"Apollo 18: The Moon Missions". Not to be confused with 1987's "Apollo 18: Mission to the Moon", or the 2011 horror film Apollo 18. No, this is "The Moon Missions" (plural) - officially just "Apollo: The Moon Missions", but only this one was released. It's very rare, probably the rarest PC game in my collection, definitely the most obscure. I have an attachment to Space Race history, so it stands to reason that I would eventually have it in my collection. As it turns out, there's a lot more to this game than I thought to begin with. We'll get to that eventually, but first I want to quickly go through the information I started with.
"Apollo 18" was developed by AIM Software Ltd. - their only videogame release according to MobyGames - and published by Dutch publishers Project Two Interactive (also published in North America by GT Interactive) between 1998 and 1999 (although there is reason to believe it was completed a lot earlier than that), exclusively for Windows. It was somewhat poorly received on release, drawing disappointment from IGN and GameSpot. GamePro called it "a mess". Several other reviewers - mostly in Germany from what I've seen - gave it low, low scores. I did, however, notice a 72% from Danish magazine Privat Computer PC. This, of course, would probably go some way to explain why nobody's ever heard of AIM Software these days, which is strange, because as you will see, they had already outlined plans for future releases.
The box comes with two disks and a comprehensive 200-page manual - spiral-bound, so you know they mean business. I only got the game disks in the original jewel case, but a digital version is on the mission disk, just for such an incidence. Going through it, you find that it is indeed quite comprehensive, detailing the flight plan not just for the mission itself, but for the training modules as well. Moreover, there are solutions for problems that may arise on the spacecraft - engine failures, fuel cell and battery shutdowns, etc. as well as cue cards, diagrams, and a glossary of terms. Also in this manual are game credits, how to install and play the game (it also mentions that it comes with a Windows 3.1 version, but I haven't gotten that to work), and how to order mission patches and future missions. We'll come back to the mission patches later, but what interests me the most is the future missions part.
Also at the end of the credits is this gem:
Why is there no mention of these anywhere? Would they have materialized if the base game was better received? Would they have been add-ons or their own game? And how long would it take before the world would cotton on to the fact that there's more to these Apollo missions than they let on? This is probably the greatest mystery of this entire game package. And I think it's time I got to the bottom of it.
But first...
Getting "Apollo 18" to work today is no easy feat. Just trying to install it on a 64-bit computer is not happening. You need a virtual machine environment. To begin with, I tried installing it on a Windows 95 VM in Microsoft Virtual PC. It worked fine for a while, but after it's played two of the FMV clips, the system cuts to black and never recovers. When I recorded my "FIRST LOOK" video at the start of 2016, I installed it on a Win95 VM in Oracle VM VirtualBox 5. This time the videos worked better (albeit playing in half-resolution no matter what setting I set it to), but this time there were problems with the game itself. To start with, I couldn't pass the launch simulation: the computer always rejected the gimbal angles, whether they were correct or not. So, I tried playing through the actual mission itself only to get stuck at the docking minigame when the command module just refused to connect with the S-IVB! After about five minutes of bouncing uselessly off my target, I was considered dead, the project a lost cause.
For the full playthrough I created for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, I installed the game on a Win95 VM in VMWare Workstation 12 Player. This time I could play the game in its entirety, but the FMV only appeared as a black screen with sound. Oddly enough, the FMV played fine on its own outside of the game with the included Motion Pixels player. So, I recorded all the FMV cutscenes, and using the audio as reference, reinserted the cutscenes in post-production. This series is what I chose to be the debut feature of the WiWSOFT blog - now in HD, so you can make out every pixel...
I'll come back to the subject of emulation at the end of this review, but for now, let's start by training for the road ahead. Not with strenuous exercise routines, of course, but with some education.
🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑
Our little tour begins with the "Johnson Space Center Training Disk". The Johnson Space Center is the central location for all manned spacecraft training activities. Paired with the Kennedy Space Center, you get the name of the POTUS-VP duo that helped set the Space Race in motion.
