IMPORTANT NOTE: Most of the information contained here is very specific to the 2.38 version of MultiPlayer Red Baron and may be totally different from Red Baron2!
 
 

How is damage determined?

 
                Damage in Red Baron is random. That's right. Regardless of  where it appears you hit your opponent the computer assigns random  location to your hit, as well as a random damage amount. So it becomes clear at this point the importance of where you hit is non-existent, whereas simply hitting is.

                One point to note is that according to Dave Eaton each plane has a "hit point" total or is capable of taking "X" amount of damage. In ascending order of severity of plane damage these are the locations you could be hit: Fuselage, Wings, Fuel Lines, Engine, Pilot.

                Obviously a hit on the pilot would be the most damaging because you will end up dying of wounds in a short amount of time regardless of whether you take any more hits or not. If you are already wounded  then even lightly damaging hits could take you out.

 

Two Guns VS One

                This is a tricky one. Whereas damage is random, the damage factor is greater for a two gun plane than a one gun plane. So a two gun plane has the chance of scoring a deadly hit much sooner than a one gun plane. This can be countered by flying a one gun plane that  is very agile, compared to a two gun plane that is very sluggish. The  Sopwith Tripehound vs. the Albatross D.III is a very good example. I once flew a match in the Tripehound, and scored 51 hits, where my opponents only scored a total of 23 between them. My wingmate scored 14 hits. I don't think its hard to guess who won that match!
 

 

What causes warp?

        The "official" reason according to INN are the following:
 

• Network delay, caused by the signal originating from you,  it has to be sent to the network and then to your opponent.
• Bad connections or line noise, which cause the packets in which Red Baron information is sent to be bad. This means the packet must be resent, taking longer to get to you increasing the delay, perhaps causing the enemy to hover in one place for a second or two because no update has been received.
• The game receives a "packet" of info, and then a buffer shows your plane flying from X to Z based on that buffer, when the next "packet" is received your position is updated if a buffer is received right before you or your opponent  make a maneuver the buffer will incorrectly plot his/her course.

 

How do I improve my aim?

                There are several theories on aim. First it is important to realize that due to the network delay, and possible bad info packets etc. you can possibly score a hit, or what looks like one, and have it not register. There is nothing I can say at this point that will  help you with that.
 
                What can help you are the following:
 

•  Deflection shooting: Deflection shooting is the method of shooting in front of your enemy. Or basically into his projected flight path. To use deflection shooting you must fly in what is called "LEAD PURSUIT." Or so that your nose is pointed in front of his projected flight path. This works really well on INN especially if you can aim in front of your opponent and let him fly into a steady stream of your bullets! The home version offers an even better model of deflection shooting, where you can line your bullet tracers up with your enemy and have him shredded in almost no time. Online this doesn't work quite as well, but still is an effective method of getting hits
•  Multiple hits: Multiple hits are a rarity for most people. At this point in time it *seems* as though the people who most often get multiple hits are using better computers, usually high end 486's or Pentiums. At one point I conducted an experiment where a friend and I flew straight and let the other person shoot him. We tried a series of different shooting patterns, such as 1 second bursts, and sustained bursts of up to 4 seconds. We were unable to determine that either method consistently provides multiple hits, but what we did determine was that due to the delay, you can hit your opponent after he is shot down.  Basically if you shoot bullet number 8, and hit killing him,   by the time that packet gets to him, confirms the kill, and then goes  through the network and back to you confirming it on your end, you may have already registered several more hits. What this causes is a discrepancy in scores, or hit totals. Also this may be part of the reason you may get hit right as you begin to take off, even though the enemies are at the other drome, or thousands of feet in the sky.

The pilot who was shot down will register the actual amount of hits it took to shoot him down, whereas the person who did the shooting may have several more hits on his score.  Don't be offended if at times you both have different scores for the same match. Usually important matches (for tournaments) are scored by kills, crashes, and death by wounds, not score.

• LAG PURSUIT: Lag pursuit is when your projected flight path is behind the tail of your opponent. This method seems to also utilize delay. It also helps avoid Ghost Bullets. If you are too close on your opponents tail, it very well could bet that he is simultaneously on your tail. This is possible in Red Baron.

To use lag pursuit you should shoot at your opponent and then fly past him, or behind him. Then either turn after him or utilize a  high yo-yo to turn after him (depending on what type of plane you are flying.) Hopefully this combination of flying well behind your opponent, and then past him will keep him from being behind you at  the same time.

• PURE PURSUIT: Pure pursuit is when you are flying directly at the tail of your opponent. Pure pursuit will give a great shot if you are directly behind the enemy. If you are off to the side, and flying  pure pursuit you will assuredly miss! (unless he is VERY close)
• "Ace" your shots: If your aim isn't great, then how can you "Ace" your shots? This is my own personal term for firing ONE bullet at a  time! Some pilots, especially those who fly Normal level all the time, fire so much that they are not really aware when it was exactly that they hit. In a stream of a hundred bullets, how can you know which one was the true shot? You simply can't. Ace'ing your shots will make you start to pick your shots more carefully, as well as become more aware of which shots will hit and which will not

 

Ghost Bullets

                I hit upon the reason for Ghost Bullets earlier when I  mentioned Lag Pursuit. Lag pursuit simply means to have your nose  pointed behind the enemies projected flight path. Ghost Bullets are usually a product of network delay. You should try not to fly really close behind an opponent because he may very well be behind you at the same time.

