Red Baron (1990 video game)

Red Baron is a combat flight simulation video game for DOS. Created by Damon Slye at Dynamix and published by Sierra On-Line, it was released in 1990.

Not to be confused with Red Baron (1980 video game).
Red Baron
Cover art
Developer(s)Dynamix
Publisher(s)Sierra On-Line
Designer(s)Damon Slye
Programmer(s)Paul Bowman
Artist(s)Mark Peasley
Platform(s)DOS, Amiga, Mac OS
Release
  • NA: December 31, 1990[1]
  • EU: December 1990
  • EU: 1992 (Amiga)
  • NA: 1992 (Mac)
Genre(s)Air combat simulation
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

The game is set on the Western Front of World War I. The player can engage in single missions or career mode, flying for either the German Air Service or the Royal Flying Corps. In the course of the game the player might find themselves either flying in the Red Baron's squadron Jasta 11, or encountering him as an enemy above the front.

An expansion pack, Red Baron: Mission Builder, was released in 1992. A port of the game for the Nintendo 64 was announced,[2][3] but was later cancelled.[4]

Gameplay
Gameplay screenshot

Many of the famous German, British, and French combat aircraft of World War I are available to fly including the Fokker E.I Eindecker, the Fokker Dr.I Triplane, the Sopwith Camel, and the SPAD XIII. The game features somewhat unrealistic physics as it was mainly intended as an entertainment game instead of a true flight simulator, although the unique flying characteristics of some of the aircraft were implemented such as the gyroscopic effect created by the Sopwith Camel's rotary engine and the Albatroses' upper wings shearing at high negative G loads. The player also has to deal with problems the real fighter pilots of World War I faced, such as gun jams, flak, engine damage, and possibly bleeding to death if they were wounded and could not land at an aerodrome in time.

There are several types of missions in the game: dogfight; scramble; patrol; balloon busting/protection; reconnaissance escort; and bomber escort/interception; and Zeppelin hunt. There were also recreations of historical missions. The majority of the missions are carried out with one to three wingmen for the player, although the player may choose to fly missions solo if appointed as the flight leader.

  • Dogfight: The player's squadron faces up with an enemy squadron. The player may choose whether to start the mission near the action or at the aerodrome.
  • One-on-one dogfight: If the player scores many victories, an enemy ace may present a challenge to a one-on-one dogfight. Some enemy aces may cheat by taking along wingmen.
  • Scramble: An enemy squadron approaches the player's aerodrome, and the player's squadron must intercept them.
  • Patrol: The player patrols the Front. Anti-aircraft artillery and enemy aircraft are usually encountered although the latter does not always happen.
  • Balloon Busting/Protection: In balloon busting missions, the player's squadron is tasked to eliminate enemy observation balloons. While stationary balloons are easy to destroy and equally qualified as victories, the player will also have to cope with enemy fighters and anti-aircraft weapons. In balloon protection missions, the player has to defend friendly balloons from an enemy squadron. Balloon busting missions may be started from the aerodrome or near the enemy balloons.
  • Reconnaissance Escort: The player and wingmen escort one or two reconnaissance aircraft over the Front while enemy fighters try to destroy them.
  • Bomber Escort/Interception: Gotha and Handley-Page bombers attack factories or trains. The player either escorts friendly bombers or intercepts and destroys enemy bombers.
  • Zeppelin Hunt: Zeppelin dirigibles bomb the English homeland, and it is up to the player to shoot them down. This mission will not happen unless the player is flying on the Allied side.
  • Historic Mission: Historic engagements can be relived on either side. Missions include the engagement for which William Bishop received his Victoria Cross and the final dogfight of the Red Baron.

The player can select any mission to fly on either the German or Allied sides. Location, aircraft type, wingmen, and famous aces can also be chosen for the mission.

A career in either the German Air Service or British Royal Flying Corps runs from December 1915 to October 1918, just before the Armistice. As time progresses, the player is transferred to various historical aerodromes in France and in England. The Front also shifts as it did during the War and battles such as Verdun are noted. More advanced aircraft are also introduced in the proper time periods. The player's number of aerial kills is kept track of and he is promoted in rank and awarded medals as he progresses, and he can eventually customize the colors of his aircraft. If the player is wounded in combat and is able to land/crash land in friendly territory, they spend several months recuperating from their wounds, but if they end up in enemy territory, they spend several months in a prisoner-of-war camp until they escape back to their side. The timeline continues during the recovery/imprisonment periods, so it is possible that the player will return to duty at a different aerodrome flying newer aircraft.

Depending on how well the player does, they can be assigned to an aerodrome that has a famous ace and can fly missions with them, and depending on the time period and the location of the aerodrome, the player can encounter the famous enemy aces that were in the area during that time period.

