TWO WAYS TO PLAY
There are two ways to be a SimCopter pilot. The first is to play the Career Game. All the cities you'll need for a complete and successful career are included in the game. These cities are called Career Cities. In a career, you carry your equipment, helicopters, experience and knowledge from one city to the next. The missions and cities are linked so you can advance along a career path to become a wealthy, master SimPilot. There are ten levels in a Career Game and lots of different paths to take. Early on, life is simple and the missions are easy. By the end, you need to be a real pro to succeed.
The second way to play is to work in any SimCity 2000 city you have, whether you built it with SimCity 2000, SimCity 2000 Network Edition, or with the SimCity Urban Renewal Kit (SCURK). When you play this way, each city is a career island unto itself. Missions depend on the city's design and living conditions, and parameters you can set within SimCopter.
Whether you play with our cities or yours, you start with a little money and work your way up to being the owner of a fleet of helicopters. And yes, you'll be able to get out of your copter and walk around, and even go into some of the buildings.
Just one small note: you'll only see the original graphics from SimCity 2000, not the Future set or any set created with SCURK.
Using a Joystick Instead of the Keyboard
Joysticks work just fine with SimCopter. Throughout this manual, keyboard controls are used for all examples, but if you're used to a joystick, all the basic controls like turning, flying, landing and moving the cursor on the screen should be intuitive. Give 'em a try. If things works the way you like, that's great. If things don't work the way you like, check out the instructions on changing joystick settings in the game reference section.