Hasse Wind

I must be different, because I never thought Red Baron II was a bad sim. I bought it soon after release and began to enjoy it immediately. Sure, there were bugs and not everything worked as I expected, but it was very enjoyable nevertheless. The career mode was excellent even with all the bugs, and the level of immersion was something extraordinary. Of course when they released the big superpatch that changed Red Baron II into Red Baron 3D, everything became much better, and then later came all the mods that took the experience to another level altogether. But I really did like the original Red Baron II, straight out of the box. After all these years, I still think Red Baron is an extremely immersive sim. I still have it installed, patched and modded, but mostly for nostalgic reasons. It's good to know that P4 will have an improved and more immersive career mode than P3. For me, the extremely immersive career mode was the best thing about RB3D. I really felt like being a pilot in the Great War. Very few sims have succeeded at that.

Good stuff. Red Baron 1 was something extraordinary in 1990 (or was it 1991?). The best version was the PC one, the sim was too much for Amiga to run smoothly. Red Baron II (later 3D with the superpatch) kept me entertained for years. I actually discovered OFF while looking for some new mods to RB3D, which was getting rather old in 2008. Poor Olham, you really missed a wonderful flight sim experience with Red Baron II!

You didn't see the Bigfoot while camping, Lou? Who knows what's living in those huge wooded areas of North America, far from human civilization.

Well, then I'd like a Field Marshal size "Snuggy" with my P4.

The smart guys go to artillery, like I did. Much more comfortable to drive around in a truck.

Interesting word, that snuggy. Yes, I had to use an online dictionary.

Another very nasty surprise of the war was the tank. Imagine being among the first men to experience a tank attack, with no proper weapons with which to shoot at them.

If it's cold and your feet are wet most of the time, it doesn't take long for serious injuries to develop. It can happen in a few hours, depending on weather conditions.

In both world wars, the German army (Heer) was in many ways (though not all, like winter warfare) the best in the world. Their training, equipment, leadership, morale, staff system, creativity and initiative were wonderful, and produced excellent results at tactical and operational levels. In my opinion, their worst problems were always at the strategic level - production, logistics, and the top leaders, both political and military. They always ended up having too many powerful enemies and not enough powerful allies. I don't think anybody could have fought better in the difficult conditions of 1918 and 1944 - 1945 than the ordinary German soldier.

Easy to remove, or not install at all.

Yes, it must have been pretty bad at the worst of times. Of course as time went on they gradually improved the trench systems, so that men didn't have to crawl in cold mud all the time. But if you were unlucky enough to be stationed in a particularly busy sector of the front, the artillery fire kept ruining the trenches. In Flanders it was even worse, because the soil there became extremely muddy so easily. Trench foot (Don't Google it if you are a sensitive person!) was a very common problem, leading often into amputations. It could have been easily prevented with the correct kind of boots (rubber), but it seems that the majority of men who fought in the trenches never had anything better than leather shoes or boots that are not very good at keeping the feet dry.

Maybe I should contact Wikileaks and ask if they have any material about P4.

Let's hope the devs will reveal information about the tracer bullets (and other things) soon. Creaghorn, would you like tell us something about the new sounds?

Are you cheating those books from old grannies at those prices?

Those are great photos. I'd love to see such aircraft, but unfortunately nobody here has them. Isn't that strange aircraft the Siemens-Schuckert D.I, the German copy of the Nieuport 17? They were so impressed with the N.17 in 1916 (and rightly so!) that some copies of the design were made. In the end, the wing structure was copied for the Alb D.III.

I thought the dueling that was so popular in the Antebellum South went gradually out of fashion during the late 19th century. I guess I was wrong! People here are mostly very calm, but bad things can happen when they become very drunk and knives are closeby.

Creaghorn, will you tracer/no tracer improvements be in P4? That would be great.

Whatever you offer, I'll buy it.

Feuds weren't restricted only to criminal gangs back then. But these days, normal people don't go running around and trying to kill people who've gravely offended them. At least not where I'm living. We have this thing called police and justice system.

Why settle only for the Roland? Let's add the Pfalz D.XII to the deal! The more, the better! Now then, have I mentioned that I'd really like to see some new French two-seaters in P4?

Perhaps, but a lot more effective too.

I've been begging more two-seaters from the devs so eagerly that they probably don't want to hear such requests anymore. But hey, if Widowmaker got his Snipe using that method, it would be stupid of us not to try it too!

Not only the English and the Scots. Go back in time a few centuries, and life was pretty brutal everywhere. Things and acts that would now be considered heinous crimes and sheer barbarism in civilized societies were pretty common everywhere back then. Just think about the punishments of criminals, for example. Torture was a common method, and only started to get banned during the 18th century in most European countries. And in medieval times, when governments as we know them didn't exist in Europe, it was quite normal for people to settle crimes themselves without any "official" interference. Feuds were a commonly accepted practice in many old societies.

Bravo!

Thanks, Olham. I've indeed seen the first one, but not the second. One of my first careers in P4 is certainly going to be in a Rumpler FA. Good point, elephant.