Description of Shuttle: The Space Flight Simulator
Shuttle is a vastly underrated and undersold simulation, probably because it is a "hard" SCI-FI game with a steep learning curve. This is the perfect game for would-be astronauts. It's a very realistic (and the only decent) simulation of the Space Shuttle. This one should not be approached by casual gamers, as this game is rock-hard. The flight model (well at least the atmospheric one) is very good, and it the glide test, the shuttle really handles like the enormous winged brick it is.
I can't really comment on much of this game as I haven't been able to do everything it offers, but I can tell you what you'll have all the initial flight test of the shuttle, as well as a plethora of mission to accomplish. Avionics are very detailed, and you should get a proper manual to get to use this game effectively. The manual accurately describes the launch and mission procedures, and unless you happen to work on the space shuttle program, you'll very likely need it. Graphics are very good for the time, sporting good old polygons in VGA resolution. Sound is somewhat limited, but decent.
This is a great game that has never really had a sequel (Microsoft Space Simulator lost itself in space), but one really needs to persist with it. Definitively recommended.
Review By HOTUD
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Comments and reviews
John 2023-03-13 1 point DOS version
Does this game have a patch? I'm trying to get through the Hubble Telescope mission and when it's time to deploy the KU band antenna, it wont deploy. You cannot go any further... ugh. I tried jettisoning it also.
Ace 2023-03-02 0 point DOS version
Remarkable in the early 90s for its complexity and graphics. This is only for hardcore sim fans...otherwise, you'll be exceedingly bored and the speed of this will put you to sleep. I can't imaging playing this without the manual and key overlays. If you don't have this stuff...good luck trying to use your intuition to guess everything.
Joe Mama 2022-02-09 0 point
Would love to play this but only if I had the manual. I have enough flight sim games which I can't figure out the key controls.
Tom 2020-11-22 -1 point
Got this game as a brithday gift YEARS ago. YEARS AGO!!! I put the CD (only had CD's back then no DVD) in the CD-ROM drive, and.... NOPE! No matter what I did, I couldn't even get the thing to install. It was like the actual files on the disk were corrupted or something. I still have it to this day and the crazy manual, but never ever got to play it.
endlessbender 2020-05-08 0 point DOS version
I really enjoyed this one when I was around 12 or 13, the hours long countdown and especially the failed landings!
old guy 2017-10-29 0 point Amiga version
I had that sim back than. I lent the FDD to a neighbor and never got it back.
Nice to find it here.
I still have the sad manual and the big poster of the controls. :-D
OM 2013-02-13 7 points DOS version
...Like BARIS, this one was required if you were serious about space, especially the Shuttle. Quite a number of Astronauts owned copies of this one, and gave it high marks for realism and complexity. Sally Ride, Bob Crippen, Hoot Gibson, Steve Hawley and Hank Hartsfield were among those who spoke positively about the sim, and also noted that it was popular among the flight controllers in the MCC. Some of the SIMSUPs actually used the sim to test ideas for failure modes to throw at the crews during actual Shuttle simulator training.
...It does have one hell of a steep learning curve, and the manual is a must if you can find it online. Don't be surprised if you crash into the 747 a few dozen times during the ALT scenario, but don't be discouraged either.
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Download Shuttle: The Space Flight Simulator
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DOS Version
915 KB
DownloadInstall Disks2 Floppies
958 KB
DownloadInstall DisksSingle Floppy
558 KB
Manual 117 KB
Game Extras
Various files to help you run Shuttle: The Space Flight Simulator, apply patches, fixes, maps or miscellaneous utilities.
Amiga ROM
- Year: 1992
- Publisher: Virgin Games, Inc., Virgin Games, Ltd.
- Developer: Vektor Grafix Ltd
Atari ST ROM
- Year: 1992
- Publisher: Virgin Games, Inc.
- Developer: Vektor Grafix Ltd
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