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Warbirds
Manual
Copyright © 1998
Interactive Magic
Copyright Notice
Copyright © 1998 by Interactive Magic, Inc. All rights reserved.
This manual and the computer programs on the accompanying CD-ROM are copyrighted and contain proprietary information. No one may give or sell copies of this
manual or the accompanying CD or other works of Interactive Magic, Inc., to any
person or institution, except as provided for by written agreement with the copyright
holder. Disassembly, reverse compilation, and any other form of reverse engineering
of the programs on the CD are unauthorized. No one may copy, photocopy, reproduce, translate this manual, or reduce it to machine-readable form, in whole or in
part, without prior written consent of the copyright holder. Any person/persons reproducing any portion of this program, in any media, for any reason, shall be guilty of
copyright violation and criminal liability as provided by law, and shall be subject to
civil liability at the discretion of the copyright holder.
Limited Warranty
Interactive Magic warrants that the CD-ROM on which the enclosed program is
recorded will be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 60
days from the date of purchase. If within 60 days of purchase the CD proves defective
in any way, you may return the CD to Interactive Magic, 215 Southport Drive, Suite
1000, Morrisville, NC, 27560, and Interactive Magic will replace the disk free of
charge.
INTERACTIVE MAGIC MAKES NO OTHER WARRANTIES, EITHER
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THE CD OR THE SOFTWARE
PROGRAM RECORDED ON THE CD OR THE GAME DESCRIBED IN THIS
MANUAL, THEIR QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE PROGRAM AND GAME ARE
SOLD “AS IS.” THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THEIR QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE IS WITH THE BUYER. IN NO EVENT WILL INTERACTIVE MAGIC
BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES RESULTING FROM ANY DEFECT IN THE CD, PROGRAM, OR
GAME EVEN IF INTERACTIVE MAGIC HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. (SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR LIABILITY FOR
INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.)
What to Do If You Have a Defective CD
Should you have a defective CD, please return the CD only (keep all other parts of the
game) to our Customer Support Department, along with a note describing the problem you have encountered. A replacement CD will be provided upon our receipt of
the defective CD.
Always make sure to include your name, address, and daytime telephone number
with any correspondence.
Questions or Problems
If you have difficulties with this game and cannot find the solution in this booklet,
please call our Technical Support Line at (919) 461-0948, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST Monday through Friday, and a member of our support staff will assist you. We will be best
able to help you if you are at your computer when you call.
You can also obtain customer service online. We can be reached as follows:
Email:
[email protected]
Web:
http://www.imagicgames.com
Interactive Magic and the Interactive Magic logo are trademarks of Interactive Magic,
Inc. All other companies or products mentioned herein are the property of, and may
be trademarks of, their respective owners.
Contents
Introduction: Welcome to Warbirds!
9
Getting Started
13
System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Creating an iMOL (iMagic Online) Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Modem Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Joystick Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The Basics of Flying and Fighting
19
In the Control Tower. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Setup Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Taking Off. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Attacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Landing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Autopilot Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Flying Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
A Note on Etiquette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Flying Head to Head. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Contents
Practice Offline
31
Options for Offline Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Offline Missions Compared to the Online Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Missions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Air Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Bomber Ambush. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Open Arena. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Surface Assault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Landing-on-a-Dime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Timed Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Debriefing After a Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Scoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Advanced Play
43
Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Victory Conditions and Scoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
A Typical Capture Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Carrier Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Carrier Takeoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Carrier Landings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Torpedo Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
The Zen of Bombing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Setting Up a Bombing Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Executing a Bomb Run. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Getting Home in One Piece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
The Joys of Gunnery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
How to Sign On as a Gunner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Controlling your Chosen Gun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Radio Procedures and Protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Radio Tuning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Transmitting a Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Customizing Your Joystick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Customizing Your Gun Sights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Definition of File Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Voice Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Using Voice Comms in the WarBirds Online Arenas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
6
Manual
Keyboard Controls
61
Host Commands
65
Credits
67
Index
69
7
Contents
8
Introduction: Welcome to Warbirds!
It’s Easy to Get Started
(No, it really is! Trust us!)
No phenomenon in the history of PC entertainment has grown faster or
attracted more people in such a short space of time than online multiplayer
gaming. The reasons for this explosion of interest are easy to explain:
•
No matter how sophisticated a software program’s AI (Artificial Intelligence) may be, human opponents are almost always more challenging,
more devious, and more fun to compete against.
•
Online play adds a beguiling element of socializing to what would otherwise be a solitary experience. It brings back that grand old beer-andpretzels camaraderie that made board games so popular in the Sixties
and role-playing adventures like Dungeons & Dragons so popular in the
Seventies. To whatever extent you find personally comfortable, you can
chat with and compete against people all over the world who share your
gaming interests. In time, you may form lasting friendships while playing WarBirds, and perhaps even enlist for intense campaigns in a virtual
squadron.