The Training Disk is built in Macromedia Director, I believe, with Motion Pixels FMVs laden throughout. When you first load the program, you are advised "To insure proper play for Training Disk, please select 256 colors 640x480 display mode." The same warning shows up in the manual and in the readme, so if you didn't see it then, you'll have seen it now, not that it matters a whole lot from what I've played. Then you're given a choice of introduction: a CGI flythrough of a cheap model of JSC (which stutters at the start for some reason), or a brief introduction from Al Harris (Apollo Flight Director) and Jim Waters (KSC Launch Director). Al Harris is actually played here by Allan Kuskowski, the producer of this game. You'll hear his voice giving the commands during the flight and simulations. Waters (played by Jim Kocher) guides you through much of the content on this disk, standing inside the Mission Control centre (or a decent facsimile of it), and is also heard directing the launch of the coming Apollo 18. Mary Vandiver, I believe, does the rest.
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| Kocher and Kuskowski as Waters and Harris |
The rest of the disk is split into eight sections. Everything is reached through a directory screen like the one shown below.
1. Astronaut Training
a.
Communicating with MCC
"Communications between Mission Control and Apollo space vehicles are vital for total mission success. It is important that you listen to all air-to-ground radio traffic. This is hard to do at first, so if a message is missed, ask Mission Control to repeat the transmission, or check the UPDATE button in the CSM-2 display."
(You can't actually ask Mission Control to repeat anything. The UPDATE button is your friend here.)
b.
Setting Gimbal Angles
Jim informs you that the Apollo flight hardware utilizes gimbal-controlled engines, and that you are expected to copy the proper gimbal angles during course correction manoeuvres. For this, you switch to the appropriate spacecraft panel, switch the data radar display to "INPUT", type in the numbers given to you by Mission Control, followed by "ENTER" (the on-screen button, not on your keyboard) and pressing "SET GIMBAL". You must then set the engine thrust percentage and burn duration in the Guidance and Navigational Control System. The onboard computer will do the rest.
This much should be obvious, but you'd better be listening closely to Mission Control when they give you gimbal angle data, because if you mishear it and/or input the wrong angle numbers... you won't be coming home!
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| "You should have enough freeze-dried peas for the trip." |
c.
Tuning the Radios
Jim tells you about the two radio frequencies used on the craft. Mission Control will be on the primary frequency; Launch Control (and later the Command Module) will be on the secondary frequency. He also adds, "The pilot must also speak clearly into the microphone when transmitting with Mission Control." Which is weird, because this game has no microphone support, as far as I know.
d.
Flying in Space
Jim describes the first Newtonian law of motion, and its relation to firing the spacecraft's engine. He also explains that the Reaction Control System (RCS) is easy to misuse, especially with the limited amount of fuel. "Short RCS firing bursts are all that are necessary to correct spacecraft trajectories."
e.
Glossary
Basically an electronic version of the glossary in the manual.
f. Lunar Map
i.
Previous Landing Sites
Displays the landing sites for all the real Apollo missions. Each site tells
you the time that Apollo landed, the time they left, the time spent on the
lunar surface, total EVA duration, and the amount of lunar samples collected.
ii.
Proposed Landing Sites
This
ties in with the mysterious add-on missions, pointing out sites where the next
seven missions would have gone. After 18 lands at Taurus Littrow, 19 would go
to Tycho (where 16 would've landed if 13 hadn't gone the way it did), 20 would
go to Clavius, 21 goes to Copernicus (where 20 would've gone if the project
didn't end at 17), 22 at Archimedes, 23 at Cleomedes, and finally 24 at
Petavius.
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| Landings site proposed for the “Moon Missions” add-ons |
My question is where the budget or the hardware for all of these would've come from, considering that a. only 15 flight-capable Saturn Vs were built, and b. how NASA could possibly develop the Space Shuttle AND run another seven Apollo missions on Nixon-era budget cuts. At least in For All Mankind (the Apple TV+ series, not the Al Reinert film) they had the excuse that they were still in a perpetually never-ending Space Race, and even built a moonbase, but how do you sell seven more lunar missions after you've already done it seven times before, and public and political interest has waned, but you don't want to let anyone know about the possible proof of extraterrestrial life on the moon? Post a comment if you're into alternate history and you can write this one out.
iii.
Lunar Craters
Highlights
major craters on the near side of the moon.
No, you don't select a site yourself; this is about selecting a landing site.
g.
Understanding Flight Problems
Jim says "Both spacecraft have redundant systems." That already is not instilling much confidence in this whole thing. How redundant are we talking? In terms of flight hardware today?
