Interview with F/A 18 Interceptor Author Bob Dinnerman

In the late 1980s, a flight sim was released for the Amiga which was so atmospheric, so unbelievably cool that to this day it holds a special place in the heart of most nostalgic 20 and 30 something geeks. Its enduring appeal is different from that of PacMan or Pong - people still really love this game. That's why there is a usenet thread nearly 13 years long discussing how to finish the last mission. That game was F/A18 Interceptor, and it was programmed by Bob Dinnerman.

Now, for reasons too socially tragic to confess to, I'm bringing you the world's first, and only, Bob Dinnerman F/A 18 Interceptor Interview. I'm really delighted that Bob chose to take part, and I hope that all of you who loved Interceptor will express your gratitude to him in the comments field below. Now read on...

Me: For some background, can you tell us a bit about why you wrote F/A 18 Interceptor, and what happened during the development process?

Bob: After writing the arcade game Discs of Tron while working at Bally/Midway back in the early 1980?s, I started to explore 3D computer graphics and flight simulation and quickly became hooked on it. While attending my first SIGGRAPH conference in 1984 and viewing some demos of high-end flight simulation being developed at Evans & Sutherland, I was totally awestruck and tried to decide if I should pursue a position with a company doing some kind of 3D computer graphics application or to try to be an independent developer. After finding no companies in my geographic area doing anything that I was looking for, I was approached by game developers that I met at SIGGRAPH who asked me if I?d be interested in developing a combat flight simulation game for the Amiga computer. ?PERFECT!?, I thought and being a single guy (then) and able to take risks I wasted no time striking up a development deal with them, immediately gave notice to Bally/Midway, purchased an Amiga 1000 (my very first computer!) and began developing a basic flight simulator. We showed a very simple demo to Electronic Arts and almost immediately obtained a development agreement for a combat flight sim game. From that point I was totally devoted to the development putting in a huge number of hours designing, programming and debugging which really wore me down, but hey, it was most definitely a labor of love. And so... After all the years following, developing combat flight sims, it turns out that I truly derived the most pleasure in developing F/A-18 Interceptor over any other.

Me: To what do you attribute the sensation of flight and speed that people still say made Interceptor unique?

Bob: One thing that I strived to maintain was accuracy of visual scale and not resort to faking reported airspeed or altitude as has been done with other flight sim games in an attempt to cover for certain graphics limitations. Does this help to convey a better sensation of flight and speed?... Perhaps. But another possibility might be in how the engine sounds were manipulated in concert with the visuals.

Me: To me one of the most striking and memorable aspects of Interceptor are the sound effects. When I played it again yesterday I was amazed by their enduring quality. How did you create these? Why do you think they remain so powerful? And what inspired you to add in the little bump, and change of volume when you pass the sound barrier? This seems to be everyone's key memory of the game.

Bob: In the ever-challenging attempts that I made to add to the experience as a whole, I tried to keep mindful of the importance of quality sound effects and their careful tie-in with the visuals. Dave Warhol takes credit for creating the base sound effects data of which I incorporated into the sim and manipulated during game play. One thing that I was sensitive to was to minimize any potential, well let's say, 'irritation' that might otherwise result from the constantly playing engine sounds, and believe me... I sure got quite an earful of them during development! With that, I tried to coordinate the various engine sound parameters (pitch, rumble and volume) with the throttle and stick actions not only in such a way that seemed 'right' but also to help the player 'feel' the speed and maneuvering. My inspiration to add the little bump and volume change upon breaking the sound barrier were desperate attempts to find ANYTHING possible to help out in the experience and prevent potential monotony. I derived the avionics tonal effects from the film TOP GUN. Interestingly, with Interceptor's aggressive development schedule, I do recall being concerned about the amount of time I was spending on the sound effects, but I like to believe that the time was well spent and contributed significantly to the game as a whole and helped it endure through the years.

Me:Why do you think people who don't play modern flight sims much still have such a strong affection for it?

