Clicking on Intelligence Reports after entering the campaign mode brought up a video sequence. The setting was the same as the MAIN MENU above, a black and white photo of a briefing room full of WWI pilots seen from the back. At the front of the room was a projection screen on which flickered an old movie of a 1915 era battle tank. The dark room flickered while the tank rolled on the screen, and the Flight Commander narrated while he called on pilots to be aware of this new technology and offer aid to troops when tanks are spotted...Apparently there will also be teletype reports offering the latest information gleaned from the front lines and other sources.

Clicking on Ace Dossiers brought up another leather bound book so that I could read about the better enemies I might encounter. Clicking on Challenge brought up an option screen including View, View Flight Plan, Fly Challenge and Realism Setting. However the option was not yet functional.

From the main screen you can also view objects you will encounter in the sim. You can pan around objects and rotate them, and you can also view specifications for various machines.

Gameplay, Graphics, Sound etc.

As above, the first thing I did in this sim was blast a wingman. Damage modelling seems to have received as much attention as the interface, which is a good sign! Fire, explosions, and damage seems important to the game designers, and whether you take on an opponent in the air or shoot up a tent on the ground, the effects are impressive! My second experience with damage was cruising and admiring the scenery when suddenly I heard gunfire and my airplane lurched to the right. Next thing I knew I was minus a wing and heading steeply for terra firma. As I sought in vain for the eject handle the ground rose sharply to meet me. When I smacked into the ground the aircraft shattered but the main frame remained intact and I watched while the torque of the still turning engine caused it to roll along the ground while flames spread. Whew!

Smoke and clouds are good despite lack of hardware support. As in many sims these days the sky is quite beautiful; dawn and dusk flights will likely be spectacular. The terrain is fine but not the photo appearance that Flying Corps has achieved. In fact there is something quite unique about the texture engine, and not having seen it before in Sierra's A10 simulation it strikes me as very different. But its certainly an acceptable look and object detail is fine throughout.

Light source shading is present as well and its impressive to watch a dogfight with AP full on (see below) and watch the changing shading as a wing turns toward the sky. The cockpits are cool, and they look ALMOST like photographs. The instrumentation is particularly nice.

A Taste of the Action...

Attention to detail often translates into atmosphere, and with period photographs, 16 mm film style briefings, period maps and excellent sound, RB2 will have atmosphere in spades!

Hauptmann Sottlemyer's Flight Plan..

I got into a furball on my third foray in the sim and barely managed to hold my own. Mind you, I'm not sure what type of aircraft I was up against, having let Flying Corps sit on the shelf a bit too long...I also have no idea where the difficulty level is set since the option is unavailable in this beta. I took some hits but took out my man and then went on to strafe his airfield. I almost fell out of the airplane when I heard the air raid siren! Geez, what next? When I took a hit from ground fire my view got increasingly red and the groans and labored breathing of my virtual pilot increased until I was ready to call my wife at work and ask for advice (she's an RN...)

In a similar mission later I flew as escort for a bomber group targetting an allied supply dump. I let the AI do the flying til we got near to the dump and then took over. I was just scanning the sky for air cover when I was jumped by a pair of Nieuports just past the dump so my wingman and I kept them busy while the bombers did their dirty work. My wingman (in a Fokker DVII) proved to be a good shot and took out one Nieuport promptly. The other one (I later learned) had landed with engine problems...

Fine, I thought, I'll cruise around and see what targets of opportunity present themselves. I noticed a river and a bridge in the distance and took a peek at my lap map to see what might be nearby.

Ah ha! thought I, an Allied aerodrome! Going back to heads up my companion and I surged closer, with the sun off our rear quarter. Perfect! As we came within visual range I noticed a number of aircraft on the ground. Unfortunately, we were spotted and the alarm claxon began to sound. Suddenly ground fire erupted from two directions and as the fire increased my wingman took a hit and and I lost track of him. With black clouds of flak bursting around me I began to feel nervous...Everytime it was a bit too close my Fokker would shake about like a reed in the wind.

I began strafing as soon as possible and came in fast and low. I pulled up steep and into an uneven turn, the canvas complaining all the way. I was well past the Allied base when I felt my aircraft lurch sideways with a major impact. I still had control, however, and thought I could fly it home. However, my engine began to lose power and I realized something else was wrong... I could smell oil. Worse, my vision was beginning to dim...

