Red Baron

Red Baron (Red Baron) refers to several computer flight simulators that play during World War I. The name is a tribute to the German fighter pilot Rittmeister Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen , who became famous during the First World War.

Arcade game

In 1980 Atari released the arcade game Red Baron for the Atari System 16 . The game was the first 3D flight simulator. The graphic was a black and white vector graphic with a blue overlay film. The same hardware was used by the Battlezone tank simulation , which was also very successful. The well-known Atari POKEY , which was also found in Atari home computers, was used as the sound chip .

PC Games

Red Baron 3D (Windows)

Erstveröffent-
lichung

1998

platform

Windows - PC

genre

Military flight simulation

Game mode

Single player , multiplayer

control

Mouse , keyboard , joystick , flight input devices, rudder pedals

system advantages
preconditions

Pentium 133 MHz , 32 MB RAM , SVGA - Graphics Card

medium

1 CD-ROM

language

(Country-specific versions)

Age rating

USK

information

Official and patched retail version of Red Baron 2 .

1990

The DOS game was developed by Dynamix in 1990 and distributed by Sierra On-Line . In addition to various types of individual missions (escorts, duels with famous aces, etc.), the player had an extensive career mode at their disposal. In this a career as an aviator from the serious beginnings of the air war in 1915 to the end of the war in 1918, on the western front, could be lived through (both on the side of the Entente Powers and the German Reich). In addition to the opportunity to obtain medals and promotions, he offered u. a. the possibility of flying alongside flying aces like Manfred von Richthofen (who was called the "Red Baron" and who gave the game its name), provided that you were in the right squadron at the right time.

The game came with a thick manual with lots of help options, historical photo material and maps. The game medium was two 3.5 " HD floppy disks . The hardware requirements were very low with a 286 processor.

The graphics were already shown in 256-color technology (320 × 200 pixels, VGA), but the landscape had few details. What was original was that the entire screen became brighter in backlight.

The setting options of the biplanes , however, like the missions, were very versatile (realistic weather, jammed rifle, unconsciousness of the pilot due to lack of oxygen mask, carburetor freezes, limited ammunition, etc.). The flight could also be recorded. The fun was enormous despite the mediocre graphics.

In 1992 the mission kit: Red Baron: Mission Builder appeared as an add-on .

In 1997, Sierra released Red Baron as freeware to promote the successor game. However, the Mission Builder was not approved.

1997/1998

In 1997 the successor to Red Baron for Windows PC was released . The first version ( Red Baron II ) was riddled with numerous problems and sometimes serious deficiencies (among other things, the flight models of several fighters were faulty, which meant that they did not even come off the ground). Furthermore, during the long development period, the 3D acceleration technology, which was emerging at that time, was neglected in the game, which at the time of publication meant that the graphics were outdated compared to other new releases.

In order to react to these problems, there was a second publication a year later under the name Red Baron 3D , in which the developers fixed many of the bugs from the first version and adapted the graphics engine to the current technology. A comprehensive patch was offered to buyers of the 1st version to bring them up to date. Only 3dfx cards were supported; a glide wrapper must be used for 3D acceleration on other cards .

In the years that followed, an extensive fan community developed that has made numerous improvements to the program to this day.

1999

In 1999, Curse You! Red Baron ( The Hunt for the Red Baron ) for Windows PC. The reviews, especially those of the graphics, weren't good either.

2001

The Hunt for the Red Baron 2 was released in 2001. Both parts are also available together.

2007

At the end of 2007, due to the new movie , further versions for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were announced under the name of Connections for Red Baron .

Web links

Red Baron (arcade version) in the Killer List of Video Games (English)
Red Baron (DOS) - Review at Abandonia
Red Baron (DOS) - Review at Home of the Underdogs (English)
Red Baron at MobyGames (English)
Wings of Honor - Where Combat Simulation Begins! (English)