Bob: Back to basics, maybe. Perhaps many people develop an attachment to its approachability since it's relatively easy to learn and one can quickly dive right into a fighter jet and do anything from stunt flying aerobatics, to intense dogfighting, to landing on a carrier deck. Since many hard core sims require lots of complex controls and setup just to get into the air they can cause much frustration for many, while Interceptor on the other hand, offers a non-intimidating sim/game mix.

Me: How do you feel about the fact that Interceptor can be downloaded and played on emulators?

Bob: I'm totally gratified that people find Interceptor worthy of being downloaded and played after so many years especially in light of its rather rudimentary visual content by standards constantly increasing over time.

Me: Who wrote the memorable music, and was it a tribute to anything in particular?

Bob: Dave Warhol created the excellent musical score for Interceptor and from the day he first presented it for consideration until the present, I've always remained totally pleased with it. I had requested Dave to try to convey the atmosphere to that of the music in the film TOP GUN which was at that time still a relatively new hit movie and he certainly did an exceptional job.

Me: What do you think of today's game production values?

Bob: Aside from the ever-continuing advancements in technology that get incorporated into game hardware and software, and since game production in recent years have been tending toward development by larger teams, acquisitions of licenses galore and having enormous production costs, there has been quite a shift in game production values from those of years gone by with so many creative concepts toward sticking to a few proven successful concepts and creating clone after clone. I would love to see a resurgence of more creativity and diversity. Risk-takers are indeed developing creative and unproven concept games out there and I certainly hope that the trend shifts more toward that direction.

Me: Getting silly now. Do you think modern games have enough use of that scrolling effect where text appears one letter at a time, accompanied by little electronic ticking sound? If not, could you see yourself using the effect again?

Bob: Well, I never seem to tire of seeing/hearing that techie-type effect ever since I originally saw it done on some sci-fi films, which is what inspired me to do it in the first place along with, by the way, the computer-type font that I put into Interceptor.

Me: What /exactly/ is required to complete the last mission with the enemy aircraft carrier. Nobody who has ever done it knows exactly what they did.

Bob: Ah yes, the 'infamous' last mission of F/A-18 Interceptor... As far as what I believe I did, the destruction of all enemy aircraft plus the enemy sub and a successful return to base should do it. I must note though, that the enemy carrier sub never actually blows up even if it's deemed destroyed! However I'm admittedly a bit remiss on exactly what constitutes the carrier sub having been destroyed, that is, perhaps the minimum number of cannon or missile hits on it, etc. I apologize for my brain lapse on this detail from 15 years ago! Another detail that I'm curious to know is if after one elects to and successfully lands on the carrier sub and gets rearmed/refueled, can he/she resume the mission and blast away at the carrier some more?! Some day I should find and dig up the code, go through it and verify what conditions are required to complete that mission. Again, my humble apologies. A footnote: Maybe the elusiveness to being able to complete this mission (though unintentional) has contributed to the game?s lure??

Me: Was yours the first flight sim to incorporate the now ubiquitous Golden Gate Bridge? Do you believe that flying under the Golden Gate has become a prerequisite of a good flight sim?

Bob: I think that the Golden Gate Bridge may have existed in an early version of Microsoft/SubLogic's 'Flight Simulator' or 'Jet', though I do believe that F/A-18 Interceptor was the first COMBAT flight sim to offer flying around that ubiquitous bridge, which by the way I fondly recall modeling using graph paper and a pencil and entering lots and lots of numbers into the code. As far as flying under it being a prerequisite of a good flight sim, I can think of no better prerequisite than that except perhaps flying under it while inverted!

Me:
Are there any Easter Eggs in the game world worth tracking down?

Bob:
By now I?m sure that in the last 15 years anything that?s in there has been seen or done, but to recap some include the ability to land onto the enemy shadow sub to get refueled and rearmed, landing upside down on the carrier, landing onto roadways and driving your jet around the San Francisco area to track down the good old Electronic Arts Headquarters building and using it for target practice, but I also enjoyed 'buzzing' control towers or the carrier?s conning tower and switch to viewing from that tower and zooming in/out the view of my aircraft while launching ordnance.

