Well, I'm not going to spend too much time on this right now, as I want to get back to playing Shockwave! :)
I'll post a more complete review later, but for now:
It looks *R E A L*
Is is *NOT* forced forward motion. You can go straight, you can turn around, you can go sideways, you can fly in any direction at an interesting object that your heart desires. (you can't fly too high, though). It is forced motion, in that you cannont come to a stop, however.
It's as smooth as *glass*, like fast Total Eclipse smooth, and it's always in cockpit view.
The horizon is only barely clipped, at least Total Eclipse distance, maybe at bit more.
there is rotation along the z axis (banking during turns)
there is a bit of a movement restriction, in that you cannot go very far away from the ground. the plane will more or less hug the ground, with maybe a ten 'feet' leeway up or down. So, if you see a mountain coming up in the distance, you cannot go ahead and fly at a height to clear it, but when you come up to it, the .... I'm gonna have to continue this later, my sysadmin is taking down the system for some reason.
Think of movement like doom. when you go up stairs, then you can go up, and see whats below you, when you go downstais, you are at ground level again.
The gameplay is fantastic!
michel.buffa@cmu.edu