sopwith - classic aerial combat shoot em up game

sopwith [ -n | -s | -c | -l | -j host ] [-f] [-2] [-x] [-q]

Sopwith is a classic 1980s shoot 'em up originally developed by BMB CompuScience. This modern port is a derivative of the original source code released by its original author, David L. Clark. This port can run using the LibSDL and Gtk+ libraries to display on screen. Features include emulation of the original PC speaker sound effects using digital sound output, working networking and various extra features that were included by the author in the released sources.

The standard controls are as follows:

comma/left arrow

pull up

slash/right arrow

pull down

period/down arrow

flip plane

Z

decrease speed

X

increase speed

space

fire machine gun

B

drop bomb

H

autopilot plane to home base

C

launch flare

V

fire missile

Ctrl+C

quit

-n

Start a single player game in novice mode

-s

Start a single player in expert mode

-c

Start a single player vs. computer game

-l

Start a network game listening for a network connection

-j host

Start a network game, connecting to another listening host as specified by host

-f

Start in full screen mode if possible.

-2

Double-size the display window

-x

Enable missiles

-q

Turn off sound (quiet)

Originally written by David L. Clark for BMB Compuscience

Modern SDL/Gtk+ port By Simon Howard

Sopwith was originally designed as a demonstration game for the Imaginet Networking System developed by BMB CompuScience of Canada. The system failed to become popular but Sopwith became a popular game for the IBM PC and compatibles. A sequel "Sopwith 2" was actually a newer version rather than a different game, but included many extra features, such as Oxen and birds. Sopwith was also ported to the Atari. The original author, David L. Clark, later created Sopwith - The Author's Edition with several extra features including missiles. This version of sopwith is based on the source for the Authors Edition.