Rating: 
Summary: Mixture of realism and arcade
Review: One of the most entertaining flight "sims" I have ever played. This game has given me hours and hours of enjoyment -- especially online. Unfortunately, there are some perplexing and conflicting elements involved here. Although the game has a "realistic" setting, there are no stalls and/or spins during flight. The program allows a virtual "Red Baron" to do things with a plane that are simply against the laws of physics. Also, for all the detail the programmer(s) put into this game in many areas, the guys (and gals) -- for some reason -- dropped the ball in certain places. There is no weapons load-out screen for the planes, and there seems to be a never ending supply of crude rockets and bombs -- whether you want them or not (the bomb/rocket load doesn't seem to affect the performance of the planes). In "real life" these weapons are loaded as needed per each mission and then expended. Most importantly, the game only shows its true graphical splendor in the 3dfx Glide mode. My Geforce 3 card only allows software rendering (the ground looks like a Purina checkerboard). In summary, be careful -- this one is addicting as hell. (Also note that there is a good online community out there who are ready and willing to help new "pilots").
Rating: 
Summary: WWI in a 3-d world
Review: Red baron 3-d is one of the best WWI flight simulator. Its beath taking graphics and great gameplay, mix into one. Good luck on your travels.
Rating:
Summary: Red Baron 3D, More Than Just a Flight Simulator
Review: Red Baron 3D is not your ordinary flight simulator program. Red Baron 3D is a highly interactive WWI flight simulation where you can immerse yourself in honorable combat in the skies above France. Red Baron 3D can be played in a wide variety of ways. You can choose your aircraft and fly against any one of many enemy aircraft flown by an AI pilot in whats called the "Fly Now" mode. You can create a pilot and fly from the beginning of WWI, flying realistic computer generated missions in the "Campain Mode". As your pilot gains experience and as the War progresses, your pilot will advance in rank and responsibility. In "Single Mission" mode, you can fly your choice of a number of missions that will test your skills as a WWI fighter ace. You can even generate your own missions to fly, such as bomber escort or intercept, offensive patrols, even balloon busting. You can also play via the internet and pit your skills against other players in real time from all over the world. To play via the internet, you will need to download and install an official Sierra patch called RB3D1078.EXE. This patch will allow you to see and play in the many game servers devoted to Red Baron 3D since WON.NET no longer supports internet play. There are numerous Web Sites devoted to Red Baron 3D where you can get information on how to play the game.Regards;
JGS4SparksJ79bCO
Commanding Officer JGS4 Jasta79b, Red Baron 3D On-line squadron
Rating:
Summary: Red Baron 3D, More Than Just a Flight Simulator
Review: Red Baron 3D is not your ordinary flight simulator program. Red Baron 3D is a highly interactive WWI flight simulation where you can immerse yourself in honorable combat in the skies above France. Red Baron 3D can be played in a wide variety of ways. You can choose your aircraft and fly against any one of many enemy aircraft flown by an AI pilot in whats called the "Fly Now" mode. You can create a pilot and fly from the beginning of WWI, flying realistic computer generated missions in the "Campain Mode". As your pilot gains experience and as the War progresses, your pilot will advance in rank and responsibility. In "Single Mission" mode, you can fly your choice of a number of missions that will test your skills as a WWI fighter ace. You can even generate your own missions to fly, such as bomber escort or intercept, offensive patrols, even balloon busting. You can also play via the internet and pit your skills against other players in real time from all over the world. To play via the internet, you will need to download and install an official Sierra patch called RB3D1078.EXE. This patch will allow you to see and play in the many game servers devoted to Red Baron 3D since WON.NET no longer supports internet play. There are numerous Web Sites devoted to Red Baron 3D where you can get information on how to play the game. Regards;
JGS4SparksJ79bCO
Commanding Officer JGS4 Jasta79b, Red Baron 3D On-line squadron
Rating:
Summary: 3-D not much improvement to an already great game.
Review: Red Baron is easily the most challenging game i've ever played. It continues to confound me after years of play. I've never been able to get the online version to work, but that's OK because the "campaign" level is great. You must master the controls and be able to look off into one direction, while flying in another. You will build your pilot up while fighting in the Great War. If you see a red Fokker triplane come after you and you're flying for the French or British, get outta there!
Rating:
Summary: A great facelift for one of the greatest PC games ever...
Review: The first time I saw this game, way back in the early 90's, it looked interesting. What became of that was many years, even including last year, of playing it non-stop until I bought the 3D version. The realism is powerful, and the improved 3D graphics make this one game that will no doubt live forever in the PC gaming hall of fame. What makes this game different from all other flight sims is the campaign mode. In the last decade and even now, nothing has even come close to the feeling of building your pilot up in rank, status, and medals. When your pilot dies, you feel awful, especially after days and even weeks, of intense combat and intrigue, (Sometimes other famous pilots, like the Red Baron, will write you a letter and challenge you to a duel!). The campaign doesn't drag on either, because the war ends as it did in real life in 1918, so you can retire your score to the hall of fame board and start over trying to beat your last pilot. Who needs multiplayer? This game rocks, and I have never met a person who hasn't thought thought this game to soar beyond other flight sims. The only others to come close are the good old Lucas games, Battle of Britan and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. Buy this now, before it fades away and is pushed aside by evil marketing people who care more about graphics and sound than FUN! Fun is what games are about, and Red Baron 3D is one of the last great games of the early days that will always be there to go back to when flying games become ridiculous and boring, much they have already become.
