bringing a matter to your attention without offending you.

An Open Letter to a Farmville Friend

Farmville is a game that was built upon the social networking platform called Facebook with the idea being to enhance the experience of game play by making it a mixture of group and solo play and adding into the game a measure of reliance upon one another that, when it functions at its best, has the effect of doubling the positive results.

Among that aim is the practice of performing Helper Actions on the farms of your friends and your neighbors - and I am not speaking of the briefest of mouse clicks to the affirmative when the system pops up a notice stating that Friend/Neighbor X has asked you to help out on their farm and will you do it?

I am speaking instead of the willful action of actually visiting the farm of your friend/neighbor, selecting five (or more depending upon the level of County Fair Medal you and your mate have) specific items and committing to helping with them.

While this action narrows the Help to the specific object with which you have interacted, your mate has the option of picking the stage at which this Helper Action is applied, so for instance they can arrange it so that your Helper Action truly IS a help, providing water to a parched plant that does not deduct that water from the limited resources that are available to your friend.

In every sense your choice to take a few moments out of your day and actually visit your mate's virtual farm and help out is not just a good thing, but it is often a necessary act if your mate is going to complete a mission and its quests that are overly resource-dependant.

Having your animals wandering free is a great idea if the freedom from pens for virtual animals on your virtual farm is one of the ways you like to express your concern for the animals you keep in your farm and from whom cruelty free resources are obtained...  But it is not so great if you want other farmers to be able to help you out on a regular and predictable basis through applying helper actions to specific objects on your farm...  Just saying...

I am talking about You

You are a unique person and I am always pleased that you choose to call me friend.  The world is often made brighter by your presence, and I know in my heart that you are a good person, and that you would never accidentally insult or hurt another person because when you do choose to insult or hurt another, it is always on purpose.

Which makes the odd and careless actions that you have taken in the game difficult to understand.

Of course I have not come right out and forced your attention to the details because I know you.  I know that for most of your teenaged years your step-father was verbally abusive and never passed up an opportunity to insult you or degrade you, and tell you how stupid you were whenever you made a mistake - often mistakes that anyone could (and often would) make under the specific circumstances.

As a result of the way that that bastard treated you, you do not suffer criticism very well or quietly, and in fact it is fair to say that criticism of any sort - even the good sort - invariably results in a quiet and seething anger on your part.

I suspect that opportunities for good friendships with others have been burned at the stake of your sensitivity to criticism of any sort, which is largely why I (and others I know for certain) take care not to be seen to criticize you.

A nicely designed pen containing all of the objects that your farm animals could desire from water to housing and even the shade of a few trees can easily be accomplished using the fences that you can buy cheaply in the Farmer's Store - it just requires a minimum amount of effort on your part...

That Thing You Do

When you came to me and asked me to add your farm to my daily visits list, and for me to water that specific tree grove, I agreed to do so.

I knew that you were one of those players who keeps a silent score in your head - and I knew that you never visit other players farms to provide helper actions unless they first visited yours - I don't hold that against you even though it is not the way I choose to play the game.

When you asked me to help out with that Helper Action and I agreed, you might recall that I mentioned in passing how annoying I found it when farmers in Farmville 2 leave their animals wandering unconstrained in the game on their farm, and how that often made it difficult to select a specific object on a farm to apply a Helper Action because the game would often refocus the pointer at the nearby animal...

That it for some strange reason the game often gave precedence to the animals over crops, trees, and groves.  It even seems to prefer to move the pointer selection to other inanimate objects like a post, fence rail, or the like rather than the object - in this case a grove - that you mean to apply the Helper Action to.

The reason that I brought that up to you in that casual fashion was that I was trying to clue you in that YOU have all of the animals on your farm wandering around rather than placed in pens, my hope being that you would sense the advice that I was offering without viewing it as criticism...

You failed to do so.  In fact it was as if I had not been speaking at all.  Either that or in your mind you saw me as criticizing OTHER less worthy players, but certainly not YOU.  The thing is, yeah, I meant that hint for you.

In fact making a separate place for each type of animal - or at least for the strategic ones that will be getting a lot more attention in Helper Actions than others will - not only makes a certain sense, it also makes the act of helping you out with Helper Actions all that more convenient and easy since your mates do not have to carefully hunt through feed bubbles and hope that they are clicking on the right animal - and that the server has not re-tasked their selection using some strange logic of its own...  Just saying...

Today and a Fail

Today I went to water your grove and the server had me instead feed your deer.  When I tried again instead of the grove it had me feed a chicken.  I only have six Helper Actions to give you each day, and I had used up two because the server has that strange quirk...  Well that and because you allow your animals to wander unchecked on your farm.

The last time that this happened - that the server forced the pointed on to animals instead of the grove and as a result I "failed" to water the grove - you sent me a text telling me - and I quote: "I meant for you to water the tree grove NOT feed the animals!  Billy is feeding those animals, I need YOU to water the trees!"

Clearly you decided that I was being careless, or that for whatever reason I failed to grasp the simple task you asked me to do for you - and forgetting for the moment that you forget to return the courtesy and visit my farm to use your daily Helper Actions more often than you remember to do that - I am not your bitch.  I don't OWE you the Helper Actions that I have been making.

Today it happened again.  I very carefully targeted the grove, clicked on the mouse, and in the process another chicken walked close to the grove and the server retasked the pointer to it, and I used a third Helper Action on the chicken instead of the grove of four trees, which meant that I no longer had a sufficient number of Actions to use, and that means that your grove will not be getting watered by me anyway, today.

I fully expect you will be annoyed.  I am annoyed, but not for the reason you are I bet.

