. Cargo craft often have huge above fuselage wings, along with multiple engines to
provide thousands of pounds of thrust in order to move the large load. Some heavy aircraft
does not just carry cargo. In some cases the cargo plane has been redesigned to be able to carry
out attack missions this can be most commonly seen with the AC-130 manufactured by
Lockheed/Boeing Corporation. Other heavies that are strictly for destroying a target include the
B-52H, and B-2 both in which are bombers in the United States Air Force.
Military helicopters and heavies are alike in that they both offer attack variants. The
Army is one branch that utilizes several different types of helicopters. Within the army there are
helicopters that are strictly for troop transport (CH-47D, CH-57) as well as some that are strictly
for attack (AH-64, AH-6J, AH-1W). Military helicopters are built with extra armor due to the
threats that are present in wartime. The AH-6 little bird has a variant that allows a computer to
take the place of a pilot and thus be controlled remotely from base or a safer location.
In the end, military aircrafts are built with the intention of going through more than just
your everyday gusts of winds or cloudy skies.
Military aviation simulation video games are unique to the genre in video games in
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If I were to make a new genre built off of flight simulators I would create an aviation goat
game in which goats would pilot the aircraft instead of humans. The genre would have a relaxed
and entertaining mood thus making it a subgenre of humor. Who wouldnt want to hear
squealing goats being blown out of the sky?! The genre would still maintain its action and
adventure components