I prepared to set down, now almost a mile from the base. My engine sputtered to a halt and the ringing from the air raid siren filled my ears, but a new sound began just as I rolled to a stop. I could hear a bell clanging from the direction of the base, and the sound began to grow in intensity. As I panned my view around I spotted a small truck coming my way, and as it drew nearer I realized it was a Red Cross vehicle, delight to the eye of a wounded Luftwaffe officer! Here is a shot of the truck just as it pulled up:

Good grief! Air raid sirens, Red Cross trucks.... My empty Fokker sat on the ground looking lonely. The pilot graphic was now missing! THIS is "attention to detail."

Some of the factors that really help with immersion is all sounds, like the bell of the truck, DO have a directional component, and if you glance left from the cockpit the sound stays oriented appropriately. The increasing intensity as the truck pulls up is also a factor. I can't recall now if I could hear the motor as it pulled up, but I do think this is also modelled. The second time I crashed near a base instead of landing and my Fokker was on fire. The Red Cross truck pulled up a couple of minutes later and a door opened and an animated figure stepped out and PUT OUT THE FIRE! I know what you are thinking, but this is NOT a joke!

The feel of flight is not unlike Flying Corps. The Spad I flew in two missions wasn't too difficult to stall and once stalled could be dangerous. Planes in Red Baron II will be individually modelled with their own flight characteristics. A Sopwith Camel will have a different center of gravity, roll rate, and lift qualities than a Fokker DR VII. Climbing ability, engine power and other differences will likewise be in place.

Sierra has also included Force feedback support in this pre-beta and I will gas up my CH stick in the next day or two to check it out. I'm not certain if all effects are in place but I'll report on the properties as they exist at present.

The digitized sound seems impeccable, from the creaking of canvas under stress to the turning pages of the record books. Engines sound great, from startup to rev variation. On my fourth mission I took three hits from AAA and the violent lurch of my aircraft combined with the sounds of the flak bursts nearby were quite terrifying! (Sierra has modelled turbulence from forces such as explosions, but there are no plans for a wind model).

Sound modelling will be detailed enough that different types of guns (Lewis vs. Vickers etc) will be unique and 3d effects are in place. If I look left I suddenly hear the engine on my right, and if I glance right I suddenly hear the engine on my left.

Mission Editor and Views

The mission editor looks to be another highlight of RBII. Here is a view of the planning screen:

A Zoom shot from the Planner. Click for larger image...

You may edit a single mission, or you can create a new mission from scratch. You can also edit a mission in the campaign! I wasn't certain this would be possible at first, but if you click on View Flight Plan before you fly the mission you can indeed view and edit the waypoints! Not ONLY this, you can edit the other individual flights in your group for both ordnance and waypoints.

The map allows three levels of zoom which is quite adequate, and when you click on EDIT you can alter waypoints, altitude and formation and designate action per each waypoint. You may also choose how the map itself is configured, selecting and de-selecting from twelve options. Here is the list as it appears on the map screen:

Not only will you be able to CREATE your own unique missions, you will be able to SHARE them with other pilots and FLY them with other pilots. I know, this is a real DROOL factor for many of you. Design your own squadron colors, put together some custom missions and challenge another squadron on the Net!

The viewing system really is the heart of any simulation, since the way that the sim designers compensate for limitations of virtual reality will determine both your sense of awareness in the sim and your ability to adapt to various conditions and effectively engage in combat. The Red Baron 2 view system is divided into three distinct modes - the lockdown (or "fixed") views, slewable (or "padlock") views, and the outside views. Any single view system can be used to fly the game, but with practice you can use a combination of the three for maximum effect.

1. Lockdown Views

You start off in the sim in lockdown mode. At first you are looking straight ahead, with some gauges visible and a fairly open view forward. The lockdowns are controlled with your numeric keypad at the right side of your keyboard. Think of your head being at the center of the keypad, where "8" looks forward, "6" looks to your right, "4" to your left, and "2" gives you two views to your rear (toggling between left shoulder/right shoulder perspective). The "5" key looks down at your kneeboard. All of these views remain until you choose a new direction to look at (ie, you will look right after hitting "6" until you hit another view key, like "8").

Two sets of special lockdown views are also on the keypad. The "9" key will let you look up and forward (critical in turning dogfights), and the "3" key is forward and down - giving you a full view of all the gauges.

The last set is only active while you are looking at your kneeboard (by first hitting "5"). These control what page of the kneeboard you are looking at. The default page is your in-flight map, showing your flight path and relevant waypoints and landmarks. Hitting "7" on the keypad flips one page up and the "1" key flips down one page. From top to bottom, the pages are: mission objectives and waypoint details, in-flight map, formation to target, formation at target, and target snapshot (or escorted plane illustration). To escape the kneeboard, choose another view (like the "8" key). The kneeboard will remain at the page you viewed last.