I have a new policy - this is NOT criticism aimed at you mate - but I have a new policy in that I no longer visit and apply Helper Actions on farms that have their animals wandering free.  If the animals are not penned up, I do not visit or help out.

So if you want me to continue to water your trees you are going to need to build some animal pens.

Cheers

Preparing for the Forza Horizon WTG Project

. . . This Post Briefly Defined . . .

The process of smoothing the path to begin properly deploying (that is to say publishing) a Walkthrough / Video Game Guide often requires a number of preparations that, in the absence of a previously prepared outline or skel or stipulations of a similar design by the editor or sub-editor who has issued that assignment - and especially in the case of a video game that is the direct (or the indirect) sequel to a previous game in a series, the process - no matter how well-ordered - often involves addressing matters uniquely connected and yet disconnected from the subject at hand.  

In the simplest of terms and in particular I speak of obtaining a minimal set of levels in one or more of the previous titles in the game series - Forza Motorsports 3 and Forza Motorsports 4 in this case - so as to reap the benefits that are provided under the flag of "Loyalty" in terms not just of unlocking the associated Achievement but also in unlocking and obtaining a series of particularly useful models of automobile whose presence and availability, which are dependent upon having attained a specific minimum Driver Level - certainly will result in an expanded measure of capability in the game at hand.

These are, therefore, several of the topics upon which I will reflect in some detail within the body of this post below...  My intention being to acquaint you with those contents in order to magnify and establish your appreciation and interest in the same, by way of encouraging you to embrace and take in this post with a finer understanding for what it contains, and therefore what it might provide to you in terms of both information and enlightenment.

Forza Horizon & The Forza Motorsports Series

Preamble Note: With the understanding that I am and have been variously employed within the beat of Games Journalism for a number of years, when it is appropriate (or when I feel that doing so will add to both the convenience and some measure of additional edutainment) I have included links to related articles, reviews, or other documents, columns, articles, and the like, the aim of which is to enhance your experience on these subjects.

In simple terms then, you are invited to indulge me in following any such links within the post at your leisure and with the clear understanding that in doing so you will encounter the spawning of a new browser session and window rather than being forced to constantly push the “Back” button and thus have to hunt for your previous position in reading - my notion being to make this as convenient an experience as is possible in result.

The Nature of the Modern Gaming Environment

When a gamer is restricted either by budget or space, it is often the case that they find themselves in a position of being loyal to a particular platform or gaming console to the exclusion of the other(s) in the present generation, to the extent that they might almost be said to be a loyal and particular fan for that console.

As it is often the case, and presuming you to be particularly fond of the auto racing simulation genre that extends beyond the Cult of Left Turns, you will surely be familiar with the long-running and heated rivalry between Microsoft and its Xbox Console and Sony and its PlayStation Console in terms of the very fine and very realistic auto racing simulations known as Forza Motorsports and Gran Turismo, respectively.

It is even fair and very accurate to suggest that, with each new version of each respective series, the realism and the experience of realism improves, promising the fan of each game if not a major improvement in the racing experience than at least many minor improvements in a game genre that seems to constantly improve as if it were a natural matter of law.

This being the reality and acknowledging that special care is often taken, from game version to game version within the respective game series to ensure that the specially-created livery and graphic designs, often differentiated by either car racing club, manufacturer model, or the particular preferences of the individual, are seen to move forward from the previous generation of a game in the series to the next, where this is allowed, to permit the gamer to present themselves to their rivals in the familiar form to which they each the two of them have become comfortable.

This being the case, and emphasizing that unique and very convenient shorthand to which a great deal of detail has now been expressed - between the lines so to speak - it is understood therefore that we have now covered and dispensed with a vast forest of information covered by those subjects, and in as satisfactory a manner as one might have wished for, so that we can put aside the topics of technical realism, design, tyre tech, and livery, and so move on to the colder but no less important topics that make up the bulk of the detail in the preparations that necessarily must be seen to in order to commence with the creation of the new guide - that is to say, that we are now ready to move on to the areas that must be sorted out in order to best take advantage of the requirements present for the same.

Paving the Way

As it turned out a great deal of the work that was required for the creation of the Walkthrough and Guide for Forza Horizon took the form of supporting material and topics that eventually made up the bulk of the branches of the figurative tree around which this guide is structured.

The catch here is that the actual game play portion, the leveling and levels, the individual races, and all that these contain, sensibly makes up the tree trunk upon and from which these branches naturally thrust and to which they are attached.

This being how it worked out, I was more than a little surprised to realize that the presentation of all of the supporting information was utterly and nearly completely reliant upon the presentation of the game play segments to the extent that the guide would look, well, bad... If the supporting information was presented prior to the meat of the game play sections being deployed - a realization that is based largely upon the disheartening experience that was obtained when the approach was applied to the guide project for Minecraft.

So despite having what amounts to nearly 75% of the guide written, as that huge structure fails to appear elegant on its own, I am in the position of needing to actually play the game and, in the process, make the game play videos that are really part and parcel a major element in that process, prior to being able to put up the supporting material without the guide appearing ugly as a result.

I am OK with that?

You can imagine how surprised that I was to realize that rather than being able to jump right into the game and begin playing - sliding the game disc into the 360, arriving at the loading page, hitting the record button on the separate capture system PC, and racing away to the Festival, instead I found myself making a list of the things that I needed to do BEFORE actually being able to play the game?!

Seriously, call it a failure to think ahead; call it a lack of the full mental image of the “Big Picture” that is more or less required for such projects to proceed; call it whatever you like, but I tend to call it a major miscalculation on my part. And clearly I accept all the blame on this one.

