Testing your system

The first thing the install program will do is test your systems audio playback capabilities. A small window will appear telling you that it is attempting to play a digital.WAV file. While that window is displayed, you should hear the sound of an aircraft engine starting up. After playing the sound the Setup program will display a small dialog box asking you if you heard the sound file.
If you heard the sound, click the Yes button when asked if you heard the sound. If you did NOT hear the sound file, click the No button. A small window will then appear asking if you want more information on the problem. When you click the Yes button on this window, the Sierra On-Line Setup Help will be launched which will assist you in troubleshooting the source of the problem.
Choosing installation size
The next window to appear is the actual beginning of the installation process. This window tells you that you will need between 45 and 215 megabytes of available hard drive space for the game itself, plus an additional 80 megabytes of free space on the same drive the game is installed for use as a swap file. Dont forget about this 80 megabyte requirement! If you ever have less than 80 megabytes free when Red Baron 3-D is launched, the game will warn you that it didnt find the required drive space. In general, the larger the install size, the faster the game will respond. If you have the space for a full install, it is highly recommended, regardless of the speed of your system. Click the Next button to get to the next screen which is where you are asked which size installation you want. Click either the Large, Medium, or Small install option, then click the Next button to proceed.
Choosing install location
Now the installation program wants to know on which drive you want Red Baron 3-D to be installed. The default location is on the C: drive in a directory called \Sierra\RedBaron3D. If you want to install the game to a different location, click the Browse button, which will bring up the Choose Folder window. Select the drive you want the game installed to using the Drives list at the bottom of the window. Important Note: Red Baron 3-D must be installed to a directory called \Sierra\RedBaron3D. For example, if you specify that you want to install the game to the \Games\RB2 folder, Red Baron 3-D will be installed to a directory called

Fighting the enemy

Now that you are pointing your nose at the enemy plane, pull the trigger and watch where the bullets go. Youve got unlimited ammunition and cannot jam your guns, so just hold the trigger down and adjust your aim until your bullets are hitting the enemy plane. Practice keeping your bullet stream on the enemy plane while flying your aircraft. Try not to run into the enemy plane. It wont
hurt you for now because weve got collisions turned off, but you dont want to get in front of the target and get shot at yourself! The purpose of the Fly Now missions is to give you a steady stream of enemy planes to fight. By default, a new plane is spawned every 5 minutes. When you shoot down the enemy plane, use the E key to check for the presence of other enemies. If there are none, start climbing! Tip: Altitude is your best friend in combat. It gives you room to maneuver without fear of running into the ground and the freedom to dive your way out of a fight. You can trade altitude for airspeed when diving on an enemy and then trade the airspeed back into altitude. Practice shooting enemy planes. Watch out for the planes with tail gunners and try to approach them from behind and below or from an angle. Watch out for the ground, too! You can lose a lot of altitude in combat and wind up catching a wing on a tree if youre not careful.

Exiting the cockpit

Press the ESC key and the Exit Game menu will appear giving you several options: End Mission ends the current mission right now. Abort Mission cancels the current mission, ending it without saving any results. Restart Mission restarts the current mission from the beginning. Return To Sim clears the menu and allows you to continue flying. If you crashed during your flight, the same menu will appear, but without the Return To Sim option. Click the End Mission button to return to the Main Menu. Each time you return from a mission, you will be given a mission debriefing that details what you accomplished during your flight. The first part of the debriefing is a map that shows your flight path and the events that occurred during the mission. Pressing the Enter key continues the display to the next event. Pressing
Esc ends the map portion of the debriefing and goes to the mission summary screen. Press Esc to continue. The blackboard portion of the debriefing provides a summary of the entire flight, telling you how many planes you shot down as well as your own fate. The Replay button restarts the debriefing by returning to the map display. Click the Done button to return to the Main Menu.

Summary

In this lesson we learned how to start and end a Fly Now game, how to use both the fixed and slewable cockpit views, and how to use the E key to locate enemy aircraft. We also learned how to use the controls to fly the aircraft and how to use the aircraft as a weapon to down enemy planes. You should repeat this lesson until you are comfortable with each of these concepts and can control your aircraft with some degree of confidence. For more detailed information about how to fly your aircraft, check out the Flight Reference and Flight Maneuvers sections in the Historical Section of this manual. The Battle Tactics of the Great War section contains a more comprehensive outline of good aerial combat tactics, including the famous Boelckes Dicta, a set of rules for fighter pilots that is as relevant today as it was in 1916.

If you click the Cancel button, all changes are thrown away and you are returned to the Preferences menu. Clicking the Fly Now button saves all changes and starts a Fly Now mission with the currently displayed settings. For now, click the OK button to save all changes and return to the Preferences menu.
Changing the games difficulty with the Realism Settings
No matter how much experience you have playing combat flight simulations, Red Baron 3-D is designed to be fun and challenging. By adjusting the realism settings, you can make the game easy enough so that you can be successful, but not so easy that it isnt fun. Click the Realism Setting button. A box labeled Realism Settings appears in the center of the screen with a slider and three buttons. The slider serves as both an indicator of overall game difficulty as well as a way of quickly increasing or decreasing the difficulty. The slider should be somewhere near the low setting. To position the slider, simply point to where you want it and click. You can also drag the slider to the left or right by clicking the slider and holding the mouse button down while moving the mouse back and forth. The OK button saves your changes and clears the box from the screen while the Cancel button clears the box without saving the changes. By the way, OK and Cancel work the same everywhere, so we can save time and space by not mentioning them again throughout the rest of the tutorial, unless you need to click one or the other for some reason. The problem with using the slider to adjust the games difficulty is that it doesnt give you any control over which settings get turned on or off, so it is really only useful if you want to move the difficulty to the either the minimum or maximum level. Click the Realism Options button and the screen changes to show all of the individual options you can adjust. The Score Modifier in the 3rd row of options shows you a numerical evaluation of the overall game difficulty. In general, 100% is considered to be realistic with anything less than that being considered easier and anything over 100% being more difficult than real.
Tip: Dont let yourself get intimidated by this number and think that you have to play the game at a certain level. The game is designed to be fun, so give yourself a challenge, but dont feel like you have to make it too hard just because of an arbitrary label. There are 11 different realism categories you can control to adjust the game to your liking. Starting on the top row, the options are: Vulnerability when vulnerability is turned on, your plane can be damaged and you can be wounded by enemy fire. Turning it off means that your plane cannot be damaged and you cannot be wounded, even if you fly directly into the ground at full speed. Ordnance when set to limited, you only have 500 rounds of machine gun ammunition per gun, and a limited number of bombs or rockets, if the mission calls for them. Fuel when your fuel supply is limited you are subject to running out of fuel on particularly long missions or if your fuel tank is holed by enemy fire. G-Force Effects when turned on, your aircraft is subject to the effects of both positive and negative G-Forces. Negative G-Forces usually occur when, from level flight, you push forward on the control stick. This can cause your engine to cut momentarily which can have a significant effect in combat. Positive G-Forces usually occur when your airplane is diving and you pull back suddenly on the control stick in an effort to level it out. The forces generated in this maneuver can be enough to rip the wings off your plane, especially if they are poorly designed or have been weakened by combat damage. Tip: Whenever you hear a creaking noise during maneuvering, you should know that you are inflicting permanent damage on your aircrafts structure which may result in a structural failure later in the flight. You should always try to avoid performing maneuvers which will damage your aircraft.

Collisions when turned on, running into another aircraft will result in a crash and the probable destruction of both planes. Turning collisions off, allows you to fly through other aircraft without crashing. Sun Glare when turned on, the glare caused by looking directly at the sun reduces your visibility to the point where you may lose sight of enemy aircraft. Gun Jams World War I machine guns were temperamental and prone to jamming if they were fired while under excessive G-Forces or for prolonged periods of time. Turning Gun Jams off, allows you to shoot without fear of having your guns jam. Tip: When firing your guns, squeeze off quick, short bursts. This not only helps prevent jamming, but also conserves your very limited supply of ammunition. Flight Model Red Baron 3-D allows you to choose among three different flight models, which provide increased levels of difficulty and realism. The Easy flight model classifies all planes as one of three generic types: slow, medium, and fast. This is more of an arcade style of flight that is very forgiving and a good starting point for beginners. The Intermediate flight model uses the individual performance variations for each aircraft type, but the planes have all been given additional engine power and they are more forgiving in that it is more difficult to get into a stall or spin. The Authentic flight model is a much more realistic model and as such is very unforgiving. Accelerated stalls, spins, torque and gyroscopic effects all act on your plane during flight. Additionally, combat damage can severely affect the performance of your aircraft to the point where it is nearly impossible to maintain level flight. Becoming adept at controlling your aircraft with the authentic flight model requires many hours of practice. Enemy Skill Factor controlled by a slider, you can set the overall ability levels of all enemy pilots, regardless of their quality level (Novice, Ace, etc.). Setting the slider to Min
makes all enemy pilots perform worse than normal, whereas setting the slider to Max makes enemy pilots perform better than normal. Torque Effects torque and gyroscopic effects are caused by the mass of the engine parts turning in one direction and tend to cause the aircraft to roll one way or another. Torque effects are most notable at low speed and high throttle settings, conditions that are prevalent at take-off and during stalls. This option is only available with the Authentic flight model enabled. Turning Torque Effects off, reduces your chances of getting into an unrecoverable spin. Note: torque effects tend to resemble joystick calibration problems. Instruments the aircraft instruments available during World War I were very primitive when compared to the instruments available today. Using Authentic instruments limits you to those instruments which were available at the time while the Balanced set introduces the more common modern instruments such as an airspeed indicator and a fuel gauge. When you are done setting the difficulty to your liking, click the OK button to save your changes and return to the Preferences menu.