Anyway, in case of trouble on board, Mission Control will instruct you how to correct the problem, assuming you're still in contact with them. If you're in an LOS (Loss of Signal) period, you're on your own. This is what the Flight Plan is for.
h.
Arm Joystick
Jim
goes through the process of arming the RCS for spaceship control, and reminds
you to monitor all flight systems for hardware malfunctions.
i.
8 Ball Indicator
"Each spacecraft has its own Horizon Indicator. By depressing the red button on the indicator panel, the pilot may view yaw, pitch, and roll attitudes. This is necessary so that the pilot may see a graphic orientation of the spacecraft."
(Not that I ever needed to use this function in the actual game.)
2. Apollo Space Program
a.
Saturn V
Jim gives you an overview of the Saturn V rocket, the dimensions of each individual stage, and their weight when fuelled. You also see diagrams of the stages. Alas, these diagrams are quite obviously flawed. For example, in the S-II diagram, the J-2 engines are clearly too far apart from each other. And the S-IVB diagram places the single J-2 engine at the bottom of the S-II's forward skirt! Being at least decently educated on spaceflight history, this is the kind of mistake that really grinds my gears... ARGH!
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| No! |
b.
CSM Spacecraft Introduction
"The Command Module and Service Propulsion System are two separate systems. The Command Module is the central command point for the lunar mission and houses a crew of three. The Service Propulsion System supplies the Command Module with life support systems, and is the only engine the spacecraft uses."
(Odd how the Service Module is not mentioned as part of the CSM here.)
c.
CSM Spacecraft Detail
d. LM Spacecraft Introduction
e. LM Spacecraft Detail
f.
Service Propulsion System
"The Service Module and Service Propulsion System is divided into six sections: four sections contain the Service Propulsion fuel system; the fifth houses electrical producing fuel cells, cryogenic and oxygen tanks; the final section houses electronics and miscellaneous subsystems."
(Actually, the final section was filled with ballast until the last three Apollo missions, when it housed the SIM (Scientific Instrument Module) bay. However, the upcoming mission is not expected to carry a SIM bay, so whatever.)
g. Kennedy Speech at Rice University
A brief excerpt of JFK's famous "We choose to go to the moon" speech, officially the Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort.
h. MCC E-mail Communication
Email
in the Apollo era is not actually too far-fetched. In fact, the concept of
email dates as far back as 1961; SNDMSG allowed the first networked electronic
mail over ARPANET in 1971. The term wasn't actually coined, however, until around 1979; the Oxford English Dictionary places its first use in the June '79 issue of "Electronics".
But the state of email at the time this game takes place, or indeed whether it would actually work in space, isn't really important. This bit of anachronism is used to demonstrate how you can relay responses to Mission Control. You think they over-thought this a little? Think of a combat flight simulator where you can give commands to your wing - it's never stated that your command is electronically outputted to your teammates!
That ever elusive "Deluxe Edition" is also mentioned again, and we also get to see what appears to be concept box art.
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| Concept box art. Note the RSAC Advisory at the bottom right (the real box has an ESRB rating). |
3. Command Module
a. CSM 1/2/3 PANEL
Interactive displays of the CSM panels. The initiated will know that these look nothing like the ones in the actual Apollo Command Modules. Rows upon rows of buttons, rather than switches. Big yellow buttons, too. If I went through all of them, not only would I be here all day, but the file size of the recording would be untenable. Of note, however, is the description of the "UPDATE" button on panel CSM-2. Apparently, it "updates the computer monitor by clearing the display screen of all data". It does not clear the screen, rather it relays to you the last few items on the mission schedule (as Jim implied earlier).
b. CSM 1/2/3 SYSTEMS
Jim goes over each panel, mentioning the displays, button groups and systems on each. Be wary of CSM-2's Command Module button group (beneath the safety cover): misuse of these buttons may cause serious harm to yourself and the mission.
(Although in fact, the same can be applied to almost ALL the buttons in this craft. You only have to turn on the wrong system at the wrong time and you're in trouble!)
c. CSM Electrical Systems
It may surprise you to learn that the CSM's electrical power does not all come from the batteries, but also from the fuel cells. In fact, the silver zinc oxide batteries merely supplemental, being recharged from excess power generated by the fuel cells. The CSM has three of these batteries, plus an emergency battery which also powers the explosive charges (such as the ones used for parachute deployment).
d. CSM Electrical Distribution
The electrical distribution goes through four buses. Primary voltage travels through the Main Bus; A, B, and C Buses can be rerouted. Fuel cell 1 charges the A Battery through A Bus, Fuel cell 2 charges B Battery through B Bus, etc. The Bus Tie-Line circuit goes through all of these.