Now I can honestly point to recent and ongoing health issues as full justification for just such a failure of memory and consideration - and the nature of those being what they are, I have serious doubts that even the most annoying of critics and detractors would be able to find much in the way of moral high ground from which to find purchase for such an argument or accusation... But that does not really solve the problem.

A History of Pre-Game Preparations

In a way this is one of those lessons that should have been learned from the past. After all it is not as if almost the entire Forza series did not contain just this sort of catch in game play, right?

The original Forza Motorsports was released for the Xbox (original) in 2005, and just two years later the direct sequel to the game, Forza 2, made its debut on the new Xbox 360, offering gamers not just the satisfaction of the continuation of what had by then become a very well-loved and well-established game that rapidly solidified in the minds of gamers as a racing series.

The second Forza also fully embraced the new Game Achievement and Gamerscore system that was then rapidly growing in popularity to the extent that Sony found itself in a race to devise a similar system of its own in answer to what Microsoft had done (and eventually settled upon the Trophy system it now uses), but that is a story for a different post...

When Forza Motorsports 4 arrived, with its own unique and full set of Achievements, among them was a pair of Achievements that had a tacit connection to the previous title to which it was a sequel, specifically the “Forza Faithful” Achievement, and one called “Unicorn Hunter” (though technically the latter Achievement could be unlocked in alternate ways).

The Forza Faithful Achievement in Forza 4

Once you install and load Forza 4 and complete the very first race - the introductory one that it does not really matter where you place in - the game will look for a Forza 3 save and, if/when it finds one, notify you of that fact and ask you if you wish to complete the import process from the previous game.

If you say yes - and you obviously should say yes - while the doing of it will have no effect whatsoever upon your Forza 3 profile or save, what it will do is read and evaluate your Forza 3 game save and, based upon your level of progress in the previous game, give you a graduated set of prizes and rewards based upon the contents of that profile.

Several factors are taken into consideration here - starting with your Forza 3 Driver Level, and the cars that you own in that game. As long as you are online (that is to say that your Xbox 360 is connected ot the Net and to the Forza Server as well as Xbox LIVE's servers) you will be gifted a combination of credits (aka “CR” which is the in-game money that is used to buy things like cars, upgrades, and stuff from the in-game store and auction house) that is based upon your profile level.

In addition to receiving a certain amount in percentage of the CR you possess in Forza 3, you will also be gifted with a specific set of cars depending upon your progress, and of even greater importance, as long as you possess specific and uber-rare cars in Forza 3, the importation of the rare car (or cars) that will/may trigger the unlocking of the Unicorn Hunter Achievement as well (more on that in a moment).

Technically the car imports does not require any connection to Xbox LIVE and its servers, and based upon your profile levels, Driver Level, and etc. you may receive the following rewards for being a Forza Faithful:

FM3 Profile Level - Year - Make - Model

• 1 - 2010 - Abarth - 500 Esseesse
• 5 - 2009 - Ford - Focus RS
• 10 - 2010 - Chevrolet - Camaro SS
• 15 - 2010 - Audi - R8 5.2 FSI Quattro
• 20 - 2009 - Bugatti - Veyiron 16.430 - 2009 - BMW - #92 Rahal Letterman Racing M3 GT2
• 40 - 2006 - Aston Marin - #007 Aston Martin Racing DBR9
• 50 - 2009 - Peugeot - #9 Peugeot Sport Total 908

 

The 2010 Abarth Model 500 Esseesse - the cutest car you never heard of...

Community Loyalty Reward Cars: In addition to the above direct car rewards that are based on your Driver and Profile Levels, you may also receive the following Forza 4 version cars if you have any of these cars in your Forza 3 garage:

Year - Make - Model - Original Source

• 1969 - Chevrolet - Camaro SS Coupe - Unicorn Car
• 1982 - DeLorean - DMC-12 - Community Choice Classics Pack
• 2002 - Mazda - RX-7 Spirit R Type-A - Unicorn Car
• 2006 - Subaru - Impreza S204 - Unicorn Car
• 2007 - Ferrari - 430 Scuderia - FM3 VIP Car Pack / FM4 Unicorn
• 2007 - Lamborghini - Gallardo Superlegerra - FM3 VIP Car Pack / FM4Unicorn
• 2009 - Chevrolet - Corvette ZR1 - FM3 VIP Car Pack
• 2010 - Ferrari - 458 Italia - Hot Holidays Car Pack
• 2010 - Lexus - LF-A - Stig's Garage Car Pack

Unicorn Hunter Achievement: As previously mentioned, the Unicorn Hunter Achievement was also attached to the loyalty import from FM3 (though you could also unlock it in FM4 the usual way if you lacked an FM3 save of sufficient level with the right cars).

Basically when you completed the importation from FM3, as long as you owned any of the following cars . . .

• 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS Coupe
• 2002 Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type-A
• 2006 Subaru Impreza S204
• 2007 Ferrari 430 Scuderia
• 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superlegerra,

. . . you would then automagically unlock the Unicorn Hunter Achievement - which I might add while it could be unlocked in the usual way in the game was, by and far away the easier and more convenient way to get it since unlocking it in FM4 in “the usual way” required either massive luck, or a massive pile of legally obtained and filthy lucre!

The 2011 MINI Cooper S - this game is full of too cute cars!

So how does that bring us to Forza: Horizon?

Simple really - just like FM4 and its relationship with FM3, Forza Horizon has a similar relationship to both FM3 AND FM4! That's right, the “AND” is intentionally emphasized...