In this lesson we learned how to select and fly a Single Mission. We also learned how to delete unwanted missions from the hard drive using the Delete button on the missions list. We learned about the pre-flight mission briefing and learned how to check out the flight path and reconnaissance photo. Once in the cockpit, we learned how to start the engine and take off, as well as some of the restrictions that would be in place if you were part of a larger flight. We learned about the Full, Navigation, and Level autopilot systems and how to disengage the autopilot by pressing the A key. We learned how to engage the time compression system and how to disengage it incrementally or all at one once. We discussed the external view system and checked out how the External Camera view allows you to view the entire sky around your aircraft by flying the camera around your plane. We checked out the in-flight map and how to orient yourself with the flight path and aircraft symbol. We also discussed what to do if you find yourself off the edge of the map. Finally, we watched the autopilot land the plane and gave it a few tries. Most importantly, we learned that you dont have to land your aircraft to successfully complete missions!

The Campaign Game

Tutorial 4: The Campaign Game
In this lesson, we will learn the following techniques: 1. How to create a new pilot 2. How to load and delete existing pilots 3. Reviewing campaign mission briefings 4. Viewing campaign reports 5. Transferring to another squadron
How to create a new pilot
One of the central features of Red Baron 3-D is the ability to assume the role of a pilot on the Western Front. Your pilot (you) will be assigned to fly for various squadrons alongside famous aces such as Werner Voss or Albert Ball. If you choose to fly the entire span of the war, you will see various new aircraft come into service and will experience first hand the frustration of having to fight in an inferior machine. At other times, you will feel the exhilaration of knowing that you hold a technical advantage over your hapless opponents. From the Main Menu click the Campaign button and you will be presented with an empty pilot dossier. The first thing you need to do is to select a service to fly with. You may choose to create a British, German, French, or American pilot. Click the Service tab, then click the U.S. button. Notice that over on the right side of the dossier, the Current Date, Service, Rank, and Date of Enlistment fields have been filled in. Since the Americans did not become officially involved in the war, the default start date for an American pilot is March 1, 1918. However, you may choose to start on an earlier date. Click the Enlistment Date tab on the left side of the dossier and you will be given a list of valid start dates. Note that the start dates are all the first day of every month between January 1, 1916 and November 1, 1918. Locate and click the January 1, 1917 date to start about a year earlier than normal. A box appears on screen telling you that Americans enlisting before February 16, 1918 will fly for the French air service in the Lafayette Escadrille. Click the Continue button to accept these terms. Note that the Current Date, Service, Rank, and Date of Enlistment fields change from their previous values and that the Current Squadron, Aerodrome, and Region

Zoom the map all the way in so that you can see the landmarks and waypoints clearly. Put your mouse cursor over the flashing waypoint mark and note that the cursor changes to a hand. Click and hold down the left mouse button and note that you can drag the waypoint to another landmark, which will be outlined in red. Let go of the mouse button and the waypoint changes to the new location. In most cases, you will have no need to change waypoints and in this case, we really dont want the new waypoint added to our flight path. Highlight the new waypoint and click the Delete button. Note that the new waypoint and the corresponding flight path is removed from the map. Click the Flights button to return to the flight summary display. With all the editing we did on our mission path, it is possible we messed up some of the timings. Click the Restore Path button, which is now displayed on the flight summary. This will revert back to the original flight plan. Click the Squadron button and note that the flight summary changes to show a listing of all flights that will be flown by your squadron and that the map shows the flight paths for all flights. Click the Done button and the map is rolled back up and you are looking at a chalkboard display showing all of the missions assigned to your squadron, who is assigned to fly each one, and which plane type they will be flying. Note that one of the map rings at the top of the blackboard is colored red, indicating that it is the active map for your flight region. You can redisplay the map by clicking the map ring. Because you are the squadron commander, you have the authority to change the details of any of the displayed missions. Position the mouse cursor over one of the pilot names assigned to one of the flights and note that a white box appears around the pilot name. Click and hold the left mouse button and drag the pilots name over the top of another pilots name in a different flight until a white box appears around the second pilots name. Now, release the mouse button and note that the two pilots swap their flight assignments. You can make a flight larger by moving a pilot into the blank spot at the end of each group of pilots. If you have extra pilots not already assigned to a flight, they will be listed at the bottom in the Available area. You can do the same thing with planes. In some cases, your
squadron will be composed of a variety of planes, so you may want to assign a particular plane type to a particular pilot. To do so, simply drag the plane to the desired location and it will swap positions with the plane that is already there. Click the Flight button and note that the chalkboard changes to show the names of the pilots in your flight as well as the ordnance loadout in use for each plane. As the squadron commander, you have the authority to change the ordnance loadout, too. You can enable or disable a particular ordnance type by clicking in the appropriate check box. A check in the box indicates that ordnance type is selected for that pilots plane. Note that some ordnance types may not be available simply because your aircraft is incapable of using that ordnance. When you are done reviewing your mission, click the Done button in the lower left to return to the Next Mission menu. To actually fly the mission, click the Fly Mission button. Alternatively, you can return to Campaign menu by clicking the Campaign button. Go ahead and click Fly Mission to fly your first campaign mission.

How to find on-line games to join
Now that you have your pilot ready to fly, lets find a game to play. First, you should get connected to the internet using your Dial-Up Networking or to by connecting to your local area network. Next, click the Connect button. Once connected, you will find yourself looking at a screen with a list of Available Games at the top of the screen, some action buttons in the middle, and a set of connection and game type options listed at the bottom. When you first get to this screen, your system will look on the network for game servers and will display a list of those servers in the Available Games window. Each line in the list of Available Games will show you the name of the server, its ping time, how many players it currently has in the air versus the maximum number allowed, the games difficulty level, and the type of game being played on that server. Tip: If you see an available game that is displayed in gray text (instead of gold or yellow) it means that game is running a version of the software that is newer than the version you have installed on your system. To play on those servers, you will need the latest update. Note that servers running older versions of the software will not be displayed. If you do not see any servers, make sure you are connected to the network. The server name is created by the host administrator (the person that runs the server) and is usually descriptive of the type of game being played on that server. The ping time is a measure of the quality of the connection between your machine and the server. As the search for available games is being done, your system sends several pings down the line to see how long it takes for information to travel to and from the remote server. In general, if you are getting ping times less than 200, you have an great connection between the two machines, whereas, if you are getting pings greater than 400, you have only a fair connection. Note: Although you may have a low ping time, other problems, such as line noise or packet loss, can cause the game to be unplayable. If you see the NET indicator regularly while flying, you may want to find a different game with a more
reliable connection. A lock symbol to the left of the server name indicates that the game is password protected. The players entry displays the number of players currently in the air to the left of the slash and the maximum number of players allowed in the game to the right. The maximum number of players allowed in the game is determined by the host administrator. Note that the display of current players in the game only counts those players that are in the air and not those players that are currently in the lobby. There are three levels of difficulty in the multiplayer games: Novice, Veteran, and Ace. These labels not only help serve as a guide to the quality of opponents you will find in that game, but also determine the accuracy of ground gunners and the difficulty in damaging ground targets. There are three types of multiplayer games supported in Red Baron 3-D: Melee, Team Melee, and Get The Baron. We will describe these in depth in the next section. If the list of available games is particularly large, you can filter the list using the options at the bottom of the screen: The Protocol option lets you choose whether you are looking for games over the internet or over an IPX or LAN based connection. The Quality option allows you to filter out games that have poor ping times. If you select the Fair option, you will be able to see all connections that are considered at least fair, whereas choosing Great will only display the best connections. The Difficulty option allows you to filter games by the level of difficulty and competition your would expect to find. The Description option allows you to only display the types of games that you want to play. Tip: You can refresh the games list by changing one or more of the options at the bottom of the screen.