The widely known ability to select [0] for the "Free Flight, No Enemy Confrontation", which places your jet on the ground without a runway was originally intended to be another starting location (at Edwards Air Force Base) but I didn?t have enough time to finish it. Leaving the ability to take off from there in the game was, I believe, not intentional but... no harm done.

Me:
My friend Jack asks "Do you think that in your game, Strategic Air Command was slightly laid back in sending out just one pilot in response to international emergencies such as intercepting MiGs attacking Air Force One?"

Bob:
Or perhaps it was just that certain SAC officials weren?t overly fond enough of their Commander-in-Chief at that time to warrant sending out more??

Me:
Jack's most powerful memory of F/A 18 was playing on the day when his dateline for the first mission, September 01, 1994 (a futuristic date when the program was written in 1989) became the present day. Can you remember what you were doing?

Bob:
Well, regretfully I?m fairly certain I wasn't playing F/A-18 on that day. I was most probably too wrapped up gruelingly trying to work out some feature or bug fix while developing JetFighter III, though I'm sure I would have VERY MUCH preferred firing up F/A-18 on that day had I realized what day it was L.

Me:
TedTheDog, founder of UK gaming community Barrysworld asked you if you "intentionally wrote the game so idiots like me and Mikeybear could land upside down on the carrier (thats a REAL mans carrier landing!)"

Bob:
Very close to the end of the game?s development that 'funny' bug was brought to my attention and a few of us debated whether or not to just leave it in (fear of messing with the physics too soon before shipping). The obvious outcome of that debate was considered a bit risky at the time but now I'm glad that I left it in there!

Me: And finally for the question we've all been waiting for. Will there ever be an F/A Interceptor 2?

Bob: Publishing and marketing an F/A-18 Interceptor 2 is totally up to the owner of that franchise, which, as far as I understand, still belongs to Electronic Arts.

----

So ends our interview with Bob Dinnerman. I imagine quite a few of you are probably wiping away nostalgic tears right now - I know I am. But when you're eyes are dry and you've regained your composure, how about sending a gentle email nudge to this guy?

Comments

[MikeyBear]

Really nice interview lads.

F/A-18 Interceptor is one of my faves of all time. The sheer quantity of gameplay and sillyness to be had from it kept me playing it for years and years.

I had no idea loads of other people across the globe were doing the st00pid stuff me and TedTheDog were as well.
My fave activity was piling huge numbers of missiles into the enemy sub, landing on it - rearming and taking off again and then repeating until bedtime.
Inverted carrier landings were a giggle as well.

Few games/sims since have managed to capture the same "feeling" of flight or the satisfying quality of the dogfighting.

Its a testament to the games quality that the original players of the title are still ranting about it ...albeit with more waistline acreage and substantially less hair.

Thanks for the memories Mr Dinnerman sir.

[fuzz]

Wow, this has brought back some memories...I think F/a 18 was the first game I owned (to be fair it was the only game that came with my Amiga), and I still remember the days of time me, and my brothers, put in to trying to acctually land on the carrier (I was 10 at the time...don't laugh, it seemd really hard at the time), until we acctualy did it by taking off, doing a huge loop, and then landing again. It was the only way we could line up on it again.
Ahh, fond memories. Now which corner of the attic is my amiga in?Aand do I still have that code wheel?...

[Peter]

I remember my cousin and I going to the Computer Shopper Show at Alexandra Palace, and seeing Interceptor on demo, and the incredulous joy when my uncle agreed to buy one of the Amiga bundles that came with the game. I seem to remember inventing spurious reasons that meant the Amiga would be educational, something to do with word processing probably, when we only really wanted to play F/A - 18. And, quite astonishingly for something we wanted so much, it didn't disappoint us. Bearing in mind I was used to Elite and Exile on the BBC B (good games in their own right), the graphics and sound seemed absoutely revolutionary.

[Whitt Brantley]

This was definitely the COOLEST GAME I EVER PLAYED on the Amiga 1000. I remember the very first time I ever saw Interceptor. It was in Birmingham, Alabama in a computer store window. The owner let me try it out and I played it until the store closed!