Basically in Horizon once you begin the game and drive your way to the point at which you have unlocked and received the first wristband (the Yellow one), you will be prompted to activate the import process for the Achievement “May The Forza Be With You” (10G) You received free cars for being a loyal Forza fan!

Now granted the 10G may not seem like a lot of Gamerpoints (and really it is not),but that isn't the major focus for this Achievement - rather it is the Loyalty Rewards Car Importing that is the major focus, and what that translates to is actually very simple, really...

The evaluation is once again based upon either your FM3 or FM4 Driver Levels - which was a problem for me in that I had been forced due to the Red Ring of Death to replace my Xbox 360 between when FM3 and FM4 was released, so I did not have an FM3 save on the hard drive - AND - my FM4 save had been corrupted on my current 360 so that while I did have a save, it was basically empty in terms of progress!

Because of that I found myself in the unfortunate position of needing to put the game play process for Horizon on hold temporarily while I built up the stats and levels in FM4 so that, when I did engage in Horizon gameplay, the game would properly evaluate my save and thus deliver unto me the following proper May the Forza Be With Me Rewards:

FM Driver Level - FH Award Car

• Level 01 - 2011 MINI Cooper S
• Level 05 - 2011 Citroen DS3 Racing
• Level 10 - 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8
• Level 15 - 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS
• Level 20 - 2008 BMW M3 E92
• Level 30 - 2012 Jaguar XKR-S
• Level 40 - 2009 Gumpert Apollo S
• Level 50 - 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4

Now this is not really a question of being a stickler for getting what you can get, or for the whole ego argument that has surrounded this sort of reward/element in the games, but rather it is the recognition that several of these cars offer performance characteristics that are highly desirable and, more to the point, ownership of them represents a savings in time, playing, and CR.

Pick the correct exit, get off the highway, and discover a new Forza World!

That's my story and I am sticking to it!

Besides there were still a number of Achievements in FM4 that I wanted to unlock anyway, well, that and the reality is that FM4 is a fun game that is worth playing (and replaying) so really it was more a question of putting in the time - so for me it was a matter of working on other guide projects and assignments while squeezing in racing sessions during breaks - an approach that I found worked very well indeed.

This sort of situation begs the question: How much effort is too much effort?

The only answer that I can come up with is: How much fun are you having?

Time Travel at E3 & the Concorde

One of the more interesting aspects of covering the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo each year is how time suddenly ceases to retain its otherwise predictable and well-defined nature, and for a brief period lasting (usually a week) however long that it does, takes on an entirely new and largely unpredictable form.

Seriously, while a lot of the underlying motivation for the way time changes has much to do with the various tasks you have no choice but to complete, in many ways it is the logical schedule that you are forced to follow that above all other elements contributes to the mushy flexibility of time and how often you end up breaking the rules of time and physics that cannot be broken.

The annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) event held in Los Angeles each summer (it was not always held in LA actually, just as CES was not always held in Las Vegas, but that is a set of stories for a different time and a different post, trust me on that)  has a well-established (hence the use of words like “traditional”) order by which its well-attended pre-event press briefings are held that members of the games press are rarely confused as to the order, needing just the time and location to make their way to the events.

These events come in two basic flavors - the press briefings for console makers, and the press briefings for game studios and publishers. In addition to the briefings there are appointments for game and hardware presentations, private briefings, and interviews on-site and off-site that are generally managed by the PR folks.

Preference is given to these events based upon their type (console or game) and the importance of the information being conveyed (meaning that in years in which specific AAA titles are being released games journalists are more likely to assign a higher importance to studios and publishers than they might otherwise have done.

The established and traditional order for these very important pre-event events dictates which after-event events that members of the games press are likely to cover as well... 

In many ways if you fail to plan your E3 schedule in advance and properly, and pay attention to what it is that your editors actually expect you to turn up for and write about, your E3 experience can feel a lot like an episode of Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo...  Just saying...

The General E3 Calendar

Most journos define E3 in terms of pre-event, event, and post-event schedules when making appointments and planning their arrival and departure in LA, while during E3 week they define the daily calendars as Pre-Show, Show, and After-Show in terms of scheduling.

You only have to cover E3 a few times before this language and its structure grow to be second nature. 

For example, when the official calendar for E3 has the first official day falling on the Tuesday of E3 Week, that Monday is usually defined as “Day 00” of the event; the days that come before Day 00 are Day -1, -2, etc. with the number climbing backwards, while the days that follow climb forward, as Day +1, Day +2 etc. And you should easily get the idea.

Depending on how busy an E3 the year's E3 will be, it is often necessary for studios and publishers to hold a number of pre-event events, and when that situation prevails, as it did for the 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo, a special calender is created with the following dates and specifications:

Day -3: Friday 7 June -Welcome Dinner***

Day -2: Saturday 8 June -BIO Lunch / The Infamous Pool Party**

Day -1: Sunday 9 June - BIO Dinner*

Day 00: Monday 10 June -Microsoft / Sony / Ubisoft / EA

Day 01: Tuesday 11 June - Nintendo/ AAA Games

Day 02: Wednesday 12 June - AAA Games

Day 03: Thursday 13 June -AAA Games

Day +1: Friday 14 June -Special one-on-one AAA Games

Day +2: Saturday 15 June -Special one-on-one AAA Games

This is not the Hulk you were looking for...

The Weighting of Events

While the pre-event press briefings are generally a command performance for most journos (their editors tend to insist that they attend those) the selections of which game briefings and previews that a games journo attends is largely a product of the editorial voice and direction that their respective publications plan to take in the months following E3.

Remember that in addition to serving as the launch event for many of the AAA games that will become the games for the upcoming gaming season, the previews, reveals, and the interviews that take place at E3 make up the lion's share of the coverage that will make up what appears both as by-lines and feature content during the very slow low period of summer.