Rating: 
Summary: Play online only!
Review: The only real reason to get this WWI sim is to play against friends (or foes) online. I haven't played in a few months, but the last few dogfights online were really awesome! Hours of fun, so long as your 'net connection can take it. I have dial-up and it would kick out a few times, but still worth it! You need PATIENCE when flying these planes, after all they are not jets and don't handle like 'em!
Rating:
Summary: Red Baron 3D
Review: This was my first flight sim game that I rally enjoyed to play for hours at a time. It is much more fun than than MS flight sim 98 because I could fly NOW and have fun doing it instead of getting bogged down in so many details that I either got bored or frustrated. The graphics are okay but the game is so much fun that I forget about the graphics and have fun instead. One thing that I like a lot that I miss in other flight sims is that I can change the views (or perspectives) in ways that I cannot change in others. Such as... I can view like a chase plane and have the horizon change with the plane OR have the horizon stay flat and only have the plane change OR have the horizon change a second after the plane changes OR have your own plane fly past you and this gives a very vivid feel to flying that I love. I wish MS WW II combat simulator had that feature! I can also view my plane from the enemies perspective and that comes in very handy. I also like the fact that you have to be a real flyer in order to survive because you need to keep in mind the limitations of these old crates...dive and pull the stick up too fast and your wing breaks off!!!!just like the real ones. Keeping these limitations in mind makes you a much more precision flyer. There is also a distinct feeling of differing performance between planes. You have to play with your settings to get the best graphics. I just set mine until I can follow clearly the path of my bullets when I fire. In later models (WW II) flight sims and later, you can do almost any maneuver and the plane stays together without coming apart, you are only limited by how many G's your body can take before you pass out. I have a semi old computer (400 mghz motherboard, 64M ram, voodoo 3000 graphics card) and it works great, good sound and interesting flight assignments. It is a great first flight sim and very forgiving. I also like biplanes a lot so I am biased. I have had the game over a year plus and still have not discovered all of its capabilities. I play with this more than my James WWII fighters and MS WWII combat flight sim. Priced right and a blast to play with. I have yet to fly on the web with others but I will soon. Improved terrain and graphics detail would make this game the hottest of hot among any flight sim. Buy it! I has been the most entertainment I have ever had for twenty bucks!
Rating:
Summary: Buyer Beware
Review: Watch out with this one. If you have a newer graphics card like a Geforce2 then you will not be able to get the 3D graphics. This game does not support 3d acceleration with newer cards. I was really upset when I learned I would have to buy an older Voodoo card just to get better graphics on this game. A great game other than that, but if you want the highest graphics, make sure you also have an Voodoo compatible video card.
Rating:
Summary: Best All Around WW1 Combat Flight Sim
Review: Yes it is true! Dispite being released way back in, what was it, 1998? Red Baron 3D remains among the top of tier of combat flight sims.
If you are looking for this classic sim the bad news is that all origional published copies are sold out. The good news is that used copies are not hard to find. Shop around and try to get the actual Red Baron 3D game and not the upgradable Red Baron 2. Also, try and find a copy that includes the Red Baron 3D manual. This manual is chock full of everything you need to know about every aspect of the sim. There is a large section devoted to the pilots and aircraft of the period covered in the sim and lots of period photos. It resembles a paperback novel more than manuals found with PC games these days.
Other good news is that although the game/sim is old it has been lovingly modded and kept up to date by a large community of artists and programers. The game in its current state of modification hardly resembles the game as it was origionally shipped.
The Campaign in RB3D remains to this day the standard to which all others are held. Really, there is nothing else in the world of 3D flight sims that can compare to it. It is the key reason why so many have been flying and modding this sim over the years. Very little about the campaign is scripted. Once you take off from your aerodome how events unfold from then on depends largely on the decisions you make while in the air. While flying a mission there is a real sense of a war going on all around you. Looking off into the distance dogfights and ground fire that have nothing to do with your mission can be seen unfolding. I have seen planes little more than spects in the distance spinning out of control towards the earth shot down out of the sky, trailing smoke.
The game was programed to run on the now extinct 3dfx Voodoo cards and Glide graphics. The game can be run in Direct Draw with modern video cards but it looks [...]. In order to run the game in Glide with a Nvidia or ATI card a Glide wrapper or simulator is used. The latest is called dgVoodoo and works great!
Anyway, I wanted to write up this review because the sim is still in use and message boards with enthuiastic modders and simmers from all over the world are currently active and they are a great place to get started and ask Qs about anything having to do with Red Baron 3D or any of its many mods and patches.
Here is a good place to start if you are ready to take the plunge! http://forums.delphiforums.com/swwisa/start
|