Soon after, I bought a copy for the Amiga at home in North Alabama. Christmas holidays were the best around the old Amiga. We had figured out a way to hook up our Technic stereo speakers directly into the computer and the sound and theme of the F/A 18 was phenomenal! It really put you in the mood and suddenly, you were a jet pilot with a very important job: save the president of the United States of America. (It seems I remember sometimes he was on the plane, and sometimes not.) I am proud to say that the President of the US was never killed on my watch...not once.

I would take out the MIGs and then on a wide circle sweep follow Air Force One all the way to the landing strip. Then, coolest of all, I would land with it and park beside it, taking in every single little detail of another virtual aircraft in my computer. I imagined the pilots saluting me from the cockpit window!

Wow...a kid's imagination. huh? I will admit, that when my mission was to "escort" the stolen jets back to the base..(I would Intercept them, descending from 1000's of feet above them, realizing the importance of the mission, knowing I was outnumbered, and feeling a bit betrayed because of the traitor pilots, seeing them swiftly crossing the screen below me)directly diving until I was almost on top of them! and then following them out to sea, keeping them at all times in my armed sites.

Then...well, sometimes I'd have to shoot one down, to get the other to turn around. But, he wasn't so lucky. I'd let him think he was getting off easy...and then, without warning, I'd shoot him down too. I always had a problem with those two traitor pilots. I mean, I know it was important to get the technology back, but...what the hell, these guys are probably russian spies, were out in the middle of nowhere over the water...what the hell...FIRE!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the memories, Bob Dinnerman. The Amiga was not an Amiga for me, without the FA/18. I haven't played it for years. But, I still the decoder wheel. and I still have the disk.

I just don't have the Amiga anymore. But, all those memories...I still have them. I was a very shy, under achieving kid in school, Mr.Dinnerman. I had a hard time in school and trouble making friends...but, on that computer, and in that game...I was a decorated air force jet pilot...a confident, cool Top Gun pilot. And I lived literally 100's of hours on that game. Thanks for the memories.

W.Brantley

[Ice]

Wrote on February 2004.

Damn this guy still alive ?

F/A 18 Interceptor was my very first Combat flight sim and i can't forget how cool that game was man. Me and a old budy were spending hours doing all kinds of strange manoeuvers. Like trying to land on control towers, riding the road, ejecting on top of control towers, bridges, trying to destroy buildings...man.

My question is, is this Bob still making games after all this years ?

[Tom Longley]

Now, this may be opening up a big can of worms, but didn't "Chocks Away" - a fine, 3D 2 player WW1 dogfighting sim for the Arc - come before F/A-18?

[Russell Glover]

Every so often I load up Interceptor. Even now. It's just one of those greats that can appeal to you after so many years.

Mr. Dinnerman. Your game is the reason I got an Amiga (I'd have loved a 2 player link up you know)

I remember a preview of Jet Fighter 2 in an Amiga mag, maybe CU Amiga & got all excited about that but as we all know, it didn't happen. I don't know if you are reading these messages but if you are I'd like to ask, how far into the production did the Amiga version get or didn't it?

Thanks again for MANY years of fun.

Russ.

[Le Poulet Noir]

You can get F/A 18 Interceptor to work on a PC if you download the Amiga Emulator from WinUAE http://www.winuae.net/. You will also have to download the kickstart operating system, which is still in copyright. However, this site http://hry-zdarma.mosw.com/abandonware/amiga/emulatory_a_kickstart_romy/kickstart_2_0.html tells you how to buy it or, if you are a piratical type, search for a free version. You can then download the game here http://amiga.emucamp.com/fa18interc.htm

