Filed under: Fun, Games, Windows, Macintosh, Google, Freeware, Time-Wasters
Latest Google Earth has flight sim Easter Egg
by Jason Clarke Sep 2nd 2007
In fact, it's one of those "why didn't we think of it?" types of features. It seems obvious to use Google's satellite imagery and on-the-fly (sorry for the pun) map loading technology in the context of a flight sim.
So, what is the experience like? Better than you might expect. You get the choice of flying either an F16 jet or an SR22 prop plane, with the obvious speed difference. The controls are pretty delicate and difficult to master, particularly on a keyboard. It appears that Google Earth actually supports joystick input for the flight sim mode, although we haven't had a chance to try it yet. Most of the world's biggest airports are represented in the list of starting spots, but you can also choose to start at the current position you were viewing in Google Earth before invoking the flight sim mode.
Before taking to the sky, it is worth reading through the Flight Simulator Keyboard Controls, but if all you want to do is get off the ground, press Page Up repeatedly then press the Down Arrow key a few time as the plane's velocity increases. This will effectively pull back on the plane's joystick and vault you into the air. Good luck!
With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet.
They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...
