Mad Otter Games acquires Red Baron Series

[Gremlin_WoH]

Mad Otter Games has acquired the Red Baron Series:

More on Wings Of Honor

[Gremlin_WoH]

Some more information about that matter -> Wings Of Honor

[Lufbery]

Holy smokes! Flybert had the source code! That's good news. This whole thing is good news.

Let's hope that Red Baron can be updated to present day standards and that Damon Slye and crew do a good job with it.

Regards,

[sightreader]

Originally Posted by Lufbery

Holy smokes! Flybert had the source code!

FLYBERT? Oh jeez, we're in trouble... he'll probably make Camels invincible...

[Gremlin_WoH]

Unfortunately, Flybert does not have the complete code and also not the newest iteration. It's code from about RBII 1.5 version without the graphics part (which anyway was DirectX 2D code). But it is a good start, maybe someone has the final RB3D code. The graphics part needs to be re-programmed anyway in DirectX9 or OpenGL and the RB3D 3D graphics code is not useful anyways as it was for 3Dfx video cards only. But I think the code Fly has is maybe as useful for Mad Otter Games as the newer code would be. The only thing what the newer RB3D code over the older RBII 1.5 has is its MMP part and that's something that needs further investigation. The MMP code may be old but in terms of player numbers still can hold its own against MMP code of newer flight sims.

[Lufbery]

Gremlin,

I was deeply into Red Baron II/3D, and very involved on the Delphi flight sim message board where we discussed the game in great detail. In fact, it was a cross-post on the Delphi board that got me posting here.

Like a lot of folks, I have some definite opinions on how the game could or should be made. Mostly, though, I want a good single-player campaign with some tie to events on the ground. I'd also love to see the stuff from the first Red Baron that we loved so much that never made it into the sequel: airships and ace's challenges (duels) to name two. (I vividly recall accepting a challenge from the Red Baron himself in RBI. I showed up at the appointed time to find that the little sneak had brought two other planes with him!)

Regards,

[GMU]

Originally Posted by Lufbery

Gremlin,

I was deeply into Red Baron II/3D, and very involved on the Delphi flight sim message board where we discussed the game in great detail. In fact, it was a cross-post on the Delphi board that got me posting here.

Like a lot of folks, I have some definite opinions on how the game could or should be made. Mostly, though, I want a good single-player campaign with some tie to events on the ground. I'd also love to see the stuff from the first Red Baron that we loved so much that never made it into the sequel: airships and ace's challenges (duels) to name two. (I vividly recall accepting a challenge from the Red Baron himself in RBI. I showed up at the appointed time to find that the little sneak had brought two other planes with him!)

Regards,

I agree. In RB I, I loved the flexibility I had in building my own missions like choosing the number and skill of my opponents, the aircraft they flew, the weather, etc. I really loved that format. I do not know why it has not been followed. Perhaps, it is too complicated?

[Gremlin_WoH]

Originally Posted by Lufbery

Gremlin,

I was deeply into Red Baron II/3D, and very involved on the Delphi flight sim message board where we discussed the game in great detail. In fact, it was a cross-post on the Delphi board that got me posting here.
...

Drew, I remember you well back from the Delphi Flight Sim forums. Started reading it in 1998 when RBII came out in Germany. I also remember the epic 'The Dr. I is porked' threads Was going by my squad nickname back then. I am still reading the SWWISA and the Western Fornt Patch forums there.

I too hope they build up on the good things RB and RBII/3D had.

Cheers

[Lufbery]

Originally Posted by Gremlin_WoH

Drew, I remember you well back from the Delphi Flight Sim forums. Started reading it in 1998 when RBII came out in Germany. I also remember the epic 'The Dr. I is porked' threads Was going by my squad nickname back then. I am still reading the SWWISA and the Western Fornt Patch forums there.

I too hope they build up on the good things RB and RBII/3D had.

Cheers

Ack! I'm older and somewhat wiser now.

What name did you use on Delphi?