                One way to help avoid Ghost Bullets is to watch and/or listen  for your opponent firing. If he is firing, even if he is ahead of you, or off to the side, you can pretty safely assume he is firing at a  target. That target is probably YOU. (in a 2 vs. 2 it may not be) You should maneuver whenever you see or hear your opponent shooting. As a general rule of thumb you really shouldn't ever fly straight for more than 1 second when an enemy is nearby. This will allow him to hit you with greater ease, and four seconds or so later, you will  get hit!

                Usually when you are flying straight for more than a second or so is when you are shooting at your opponent. Odds are in about four  seconds he will see you flying straight, and this will give him an easy shot. So don't be surprised if quite often after you fire at your opponent you end up getting hit just a few seconds later! I would seriously recommend to shorten the time that you fly straight, and start making shots as you turn.
 

 

Situational Awareness

 (note I plan to write a chapter to itself on this in the future)

                Situational awareness is perhaps one of the greatest keys to doing well in Red Baron as well as in many war games, not to mention life in general. Basically what SA boils down to is knowing what is going on around you. If you don't know what is going on, then you can not react to it, defend against it, or take advantage of it.
                At first when you begin to learn Red Baron just controlling the plane will be so much that worrying about what everyone is doing and what is going on will be too much to handle. But as you become familiar with the control of your plane you will begin to be able to fly your plane without as much conscious effort as it used to take, and then SA becomes vital.

                In many areas of this guide I have hit upon what to do in specific situations. Being aware that a particular situation has occurred will help you execute the maneuvers and strategies I have laid out for you.  Hopefully you will come up with your own methods of dealing with each situation as it occurs. This will of course  may make the difference between winning and losing consistently.

                Some of the things that should be on your list to keep track of as you play are the following:

• Your altitude
• Your speed
• How many lives you have left
• How many lives your opponents have left
• Patterns in your opponents flying. (Does he always turn left after a head on pass?)
• Patterns you may have developed.. (break them)
• Certain times you always seem to get hit (like the top of your Immelman turn, maybe its too high?)

 

Undocumented Features and Bugs

        1: Saved View: You may hit the (enter) key or the #2 joystick button and go the external view. By holding down the button you may rotate  the stick, and while doing so rotate the external view. If you wish  to save that view for instant recall you may press CTRL-F?  The F? means and F-function key. I would recommend using an F key you  normally do not use. You may recall this view by pressing ALT-F? (This is documented on the Home Version) In most instances you won't enough time or hands free to press a two key combo just to retrieve a custom view. This is most useful for pilots with Thrustmaster WCSII or similar products.

        2: Zoom In and Out: In the aforementioned external view if you hold down the fire button, while you hold down button #2, you may also Zoom In and Zoom Out of the view. This is especially useful if you are grounded and want to watch the battle!

 

BUGS

 

•  OUT OF AMMO BUG: When you fly with limited Ammunition and your opponent runs out of ammo, his tracers will still appear when he  presses the fire button! He can not damage you with those tracers of course... but how are you to know if its a ghost tracer or a real bullet? Perhaps you can use your judgement and tell that he has been firing a WHOLE LOT..and you think he is out of ammo... of course if he actually gets a hit.. you know he's not!
• EARLY WOUNDING: In version 2.318 it seems that you can be wounded very easily. Usually you will be wounded (leading to pilot death) by the 2nd or 3rd hit. Normally pilot wounding was much rarer in earlier versions.  There seems to have been something done wrong with the damage model to make this so. The best solution at this point is to reinstall 2.3, apply the RBFIX.EXE patch, and move the 2.3 BARON files into your 2.318 BARON directory! INN probably has a different opinion about this! :)
• (2.3 RB.EXE with RBFIX.EXE has the ALT-R rudder problem, whereas 2.318 does not. There *may* be a link somehow in this?)
• EXTRA BULLETS: Some pilots have reported that in certain planes that have two guns, but one being located on the wing, such as the Se5a that the second gun will have 8 extra shots after it reports you are out of ammo!
• ALT-R Polling Bug: The ALT-R command is supposed to activate your rudder control pedals if you have them. If you do NOT have them in ver 2.3 and you attempt to activate them the computer will still poll for them, thusly greatly slowing down your computer. Some pilots use this purposefully hopeing to get in more shots during the slow down. I personally don't think this works, as it is slowing down the WHOLE GAME for you, not just your plane. So you can still only fire X amount of bullets in X amount of time! The slow-down may allow them to maneuver more easily? What it DOES do is make you VERY much more likely to be dropped from the network, because the net is not receiving your transmissions and may think you have disconnected. Also you *may* be able to spot someone using this trick-bug when you see them hang in the air for a few seconds and then VIOLENTLY warp for a few seconds!! Do not ASSUME this is the case, as warping, and bad lines can cause this same result  on your end! But if your opponent seems to be hitting more whenever he does this.. maybe he is?

        John Cable-AKA-VenomNB: John was a great help in proofing this manual for english errors, grammar errors, spelling errors, etc.. etc.. Also John was used as an example in several areas of the manual as he is my wingmate! John is also used a guinea pig for new tactics and strategies when  I come up with them...hehe <EG>  (THANKS JOHN!)

        NB-Squadron:The Nasty Boyz; For being a great bunch of "spankers" and keeping me on my toes!

This manual was created  and copyrighted in 1994 by Carl Kidwell  aka "Slaine" you can email him at melkior@usa.net