[vinny machin]

used to love playing this game on the amiga remember trying out all sorts of different senario,s once when getting chased by a mig i landed on the road,nearly out of ammo and running low on fuel thought i was safe but heres the strange thing that happened, the mig landed close by and just sat there looking realy strange and eerie, drove over to it staring straight at his cockpit cannopy fired what was left of my guns ammo at it nothing happened to the plane must be because i was on the floor,now heres the realy wierd sneeky bit,got fed up shooting at the mig so decided to take off and find an airport to rearm and refuel has i left the ground missile warning then bang i had been hit the sneeky mig like had a mind of its own and seemed to wait until i took off then loosed a missile at me and blew me out of the sky.faaannntassstic game with a sneeky twist to boot wish bob dinnerman would do an updated version for the pc i would deffinately buy it lots of good memmories playing that game and thanks to bob for making it possible. ps still got my amiga and game and allso copies of the magazine which sold here in th u.k.called amiga action and amiga computing the latter with a full review of the game and a interview with bob dinnerman himself.thanks for a boss game bob.

[black assassin]

hmm it occurred to me since being an avid fan of F/A-18 interceptor that this 'terrorist' attack on San Francisco during September 1992 resembles a false flag attack - perhaps ideas were borrowed from this game to be implemented in real life? Ok let's consider: 1st mission involves an unidentified Boeing airliner... enemy planes are called MiGs yet they resemble an F-16 with the wings of a MiG-21... modified F-16s? The 'stolen' F-16s from Moffett Field Airbase (an obvious inside job... how do 2 high level pilots just 'defect'?) The submersible carrier may just be a prop... and the cruise missile heading for Moffett Field Airbase?? - expendable installation - reminiscent of pentagon 2001? Ok ok sounds foolish and obscure - but Robert Dinnerman's creation was burned into the minds of many people - even those who work in the military... consider the coincidences... but back in 1988 terrorists as we know them were working for the US in afganistan against the Soviets... so extremist soviet terrorists seemed more likely for false flag terror...

[limetaste23]

hmm, assassin you might sound crazy to some but i actually thought the same thing! the fact that only one fighter at a time is scrambled to intercept this clear and present danger reminded me of NORAD's lack of response on the morning of 9/11/2001 - as if somebody wanted it to happen! then i thought more about it - Air Force One getting targeted couldn't be an inside job - could it? Actually not many people know this but there was an anonymous threat made on Air Force One on 9/11/2001, attributed of course to the 'terrorists' - look it up yourself - it just wasn't peddled in the media for some reason... sounds like a coup-de-tat attempt from the inside alright... maybe Dinnerman was working for Naval Intelligence or the CIA or something... as i write this the USS Enterprise CVN65 is heading into the persian gulf for a possible confrontation with Iran... see how it holds up against all those soviet silkworm and sunburn antiship missiles!! :(

[Johnno]

It's just a game guys, and a good one at that...but i see your point.. the storyline has always strangely resonated with me too... ever since i played this game in grade school two words have played in my mind: "Freelance Terrorism", where mercenary-type specialists are contracted to carry out terrorist attacks. When the contracters are a group within the government of the country to be attacked, it is an excuse for control of the masses and increased profit for defence corporations... funny how in the game you NEVER are told the enemy forces are Russian, or Soviet (or any national power - which would have to be responsible for the massive resources needed for a project like a stealth submersible carrier), ONLY that they are 'terrorists'. Also the F-16s stolen by defecting pilots, who just happen to have high level clearances fly 'towards the Soviet Union', as if to suggest their destination is linked to the perpetrators. Yes, its JUST a game, and YES...Dinnerman has a coincidentally 'creative' mind... enemy forces unknown indeed...

[B. Bolsøy]

Many thanks for the interview and thanks, Bob, for making a flight sim which blew away every 15 year old wannabee fighter jock. Still remember drooling at the demo a few months before its release. Comming from Sublogics Jet to Interceptor was going from a Punto to the Corvette - awesome. Got the 512KB ram expansion which, to my pleassant supprise, revealed the extra sound effects. I was in awe. You did an amazing job on the audio and toned down color/contrast harmony which gave it such a powerful atmosphere.

I would take that F-16 (which was my favorite, I have to admit) to the edge of the envelope, exploring every qubic inch of available airspace, landing on the carrrier without the arrestor hook, upside down and hehe yeah I used to 'drive' around following the roads too, getting the occational lock-on on the Migs in the horizon if my memory serves me right (maybe I raised the nose a little bit for that one).