It is very important that all of that be taken into consideration - just saying...

While we are on the subject of Time Travel, there is no way to avoid bringing up the Concorde, especially if, like us, you happen to be a fan of flight simulation gaming and flight simulators...  So now that we have dealt with the nuts-and-bolts of E3 (the idea of this post being to put that information out there so that later posts that rely on you understanding it all means that you have a reference source we can point you to and you can seek out yourself, and there you have it!

So that officially ends the official part of this post - save for the footnotes below - so after you read those and assuming you are a flight sim gamer, continue on to the sections below that deal with the Concorde won't you?

Footnotes for the above post may be found below:

* The By-Invitation-Only Dinner that is traditionally held by a major PR Firm who shall remain nameless at which time special presentations for specific AAA titles are made between the courses.  This event is held at a private conference facility across the street and just down from the Staples Center, and is one of those pre and post events where more information is passed to journos than is actually passed during all three days of the official event.

** If not the best known PR-hosted event of E3 than certainly one of the top-5 such events, games journos are invited to an informal pool party at a large compound that is owned by a particular game publisher, and this fully catered event includes what is likely to be the first hands-on access to the AAA titles from that publisher that games journos based east of the Mississippi River will have had who do not have day-trip access to Boston and New York City.

*** The unofficial Welcome to E3 Dinner put on each year by the now merged Association of Games Journalists and Union of Games Guide Writers (AGJ-UGGW), which maintains a loosely structured but semi-official network of "Locals" throughout the world that are responsible for organizing official gatherings (invariably in the form of a pub-crawl if not an official dinner that results in a pub-crawl afterwards).  

The modern AGJ-UGGW began as the Association of Committed Games Journalists which was formed partially in defense of the massive (and largely disliked) changes as a reaction to the infamous and widely covered/celebrated events at E3 2005 and 2006 resulting in a backlash that manifested itself as the E3 Media and Business Summit (2007–2008) and if you were not there for those years you simply cannot understand the circumstances behind it.

Issues relating to Time Travel and the Like :)

You cannot possibly have a conversation about time travel without Aérospatiale and British Aircraft Corporation's Concorde SST being raised in that conversation, largely due to the fact that it was pretty much the only commercially available aeroplane in the history of the world (so far) in which you arrived at your destination before you departed from your departure point. Seriously!

Concorde G-BOAD airframe number 210 landing at JFK

The Concorde

The total flight time (for its best flight of record) and the record setting fastest transatlantic commercial flight was set by Concorde G-BOAD (210) which crossed the Atlantic from New York to London in 1996 at a record-breaking speed of two hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds.

Some interesting (and also frightening or even sobering) facts about flying on the SST commonly known as the “Concorde” was that it was only one of two commercially designated supersonic aeroplanes ever created and put into service by a commercial airline -- the other SST to enjoy commercial service was the Soviet Union's state-sponsored Tupolev Tu-144, which was nicknamed "Concordski" by Western Europeans for its outward similarity to Concorde.

Jointly developed and produced by Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty, the Concorde was first flown in 1969, and then entered commercial service in 1976, continuing in that status for 27 years until its forced retirement by British Airways on 24 October 2003, as the indirect result of the loss of Concorde Flight 4590.

Concorde Flight 4590 (Reg. F-BTSC) crashed in the village of Gonesse, France, after departing from Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) en route to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City, killing all 100 passengers and nine crew members on board the flight, as well as four people on the ground.

It should be emphasized that the loss of Flight 4590 was the only fatal accident involving a Concorde in its entire service history.

For Flight Sim enthusiasts the following is the full list of the airframes manufactured for the aeroplane commonly known as the “Concorde” along with their associated airframe number and other useful information you may like to have for re-creating said aircraft in your flight sim software of choice (I prefer Microsoft Flight Simulator in its many forms).

Note that a special package under the title “Concorde Flight Simulator” was created for Microsoft Flight Simulator X (FSX) and Flight Simulator 2004 (FS2004) as an expansion to Microsoft Flight Simulator that included all 20 Concordes: 10 French and 10 British. A variety of liveries documenting the history of Concorde including British Airways, Air France, BOAC and Aérospatiale were built into the expansion.

You may find it of interest to know that there was an actual formal naming protocol created by British Airways with respect to the proper naming of their aircraft that used the following designations:

• Airbus A320 - UK Islands
• BAe ATP - Prefix of “Strath”
• Boeing 737 - UK Rivers
• Boeing 747-100 - English and Welsh Lakes
• Beoing 747-200 - UK cities
• Boeing 747-400 - UK cities
• Boeing 757-200 - UK castles
• Boeing 767-300 - European Capital and Major Cities
• Boeing 777-200 - Famous Aviators
• Douglas DC-10 - UK Forests
• H.S. 748 - Scottish Glens
• Lockheed TriStars - UK Bays

While BA no longer names their aircraft, for maintenance purposes each aircraft in the BA fleet does have an unofficial name, generally either the class or radio call sign class followed by its airframe number, so for example G-BOAC would be listed on the maintenance records as “Speedbird 204” which means Fast and Heavy Class with frame number 204.

This applies only to the Concorde, as aircraft from its official “Heavy” catalog were listed in maintenance records by registration - like HBNLE for Heavy-BNLE (BNLE is a Boeing 747-436).

If you want to build your own Concorde, the following fleet list and information may be helpful to you:

F-BTSC (Airframe #203)

Serial Number: 100-003

Production Variant No.: 100 (Converted to 101 for Air France Sale)

First Official Flight: 31 January 1975, Toulouse, France.