In this lesson, we learned how to launch the multiplayer version of the game, either through the normal Game Finder or through WON.NET. We learned how to create and delete pilots for on-line play and how to find and select a game to play. We learned about the different multiplayer game types you can play as well as the details of navigating the on-line lobby. Finally, we learned some detailed differences between the single-player and multiplayer versions of the game. Note: For the most up to date information available about the multiplayer version of the game, please refer to the site at www.redbaronplayers.com.
Advanced Campaign Techniques
Tutorial 6: Advanced Campaign Techniques
In this lesson, we will learn the following techniques: 1. Working with the Paint Shop 2. Using custom pilot photos 3. Resurrecting dead pilots 4. Deleting unwanted missions Please note that the techniques you will learn in this lesson will require you to manipulate files at the DOS level. You should probably ensure that you are comfortable with the game before attempting to perform this lesson. Also, be warned that whenever you are manipulating files you greatly increase the chance of making a mistake that would require you to delete and then reinstall the game from scratch. Feel free to skip this lesson entirely.
Working with the paint shop
As squadron commander, you have the opportunity to decide what paint scheme will be applied to the aircraft in your squadron as well as to select an alternate paint scheme for your own aircraft. From the Campaign menu, click the Squadron Ops button, then click the Paint Shop button. The top of the Paint Shop display lists the various aircraft assigned to your squadron along the left side of the screen. To the right is a column labeled Self Assignments and another labeled Squadron Assignments. Beneath each of these labels is a button with the words None Available. Click the Paint Plane button. The screen is divided into two sections. The left side of the screen has two pick lists labeled Plane Part and Squadron Texture. The right side of the screen contains a 3-D model of the plane being painted so that you can see what your paint scheme would look like in the game. Despite what the name implies, you dont really paint your aircraft. Instead, you mix and match various pre-made textures to create a unique paint scheme for the finished plane. Most of the squadrons in the game have some unique paint scheme or identification badge for each of the aircraft that were historically assigned to that squadron. So, if you take a wing from squadron A and the fuselage from squadron B and the tail section from squadron C, you will have a unique paint scheme for your squadron, even though the individual parts were not unique. This is kind of hard

to the aircraft on the right. Click the Apply button and you will see your newly modified texture on the plane! Click the Save button and give this new configuration with your custom painted parts a unique name. Now, click the Exit button to get back to the Paint Shop screen. Note that the buttons underneath the Self Assignments and Squadron Assignments headers have been changed from None Available to Unassigned, indicating that there are one or more custom paint schemes available for this plane type but that none have been selected yet. Click the Unassigned button underneath the Self Assignments header. A box appears listing the available custom paint schemes. Note that, in addition to the schemes you have created and saved, there is one called Unassign. Selecting the Unassign scheme allows you to reselect the default scheme for the squadron. Highlight one of the schemes you created and click the Select button. Note that the label on the button changes from Unassigned to display the name of the scheme you created. You can select separate schemes for your pilot and for your squadron, if you wish. When you are done selecting schemes for your aircraft, click the Squadron Ops button to get back the Squadron Ops screen and then the Campaign button to get back to the Campaign menu. Go ahead and fly another mission to see how your new paint schemes look in the air!
Using custom pilot photos
When you created your new pilots, you probably noticed that the number of available photos was rather limited. Fortunately, you can add photos of your own choosing to the game to make it more personal. The first thing you need is a black and white or color photo to use. You will need to crop the photo so that it is exactly 95 pixels wide and 105 pixels tall. Put the photo you want to use into the C:\SIERRA\REDBARON3D\DATA\SHELLPAT directory. Open up an MS-DOS box and change to the same directory. Run the palette remapping tool on the photo you created, using the form:
palmap infile.bmp O outfile.bmp P photo.pal
Tutorial Six where: infile.bmp is the filename of the original photo outfile.bmp is the output filename for the remapped photo Note: the O outfile.bmp portion is optional. If you do not use it, the output file will be written over the original. Now that the file is converted, rename it to usraceXX.bmp, where XX is a two-digit number between 15 and 99 (files 00-14 are the ones that are already in the game). Now when you create a new pilot, your new photo will be among those that are available.

Generating a large mission
When you are done flying the mission, return to the Single Mission menu and click the New Mission button. Set the initial mission conditions as desired. Before clicking the Continue button, ensure that you have the Generate flights for all active squadrons option checked. Instead of getting the Create Flight box, you are shown the map with a series of green and blue flight paths criss-crossing the length of the front. Click the Next button to cycle through the various flights that have been created. Locate a fighter flight that looks interesting and click the Players Flight check box. You must have one of the flights selected as the players flight in order to have a valid mission. After reviewing all the flights, click the Done button. Note: As you can see from the complexity of the generated mission, creating a complete mission from scratch is not a trivial task! All the missions in the campaign game are generated in the same way and with the same degree of complexity, giving the campaign game infinite replayability. Click Done to get back to the chalkboard, then save your newly generated mission.
In this lesson we learned how to use the locator to find aces and squadrons in any particular historical period of the war. We learned about how to set the various mission conditions and how the historical option affects the availability of aces and aircraft. We created a simple single mission and edited the waypoints to produce a complete mission. Finally, we looked at creating a mission by allowing the computer to generate flights for all the active squadrons in a region.

Gameplay References

Keyboard and joystick controls
Because of the complexity of the game, Red Baron 3-D requires you to have both a keyboard and a joystick to play the game. This section describes all inputs that can be given to the game using the joystick and/or keyboard. Note that in the following text, an F# refers to the F1 through F12 function keys across the top of your keyboard and a KP# refers to a key on the numeric keypad on the right side of your keyboard. Also note that the NumLock light must be on for the numeric keypad inputs to function.
Aircraft control surfaces
The control surfaces include the elevator and ailerons: Pushing forward on the joystick moves the elevators down which causes your plane to dive. Pulling back on the joystick will move the elevators up which causes your plane to climb. Pushing left on the joystick causes the ailerons to move in a way to cause your aircraft to roll to the left. Pushing right on the joystick will make your aircraft roll to the right.

Rudder control

The rudder can be controlled with either the keyboard or a joystick rudder control (either a set of rudder pedals or a rudder axis on a joystick). For keyboard control, the rudder will move in the direction specified until you let up on the key, then it will remain in that position until you center it. The keyboard rudder inputs are: , (comma) Applies left rudder which causes your plane to yaw to the left. (period) Centers the rudder. / (forward slash) Applies right rudder which causes your plane to yaw to the right.
When using a joystick rudder control, you can apply exact amounts of rudder and hold the rudder in position as long as desired. When you let go of the rudder control, the rudder will center.

Engine controls

Although you can control the throttle setting with either the keyboard or a joystick throttle control, you must use the keyboard to turn the engine on and off: TAB +/= _/Toggles engine on and off. Increases the throttle setting. Decreases the throttle setting.
1 through 0 Sets the throttle to a specific position, where 1 is idle and 0 is full throttle. For joystick throttle control, putting the throttle at the lowest position will set it to idle and putting it at its highest position will set the throttle to maximum.

Weapon controls

Your plane can be equipped with up to three weapon types, machine guns, bombs, and rockets. For keyboard control, the following keys are used: SPACE BAR B R U Fire machine guns. Drop bombs (if equipped). Fire rockets (if equipped). Unjam machine guns.
On the joystick, the following buttons are used to control the weapons (note that there is no joystick control for firing rockets): Button 1 Button 3 Fire machine guns. Drop bombs (if equipped).

Cockpit view controls

You can control the cockpit views with either the keyboard or a joystick hat. For the keyboard, the following keys are used:
F1 F2 KP8 KP5 KP2 KP7 KP4 KP1 KP9 KP6 KP3 KP0 KP/ Enabled fixed views. Enable the slewable cockpit view. Look down at control panel. Look straight up. Look straight back. Look forward and left. Look left. Look back and left. Look forward and right. Look right. Look back and right. Toggle kneeboard map on and off. Using the slash key on the keypad allows you to glance forward without disabling the slewable view. If CTRL is held down in conjunction with a fixed view key (KP1 through KP9), the view is pitched up 45 degrees. So, for example, CTRL+KP8 gives you a view straight ahead and 45 degrees above level. If the ENTER key is held down, moving the joystick will move the slewable view in the corresponding direction instead of moving the aircrafts control surfaces. Look forward and up. Look forward and down at the instrument panel

Additional notes

Any information made available after this manual goes to press can be found either in a text or configuration file (.ini) in the SIERRA\REDBARON3D directory or can be gleaned from the www.redbaronplayers.com web site.

Red Baron 3D

MultiPlayerTutorial
RedBaron3D MultiPlayerTutorial

LWulffe_Dumbo

TABLEOFCONTENTS
1. 2. INTRODUCTION.....1 GETTINGSTARTED.....1 2.1 2.2 2.3 3. UPGRADINGFROMREDBARONIITOREDBARON3D...1 UPGRADINGTOTHELATESTVERSIONOFREDBARON3D...1 SINGLEPLAYERVS.MULTIPLAYER....1
GETTINGONLINE.....2 3.1 3.2 3.3 THEPILOTROSTER.....2 CONNECTING....2 THELOBBY.....4
FLYINGONLINE.....5 4.1 ETIQUETTE......5 4.1.1 Saluting.....5 4.1.2 Vulching....6 4.1.3 RocketsandBombs.....5 4.1.4 Collisions.....5 4.1.5 TheFlamerBug.....7 4.1.6 ChatDecorum.....7 4.2 ESSENTIALKEYBOARDFUNCTIONS....7 4.3 DOGFIGHTING!.....9 4.4 THEDREADEDNET....10 4.5 THEMAPGRID.....9
ODDS&ENDS....11 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10 IMPROVINGFRAMESPERSECOND(FPS)....11 CHATTING.....12 MACROS.....12 SQUADRONS....13 SQUADI.D.....14 GUNSIGHTS....14 UNOFFICIALPATCHES(UOPS)....14 CAMPAIGNMANAGER.....14 JOYSTICKS.....15 RENSSECURESERVER(RSS) 15

6. 7.