That sub bared a remarkable conceptual recemblance to the Anime sci-fi cartoon animation Thundersub, by the way. hehe

Regards,
B. Bolsøy

[Brian Bondmen]

This game inspired me to pursue a career in the IT industry and, eventually, towards my private pilot's license. Thanks Bob!

[Sven Evil]

After quite a few "flight sims" on the C-64, F-18 was the first "real" flight sim that I ever played. It was awesome. You could fly from "A" to "B", you could land on a carrier... fantastic. Only problem were the missions - far too few and I was never able to finish the last one. A pity.

[Dan]

I have been looking for sites like this for a long time. Thank you!t

[Ron]

Wonderful pages! Keep up the grat work.L

[eric gieseke]

it changed the world
e

[eric gieseke]

it changed the world
e

[Mel Burns]

My first flight sim with my first computer (Amiga 500) I played this game into the ground and almost wore out that blue decoder wheel. It was a very smooth game to play and experiment with for hours at a time. I never sank that sub in the final mission even though i tried every tactic possible. Flying around San Francisco and shooting up things that never could get destroyed was a lot of mindless fun. My favorite memories were the stick guy ejecting, supersonic bump, that 40,960ft barrier, short range cannon kills and the occasional black F16 (Mig29) that would crash land intact and let me land, taxy around to shoot it up!

[Dean]

I loved this game, it came with the Amiga when I was a kid and I played it endlessly, right up until the first few days before I began my airforce training in real life!

[Robert]

Dear web-master ! I looked your site and I want to say that yor very well

[nick]

21 years after the game released, 5 years since this was posted, 2 years since the blog was updated, I've ended up here to read about FA18 Interceptor. Haven't played it yet, but I just have to now. Wow, Just awesome. Or "totally rad" in the lingo of the day.

[Andrew Hough]

I still cant belive after all these years no one has worked out how to beat mission 6 every time, i did it by fluke a few times but eventualy worked out how its done, and kept on playing it untill i went from amiga to pc about 96.
I still played it on an amiga emulator untill my old pc died recently, and i still love it.
The best game ever, thanks Bob :D it even worked on my amiga 4000 and not that many old ones did.

The only way to beat it is
Ignore the instructions, go high heading north, but dont go near the sub, the main condition of winning is that the cruise missile does not get fired from the sub.
If you go past the spit of land that goes out into the sea just past the golden gate bridge, then you cant win.
The cruise will fire after the enemy plane gets shot down if you go past that point.
If you dont pass it, just take off and wait for them to come to you, and just take out the first plane of the 2, a 3rd one will leave the carrier, shoot down the 2nd one and the 4th will take off, after that just shoot down the last 2 of them and the mission is complete and you go back to the carrier.
after that you go back to mission one again.
the only way to fail is to crash or get shot down ( or pass that spit of land )
you can also land on the sub carrier to end the mission.

let me know how you get on lol at

mehbint@hotmail.com

[Stuart Cowan]

My fav sim of all time!!! Thanks Bob!!!

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[Adonis]

Awesome, just awesome!

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Coalition Petitions Homeland Security to Suspend Airport Body Scanners

EPIC and a broad coalition of organizations sent a formal petition to the Department of Homeland Security to demand that the agency suspend the airport body scanner program. The petition states that the "uniquely intrusive search" is unreasonable and violates the Constitution. The petition further states the program fails to comply with several federal laws, including the Religious Freedom Restoration Act , the Privacy Act of 1974, and the Administrative Procedures Act.

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many people like to travel at very high speeds without awareness of the harm they may cause.

[Aichi]

Don't forget, special achievement was landing on Alcatraz island. Yes, it's possible!

[vranki.myopenid.com]

One trick that hasn't been mentioned so far was
to take off from the secret airbase down south
(Edwards Air Force Base?) and fly south.

Eventually you will hit the border of the game
world and the plane will stay still. You can
hover like a helicopter against the invisible wall.

Thanks Bob!