A multiplayer version of the game was available on The Sierra Network. Two to four pilots competed in games lasting for ten minutes or three deaths.[5]

Release

Sierra acquired Dynamix while Red Baron was being developed, and it became the first game in Dynamix's "Great Warplanes Series" that Sierra published. The press discussed the competition between Red Baron and MicroProse's Knights of the Sky.[6] In 1997, Sierra officially released the 16-color version of Red Baron as a free download on their website as a promotion.[7] On October 22, 2013, an unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign was started to fund a re-release of Red Baron.[8]

Reception

Critical reception

Slye later said that Red Baron's success made Dynamix become known as a developer of flight simulators.[6] Warren Spector—producer of Origin Systems's WW1 simulation Wings of Glory—was a fan, calling it "an astonishing accomplishment".[9] Computer Gaming World approved of Red Baron's accurate history and realistic flight models and combat, and option to record missions. The magazine concluded that the game "is a well thought-out, quality flight combat simulator".[10] In a 1991 survey of World War I flight simulations, Computer Gaming World described Red Baron as less realistic than Knights of the Sky, but with excellent graphics and gameplay.[11] Surveys of strategy and war games that year and in 1993, however, gave it five stars out of five and stated that it was "the best World War I air simulator ever done", with "historical accuracy and superb game play". The magazine gave the Mission Builder four stars.[12][13] A 1993 review of the Sierra Network multiplayer version called it "a real pleasure ... One of the best on-line gaming values yet".[5] The game got 5 out of 5 stars in Dragon.[14]

Red Baron won Computer Gaming World's 1991 Simulation of the Year award,[15] and in 1993 the magazine named the game to its Hall of Fame, stating that it "still stands as the high watermark of realistic air combat for many gamers".[16] That year the magazine told a reader asking for "the most enjoyable flight simulation game" that "most of us still opt for Red Baron".[17] In 1996, the magazine named Red Baron as #4 on its list of the best PC games of all time, positively comparing it to Spectrum HoloByte's Falcon 3.0.[18]

In 1994, PC Gamer US named Red Baron as the 17th best computer game ever. The editors wrote, "When it comes to simulating those first days of aerial combat, Red Baron is still the top dog."[19] In 1991, PC Format placed Red Baron on its list of the 50 best computer games of all time.[20]

In 1998, PC Gamer declared it the 20th-best computer game ever released, and the editors called it "Aerial combat up close and personal, from the era when real men eschewed parachutes and organized murder still wrapped itself in a cloak of chivalry".[21]

Promotion

Dynamix started up a contest on the Computer Gaming World magazine, consisting of 7 questions about the game. The reader had to answer the questions on a and send the answers to Dynamix. The first five readers to get all answers correct, a replica of the Blue Max and an autographed copy of the game.[22]

References
  1. Stone, Tim (2013-10-25). "The Flare Path: Slye And The Familiar Stone". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  2. "Ultra 64 'Dream Team'". GamePro. No. 80. IDG. May 1995. p. 138.
  3. "Red Baron" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 79. Sendai Publishing. February 1996. p. 73.
  4. "Let the Games Begin!". GamePro. No. 97. IDG. October 1996. p. 37. Note that Sierra On-Line's Red Baron is no longer coming to the N64.
  5. Trimble, Timothy L. (February 1993). "Red Baron on TSN". Computer Gaming World. p. 136. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  6. Basham, Tom (May 1994). "Ace Over The PC". Computer Gaming World. pp. 72–76.
  7. Red Baron (16-colour version) official game files 10-Feb-1997 (public free release) (Note: Betrayal at Krondor 16-color version was also released at the same time)
  8. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/madottergames/red-baron
  9. "The British Are Buying". Computer Gaming World. June 1994. p. 15.
  10. Trimble, Timothy (April 1991). "Blue Skies, White Clouds, Red Baron". Computer Gaming World. p. 56. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  11. Weksler, Mike (June 1991). "Dogfight at the PC Corral / WWI Air Combat Simulations in Review". Computer Gaming World. p. 31. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  12. Brooks, M. Evan (December 1991). "Computer Strategy and Wargames: The 1900-1950 Epoch / Part II (M-Z) of an Annotated Paiktography". Computer Gaming World. p. 126. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  13. Brooks, M. Evan (October 1993). "Brooks' Book Of Wargames: 1900-1950, R-Z". Computer Gaming World. pp. 144–148. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  14. Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia & Lesser, Kirk (December 1992). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (188): 57–64.
  15. Staff (November 1991). "Computer Gaming World's 1991 Games of the Year Awards". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications, Inc (88): 38–40, 58.
  16. "Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame". Computer Gaming World. May 1993. p. 141. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  17. "Letters from Paradise". Computer Gaming World. September 1993. p. 72. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  18. The Red Baron's Plane of Existence
  19. Staff (August 1994). "PC Gamer Top 40: The Best Games of All Time". PC Gamer US (3): 32–42.
  20. Staff (October 1991). "The 50 best games EVER!". PC Format (1): 109–111.
  21. The PC Gamer Editors (October 1998). "The 50 Best Games Ever". PC Gamer US. 5 (10): 86, 87, 89, 90, 92, 98, 101, 102, 109, 110, 113, 114, 117, 118, 125, 126, 129, 130.
  22. "Red Baron Contest". Computer Gaming World. No. 76. Ziff Davis. November 1990. p. 96.
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