About
Helicopter UK is a game for the Tatung Einstein published by Solo Software and programmed by Dean Software. The programs say “HELICOPTER GAME V1.0 Copyright (C) Dean Software 1984”, with “Instructions V1.0” and a “Map of U.K. V1.0”. The inlay describes a game for up to four players who guide their helicopters from town to town across the UK, and carries the “Einsoft Approved” badge.
Running It
XBAS is not on the disc. As the disc label says, load XBAS first (from a System Master), then put this disc in drive 0 and type RUN"LOADER". The map comes up first, then the instructions, then the game.
Development Builds on the Disc
Underneath the released files, as deleted files on both sides, is the program’s development history: game builds D68 and D76 to D79, headed “TATUNG HELICOPTER GAME”, instructions build D8 and map build D24. The released game is build D89. The recoverable builds are collected in Helicopter UK (Development Builds, 1984).
Files in the Package
| File | Side | What it is |
|---|---|---|
HELICOPT_A_HELICOPTER.scp | A | raw flux capture |
HELICOPT_A_HELICOPTER.mfi | A | MAME flux image |
HELICOPT_A_HELICOPTER.dsk | A | sector image |
HELICOPT_B_HELICOPTER.* | B | the same three for side B, identical in content |
README.txt | details of the dump and checksums |
Files on the Disc
| File | Size | What it is |
|---|---|---|
LOADER.XBS | 128 bytes | starts the map |
TATMAP.XBS | 12,160 bytes | Map of U.K. (build D27) |
INSTR.XBS | 8,320 bytes | instructions (D10) |
HELICOPT.XBS | 12,160 bytes | the game (D89) |
MAPDAT4.OBJ | 15,104 bytes | map data |
About this Dump
Dumped on 27 September 2026 from an original Solo Software disc with a Greaseweazle V4 and an original Einstein 3″ drive. Every sector on both sides read cleanly on the first pass, and the game runs in MAME.
Gallery