Final Official Flight: As Flight 4590, Crashed on 25 July 2000.

Official Airline Delivery Date: 6 January 1976.

Total in-flight clock: 11,989 hours.

Total Number of Landings: 3,978.

Registration History: This aeroplane has the following official registrations / changes as per the records of the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom and any other governmental aircraft registration agencies that may or may not apply.

• F-WTSC - January 1975, Aerospatiale.
• F-BTSC - 28 May 1975, Aerospatiale.
• F-BTSC - 6 January 1976, Air France.

Special Notes: This airframe was originally built for Pan Am Airways, with specific modifications that were requested by Pan Am (they canceled the purchase before the plane was completed due to financial issues). In 1978-79 this Aircraft was used in the film "Airport '79 The Concorde."

Disposition Notes: Remains stored at Le Bourget Airport, following further judicial inquiry.

G-BOAC (Airframe #204) - Speedbird 204.

Serial Number: 100-004.

Production Variant No.: 102 (unmodified).

First Official Flight: 27 February 1975 from Filton UK.

Final Official Flight: 31 October 2003 London Heathrow (LHR) to Manchester Airport (MAN).

Official Airline Delivery Date: 13 February 1976.

Total in-flight clock: 22,260 hours 11minutes.

Total Number of Landings: 7,730.

Registration History: This aeroplane has the following official registrations / changes as per the records of the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom and any other governmental aircraft registration agencies that may or may not apply.

• G-BOAC - 3 April 1974, British Aircraft Corporation Ltd.
• G-N81AC - 5 January 1979, British Airways.
• N81AC - 5 January 1979, Braniff Airways.
• G-BOAC - 11 August 1980, British Airways.
• De-Registered - 4th May 2004 Official.

Special Notes: Flagship of the BOAC Concorde Fleet. Used by BAC to complete Certificate of Airworthiness. Primarily based in Bahrain, this aerocraft also flew routes out of Singapore. G-BOAC was returned to BAC in 1976 after completing 141 flights to be refurbished for airliner service. G-BOAC was then chosen to launch the London to Washington service on the 26th of May 1976.

Disposition Notes: Static display in retired capacity within a special "glass hangar" specially built for its display at Manchester Airport.

F-BVFA (Airframe #205)

Serial Number: 100-005

Production Variant No.: 101

First Official Flight: 27 October 1975, Toulouse, France.

Final Official Flight: 30 May 2003, AF001 New York JFK - Paris Charles De Gaulle.

Official Airline Delivery Date: 19 December 1975.

Total in-flight clock: 17,824 hours.

Total Number of Landings: 6,780.

Registration History: This aeroplane has the following official registrations / changes as per the records of the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom and any other governmental aircraft registration agencies that may or may not apply.

• F-BVFA - 19 December 1975, Air France.
• N94FA - 12 January 1979, Air France / Braniff Airways.
• F-BVFA - 1st June 1980, Air France.

Special Notes: Air France Concorde Launch Services to Rio, Washington and New York in 1976 and 1977. Around-the-world trip in 1998 of 41 hours, 27 minutes.

Final Disposition Notes: Retired from service to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport, Washington DC, USA.

G-BOAA (Airframe #206) - Speedbird 206.

Serial Number: 100-006.

Production Variant No.: 102 (unmodified).

First Official flight: 5 November 1975 from Filton UK.

Final Official flight: 12 August 2000 as BA002 from New York JFK to London Heathrow.

Official Airline Delivery Date: 14 January 1976.

Total In-Flight Clock: 22,768 hours 56 minutes.

Total Number of Landings: 8,064.

Registration History: This aeroplane has the following official registrations / changes as per the records of the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom and any other governmental aircraft registration agencies that may or may not apply.

• G-BOAA - 3 March 1974, British Aircraft Corporation Ltd.
• G-N94AA - 12 January 1979, British Airways.
• N94AA - 12 January 1979, Braniff Airways.
• G-BOAA - 28th July 1980, British Airways.
• De-Registered - 4th May 2004 Official.

Special Notes: First Concorde to be delivered to British Airways on 14 Jan 1976, with a 42 minute hop from RAF Fairford. Served the inaugural BA Concorde service to Bahrain beginning 21 of Jan 1976, Norman Todd, Captain. London to New York services beginning 22 November 1977, Brian Walpole, Captain. Flew in formation with RAF Red Arrows exhibition team at Heathrow in celebration of 50th anniversary of the west London Airport, Mike Bannister, Captain.

Final Disposition Notes: Transported to the National Museum of Flight, East Fortune, Edinburgh, via land on special trucks to the River Thames, where it was loaded onto a specially modified barge and taken by sea to Torness, then over land again to the National Museum of Flight. Total transport time for its final disposition spanned 8 April 2004 to 19 April 2004.

F-BVFB (Airframe #207)

Serial Number: 100-007.

Production Variant No.: 101.

First Official Flight: 6th March 1976, Toulouse, France.

Final Official Flight: 31 May 2003, AF4332 Paris Charles De Gaulle Charter.

Official Airline Delivery Date: 8 April 1976.

Total in-flight clock: 14,771 hours.

Total Number of Landings: 5,473.

Registration History: This aeroplane has the following official registrations / changes as per the records of the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom and any other governmental aircraft registration agencies that may or may not apply.

• F-BVFB - March 1976, Air France.
• N94FB - 12th January 1979, Air France / Braniff Airways.
• F-BVFB - 1 June 1980, Air France.

Special Notes: Due to low utilization it was placed in storage from June 1990 to May 1997.

Final Disposition Notes: Retired from service to Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum, South West Germany.