RESOURCES.....15 CLOSINGCOMMENTS.....16

1. INTRODUCTION

Theintentofthistutorialistoserveasacomprehensivestepbystepguidetowhatyoullneedto knowforonlineplay.Ifyourenewtothegame,thistutorialwilldefinitelyprovebeneficial.If youremoreexperiencedwell,youmightevenlearnsomethingnew,too. MakesurethatyouchecktheResourcessectionattheendofthistutorialforseveralwebsites thatwillmakeyouronlineexperiencemoreenjoyable. ThisdocumentisdedicatedtomyCO,LW_Jupes,whohelpedmewiththeoriginaldraftbackin May2000andwhohascontributedsomuchtotheRedBaron3Dcommunityovertheyears.Salute andGodspeed! Special thanks also to my esteemed colleagues in The Alliancethe combined forces of the Lone WulffeandWingWalkersSquadronsforimpartingmostofthisgameknowledgetomeandfor puttingupwithallofmyneverendingquestions.Improudtocallthemmyfriends. Finally, I want to thank BAChevelle of Wings of Valor for his input and assistance with this revision,andforgivingmytutorialanewhome.

2. GETTING STARTED

TheinstructionsforMMP(i.e.,MassiveMultiPlayer)intheoriginalmanualthatcamewiththe boxedcopyofRedBaron3D(hereafterreferredtoasRB3D)arelimitedatbest.Afterreadingthis document,youllseewhatImean! 2.1 Upgrading from Red Baron II to Red Baron 3D Before you can fly online, you first have to make sure you have RB3D. If youre still flying Red Baron II, you need to upgrade to RB3D. The rb3d_spr.exe file is called the Super Patch. It is availablefromseveralwebsitesbutonecentrallocationforallthingsRedBaronisWingsofValor (http://www.wingsofvalor.net).YoucanaccessthisfileintheFilessectionofWingsofValor. Download and install this file. You now have RB3D but you still need to upgrade to the latest version.Todothis,followtheinstructionsinthenextsection. NOTE:IfyoupurchasedadiscountedValueLineversionofRedBaronII,itisnotupgradeable usingtheSuperPatch. 2.2 Upgrading to the Latest Version of Red Baron 3D If you have a clean installation of RB3D from an original disk, or if you have updated from Red BaronII,youneedtoupdateyourprogramtothelatestversion. Theupgradeistherb3d1078.exefileandit,too,isavailableintheFilessectionontheWingsof Valorwebsite.YoullneedthispatchinordertoseealloftheMMPservers. 2.3 Single Player vs. Multi-Player It is important to understand that there are actually two RB3D programs! The MMP version is a completelyseparateprogramfromtheSinglePlayer(SP)program.UsingWindowsExplorer,you

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Red Baron 3D MultiPlayerTutorial will find the SP program (baron.exe) and the MMP program (baronmmp.exe) in your Sierra/RedBaron3Ddirectory. Youshouldcreatetwoseparateshortcutsonyourdesktopforthesetwoprograms.

3. GETTING ON-LINE

Youre now ready to dogfight online, quickly and easily. First, get online through your ISP (InternetServiceProvider).IfyoureusingsoftwareprovidedbyyourISPorotherservice(suchas AOL),onceconnected,minimizeyourISPtothedesktopstaskbarbyhittingthelittleminus buttonintheupperrighthandcornerofyourscreen. Your first option is to put your RB3D disk into your computer. If your computer is set to Autoplay,RB3Dwillautomaticallystart.ThefirstscreenyoullseeisthegamesStartUpmenu, where one of your options is to Dogfight On WON.net. Instead of going through WON.net, however,selectQuitonyourStartUpmenu.This,ofcourse,willtakeyoubacktoyourdesktop. Now,leftclickontheRB3DshortcutyoujustmadespecificallyforMMPonyourdesktop.MMP willfireupimmediatelyandtakeyoutoyourPilotRoster. AsecondoptionenablesyoutorunthegamewithouttheCD.Ifyouattempttostartthegameby clicking on your MMP shortcut without the CD, you will get a screen telling you that the CD is missing.SimplyleftclickontheupperrightIronCrossseveraltimesandtheprogramwillstart. NOTE:IfyouusethisNoCDoptionwhenplayingtheSPversion,youwillnothaveaccesstoall ofthevideofiles(e.g.,themovingplanesonsomeofthemenuscreens,thelittlemoviereelclips thatyoucanwatchintheIntelligenceroomduringaCampaign,thehistoricalfilmclipsthatpopup every now and then as a Campaign progresses, etc.). The lack of these little video enhancements doesnotimpedegameplayinanyway.Iflosingthesevideosbugsyou(likeitdidme),youcan simplycopyallofthevideofilesoffoftheCDandpastethemontoyourharddriveunderthe C:\Sierra\RedBaron3D\Data\Videofolder. 3.1 The Pilot Roster Thisiswhereyoucancreateanewpilottoflyonline,useanexistingpilot,ordeleteapilotthat youdontwanttouseanymore.ThisscreenisalsowhereyousetyouronlineflyingPreferences similartowhatyourealreadyusedtoinSP.Youhavetostartwithatleastonepilot;justclickon theNewPilotbuttonandgiveyourselfanonlinename. 3.2 Connecting Beforeyoucangetonline,besurethatyouhaveselectedoneofthepilotslistedinthePilotRoster. YougetonlinebyclickingontheConnectbutton.Youwillthenbeshownascreenthatlistsallof theavailableRB3Dserversthatarecurrentlyonline. Someoftheserverswillhaveasmallpadlockiconnexttothem.Thismeansthattheserveris restrictedtopilotsthathavebeenissuedapasswordtoentertheserver. Eachlineofserverinformationwillconsistofthefollowing: Page2

Red Baron 3D MultiPlayerTutorial ServerName Eachserverhasbeengivenitsownname,atthesolediscretionoftheserveroperator. PingRate Thisisthenumberthattellsyouhowgoodofaconnectionyoucanexpectfromthatparticular serverwithyourcomputeranddependsonyourISP,thetypeofconnectionyouhave(cablevs. dialup), your modem speed, etc. It is an indication of the response time between your computer and the server. The lower the ping rate the better. High ping rates can result in noticeablelaginyouronlineplay. Pingratesofunder200areconsideredexcellent. Pingratesof200300areOKbutnotgreat. Pingratesover300canresultiniffyperformance TypeOfGame Therearefourdifferenttypesofonlinegamesthatyoucanplay: Melee Melee is pretty much a free-for-all. Everyone flies as individuals and its every pilot for himself. Each player is awarded a kill for every plane that he shoots down. There are no sides to Melee and there are no points for destroying things on the ground. TeamMelee Team Melee is a team game without ground targets for bombing. You choose sides (Allied or German) and then take to the skies over the front in search of each other. TeamTarget In Team Target, the server computer selects ground targets at timed intervals on either side of the front for bombing purposes. Points are awarded to each side for every enemy plane that is shot down and for every enemy target that is destroyed. The targets selected for bombing are identified by squares around these landmarks on the kneeboard map. Different servers have different rules. Some servers operate as open servers where any plane is permitted to bomb ground targets. Others restrict bombing to certain aircraft typically the older, slower aircraft. If you are unsure of the rules, the polite thing to do is to ask on chat ahead of time if bombing is allowed for any plane. You should also ask if there is a rules web site for the target server. Many servers have rules pages established for fair play and fun. GettheBaron Get the Baron seems to be the least popular of the server types these days. Its kind of like Melee meets King of the Hill. In this scenario, there are one or more Barons (each a different color) and everyone is out to get him or them. Only Barons are awarded points for each plane shot down, and you become a Baron by shooting down any plane. GameDifficulty Fromeasiesttomostdifficult,thegamedifficultyrangesareNovice,VeteranandAce.These server settings affect the amount and accuracy of machine gun and antiaircraft fire, the amountofammunitionandbombsthatareavailable,andtheamountofdamagethatatarget mustincurbeforeitisdestroyed.Fewactuallypayattentiontothisanymorepeopleusually justjumpontoanyopenserverthatlookslikeithasalotofaction. Page3
Red Baron 3D MultiPlayerTutorial FlightMode(FM) Some server descriptions might include NFM or AFM. These indicate either Normal or AdvancedFlightMode.Whatsthedifference? TheshortexplanationisthattheFlightModereferstohowtheplanesfly,sustaindamage,and otherattributes.InAFM,theplanesseemmoredifficulttoflybecauseenginetorqueismore pronounced.Thissettingalsodeterminestheaffectsofsunglareandgunjamming. ThelongerexplanationismorecomplexandthesubjectofdebatewithintheRB3Dcommunity. In NFM, many of the planes might actually seem easier to fly. However, when you take damage,youraircraftsflightcharacteristicswilldefinitelydeteriorate!Inaddition,asyouturn (especiallyneargroundlevel)yourplanewillslowdownandmightevenstall,soyouneedto be much more aware of your crafts energy status. In AFM, many planes (all planes, accordingtosome)willberwithdamagemeaningtheirflightcharacteristicswillactually improve,particularlywhenclimbingand/orturning. NumberOfPlayers This will appear as two numbers separated by a slash (/). The first number represents the numberofplayerscurrentlyinthegame,whilethesecondnumberrepresentsthetotalnumber ofplayersthatthegamecanaccommodate. Onceyouvefoundaserverthatsrunningagameyoudliketojoin,highlightitwithyourcursor anddoubleclickonit.Youllsoonfindyourselfinsidethelobbyforthatparticulargame. 3.3 The Lobby Thegameslobby(alsocalledthegoldroombymanypilots)isslightlydifferent,dependingon thetypeofgamethatisbeingplayed. ForaGetTheBaronorMeleeserver,youllseeonebigboxonthelefthandsidelistingthenamesof allthegameparticipants.OnaTeamMeleeorTeamTargetserver,youwillseethetwoteamboxes, one for Allied and one for German. If you move your mouse cursor over the names of each participantandleaveitthereforafewseconds,alittlepicturewillpopupindicatingthetypeof planethatplayerisflying.Thisisusefulifyouwantto tryto matchyouraircraftselectionwith othersalreadyinthegame.InaTeamgame,youcanswitchbackandforthbetweentheteamsbya simpleclickoftheChangeTeamsbuttonatthebottomofthescreen. The Status box at the top of the screen in the center gives you a basic rundown of the servers settingsi.e., the type of game being played, the level of difficulty, the map being used, the FM beingused(AdvancedorNormal),whetherornotammunitionisunlimited,whetherornottheuse ofrocketshasbeenenabled,etc. The last box on the screen towards the bottom is the lobbys Chat Display where youll see the ongoingchatdialoguebetweenplayerscurrentlyinthegame.Therearefourtypesofchatbutonly All, Team, and Visual chat are visible while in the lobby. You will not be able to see Squadchatfromthelobby. At the bottom of the screen are five buttons: Change Teams, Change Aircraft, Change Airfield, Show Scores,andFlyNow.ChangeTeamshasalreadybeendiscussed.ByclickingonChangeAircraft,you canselectthetypeofplaneyouwanttofly.InTeamgames,yourchoicewillberestrictedtothe side for which youve chosen to fly. However, you might find that some servers have restricted Page4

