 Looking Glass signed a multi @-@ game publishing deal with Electronic Arts in May 1998 , and that company became the publisher of Flight Combat . The team " <unk> " the game to Electronic Arts , and James <unk> of the <unk> Through the Looking Glass believed that the team " <unk> that it could get the game out the door faster than the budget actually called for " . In March 1999 , the game was announced as the World War II @-@ themed Flight Combat : Thunder Over Europe , directed by Hantzopoulos and scheduled for release in fall of that year . That May , the game was shown at the Electronic Arts booth at E3 . Computer Games Magazine 's Steve Udell wrote that the game would feature a new iteration of the Flight Unlimited terrain renderer , and IGN reported that one million square miles of terrain based on European landscapes would be available . Weather conditions such as snow and rain were planned . Udell wrote that Flight Combat 's flight physics were an updated version of those from recent Flight Unlimited games , with new material taken from operations manuals and flight tests . <unk> models and textures were based on photographs , and many of the moving parts and flight control surfaces were modeled individually . Players were given the option to <unk> planes . Udell described a physics @-@ based damage system that , according to the company , made it impossible to " see the exact same kind of damage twice " . Two campaigns — the Battle of Britain and the Defence of the Reich — were announced , with missions based on dogfights , air @-@ to @-@ ground combat and bombing runs . Looking Glass claimed that the game would feature " moving tanks and ships <unk> [ ing ] it out on a dynamic battlefield " as the player carried out missions . <unk> , IGN 's Tal <unk> noted that the game had " a very distinct 40s charm " , which was present " from the briefings to the options screens " . 