Anyway, the whole great flight model debate of the late '90s was very interesting. I remember a whole bunch of discussion on how real planes fly, torque, P-factor, and the gyroscopic effect of rotary engines on planes' turns. Frankly, those discussions are what got me interested in the flight dynamics and more technical issues of World War I aviation. Before that, I was really just interested in the colorful planes and the personalities of the pilots.

I've recently capitalized on that technical interest by selling a magazine article to a major aviation magazine. It's due to be published next year. It covers a lot of the myths surrounding rotary engines -- a topic directly inspired by all those "Dr.1 is porked" threads.

Personally, this is where I have the greatest hope for a new game. I really hope that the expert level flight model does a good job simulating what it was like to fly these planes. It needn't be exact, but it should be close. For example, I think the flight model of MS's Combat Flight Simulator 2 is pretty good. Corsairs have a nasty snap roll before stalling, Zeros are more maneuverable than Wildcats, etc. It's all pretty good at least to a guy like me who has never flown a Corsair except that the rudders don't work right!

In my limited experience trying to make coordinated turns in a Cessna 170, I was surprised to find that I only needed rudder input at the beginning of a turn:

A rule not to be violated: as long as an aileron is deflected, there is unbalanced lift/drag on the wings and rudder is needed to kill the unwanted yaw. However, as soon as the bank angle is established, the ailerons should be neutralized, which means the rudder is no longer needed. No aileron, no rudder. Period.

From: Rudder: What is it for?

However, CFS2 is set up so that it seems constant rudder deflection is needed maintain a coordinated turn. It seems that would be an easy fix, but I've learned that nothing is easy in flight simulation. Nevertheless, I'd love to see the specific flight quirks we've all read about being handled intelligently in a new WWI sim.

Regards,

[Gremlin_WoH]

Originally Posted by Lufbery

Ack! I'm older and somewhat wiser now.

What name did you use on Delphi?

I was going by JG666_GremlinXO. Nowadays just Gremlin or Gremlin_WoH since I continued to run Wings Of Honor after Jupes had to discontinue the work on it.

Originally Posted by Lufbery

Anyway, the whole great flight model debate of the late '90s was very interesting. I remember a whole bunch of discussion on how real planes fly, torque, P-factor, and the gyroscopic effect of rotary engines on planes' turns. Frankly, those discussions are what got me interested in the flight dynamics and more technical issues of World War I aviation. Before that, I was really just interested in the colorful planes and the personalities of the pilots.

I've recently capitalized on that technical interest by selling a magazine article to a major aviation magazine. It's due to be published next year. It covers a lot of the myths surrounding rotary engines -- a topic directly inspired by all those "Dr.1 is porked" threads.

So all these discussions were good for something Do we get a heads up when this article is out?

Originally Posted by Lufbery

Personally, this is where I have the greatest hope for a new game. I really hope that the expert level flight model does a good job simulating what it was like to fly these planes. It needn't be exact, but it should be close. For example, I think the flight model of MS's Combat Flight Simulator 2 is pretty good. Corsairs have a nasty snap roll before stalling, Zeros are more maneuverable than Wildcats, etc. It's all pretty good at least to a guy like me who has never flown a Corsair except that the rudders don't work right!

In my limited experience trying to make coordinated turns in a Cessna 170, I was surprised to find that I only needed rudder input at the beginning of a turn:


From: Rudder: What is it for?

However, CFS2 is set up so that it seems constant rudder deflection is needed maintain a coordinated turn. It seems that would be an easy fix, but I've learned that nothing is easy in flight simulation. Nevertheless, I'd love to see the specific flight quirks we've all read about being handled intelligently in a new WWI sim.

Regards,

Then you should try out Over Flanders Fields - Between Heaven And Hell, it's based on the CFS3 engine but its a total transformation to W.W.I. Some of the former RB modders have done wonders to the engine. The flight model is pretty good within the limitations of a tabloid based flight engine. The immersion into the W.W.I genre is the best currently.

Rise Of Flight on the other hand is currently the reference when it comes to 'the flight model feels right'. Its engine is based partially on fluid dynamics and a lot of real pilots see it as being most realistic of all flight sims in terms of plane behaviour.

A new Red Baron will have to go up against strong competition.

Cheers