Red Baron 3D MultiPlayerTutorial yourchoiceofplanesevenfurther.Forexample,youmightpullupthelistofGermanplanesand only find the DRI, the Albatross DIII, and the Pfalz III from which to choose. This additional limitationisdoneattheserveroperatorssolediscretion. Atthebottomofthepopupscreenwhereyouselectyouraircraft,youllalsonoticeaspacewhere youcantypeinaSquadI.D.number.Moreonthislater. ChangeAirfieldsallowsyoutomoveyourbaseofoperationsclosertowheretheactionis.Ifyouve selectedaGetTheBaronorMeleegame,itsappropriatetoaskthecurrentgameparticipantsviathe chatbarinthelobbyatwhataerodrometheyreflying;thelobbyschatbaristhelittlebarat thebottomoftheChatDisplay.Leftclickonitwithyourmouseandyourcursorwillbegintoflash there; you can now type and send a short message to the game participantse.g., Which aerodrome?WatchthechatscrollintheChatDisplayboxforyouranswer,whichwillbeinthe form of a map grid coordinatee.g., B2. Then, when you open up the games map via the ChangeAirfieldsbutton,yousimplymoveyourcursortotheaerodromeinthedesignatedgridand leftclickonit.Thataerodromeshouldnowbeoutlinedbyaredsquare.ClickontheDonebutton. Atthispoint,yourereadytofinallygetintothegame!DosobyclickingontheFlyNowbutton. NOTE: If youve selected one of the Team games, youll find that most of the time the action is around the aerodromes closest to the mud (i.e., the trench line, or No Mans Land as it was called in WWI). Bethune, for example, is a popular gathering area on the Flanders map.

4. FLYING ON-LINE

4.1 Etiquette Before you forge off into the blue to do battle, a little time should be spent on some rules of the skies. This will avoid some unintentional mistakes that are easy to make as a newcomer to the game. 4.1.1 Saluting Salutingisamultipurposegestureusedforeverythingfromasalutationtosayinghelloor goodbye.AsalutecanbeasobviousasaSalute!tomuchmoreelaborateandcreativeforms. Thereisalsoashorthandversion<S!>. Asaluteisusuallygiventotheentiregroupwhenyoufirstentertheserver.Todothis,press the BACKSPACE key on your keyboard to activate the chat bar. Make sure that you are in All chat by using the right and left arrows so that everyone can see your message. Type Salute!andthenpresstheenterkey. Youwillmostlikelygetoneormorereturnsalutes.Dontbedisappointedifyoudontgetone fromeveryone.Remember,somemightbeengagedinabattlefortheirlivesatthetimeyou entertheserver! It is customary to salute your opponent after shooting them down or after having been shot downyourself.Asabeginner,youwillmostlikelyhavemoreopportunityforthelatterthan theformer!

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Red Baron 3D 4.1.2 Vulching
Vulching is a term that you will most likely be exposed to on your very first visit to online play.Whatexactlyconstitutesvulchinghaslongbeenopentosomeanimateddiscussionson thevariousRB3Dforums,andalotdependsontheindividualserveroperatorshouserules. Vulchingcomesinseveraldifferentforms.Oneistheshootingofplaneswhiletheyareonthe groundorwhiletakingoff.Itisconsideredbadformtolurkaboveanairfieldandpickoffa planeasit istrying to take to the air. It is customary to let planes gain some altitude before engagingtheminbattle,ortoatleastletthemmakeafirstturnafterbecomingairborne. An important exception to this takeoff rule is during organized events or wars. These events attempt to simulate battle conditions and attacking your enemy while still on the groundissomethingthatmightverywellbeappropriateunlessitisprohibitedbytheevents rules. Theworstformofvulching,however,isintentionallystealingsomeoneelseskill.Ifanother pilothasbeenengagedinafiercelyfoughtbattleandhasmanagedtodamagehisopponentto thebrinkofdestruction,hewillbeunderstandablyupsetifyoucomeinand,withoneortwo bullets,knockthecrippledplanedown.Remember,inMMPthelastpersontoputabulletin the plane is the one who receives credit for the kill. If you do this by accident (and we all have!),thepolitethingtodoisapologizetotheotherpilotonopenchatandacknowledgethat itwasactuallyhim(andnotyou)thatbroughttheplanedown. 4.1.3 Rockets and Bombs Theuseofrocketsandbombsinairtoaircombatisalsoconsideredbadform;however,there are some servers out there that do allow this. Unfortunately, RB3D does not have the capability to limit rockets and bombs to certain planes. Either they all have them or they all dont.Rocketsandbombsaregenerallyconsideredtobeairtogroundweaponsandusedby bombersonly. 4.1.4 Collisions Ifyoucollidewithsomebodywhileflying,neverassumetheworstandaccusetheotherfellow of intentionally ramming you. Theres only one thing you can know for sureIT TAKES TWOtocauseacollision!Theproperthingtodo,therefore,issimplyapologizetotheother pilotforthecollisionandmoveonwithyourgame(whetherthismeanstryingtonurseyour crippledshipbackhome,orstartinganewlifebecausethecollisioncausedyoutocrash). 4.1.5 The Flamer Bug Atsomepointduringyouronlineexperience,youregoingtogetshotuptothepointwhere yourplanecatchesfire.Thefiredisplayisverygraphicallyintensiveandisnothandledwell bytheserversoftware.Ridingoutaflamerusuallyresultsineveryonebeingbootedoffthe server! You cannot extinguishan engine firein MMP the wayyou canin SP by shutting off yourengineanddiving. IfyourplanecatchesfireIMMEDIATELYhittheESCbuttonfollowedbytheENTERbutton. Donteventakethetimetoreadthescreenoptions.Thesetwoquickkeystrokeswilltakeyou back to your aerodrome with a new life and give credit to your opponent for shooting you down.Dontforgettosalute!