G-BOAB (Airframe #208) - Speedbird 208.

Serial Number: 100-008.

Production Variant No.: 102 (unmodified).

First Official flight: 18 May 1976 from Filton UK.

Final Official flight: 15 August 2000 as BA002P from New York JFK to London Heathrow.

Official Airline Delivery Date: 30th September 1976.

Total In-Flight Clock: 22,296 hours 55 minutes.

Total Number of Landings: 7,810.

Registration History: This aeroplane has the following official registrations / changes as per the records of the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom and any other governmental aircraft registration agencies that may or may not apply.

• G-BOAB - 3 April 1974, British Aircraft Corporation Ltd.
• G-N94AB - 12 January 1979, British Airways.
• N94AB - 12 January 1979, Braniff Airways.
• G-BOAB - 17 September 1980, British Airways.
• De-Registered - 4th May 2004 Official.

Special Notes: The third Concorde delivered to BA.

Disposition Notes: Concorde G-BOAB is present in storage at London Heathrow Airport, following the end of all Concorde flights for eventual static display at LHR.

F-BVFC (Airframe #209)

Serial Number: 100-009.

Production Variant No.: 101.

First Official Flight: 9 July 1976, Toulouse, France.

Final Official Flight: 27 June 2003, AF6903 Paris Charles De Gaulle - Toulouse.

Official Airline Delivery Date: 3 August 1976.

Total in-flight clock: 14,332 hours.

Total Number of Landings: 4,358.

Registration History: This aeroplane has the following official registrations / changes as per the records of the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom and any other governmental aircraft registration agencies that may or may not apply.

• F-BVFC - August 1976, Air France.
• N94FC - 12th January 1979, Air France / Braniff Airways
• F-BVFC - 1 June 1980, Air France.

Special Notes: Following the fatal crash in France, the aircraft was kept on the ground at JFK in New York for 3 months, before making a ferry flight back to its home base.

Final Disposition Notes: Retired from service to the Airbus Factory at Toulouse, France.

G-BOAD (Airframe #210) - Speedbird 210

Serial Number: 100-010.

Production Variant No.: 102 (unmodified)

First Official flight: 25 August 1975 from Filton UK.

Final Official flight: 10 November 2003 from London Heathrow to New York JFK.

Official Airline Delivery Date: 6th December 1976

Total In-Flight Clock: 23,397 hours and 25 minutes.

Total Number of Landings: 8,406.

Registration History: This aeroplane has the following official registrations / changes as per the records of the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom and any other governmental aircraft registration agencies that may or may not apply.

• G-BOAD - 9 May 1975, British Aircraft Corporation Ltd.
• G-N94AD - 5 January 1979, British Airways.
• N94AD - 5 January 1979, Braniff Airways.
• G-BOAD - 19 June 1980, British Airways.
• De-Registered - 4 May 2004 Official.

Special Notes: This aeroplane holds the distinction of being the only aerocraft of its class and type to have been painted with another airline livery; a custom livery was added to it for Singapore Airlines on its port side, and British Airways livery on its starboard side for joint service in partnership between the two airlines for its service between Bahrain and Singapore International Airport for three months in 1977, and from variously between 1979 to 1981 as required.

G-BOAD was the Concorde used for the Queen's Golden Jubilee Flypast in on June 4th 2002.

Disposition Notes: Immediately following its final flight on 10 November 2003, G-BOAD was taken by a specially modified barge that was normally used to transport the external fuel tanks for NASA's Space Shuttle, and delivered to the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City, where it is permanent static display.

F-BVFD (Airframe #211)

Serial Number: 100-011.

Production Variant No.: 101.

First Official Flight: 10 February 1977, Toulouse, France.

Final Official Flight: 27 May 1982 Ferry Flight.

Official Airline Delivery Date: 26 March 1977.

Total in-flight clock: 5,814 hours.

Total Number of Landings: 1,929.

Registration History: This aeroplane has the following official registrations / changes as per the records of the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom and any other governmental aircraft registration agencies that may or may not apply.

• F-BVFD - March 1977, Air France.
• N94FD - 12 January 1979, Air France / Braniff Airways.
• F-BVFD - 1 June 1980, Air France.

Special Notes: Broken up for parts in 1994 at Charles de Gaulle, Paris, France. Note that the nose section and cockpit were purchased by a private collector in the USA for approximately $45K.

Final Disposition Notes: Withdrawn from service and mothballed following the closure of the Paris-Dakar-Rio route.

G-BOAE (Airframe #212) - Speedbird 212

Serial Number: 100-012.

Production Variant No.: 102 (unmodified)

First Official flight: 17 March 1977 from Filton UK.

Final Official flight: 17 November 2003 London Heathrow to Grantley Adams Airport, Barbados.

Official Airline Delivery Date: 20 July 1977.

Total In-Flight Clock: 23,376 hours 7 minutes.

Total Number of Landings: 8,383.

Registration History: This aeroplane has the following official registrations / changes as per the records of the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom and any other governmental aircraft registration agencies that may or may not apply.

• G-BOAE - 9 May 1975, British Aircraft Corporation Ltd.
• G-N94AE - 5 January 1979, British Airways.
• N94AE - 5 January 1979, Braniff Airways.
• G-BOAE - 1 July 1980, British Airways.
• De-Registered - 4 May 2004 Official.

Special Notes: On 1 July 1999 it flew in formation with the Red Arrows to mark the opening of the Scottish Parliament. Its final official flight was to Grantley Adams Airport, Barbados on 17 November 2003; on board were 70 members of BA staff.

