RED BARON II FLIGHT MODEL PATCH README
Version 1.044
3/26/98
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This document contains up-to-date information about Red Baron II. It lists feature updates, resolutions to issues customers have communicated to us, and anything else we've thrown in since the first release. This is an all-encompassing patch; nothing needs to be previously installed besides the boxed version of the game. If you have previously installed a beta patch, installing this over that should not cause any problems (if, by chance, it does, try uninstalling, re-installing from the original CD, and then re-applying this patch).
Note that campaigns created with any previous version are NOT compatible with this version; you may view the pilot's log book, but will not be able to fly any more missions (attempting to do so will result in an error message).
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. NOTES ON THE NEW FLIGHT MODEL
II. PATCH INFORMATION
III. HINTS AND TIPS
IV. ADDENDUM TO THE MANUAL
I. NOTES ON THE NEW FLIGHT MODEL
Though we haven't changed the text on the button, the "Easy" label on the flight model realism is a misnomer. The current version replaces the Easy flight model with the flight model that was Realistic in the original version of the game. Selecting Realistic flight model selects a new, more complex model.
Many changes have been made for the new flight model to make it more accurately reflect the dangerous and difficult nature of many of the WWI era aircraft. This flight model is much more demanding than the previous realistic model and you may find that it has a steep learning curve. If you find the new, more realistic flight model does not suit your tastes, selecting the Easy flight will give you the older, more relaxed, slightly less realistic flight model.
It is worth noting that the number of deaths during training in WWI exceeded those in combat. Deaths due to what is now called "operational losses" were common, and the extremely short life expectancy of novice pilots was due in large part to the demands of flying the aircraft. Because of this you should not expect to master the skills that it takes to be a deadly foe when flying the new flight model without some expenditure of practice time. Here are some hints that may make the learning experience go more quickly:
1. Learn your aircraft -- The performance of individual aircraft is far more varied in the current flight model. Because of this, you can not defeat an enemy by following his maneuvers. What his aircraft can do, yours likely can not. Learn to take advantage of the strengths of your aircraft against the weaknesses of his.
2. Use the vertical -- Most aircraft lose a great deal of speed in tight turns. Diving can recover this, but it makes you fly lower and lower, and limits your options. Try to climb whenever possible, and try to use vertical maneuvers to avoid constant tight turns.
3. Avoid tight turns at high speed -- Tight turns at high speeds bleed speed quickly. In addition, a very tight turn at high speed can lead to an immediate stall, called an "accelerated stall."
4. Easy does it -- You should very rarely be moving your joystick to its full deflection. A light touch on the stick is best.
5. Conserve energy -- You should always try to be higher or faster than your opponent (or both). This gives you the most potential energy, and the most options. If you are doing maneuvers that are slowing you down and getting you low, you need to rethink your tactics. Try to find ways to force your enemy to run out of speed and altitude before you do.
6. Note that when you shoot down an ace, he has the same chances as anyone surviving the crash. Therefore, even if you are credited with his "kill," he may survive to fight again!
II. PATCH INFORMATION
1. Flight Model -- Several flight model features have been tweaked, giving a much more realistic feeling of flight. Planes now have limited climbing ability, stalls, spins, torque, and other quirks that the real planes had.
This may be too much of a change for some pilots, especially those new to the realistic flight sim experience. For that reason, we've left the old flight model in as the "easy" mode, found in the Realism Preferences menu. In the easy model, planes will be much more forgiving, have more power, and be much more responsive to the controls. (See Section I for more information on the new flight models.)
No matter what, you're not locked in to just one flight model during your pilot's career. You may switch flight models (easy to hard and back) between missions without starting a new campaign.
2. Views -- Many changes have been made to the view system. There have been a few changes made to the fixed views. Your fixed view will return forward/up 30 degrees when you release the hat position from a different fixed view. For instance, when you press the hat to the right, you'll look right - when you release the hat, your view will return forward. To stay in the view that you choose, use the keypad keys.
Button four (4) on your joystick will now toggle between the forward view (F1) and the forward up view (PgUp), instead of firing rockets.
Also, looking back (KP2) will no longer toggle left shoulder/right shoulder - it will look straight back along the centerline of the plane. The kneeboard map key has moved from KP5 to KP0, allowing us to put the straight up view at KP5. We have also added 45-degree views with KP7 & KP9 looking forward left and right, and KP1 & KP3 looking back left and right. If you have an 8-way joystick hat, these will automatically work for you. The views and commands that were at the KP1, KP3, KP7, and KP9 have all moved to buttons to the left of the numeric keypad (i.e. KP7/Home in the previous version would advance a page on the kneeboard. Now, just pressing the Home key will do this).
You can now look up at a 45-degree angle from any numeric keypad view by holding in the control key. For instance, to look back and up at a 45-degree angle, you'd press ctrl+KP2.
See Section IV at the end of the readme document for a printable list of the new view keys and for more information.
3. Promotions -- Promotions are now using a different system. Advancing through the ranks will make more sense (even for German pilots).
4. Medals -- Medals have been limited for the smaller ones (for example, you can no longer get 26 Croix de Guerre's). Other small tweaks have been made.
5. Discipline -- Being disciplined should happen less frequently now.
6. Pilot Damage -- A pilot will no longer bleed to death from a paper cut. Red Baron II is now using a dice-system on wounds, yielding anything from a graze to a shot through the head.
7. Wingmen AI -- Wingmen will now be much more effective and aggressive. Of course, this applies to your enemies, so check 6!
8. Multiplayer -- Many things have been fixed for multiplayer. It should be much more stable and faster. Note that in the "connect" menu, only those options that windows recognizes as installed will be available (if you don't have IPX protocol installed in Win'95, Red Baron II Multiplayer will not give you that option to use. Also note that you don't actually have to have a LAN card to install this protocol).