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Red Baron 3D 4.1.6 Chat Decorum
Finally,aswithanycompetitivegame,emotionscanrunprettyhighattimeswhenflyingon line. Its easy to get angry. However, its best to keep things in perspective and not get dragged into any flame wars on the chat scroll. Keep your cool. Salute your opponent, startover,andfightagainandalwaysrememberthatthisisONLYAGAME!Flywithhonor in memory of the young men who flew these crates in real life over eightyfive years ago withoutthebenefitofaStartNewLifebutton. 4.2 Essential Keyboard Functions Even if you consider yourself an Ace in SP, there are a few things you should know that will improveyourchancesofsurvival(andvictory)online.Forstarters,someofthekeyboardcontrols for identifying and tracking your targets are a little different in MMP. Here are the ones I considertobemostimportant: N=Padlockmode.Thiskeyactslikealongrangeradar.PressingNwillslewyourviewto otherplaneswithinrange.Theymaybefriendlyorenemyplanes.Youwontbeabletoidentify thecontactasfriendlyorhostileuntilitgetscloser,butyoullatleastbeabletopositionyourself morefavorablyinthemeantime(e.g.,climbformorealtitude,ifnecessary) D=Padlockmode.Locksontoyourtarget.However,thisonlyworksafteryouveselectedyour targetviatheShift+Dkey. E=Enemypadlockmode.TheEkeyhasashorterrangethantheNkeybutonlylocksonto enemy planes when they are in range. Each time you press E, you will cycle through all the enemyplaneswithinrange. F=Friendlypadlockmode.TheFkeyhasashorterrangethantheNkeybutonlylocksonto friendly planes when they are in range. Each time you press F, you will cycle through all the friendlyplaneswithinrange. L = Landmark padlock mode. Hitting the L key will toggle your padlock through the various groundobjectsinthevicinityofyourplane(e.g.,factories,dromes,dumps,villages,bridges). O=Padlockmode.HittingtheOkeylocksyouontowhateveraircraftorobject(e.g.,aballoon rarelyseeninMMP)thathappenstobeinyourgunsightcrosshairsatthetime. T = Padlock mode. Hitting the T key locks you onto the last enemy that put a bullet in your plane,NOTnecessarilytheclosestthreatlikeinSP. Shift+D=Whenyouhaveidentifiedsomethingthatyouwanttokeeptrackofonaregularbasis, press the Shift key, followed by the D key. This will lock your targetwhich might be an enemyoryourwingmanforsubsequenttrackingbyuseoftheDkey.(NOTE:theShift+D functionwillnotworkunlessyouhittheF8buttonfirst.) / = Glance forward. While in any of the aforementioned padlock modes from inside the cockpit, youcanpressandholddownthe/keyinordertoglanceforwardforfiring.Whenyoureleaseit, thepadlockmodethatyouwereinresumes. F2=Padlockmode.HittingtheF2keylocksyouontothesubjectofyourlastpadlock(whether thatwasanairorgroundtarget). Page7

Red Baron 3D MultiPlayerTutorial F3=Icallthistheexternalpadlockview.Itlocksyourtargetinthecenterofthescreenwithyour aircraftpursuingintheforeground.Iactuallyflewonlineforwelloverayearbeforediscovering thislittlegem.Ifyouhaventlearnedhowtouseityet,youshould.Moreonthisbuttonlater. F5=Thisisthechaseplaneexternalview.Youllbelookingatyouraircraftdirectlyfrombehind. Somepilotspreferthisviewforbombing. F8=ThiskeygivesyouaviewofwhomeveryouvetargetedviayourD,E,F,L,O,or Tkeys. Shift + N = By holding down the Shift key, followed by the N key, you cause everybodys namestoappearabovetheplanesthattheyreflyingoncetheyareinvisualrange.Thiswayyou knowwhoitisthatyourekilling(orwhoskillingyou!)PressingShift+Nagainturnsthisfeature off. ALT + T = By holding down the Alt button, followed by the T button, you activate the transparent cockpit. The transparent cockpit is only available if you have either an old Voodoo VGA card installed on your computer or a Glidos wrapper file installed in your RB3D game folder.AGlidoswrapperemulatestheolderGlidetechnologyforusewithnewerVGAcards.A good website to start your search for a Glidos wrapper thats best for your system is www.redbaronplayers.net.JustclickonInstallationFAQ/SierraPatchesandgofromthere. ALT + I = By holding down the Alt button, followed by the I button, you activate two little instruments in the upper righthand corner of your computer screen that tell you what your horizontalandverticalpositioningisrelativetothehorizon.Theinstrumentontheleftisastraight linethatpivotsupordownonitsleftend;thisindicatesyourdegreeofclimb.Theinstrumenton yourrightisatrianglethatpivotsleftorrightarounditscenter;thisindicatesyourdegreeofbank aswellasyourverticalpositioning(thetriangleflipsupsidedownduringaloop).Thisisagreat littleitemforwatchingyouraltitudeduringaturn,orformaintainingyourbearingsduringthose swirlingfurballs! Shift+A=Activatestheautopilotforflyingstraightandlevel.Greatforbreakswhilecruisingat altitude on a Team server, or for typing lengthy chat dialogue. Full autopilot (Ctrl + A) is unavailableinMMP. ALT+A=Activatestheautopilotforflyingaroundinacircleatanygivenwaypoint(oftenreferred toasautocirclebymany). ALT+F=ByholdingdowntheAltbutton,followedbytheFbutton,youactivatetheFrames PerSecond(FPS)counterintheupperlefthandcornerofyourscreen.Fasterprocessors,increased RAM,andtheavailableRAMonyourVoodooacceleratorcardwillgeneratefasterFPS. Shift+F=Shootsupaflare,justlikerealpilotsdidattimesinWWItoalerttheirbuddiesofenemy activity.Sincethiscanchewupframerates,Ivealwaysbeentaughttouseitonlyinemergency situations. Shift+M=RepeatedlyhittingShift+Mcyclesthroughallofyourdifferentammotypesfrom regular to incendiary to tracer. Good to know if youre flying a bomber in an organized war Page8
Red Baron 3D MultiPlayerTutorial situationandneedtoconserveyourbombsandrockets,sincesometargetscanbetakenoutusing incendiaryammoonly. ALT + TAB = Minimizes the game to the taskbar on your desktop. Works just like the little minus button in the upper righthand corner of most software programs. This function is probably utilized most by the Operations Officers in organized wars. Their job is to alternate betweenthegameandanonlinemultiplechatservice(e.g.,ICQ)whereotherpilotsfromtheteam mightbewaitingfortheirturntoenterthegame.Organizedwarsusuallyhaveastrictlimitonthe numberofparticipantsperside. 4.3 Dogfighting! Youllhavetoplayaroundabitwithalloftheessentialkeyboardfunctionsinordertodetermine whichonesyouprefer.Everypilotusesadifferentmix.However,herearetheonesthatIutilize themostwhendogfightinginteamplay First rule of team playfly with a wingman! Second rule of team playnever leave your wingman! Theres safety in numbers. Select a wingman by scrolling through friendly contacts with the F button. Once you have found the person you want to fly with, lock onto him by hittingtheF8buttonfollowedbytheShift+Dbutton.Remember,theShift+Dfunctionwill notworkunlessyouhittheF8buttonfirst.Nowthatyouarelockedontoawingman,youcan alwaysfindhimbyhittingtheDbuttonifyougetintotroubleduringcombat.Youcanreturnto theforwardcockpitviewbypressingF1. Whileonpatrol,constantlytaptheNkey,searchingtheskyforcontacts.Assoonasyougeta hitontheNkey,gotoTeamchatandannouncecon(whichmeansunknowncontact).If yourwingmanseesthesamecontactwithhisNkey,hellrespondwitheithercc(copy)or rgr(roger).Otherimportantshorthandtoknow:rtb(returningtobase),omw(onmy way),andwtg!(waytogo!). SwitchtoF3keyandtaptheNkeyinordertodetermineyouraltituderelativetothecontact, andadjustaccordingly.Remember,theadvantageoftheNkeyisthatitallowsyoumoretimeto getintoafavorablepositionforcombat.IfyourfirstsightingisviatheEkey,youretoolate. Aftergettingyourselfintoposition,taptheEandFkeysinordertodetermineifthecontactis friendorfoe.Ifitturnsouttobeafriendly,youcanbreatheasighofreliefandloosenthedeath grip that you have on the joystick! If the contact turns out to be hostile, engage only if you and yourwingmanhavetheadvantage.Otherwise,keepflyinguntilyouhavegainedanadvantageor until the bogie attacks, forcing you into action. (Good wingman tactics could fill up a totally separatetutorial!) If there are multiple bogies (gulp!), hit the F3 button and then use the E button to scroll through the enemy contacts to see where they are and to see which one affords you and your wingmanthebesttacticaladvantage. If,whilechasingyourtarget,youhearbulletspoppingyourplane,thatofcoursemeansthatyou areunderattackbysomebodyelseandhadbetterbreakoffyourchaseoryoullsoonbedead.On lineflyingisthe surefirecure for target fixation! Hit the T button to see who it is thats on yourtail.Ifyouthinkyoucanturnthetablesonthisnewthreat,hittheF3buttonandgoafter himinstead. Page9