While the lockdown views give you a fairly limited field of vision, they are quick, easy to remember, and are very stable, which is invaluable when firing at an enemy (hitting an enemy while in slewable or outside modes is very much like firing at a target over your shoulder using a mirror ).

A cockpit shot...

2. Slewable Mode

The second view system is the slewable mode (also called the "padlock" view). Basically, this view system imitates the pilot’s head swiveling to keep his view centered on a target (a plane, ground object, or landmark). To enter slewable mode you hit F2. The art pops as it changes from a static 2d bitmap to a full 3D model.

If no target has been selected, your slewable view will be fixed forward. To move your view at any time you just hold in the "a" key and move the joystick. As soon as you release the "a" key, the view snaps back to your target or forward. You have physical limits to where you move your view (ie. no "Linda Blair" swivel). And you can only select a target that is within range.

The first target selector is the "n" key, for next target (enemy or friendly). The sim designers have given a greater range selecting next targets than friendly - you can tell if something is a plane before you can tell if it’s a friendly or enemy plane. To select friendly targets, which are anything but the enemy, you hit "f." To select enemy targets, you hit "e." Planes within your formation can be selected by hitting "m" (for members).

When in a dogfight, more target selection keys become active. You can hit "d" to select the nearest dogfight enemy (the most likely target for you), and hit "t" to select the nearest threat (the most likely to make YOU a target).

Once you have a target selected, the slewable view keeps that target centered on your screen, no matter what direction your plane is pointing. The only time it doesn’t is when your target is beyond your physical limits (by circling behind you or flying below your plane). When your target does this, the view will either adjust to re-acquire your target, or stay at the view limit it reached until your target becomes visible again. Hitting the F1 key switches you back to whatever your last lockdown view was. It can be helpful to switch back and forth between F1 and F2 several times during a dogfight - using the lockdowns when the target is in front, but switching to slewable to acquire new targets or to track one that’s not in front.

Having only spent a couple of hours with the sim so far its tough to evaluate the padlock view, but I think it will be quite usable. All views seem to work well, and many pilots may find the lockdown views are all they need. With time and some programming to the HOTAS I think the view system will be at least equal to Flying Corps, perhaps better.

3.Outside View

The last view system is the outside views. Hitting F3 will act exactly like the slewable mode, except that you are outside your plane. Your target is in the center of the screen with you in the foreground. All of the same target selection keys are active. The "z" and "x" keys zoom in and out.

The F4 key lets you move the camera around your plane independent of your or your target’s movements. The zoom keys are active, as is the "a" key plus the joystick. F5 puts the camera a fixed distance and position behind the plane and F6 is the same view with a delay of a second or so, depending on how far you are zoomed out. F7 is a flyby view, much like controlling a remote-controlled airplane. After you have selected a target, you can hit F8 if you wish to view it from the outside. Hitting F4 with target selected scrolls the camera around for a better look.

As for multiplayer, up to eight people will be supported via LAN and the internet, and two via modem. Head to head will include both co-op and competitive play. Will LAN play allow access to the campaign mode? No, it will be multiplayer dogfighting only.

By the way, Red Baron II also includes an autopilot. The "." key (period) keeps you straight and level. The "/" key (slash) lets the autopilot take an active role in your navigation - it will take you to all of your waypoints - very useful when you are lost, etc. Combining ctrl and / is a cheat mode and the computer uses the same AI that all the other planes do, and will even fight for you. Feel like just WATCHING a dogfight for a while? Be my guest. Want to scan around the sky without worrying about where you airplane is headed? The AP is useful for a variety of reasons. The "," key takes you out of autopilot.

Summary

RBII will be released in December. With stiff competition in Flying Corps and soon Flying Corps Gold which will include multiplayer and a mission editor, Sierra has to aim high to compete.

The operative word in military sims is "suspension of disbelief." This sim has atmosphere out the backside, and it looks like they are aiming in the right place, with features and gameplay that will make RBII a winner. Frame rate is better than F16FF even in this pre-beta, and that is running in high color (apparently the rate improves considerably under 256 colors...I will yet test this!)

Sierra hopes to supply maps with the sim, and the aim is to produce a very high end and spiral bound manual. If the follow through in code is as strong as this early edition then RB2, even without 3d support, will make thousands of aces happy this winter.

Recommended Spec Machine:

P133, 24megs RAM, 40-60megs drive space, joystick.