[Esc] Options menu. You can alter the resolution here if it is too slow on your machine). To open doors smash 'em with your sword enough times and they'll swing open. Potions restore health and inspect the scenery if you thing you're at a dead end.
A10 Cuba!
One of the coolest features in A-10Cuba! is the real-time visual response of the control surfaces. Press 3 to go into chase view, then play around with the controls. Notice the movements of the various control surfaces as you pull the stick up, down, right and left.
The dynamics of the A-10and how its controls work become even more apparent when watching the aircraft respond while in the air. Get airborne and fly straight and level, then take a look at the plane's behavior from chase view, using the Arrow Keys to change the viewing angle. Here are the controls you will have to mind to keep yourself on the straight and narrow.
Ailerons are on the outer sections of both wings. They move up or down and cause the aircraft to roll left or right.
The elevator is the movable surface along the trailing edge of the rear horizontal stabilizer. Moving the joystick or mouse forward causes the elevator to deflect down, in turn causing the nose of the A-10to dive. Pulling the joystick or mouse back causes the elevator to deflect up and the nose of the A-10 to climb.
Rudders are the control surfaces along the trailing edge of the two vertical stabilizers on the tail of the A-10. The rudders move left and right to cause the nose of the A-10to yaw (slide side to side). Deflecting the rudders left causes the nose of the A-10to yaw to the left, and vice-versa.
To yaw left use the Comma (,), and to yaw right use the Period (.). To fully move the rudders to either side requires five keystrokes in the same direction from a neutral position and 10from one extreme to the other. If you get yourself into rudder trouble you can always press the Slash (/) to reset the rudder to a neutral position.
It takes some time to get used to using the rudders in A-10Cuba!, but it's a skill you'll eventually have to master to line up and attack ground targets successfully. Once you get the hang of it, though, you'll wonder how you ever did without it.
The flaps run along the trailing edge of the inner wing sections. Flaps increase the amount of lift generated by the wing and are, therefore, lowered for faster take-offs or for take-offs with heavy loads. Flaps are also critical when landing because they significantly reduce the aircraft's landing speed and can provide a subtle lift right before touchdown. They are especially useful when you're faced with an emergency carrier landing.
Flaps deploy in 10-degree increments to a maximum of 30degrees by pressing F. Likewise, the flaps retract in 10-degree increments by pressing D.
A word to the wise: The A-10is unstable with flaps deployed at airspeeds exceeding 200knots. Fortunately, however, the A-10is fitted with a mechanism to retract the flaps automatically at speeds greater than 200knots. So it stands to reason if you've had the A-10over 200knots that your flaps aren't going to be deployed anymore.
Trim is the state of your aircraft being in level flight at a constant speed. When this equilibrium is attained, you are said to be in "trim." Why are we even bothering to mention it? Because when flying with a joystick in A-10Cuba! it is difficult to maintain the aircraft in trim without using the trim tabs. Press [ (Open Bracket) to trim the nose of your A-10up, and ] (Close Bracket) to trim your nose down.
Of course, nothing is ever that easy. What fun would the game be if you just flew around in perfect working order with no bad guys shooting at you? If, for example, your wing and rudder are damaged in combat, you can use the rudder trim to straighten out the nose. This can be achieved by pressing Shift+[ to pull the nose left, and Shift+] to trim the nose right. If you find yourself in a trim "shame spiral" and unable to level off, pressing the Slash (/) will neutralize the trim.
For those times when the need for speed has been quenched but you find yourself coming into final approach at 400knots, the upper and lower surfaces of both ailerons scissor open to act as speed brakes. Press the Spacebar to activate the brakes unless you want to end up as an oil spot on the tarmac. When on the ground, the Spacebar activates the wheel brakes as well.
The throttle control for both engines is linked and controlled by the Plus Sign (+). To start the engines, just press +. Of course, if you prefer the hands-on approach, the engine can be started up by selecting the cockpit view (press 2), holding down Alt and clicking on the red ENGN START button. To max out the throttle right away, just press Shift+Plus Sign (+). The same principles apply to reducing the throttle, so you would merely substitute the Hyphen (-).
As you may or may not know, the term "undercarriage" refers to the landing gear. While you may take it for granted, like breathing, you should know that you will miss your undercarriage when it's gone; each wheel is modeled as its own separate entity and, therefore, can be damaged independently of the other gear.
Although the nose gear is steerable, it is only passively steerable by use of the ailerons and rudders. For speeds below 60knots, the ailerons are responsible for guiding the aircraft. For speeds over 60knots, the rudders become responsible for steering. This happens because, at higher taxiing speeds, the ailerons have a tendency to tilt the aircraft.
After becoming airborne it's a good idea to retract the landing gear by pressing G. At speeds over 200knots, exposed landing gear can become damaged, so be careful not to lower them accidentally while in a dogfight. Ripped-off wheels aside, the sudden change in flight dynamics can make for a rather unpleasant surprise.
When your A-10takes a hit to the engine, it's a reasonable assumption that a nasty fire is probably brewing. We thought it would be great to be able to act on an engine fire rather than just sending you down in a burning molten sarcophagus, as happens in other flight simulators. So we've incorporated dual pressurized fire extinguishing canisters that can be activated independently to snuff out most of the fire situations you encounter.
Either bottle of extinguishing agent can be discharged to either engine. Press Z to extinguish the left engine and X to extinguish the right. However, once in a while a fire may be too pesky and even a double dose of extinguisher on one engine will not put out the fire. If you can't put out a fire, it might be time to imagine what it would feel like to eject from an A-10, because chances are you'll be doing it.
Your engines are blazing, your extinguishers are empty, your hydraulics are shot. You're spiraling downward in a ball of flame. Who you gonna call? Well, actually no one, but you can eject from the A-10by pressing Alt+E. This will rocket you (and your seat) clear of the A-10and deploy a parachute to facilitate your safe return to terra firma.
Although there is no minimum safe altitude from which you can eject (you can actually eject safely from any height, including the tarmac), if your aircraft is heading for the ground at 300knots and you eject at 1,000feet, you'll probably become far too acquainted with the ground before your 'chute can deploy. In other words, it's