Red Baron 3D MultiPlayerTutorial TheF3keyactslikeatoggleswitchbetweentheexternalpadlockviewandtheforwardover thewingcockpitview(notpadlocked)forfiring.Italsoremembersthelasttargetyouhitoninany of the padlock modes (E, F, T, O, D and N). This can be extremely useful during furballsbecauseitallowsyoutokeeptrackofthebogieyouarechasingwithouthavingtolock ontohimviatheShift+Dbutton.Italsomakesitveryeasytoswitchtargetsincasesomebody jumpsyouwhileyouretargetingsomebodyelseorafteryouvefinishedsomebodyoffandwant tolocatethenextclosestthreat.JusthityourF3buttonandcyclethroughtheremainingbogies withyourEbutton. Finally, I consider the transparent cockpit mode to be indispensable for effective online combat. While there are some pilots out there who scoff at the use of the transparent cockpit as being a cheat, the vast majority of pilots do utilize it during combat. The logic behind it not being a cheatisthatitcompensatesfortheartificiallimitationsimposedonusbyourcomputerscreens. 4.4 The Dreaded NET Itwillhappen.Youareonalongrangebombingmission.Youhavespentthelasttwentyminutes flyingundetecteddeepintoenemyterritory.Youarelineduponyourfinalapproach.Youcycle throughyourammotobesurethatincendiariesareloaded.Youcheckthemaponelasttimetobe surethatyouhavetherighttarget.Younoseheroverandpickupspeed.Yourtargetisasitting duckandthenitstrikes! Everythingseemstofreezeuponyou.Yourplaneseemssuspendedinmidair.Thewholeworld hascometoascreechinghalt.ThewordNETappearsintheupperleftcornerofyourscreen. You have been hit with the dreaded NET (also referred to as a mech for mechanical problems).Thishappenswhenthelagbetweenyouandtheserverbecomessignificant.Notall NETs are fatal, however. It just might be a temporary slowdown in communication, possibly caused by a flamer elsewhere in the server. Your frame rate will get very low and might eventuallyberestoredbutuntilthen,flyingmightbedifficultorevenimpossible. OnetipthatmighthelpyousurviveatemporaryslowdownistoimmediatelypressShift+Aor Alt+Awhentheproblemfirstappears.Thiswillputyouintoautopilotandpossiblykeepyou alivelongenoughtosurviveatemporaryNET. Whether to use Shift+A or Alt+A depends on your situation. If you are over enemy targets, going into autocircle with Alt+A might not be such a good idea. You are still accessible to groundfire!IfyourlocalterrainishillyandyouarelowwhentheNETstarts,goingintostraight andlevelflyingwithShift+Amightnotbethewaytogo.YoumightsurvivetheNEToryou mightslamintoahillinstead! IftheNETmessagestaysonfortoolong,youwillloseyourconnectionentirely.Youwillthen getalittlepopupmessagetellingyouthatyourconnectionhastimedoutorthatyouareoutof synchwiththeotherplayers.Ifthishappens,clicktheOKbuttonandyouwillbetakenallthe way back to your Pilot Roster screen. You will have to reconnect with the server all over again. Thiscanbefrustrating,whichiswhyitssoimportanttocheckpingratesbeforeloggingontoany server. If the word NET appears in the upper lefthand corner of your screen for an unusually long period of time (e.g., over30 seconds), chances are your computer has frozenup on youleaving you wondering what to do. Your first inclination might be to reboot by pressing your Page10

Red Baron 3D MultiPlayerTutorial CTRL+ALT+DEL keys, but this is unnecessary. The best thing to do in this situation is to hit ALT+F4.ThiswillkickyououtofRB3Dandsendyoubacktoyourdesktoptostartalloveragain. Bepatient,howeveryoumighthavetohitALT+F4acoupleoftimes. 4.5 The Map Grid It is important to learn how to read your kneeboard maps and relay your position to your teammates.Becarefulnottodothisonopenchat!Youaccessyourkneeboardmapbyhitting0 on your numeric keypad when its turned ON, or 5 on your numeric keypad when its turned OFF. The kneeboard maps are already divided into vertical and horizontal sections that are cross referenced by letters and numbers. The MMP community has adopted an additional grid descriptiontocommunicatepositionevenmoreaccurately.Eachmapgridisfurtherdividedinto ninesectionsthatarenumbered1through9,lefttoright,bottomtotop.Thisnumberingsequence isidenticaltothewayyournumerickeypadislaidoutonyourkeyboard. You communicate your location to your teammates by first indicating the grid that you are in followed by the particular section of that grid. For example, C25 means that youre flying in gridC2nearthecenterofthegrid.C29meansthatyoureflyingingridC2neartheupperright handcornerofthegrid.C22meansthatyoureflyingingridC2nearthebottomcenterportion ofthegrid.Yougettheidea. C 9 3

5. ODDS & ENDS

5.1 Improving FPS (Frames Per Second) If you have a relatively slow computer with minimal graphics power, you might find that your Frames Per Second (FPS) are low and that your screen movements are jerky. One way to improvethesituationistogointoyourPreferencesfromthePilotRosterandreducesomeorallof yourgraphicsdetail.Thiswillputlessofademandonyoursystem. Anothertipistoreducethenumberofapplicationsthatyouhaverunninginthebackground.You wouldntbelieveallofthejunkyourcomputerhasrunninginthebackgroundwhileyouretrying to fly; this can only deteriorate your FPS. I highly recommend a nifty little piece of freeware calledEndItAll2thatenablesyoutoshutdownallofthatunnecessarybackgroundjunkwhile Page11
Red Baron 3D MultiPlayerTutorial keepingthenecessarystuffinplay.Itsveryeasytodownloadanduse.YoucanfindEndItAll2 athttp://www.docsdownloads.com/enditall.htm.Ifthissiteevergoesdefunct,doaGooglesearch bysimplytypingEndItAll. Reducingthenumberofchatlinesthatappearintheupperlefthandcornerofyourscreenwhile flyingandhowlongthechatstaysonyourscreencanalsoimproveyourconnectionandreduce NETs.Toadjustthechatbuffer,rightclickanywhereonyouronlinescreen.Itsbesttodo thiswhileonthegroundatyouraerodrome.Thiswillbringupapopupmenubywhichyoucan makeseveraldifferentPreferencesadjustmentswithouthavingtogobacktoyourPilotRosterscreen. AmongthedifferentbuttonsyoucanchoosefromonthispopupmenuisonelabeledChat.Byleft clickingonthisbutton,youllbeabletoadjustthechatbuffertoyourliking.Youllneedtoplay withthesettingsabittofindwhatworksbestforyou. Ifyouhavethechatbuffersetfast(e.g.,onlyonelineofchatappearsonthescreenatatime),and youthinkyoumissedsomethingimportant,simplyhitCTRL+PGUPtoviewearlierchatlines. Finally, a lot of pilots prefer the F1 forward instrument panel view for shooting. You should know, however, that this view chews up FPS because of all of its working gauges. Using the forward overthewing viewi.e., the keyboards(not the numeric keypads) Page Upkey insteadoftheF1viewcanimproveyourFPSsignificantly. 5.2 Chatting Good communication is a very important part of MMP. Not every chat message, however, is meantforalltheplayersintheserver.Youcertainlydontwanttogiveyourlocationawaytothe enemyoryoumightsoonfindyourselfsurroundedbybadguys! You open up the chat bar by pressing the BACKSPACE key. There are four chat levels. The currentchatlevelisindicatedbythecheckedboxatthebottomofthechatbar. ALLAlsoreferredtoasopenchat.Anymessagesentwheninthismodeisshowntoeveryone in the server, including those still in the lobby. Make sure that anything said here is for general consumption.Thisiswhereyouwouldofferyoursalutes. TEAMMessagesbroadcastinTeamchatareonlyseenbyplayersonyourside.Forexample,if youareflyingAllied,thenonlytheAlliedpilotswillseeyourmessage. VISUALOnlypilotsthatareonyoursideandthatareinvisiblerangecanseemessagessentin thismode.Visualrangeisdefinedasbeingabletoseethepilotsnameabovehisaircraft. SQUADOnlypilotsflyingwithyoursamesquadronnumbercanseemessagessentinthischat mode.(See5.5SquadI.D.below.) 5.3 Macros Whenyouflyonlineforthefirsttime,youllprobablywonderhoweveryonecantypetheirchat messagesasquicklyastheydoandstillfly.Besidesswitchingtoautopilot,thetricktothisisthe use of a little macro program thats already built into your RB3D program. Macros are six short messages that can be saved and displayed in a chat message with a minimum number of keystrokes. To display one of these preloaded macros, open the chat bar by hitting the BACKSPACEkeyandpressoneofthefollowingkeysonyournumerickeypad:INS,DEL,END, Page12

