Gunship 2000 MicroProse 1991

Gunship 2000 MPS Labs MicroProse

Gunship 2000 is a 16 bit combat flight simulator developed by MPS Labs of MicroProse for IBM PC MS-DOS 3.0 (1991) and Amiga (1993).

The Original Gunship of 1986-87

The original Gunship game was released on Commodore 64 and Atari ST in 1986. And while a visualization prototype graphics engine was coded in 1985 on the Amiga by Sid Meier, the Amiga did not get the original Gunship until 1989. 

The original Gunship of 1986 was designed by Arnold Hendrick and Andy Hollis.

Andy Hollis was responsible for getting flat-shaded terrain onto the 8-bit C64.

The IBM PC version of Gunship came out in 1987.

The IBM PC MS-DOS version of Gunship was distributed on 2x 5.25" 360kB DS DD floppy disks. Gunship displays in 4-color CGA 320x200, 16-color EGA 320x200, 16-color Tandy 1000 320x200 or Hercules monochrome 720x348.

The IBM PC version of Gunship is shown in the left-hand four-block below; Gunship 2000 in the right-hand four-block.

Gunship 2000 1991-93

Gunship 2000 of 1991 was designed by James M. Day and coded by Darrell Dennies and Detmar Peterke. Dennies also coded the custom Topographical 3D engine that handles low-altitude detail.

Gunship 2000's mission generation system is based on two theatres of war: Persian Gulf vs. Iraqis and Central Europe vs. Soviets. Missions are presented as multi-paged reports (complete with maps) that can be flipped through.

Access to profile, theatre, aircraft and armament UI modes is conducted via "point-and-click" on interactable cinematic bitmaps, which are partially animated.

In Gunship 2000 players not only pilot a variety of gunships but also command a flight of helicopters, aka multi-helicopter command. Thus for example, a Lieutenant piloting a Comanche can assign Apache pilots as wingmen. Or a Blackhawk pilot can assign Kiowa Warrior pilots to scout out and mark targets.

In addition, co-pilots can be assigned to activate radar or IR jammers and drop chaff and flares, thereby allowing the player to focus on mowing down and blowing up enemy forces and installations.

Gunship 2000 Graphics

Gunship 2000 displays in 256-color VGA 320x200. In order to represent the low-altitude terrain in which gunships operate, Gunship 2000 employed a new, in-house Topographical 3D engine that was coded in Feb. 1990 by Darrell Dennies.

Gunship 2000 audio-visuals are set on-installation:

• CRT Full 3D
• Distant Objects
• Gradiated Sky
• Fancy Fills (pattern fills)
• Digitized Sound
• Background Music

The IBM PC MS-DOS version of Gunship 2000 was distributed on 4x 3.5" 720kB DS DD diskettes or 3x 5.25" 1.2MB DS HD floppy disks. The install size is 3 megs (3,296K).

Gunship 2000 audio supports IBM Sound, AdLib, Sound Blaster, ATI Stereo F/X and Roland MT-32.

The Gunships of Gunship 2000

Gunship 2000 tactics involve stealthily weaving through canyons, manoeuvring around hilly terrain and flying at low altitude along rivers, aka nap-of-the-earth flight. Then, the gunship pops up seemingly out of nowhere to give enemy forces the surprise of a lifetime -- with dead-eye firepower.

Being composed largely of flat desert-terrain, the Persian Gulf theatre lacks concealment. Thus, the Persian Gulf theatre is not as easy to negotiate as the Central European one. 

Arena-size for the Persian Gulf and Central European theatres is 800 sq. km.

Gunship selection is restricted by rank attained; that is, only a Captain or above can pilot the Longbow Apache.

Gunships can be refueled and rearmed at forward arming and refueling points (FARPs) or by landing back at the base. Indeed, in some missions FARP usage is mandatory.

• AH-64A Apache Gunship
• AH-64B Longbow Apache Gunship (Captain or greater rank)
• AH-1W Super Cobra Gunship
• AH-66A Comanche Gunship (Lieutenant or greater rank)
• OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Scout Helicopter
• UH-60K/L Blackhawk Assault Helicopter
• AH-6G Defender Light Gunship

Gunship 2000 Armaments

During gunship outfitting, armaments can be attached to inboard stores, outboard stores and wingtips. Number of attachments and ordnance selection are dependent on gunship type.

• M230 30mm Chaingun
• M197 20mm Gatling Gun
• SUU-11B/A 20mm Minigun Pod (300 rounds) 
• GPU-2/A 7.62mm Gun Pod (1,500 rounds)
• Viper 20mm Gatling Gun
• AIM-92 Stinger AAM
• AIM-9R Sidewinder AAM
• AGM-122 Sidearm AGM
• AGM-65D Maverick AGM
• AGM-114A/B Hellfire AGM
• BGM-71D TOW-2 AGM
• Helstreak HVM AGM/AAM
• Penguin-3 Anti-Ship Missile
• Hydra 70 Rocket System

Gunship 2000 Allied Units

• M1A1 "Abrams" Main Battle Tank
• M60A3 Main Batle Tank
• Challenger Main Battle Tank
• AMX-30 Main Battle Tank
• M2A1 "Bradley" Infantry Fighting Vehicle
• Warrior Mechanized Combat Vehicle
• M113A3 Armored Personnel Carrier
• Scorpion Reconnaissance Vehicle
• Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle
• M901A2 ITV Anti-Tank Vehicle
• M163A2 PIVADS Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun
• M998 "Hummer" Utility Vehicle
• M109A3 Self-Propelled Artillery Vehicle
• MRLS Rocket Launcher
• LHA Tarawa Class Amphibious Assault Ship
• FF Knox Class Frigate

Gunship 2000 Enemy Units

• T-80A Main Battle Tank
• T-64B Main Battle Tank
• T-72M1 Main Battle Tank
• T-62E Main Battle Tank
• T-55M1 Main Battle Tank
• Chieftain Main Battle Tank
• BMP-2 Infantry Fighting Vehicle
• BMP-1 Infantry Fighting Vehicle
• BTR-60/70/80 Armored Personnel Carrier
• MT-LB Armored Personnel Carrier
• EE-11 Uruto Armored Personnel Carrier
• BRDM-2 Reconnaissance Vehicle
• AML-90 Reconnaissance Vehicle
• EE-9 Cascavel Reconnaissance Vehicle
• BRDM-3 Anti-Tank Vehicle
• 2S6 30mm/SA-19 Self-Propelled AA Vehicle
• ZSU-23(4) "Shilka" Self-Propelled AA Gun
• ZSU-57(2) Self-Propelled AA Gun
• SA-6 "Gainful" Self-Propelled SAM Vehicle
• SA-13 "Gopher" Self-Propelled SAM Vehicle
• 2S1 S0-122 Self-Propelled Artillery Vehicle
• S-60 Anti-Aircraft Gun
• Sa-3 "Goa" Low/Medium Altitude SAM System
• MI-24W "Hind-E" Gunship
• Mi-8TBK "Hip-E" Transport Helicopter
• MI-28 "Havoc" Gunship    
• KA-34 "Hokum" Combat Helicopter
• SA-342 "Gazelle" Utility Helicopter
• Osa-II Class Guided Missile Patrol Boat
• T-4 Class Landing Craft

Gunship manual written by Arnold Hendrick: 84 pages.

Gunship 2000 manual written by Jim Day: 166 pages.

How to take off in Gunship IBM PC 1987: Hit 1, 2 and 3 keys and then hold down F1.

How to take off in Gunship 2000 IBM PC 1991: Hold down + key and then hit the 9 key.

Back to: Combat Flight Simulators.