A. Alt-M turns off Shell music now.
B. Crossed swords icon on kneeboard shows the center of action.
C. Custom paint schemes are allowed in multiplayer (see mppaint.txt for more information).
D. Direct-draw has been enabled again.
E. Frame-rate improvements.
F. Improved mid-air collisions.
G. Game options screen changes: log-in name listed along with pilot name and the CPU speed and ping time are displayed.
H. Planes now start at 5000 ft above sea level.
I. Planes aligned with runway when starting new life.
J. Bridges & railyards visible in melee & team melee games.
K. Dropped players appear in end-game chalkboard with a star by the name.
L. Players should get dropped less often.
M. Pilots bail out of planes when player leaves prematurely.
N. Building damage should be the same on all machines in a game.
O. Planes repaired correctly after starting a new life.
P. WON.Net connections closed correctly, so you can play multiple games without shutting down the game.
Q. Several game crashes have been addressed.
9. Crashes -- Many reported crashes have been addressed. This includes the crash after the mission debriefer.
10. Rudder Controls -- If you are using rudder pedals and have no throttle, or if you are using a programmable throttle in a mode that emulates keyboard inputs (such as a Thrustmaster (TM) TQS), rudder inputs will not be recognized. To remedy this, make the following change in the rb2sim.ini file, located in the main directory of Red Baron II:
[Controls]
RudderIsThirdAxis=1
This switches the 3rd and 4th joystick input axes. If you set this when you have a control for both throttle and rudder, it will switch the two. For instance, on a Microsoft Sidewinder (TM) it will make the "twist" axis of the joystick control throttle and the throttle wheel control the rudder. In most cases this isn't desirable, but could have some uses, especially if you are using a second joystick as rudder/throttle control.
11. Resolutions -- Many reported issues have been addressed
A. The program will no longer terminate when a squadron accepts your transfer request.
B. The "Next Mission Skip/Create" termination has also been resolved.
C. Flights will no longer circle endlessly above your starting aerodrome.
D. Aces will now stay dead.
E. The average altitude of generated campaign missions has been increased. Most missions should take place at 5000ft - 8000ft.
F. Gun jams now occur more realistically. AI also unjams guns more fairly.
G. The Unjam gun key now works properly for the player.
12. New Options -- Many new options have been added to the game
A. Tracers have been added. You can now see your bullet trajectory against dark backgrounds. Whether this means you'll be a better shot remains to be seen... :)
B. The screen will now shake as you approach a stall as well as when your tail skid is dragging on the ground.
C. Time compression now automatically turns off when you spot an enemy.
D. You may now add an optional gunsight to your inside cockpit forward views. See the rb2sight.txt file for more information.
13. Campaign duration (CAMPAIGN.INI) This file let's you adjust the number of missions in a campaign. If you'd like to get more (or less) missions each week in a campaign, create a text file in the main RedBaronII directory. In the text file, leave the first line blank, then type:
[campaign]
missions=???
Replace the ??? with the total number of missions in a career that you want. Save the file as CAMPAIGN.INI in the main RedBaronII directory (where BARON.EXE is).
In RB2, the number defaults to 250 possible missions in a whole career. This number is affected by weather, injury, and imprisonment as the career progresses. The frequency of missions depends on the number of missions and the time left in a career. For example, you will have many more missions per week at the default settings if you start a career in 1918 as opposed to a career started in 1916. This is because the missions are spread evenly over the time remaining until Nov 11th, 1918. The maximum number of missions is 2 per day, and the minimum is 1 per week.
III. HINTS AND TIPS
The waypoints are time based. If you try to cut corners and get to points early that is why you have to stay in manual or level flight as long as you are "ahead" of time.
Remember that parachutes were not given to pilots for fear that they would abandon their plane early. Don't jump out of your plane unless you really need to. Jumping out even in the best of circumstances can lead to a broken ankle, which could lead to an infection and ultimately death.
If you are wondering why the terrain detail lowers when you fire your machine guns, it is because Combat Detail is on in the Graphics Preferences. Right clicking in the sim and selecting terrain will allow you to alter this as well.
IV. ADDENDUM TO THE MANUAL
Keyboard commands:
(KP refers to keys on the numeric keypad)
KP0 Kneeboard map (previously KP5)
KP1 Look back and left
KP2 Look back
KP3 Look back and right
KP4 Look left
KP5 Look up 90 degrees
KP6 Look right
KP7 Look front and lef
t KP8 Look front
KP9 Look front and right
Ctrl+KP1 Up and left back (45 degrees up, 45 degrees left back)
Ctrl+KP2 Up and back (45 degrees up)
Ctrl+KP3 Up and right back (45 degrees up, 45 degrees right back)
Ctrl+KP4 Up and left (45 degrees up)
Ctrl+KP6 Up and right (45 degrees up)
Ctrl+KP7 Up and left front (45 degrees up, 45 degrees left front)
Ctrl+KP8 Up and forward (45 degrees up)
Ctrl+KP9 Up and right front (45 degrees up, 45 degrees right front)
Home Up one page on the kneeboard
End Down one page on the kneeboard
PgUp Looks forward and up 30 degrees
PgDn Looks down at instruments
Hat controls:
Joystick Hats with 8-way control are now supported with all 8 45-degree views.
Using the Ctrl key while hitting a hat direction will tilt head up at a 45-degree angle in that direction.
Releasing a hat direction will return you to the forward view automatically.
Copyright/Trademarks
(c) 1998 Sierra On-Line, Inc. (R) and (TM) designate trademarks of, or licensed to Sierra On-Line, Inc. All rights reserved.