Red Baron 3D MultiPlayerTutorial PGDN,HOME,orPGUP.MakesureyournumerickeypadisturnedOFFinorderforthistowork. HitENTERandyourmacrowillbedisplayedonthescreen. Ifyouwanttochangethepreloadedmacrostosomethingalittlemorepersonalized,youcando this by editing the games mplayer.ini file. Using Microsoft Explorer or any editor such as Notepad,lookfortheSierrafolderonyourharddrive.InsideofthatfoldershouldbeyourRed Baron3Dfolder.InsidetheRedBaron3Dfolderyoushouldseeafilelabeledmplayer.Simply doubleclickonthisfiletoopenitup. Onceyouhavethemplayer.inifileopen,towardsthebottomofthescreenyoullsee[QuickChat] followedbythepreprogrammedmacrosandtheircorrespondingnumerickeypadassignments. Simplymoveyourcursortothemacroyouwishtochangebyleftclickingonthestartoftheline youregoingtochangeandtypeaway.Then,whenyouredone,leftclickonFileintheupper lefthandcornerofyourscreen,hitSavefollowedbyExit.Youredone! HereisthepreloadedmacrolistthatcomesinstalledwithRB3D: [QuickChat] Insert=This is an example of my first chat macro Delete=Follow me boys! Home=Let's go bomb something! End=Nice shooting! PageUp=<S!> PageDown=Hey! Watch the hair, pal! If you have a joystick with programmable buttons, an even better option is to simply write your ownSalute!commandandassignittooneofthebuttons.Most(ifnotall)oftheprogrammable sticksouttherewillletyoudothis.ItisaloteasiertofireoffyourSalute!withthetouchofa singlebuttonduringtheheatofbattleasopposedtohavingtodivertattentiontothekeyboard. 5.4 Squadrons Whenflyingonline,youwillnoticethatsomepilotshaveletter/numberabbreviationsbeforetheir names. Some might even have military rankings following their names. These are squad designations.AlotofpilotsendupjoiningoneofthemanyRB3Dsquadronsthatareoutthere; there are literally dozens. However, there are as many pilots that choose to remain independent. Youdontneedtobeinasquadtoflyonlineandtohavefun.However,anyonewhosinasquad willtellyouthatitsagreatplacetolearnstrategyandtacticsandalsotogethelpifyoueverhave anycomputerproblemsorquestions. TheRB3Dsquadronsareasdifferentastheirnamesandnationalaffiliationsmightsuggest.Some were formed to emulate actual squadrons and they strive for realism and historical accuracy wherever possible. Some are organized with a rank structure with promotions, medals and the otheraccoutrementswhileothershaveamoredemocraticprocessoreventotalanarchy.(Dontlet the idea of a rankbased squadron scare you off. All of the squadrons are in it for the fun and welcomenewcomers.) There are squadrons affiliated with Great Britain, France, Germany and just about every other countrythatparticipatedinWWIbuttheyrarelyrepresentthenationalityofthemembers.Most have members representing allage groups but there are some that are comprised of just teens or oldermembers.Youwillalsofindsquadronsinmanydifferentcountries.Youwillfindthisavery internationalcommunity. Page13

Red Baron 3D MultiPlayerTutorial Choosingasquadisnodifferentfromchoosingyourfriends.Assuch,thereareonlythreerulesto follow:findonethatyourcomfortablewith,onethatfitsyourpersonalityandflyingstyle,andone thatsatisfieswhatyouretryingtogetoutofyouronlineflyingexperience. AgreatsourceforsquadroninformationcanbefoundintheSquadronssectionattheWingsof Valorwebsite.Almostallsquadronshavetheirownwebsites.Takesometimetovisitandlearn moreaboutthem.Ifyoulikewhatyousee,youcaninquireaboutjoiningup. 5.5 Squad I.D. Most(ifnotall)oftheRB3Dsquadronshavedesignedtheirowncustompaintschemes.Eachof these paint schemes is assigned a number and is a part of a webbased file system managed by WWFlybert at www.flybert.net. NOTE: Once youve downloaded the paint scheme files and unzipped them into your games Paints subfolder, go to Preferences on your Pilot Roster screen. Thereisaboxforpaintschemes.YouneedtochangeitfromDefaulttoCustominordertosee allofthedifferentsquadcolorsinMMP. Ifandwhenyoujoinasquad,youllbetoldwhichnumber(s)tousetowhenflyingonline.When youselectyouraircraftintheserverslobby,thepopupscreencontainsasmallboxatthebottom markedSquadI.D.Enteryoursquadronspaintschemenumberhere. ThisSquadI.D.alsoappliestotheonlinechatwhileflying.Ifyoureflyingonlinewithone or more of your squad mates and youre both sporting the same colors (meaning youve both chosen the same Squad I.D. number), by selecting Squad in the chat bar youre able to communicateonlywithyoursquadmatesandnobodyelse.Thiscomesinhandywhenyoufind yourselfonanopenserver(asopposedtoasquadorganizedwar)withsomeofyoursquadmates andwanttodiscusssomethinginprivate. 5.6 Gun Sights Alotofpilotsuseartificialgunsightsthatcanbeeasilycreatedandaddedtoyourgame.Theres an RB2sight ReadMe file located in your Red Baron folder (where you found the mplayer.ini file) that contains complete instructions on how to do this. There are also some ready made gunsights available right here at Wings of Valor in the Files section. Gunsights can be a real boosttoyourgunneryskills,particularlywhileflyingintransparentcockpitmode. 5.7 Unofficial Patches (UOPs) Oneofthebiggestreasonsthatthisgameremainspopularisthatitsbeenenhancedandupgraded over the years by aficionados who are true artisans at their craft. Super Patches such as Full Canvas Jacket, Hells Angels, and The Western Front (to name just a couple of the most popular ones)havemadeRedBaron3Dawholenewgame.Therearealsotonsofsmallerpatchesoutthere that modify just a small part of the gamee.g., aircraft, sky, terrain, buildings, flight/damage models,sounds,music,etc.Theseareallcalledunofficialpatchesbecausetheyvebeencreated byindividualgamersandnotbySierra/Dynamix(whichgotoutoftheflightsimbusinessin1999, aboutayearafterreleasingRedBaron3D). 5.8 Campaign Manager Ifyougetseriousaboutpatchesandaddons,youshouldknowthatsomewontworkunlessyou have a Voodoo card or a Glidos wrapper installed (mostly the graphics patches). Some only workinSPandnotinMMP,andsomeofthepatchesarentcompatiblewithotherpatchesitcan Page14

Red Baron 3D MultiPlayerTutorial getcomplicated.Forthisreason,ifyouchoosetostartplayingwithpatches,Ihighlyrecommend thatyoufirstdownloadaseparateutilitycalledvonTomsCampaignManager.Itwillmakeand removingpatchesasnap. You can find von Toms Campaign Manager at Wings of Valor in the Files section. As a side note,CampaignManageralsocomeswithabuiltincrosshairscheckboxinitsPreferencessection that will activate a little builtin gun sight so you dont have to mess around building your own rb2sight.inffile. 5.9 Joysticks Althoughtherearepilotsoutthereflyingquitewellwithlowendjoysticksandevensomewith nothingmorethanthekeyboarddoyourselfafavorandinvestinajoystickwithprogrammable buttons and a twisty handle for rudder control. Youll be glad you did. Youll find many differentmodelstochoosefromatapriceguaranteedtofitalmostanybudget. 5.10 Rens Secure Server (RSS) YoullprobablystartseeingmoreandmoreserversouttherewithRSSsomewhereintheirtitle. ThismeansthatyouneedtohaveRensSecureServer(RSS)installedonyourcomputerinorderto playonthatserver.RSSisaspecialutilitycreatedbyRenstopreventcheatinginMMP.Itisvery easy to use and has become a requirement of many MMP intersquad tournaments such as Red BaronWorldLeague(RBWL).

6. RESOURCES

Thereareseveralwebsitesthatcaneitherprovideyouwithgamerelatedmaterialorpointyouto the place to get it. Some of these sites have forums where you can participate in online discussions. These are great sources for the answers to any of your questions. Do a Google search,orcheckoutthissite:http://h.webring.com/hub?ring=redbaron2 Thefollowingwebsitesareamongmyfavorites: WingsofValor (www.wingsofvalor.net) ThissiteismoreorlesstheofficialwateringholeoftheMMPcommunity. FlybertsChateau (www.flybert.net) GetyourcustomMMPpaintshere! RedBaronPlayersNetwork (www.redbaronplayers.net) Lotsofgreatstuffbesuretoexploreallofthehyperlinks. SocietyofWWISimArtisans (http://www.swwisa.net) ThePromisedLand (http://www.plgrafix.com)

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Red Baron 3D MultiPlayerTutorial Order your copy of Kesss Full Canvas Jacket super patch herevoted runner up by Computer GamingWorldMagazineas2003sFlightSimulationoftheYear! RensSite (http://rensg.sqhq.net) HomeofRSS.BesuretocheckouttheBeginnerssection! Delphi (http://www.delphiforums.com) Delphi hosts several forums that might be interest. Use their search feature and type in Red BaronorWWI. SimHQ (www.simhq.com) Hosttomultipleflightsimforums,includingoneforRedBaron.

7. CLOSING COMMENTS

Well,thereyouhaveitoverfiveyearsoflearningexperiencecrammedintoonetutorial.Iwish IdhadthisdocumentavailablewhenIflewonlineforthefirsttime;itwouldhaveacceleratedthe learningcurveandgreatlyenhancedmyenjoymentofMMP.