Dynamix/Sierra Red Baron II

I've never been lucky enough to fly a real WW I aircraft, although I've flown a couple of close reproductions; and when you look at what WW I airmen had to deal with, "lucky" might not be the right word, in any case. I have been lucky enough to fly a few jets, of both Korean War and current vintage, and while there's no dearth of ego among modern fighter pilots, I would have to say that today's aircraft are immeasurably easier to fly.

So, also, with flight simulation programs. The most recent military PC sims I evaluated (Dm's EF2000 and F-22ADF) deal with the most modern aircraft in the arsenal, and while they're both challenging and fascinating, the jets' fabulous performance and extensive automation provide the pilot with a great deal of help-just like in real life. This month, however, we're going back in time. Dynamix/Sierra's original Red Baron has long been considered the WW I flight simulation, and their new Red Baron II builds on this impressive base.

I must point out that, as a pilot, I probably don't approach these products from the same viewpoint as my computer-game specialist colleagues at such locations as Air Age's excellent Online Gaming Review website (www.ogr.com). Those guys are far more experienced computer gamers than I am and are very concerned with such things as frame rate, terrain rendering, 3D acceleration and all the other technoid stuff that makes the game more realistic. (They could also probably clean my clock in a simulated dogfight-one of the reasons I tend to avoid the online multiplayer arena. A multiplayer patch will be available when you read this.) Coming from a real-world background (where I hope I could clean theirs), I'm less concerned with the technical arcana; as good as these PC products are, nothing short of a multimillion-dollar airline or military-dedicated simulator approaches what I would call "true realism" anyway. Instead, I've been concentrating on how well these simulation games draw you in to the action; and, without paying attention to all the nerd minutiae, I have to say that Red Baron II does a terrific job of that.

Like many other military-type "simulators," this isn't just, or even primarily, a flightsimulation package, but rather an entire virtual world. In this case, that world is WW I, and you have the choice of participating as an American, a Brit, a Frenchman, or a German. Where the flight simulation does come into play is in the selection of some 20 accurately modeled Allied and German aircraft.

You might think that it would be much easier for a simulator designer to program a WW I airplane than a modern jet. Indeed, in some respects, this is true: systems, weapons, displays and instrument panels are far less complicated and, at first glance, the dynamics would appear simpler as well. This isn't necessarily so. While WW I birds operate in a much lower energy state than jets, their turning performance is commensurately greater; and with aerodynamic drag similar to that of a Wiffle ball, management of what little energy they have is very critical. With the sim in "realistic" mode, most of the quirks of these old planes are accurately modeled. Missing, however, from those powered by rotary engines is the very significant gyroscopic effect of that big mass of whirling iron in the nose. G loads are represented both by a dimming of the visual display and by grunting and heavy breathing by the simulated pilot. While most of these old airplanes didn't have enough power for sustained high G without running out of airspeed, pulling and holding a tight turn can produce an interesting "obscene phone call" sound. Compared to a jet, those old planes were pretty frail, too: it's all too easy to pull a wing off, complete with rending and crunching sounds, broken struts flying past in the side view and subsequent loss of control (and life). Force-feedback sticks are available that are supported for both control feel and gun recoil.

One of the few obvious flaws in realism is a screen message, after you've crashed, that "Oil pressure is dropping." No kidding! Another quirk is that each mission starts with the sound of a radial engine-I bet it's a Pratt & Whitney R-985, which wasn't developed until the 1930s-ranking up, complete with electric starter. I mean, even cars didn't have those in WW I! (A beta fix available on- line from Sierra addresses most of the currently reported bugs.)

Where the product really shines, in my opinion, is in both the challenge of flying the aircraft (particularly in combat; I must have put in five or six hours, almost invariably getting shot down and killed before I ever managed to get a decent shot at an enemy, much less hit him)-and in the way missions and campaigns are set up. This is far, far more than just an arcade-type "shoot'em-up" game, although it can be set up and run as such both as a stand alone and online. Instead, it's a combination of a very good flight simulator and an equally good strategic wargame. Sure, you can install it and start flying, right out of the box. (In my case, the installation hung up each time when I tried to load the Intel video driver; however, it took only about five minutes to get the driver from Intel's website, after which everything went smoothly.) Once I had managed to survive a few of the "fly now" trips, however, I started to look deeper into the program's varied selection of missions and campaigns.