An incredible upgrade from the original Gunship, this renowned game took the series a lot further into the future both in terms of graphics and audio. Along with DI's Apache Longbow, this is my favorite helicopter simulator of the DOS era. It is so well done in visual terms, from terrain to cockpit art, as well as the helo models themselves. So I find little to really improve in that sense. The only downside to GS2000 in my eyes was the sound. I simply could not live with the constant "flip-flip" rotor noise, so I painfully carved out a new one through hex editing the Roland sound engine files. Luckily the old MT-32 is not that different from the other LA synthesizers I used to own, and I feel I have come close to a more turbine powered rotor hum.

I did also change the tone of the incoming threat warning to a less annoying one, as well as remove the too-loud explosion sounds. You would probably not hear those, being far away in a chopper with the engine behind you anyway. In addition the cannon sound is altered to sound more powerful and there is a new sound for chaff release. This mod works only for the final VGA CD-ROM version 469.085, and there are 2 variants included. One for a low rotor sound volume and one for a high rotor sound volume. Hopefully this will please everyone.

Last but not least, I do have a little nugget of visual enhancement for you as well. Though it is not a mod of mine, but rather an undocumented key combo I discovered! And even for a feature that I always wished the game had. Get ready for this:

ALT + T enables the hidden "Pilots Night Vision System" mode!

Gunship 2000 - Roland Sound Mod 1.0

Gunship 2000 - CGW Magazine Advert
Gunship 2000 - Keyboard Overlay

If anyone has the Gunship 2000 Official Strategy Guide, I would love to get my virtual hands on a PDF scan!

Click the chopper below to view
a demo featuring the mod!

Gunship 2000 VGA at nighttime with PNVS