(The video cuts off at the end through no fault of my own.)
4. Lunar Module
a. LM 1/2/3 PANEL
Like before, interactive displays of the LM panels. Unlike the CSM, these comes with large rectangular windows (the real LM has triangular windows). Interestingly, the radar display on LM-2 has close-ups for its respective buttons.
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| The LM "EXT CAM" button is just one of several systems that are never used at all in the entire game. |
When writing this article, I noticed that the "HATCH" button at the bottom left corner of LM-2 is replaced by a "RADAR" button in the real game... not that it has any use there, either, but this difference was so jarring that I had to go through and get screenshots of the panels in both the Training Disk and the Mission Disk to see what other inconsistencies they neglected to correct, and guess what? All of the panels were apparently reconstructed from one iteration to the other, probably from memory. That, and two other buttons were changed from the Training Disk. The "LM DATA" button on LM-3 is now "TARGET RATE", while "H20 STIR" on CSM-3 becomes another "ECS BREAKER" ... or no, it doesn't, it only does so in the launch simulator... see, it's not even consistent between the simulators and the actual mission!
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| Spot the difference. |
b. LM 1/2/3 SYSTEMS
As before, Jim runs through each of the LM panels and what everything does.
c. LM Electrical Systems
Unlike the CSM, the LM only has the batteries to operate on. As before, the Bus Tie-Line goes through all the batteries as required in an emergency.
5. Mission Flight Profile
Simply put, the journey of the Apollo spacecraft from the launchpad to the Moon, and back home again. This section is split into eight subsections, each of which is detailed with badly-drawn flight paths, upscaled spacecraft drawing, and on at least two occasions, crude MS Paint flames coming out of the CSM engine. Not to mention a couple of spelling errors in between. Other than that, they seem to know what they're talking about... EXCEPT NO, because several liberties are taken, starting with referring to the launch period of maximum dynamic pressure as "Mode One Bravo".
It also mixes up the points at which the second stage and the Launch Escape Tower are jettisoned.
Errors like these throw the validity of this entire section into doubt. As a fellow blogger once said: trivia holds no interest when it's wrong.
6. Mission Control Tour
This section is split into nine subsections, each describing the roles of key Mission Control positions, from the flight director down to the capsule communicator (CAPCOM). Jim also mentions the Procedures console - presumably alluding to the Organization and procedures officer (O&P) - and the Department of Defense console (neither of which are labelled). I am not certain of the legitimacy of this information. The DoD Space Shuttle missions might've had an officer sit in that position, but, you know, since most of them are classified, we wouldn't know if they did.
It's worth pointing out that Mission Control would have a rotation of teams, about thrice a day, between five teams per missions. Which would explain why Gene Kranz could never have overseen the whole Apollo 13 mission as he did in the movie. But I digress.
7. Simulator
Not actually a simulator. Over a slideshow of reduced-colour renders, Mary Vandiver explains the training process of this game. The player begins with the Rookie level test, followed by the launch simulator, then the re-entry simulator. This takes them into the Pilot level test, followed by the LM docking simulator, then the Lunar Landing sim. Afterwards is the Commander level test, then the Lunar Liftoff sim. Only after completing all of these will you be assigned to the real thing.
Actually, the Lunar Landing and Liftoff sims are switched around. It's pretty obvious why, as we will see later, but even the manual is nebulous on this front, describing the levels as "levels of difficulty", like they're selectable or something. It also says the Commander level is topped with "a moon landing simulation and liftoff", implying the lunar ascent simulation is a two-parter.
But the best part about all this is that you don't even need to go through all this training to play the full mission. The manual itself tells you how to bypass the training levels: load the save game called "Launch" and start the game. But where’s the realism in that?
8. Testing
This section indicates the kind of questions on each of the three tests. The first test is about basic flight and history instruction; the second is flight procedures; the third is a complete flight instruction.
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| Great. There's a typo on the flight patch. |
And that's just about everything on this disk. I hope you've been paying attention. Later, we'll dive right into the Mission Disk and the Apollo 18 mission itself.
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