Disposition Notes: Exhibition space was constructed to house the aircraft on the east end of Grantley Adams Airport, Barbados, within the lands belonging to the old Spencer Plantation.

F-BTSD (Airframe #213)

Serial Number: 100-013.

Production Variant No.: 101.

First Official Flight: 26 June 1978, Toulouse, France.

Final Official Flight: 31 May 2003, AF001 New York JFK - Paris Charles De Gaulle.

Official Airline Delivery Date: 18 September 1978.

Total in-flight clock: 12,974 hours.

Total Number of Landings: 5,135.

Registration History: This aeroplane has the following official registrations / changes as per the records of the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom and any other governmental aircraft registration agencies that may or may not apply.

• F-WJAM - June 1978, Aerospatiale.
• F-BTSD - 14 September 1978, Aerospatiale.
• F-BTSD - 18 September 1978, Air France.
• N94SD - 12 January 1979, Air France / Braniff Airways.
• F-BTSD - 12th March 1979, Aerospatiale.
• F-BTSD - 23 October 1980, Air France.

Special Notes: Holds world records for fastest flights around the world in both directions; Westbound RTW 12-13 October 1992, 32 hours 49 minutes 03 seconds - Lisbon-Santo Domingo-Acapulco-Honolulu-Guam-Bangkok- Bahrain-Lisbon; Eastbound RTW 15-16 August 1995, 31 hours 27 minutes 49 seconds - New York/JFK-Toulouse-Dubai-Bangkok-Guam (Andersen AFB)- Honolulu-Acapulco-New York/JFK.

Final Disposition Notes: Retired from service to Le Bourget Air and Space Museum, Paris, France.

G-BOAG (Airframe #214) - Speedbird 214

Serial Number: 100-014

Production Variant No.: 102 (unmodified)

First Official flight: 21 April 1978 from Filton UK.

Final Official flight: Retired from passenger service to Museum of flight, Seattle, Washington.

Official Airline Delivery Date: 6 February 1980.

Total In-Flight Clock: 16,239 hours 27minutes.

Total Number of Landings: 5,633.

Registration History: This aeroplane has the following official registrations / changes as per the records of the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom and any other governmental aircraft registration agencies that may or may not apply.

• G-BFKW - 27 January 1978, British Aerospace.
• G-BOAG - 9 February 1981, British Airways.
• De-Registered - 4 May 2004 Official.

Special Notes: This Concorde began its service life as G-BFKW after no buyer was found after it rolled off of the assembly line, when it was loaned to BA while G-BOAC was being repaired at Filton. Due to initial and expensive mechanical issues, this airframe was taken out of service and used for spare parts until 1984, when it was given an expensive but complete overhaul and returned to service.

Disposition Notes: Flying as the final Speedbird 2 service to New York from Heathrow, after a one-day layover in NYC, it completed its final on 5 November 2003 as a scheduled ferry flight from New York JFK to Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington, where it is presently a static display at the Museum of Flight, in the company of the first Boeing 707 (which served as Air Force One) and the prototype Boeing 747.

F-BVFF (Airframe #215)

Serial Number: 100-015.

Production Variant No.: 101.

First Official Flight: 26 December 1978, Toulouse, France.

Final Official Flight: 11 June 2000 as AF4586 (Charter Flight).

Official Airline Delivery Date: 23 October 1980.

Total in-flight clock: 12,421 hours.

Total Number of Landings: 4,259.

Registration History: This aeroplane has the following official registrations / changes as per the records of the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom and any other governmental aircraft registration agencies that may or may not apply.

• F-WJAN - December 1978, Aerospatiale.
• F-BVFF - 23 October 1980, Air France.

Special Notes: Holds the distinction of being the first Air France Concorde to travel around the world as a Charter flight. Some people clearly have too much money.

Final Disposition Notes: Withdrawn from service prior to suspension of Concorde service to be used as parts frame; mothballed at AF CDG Paris Maintenance Facility.

G-BOAF (Airframe #216) - Speedbird 216

Serial Number: 100-016.

Production Variant No.: 102 (modified)

First Official flight: 20 April 1979 from Filton UK.

Final Official flight: 26 November 2003 London Heathrow to Filton.

Official Airline Delivery Date: 9 June 1980.

Total In-Flight Clock: 18, 257 hours.

Total Number of Landings: 6.045.

Registration History: This aeroplane has the following official registrations / changes as per the records of the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom and any other governmental aircraft registration agencies that may or may not apply.

• G-BFKX - 27 January 1978, British Aerospace.
• G-N94AF - 14 December 1979, British Aerospace.
• G-BOAF - 14 December 1979, British Aerospace.
• G-BOAF - 12th June 1980, British Airways.
• De-Registered - 4 May 2004 Official.

Special Notes: This aircraft was purchased by BA as their 6th Concorde, and is noted as also having completed the final flight (ever) for a Concorde when it flew from LHR to Filton Airfiled, Bristol.

On 12 April 1989, while flying from Christchurch, NZ to Sydney, AU, this was the first Concorde to experience an issue later designated as “rudder separation failure” in which part of the upper rudder section was lost in flight.

Among the other notable “firsts” that this aircraft has recorded is the first to be fitted out with all leather seats, the first to receive the fully refurbished interiors, and it was the first to be painted in the (then) new BA 'Utopia Livery' scheme.

Concorde 216 was chosen by BA to be its lead aircraft in their “Return to Flight” program following the crash of Flight 4590, being fitted with Kevlar-Rubber fuel tank liners and electrical wiring around the landing gear being strengthened.

Disposition Notes: In storage at Filton pending the construction of an Air Museum at that location, where it is intended to be placed on static display.