•
No matter what hour of the day or night you have the urge to dogfight,
there is always a place for you in one of the game’s online arenas—
some of which can accommodate up to 400 players simultaneously!
There’s a First Time for Everything
Let us assume you are one of the many computer gamers who have heard a
lot about this multiplayer business, but have not yet taken the plunge. If all of
your previous gaming experience has been solo play against the AI, you may
well find the prospect of going online intimidating. (All those acronyms! All
those protocols!). Until now, all you had to do, when in a gaming mood was
boot-up the computer, slide a CD into the tray, and click on a few icons. It is
only natural, if you have never done it before, for the process of going online
to seem complicated and fraught with difficulty.
Introduction: Welcome to Warbirds!
To be honest, that used to be at least partly true, back in the early days of
multiplayer technology. To the uninitiated, online advocates spoke in arcane
terms, and sometimes expressed disdain for those less enlightened than
themselves. As more and more non-techie individuals, however, became
comfortable with the Internet, with email, with large commercial services
and their user-friendly procedures, every aspect of online gaming became
simpler. It had to if the phenomenon were to attract a mass audience—which
is, of course, how online game services make a profit.
We, here at iMOL, understand your hesitations. But we are so convinced that
you will love playing WarBirds online, that we are dedicated to making your
initiation experience as easy and hassle-free as possible.
We Never Close
Always bear this in mind: If at any time you need something explained or
clarified, we are ready and eager to help. Our philosophy is simple: there is
no such thing as a “dumb question”, period. Almost everybody needs advice
from time to time, especially if you are a newbie (newcomer).
WarBirds is supported by a large, well-trained staff of expert support personnel. They are always glad to answer any questions you may have. You will
never encounter a snide, know-it-all attitude when you contact us.
Help is available, in several languages, from several sources:
•
iMOL's Technical Support: Dial (817) 424-5638. Are you uncertain
how to load the game files? Are you not sure if you have enough hard
drive space to store the game? Can you not get the sound effects to work
properly? Do the colors on the monitor look like a Grateful Dead poster
from the Sixties? Give these folks a call and tell them what is bothering
you—the chances are they can straighten out the problem quickly and in
language that does not mystify you.
•
Interactive Magic’s Web Site: Go to <http://www.iMagicOnline.com>. There is a lot of advice already posted there, in the form of
detailed answers to FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions). You often find
that a question has been asked by many others, and the answer is waiting
here for you to read and, if you wish to, print out for future reference.
•
By Email: Send email inquiries to <[email protected]>.
iMOL is the software development company which created WarBirds
and we have spent many years improving and refining the game. It is
very easy to send a question, and you usually receive an authoritative
answer very quickly.
10
Warbirds Manual
•
By Telephone: If you are more comfortable dealing with a real person—one who is willing and eager to walk you through a problem stepby-step—just give us a ring: dial (817) 424-5638. We would love to hear
from you, and we promise you will not be kept on hold while a John
Tesh record plays in the background.
•
Printed Documentation and Online Help: The manual gives a tangible source of guidance that you can have right beside your keyboard
while you are familiarizing yourself with the game. The software has an
even more detailed reference guide, laid out for easy access to whatever
information you are looking for. Simply click Help whenever you are in
the Control Tower; the online documentation is displayed.
•
WarBirds Player Web Pages and News groups: These are participatory chat rooms where WarBirds enthusiasts gather to swap tactical
advice, campaign strategies, trouble-shoot technical problems, and
sometimes just to regale one another with war stories. You can deepen
your understanding of the game by browsing these web sites, and you
can make some good friends in the bargain.
•
Browsing: Whether you are using America Online or a regional ISP
(Internet Service Provider), you can use your web-browser program to
seek out other sites devoted to WarBirds lore. In the blank space provided at the start of every web-browser program, type in <WarBirds>
then click Search. The search engine functions like an extremely diligent, reference librarian. It combs through thousands of web sites and
culls from them a list of every site containing <WarBirds>. It then displays a complete list of these sites along with a brief description of their
contents. Click on any entry that piques your curiosity, within a few seconds the electronic magic carpet whisks you there.
Once you become hooked on WarBirds, and we are firmly convinced that
you will get hooked after you have had a taste of the online action, it is a
good idea to conduct a web search every month or so, to learn about new
WarBirds sites and to check out new material posted on the older, more
established sites. At the time this document was being readied for publication, there were approximately 300 independent Websites dedicated to WarBirds!
WarBirds fans are a huge, ever-growing, community. Part of the fun you have
when playing online derives from becoming a member of that community.
Whether it is talking to an opponent or hatching tactical plans with a member
of your own squadron, all WarBirds fliers are comrades at heart.
11
Introduction: Welcome to Warbirds!
12
Getting Started
For all its rich texture and vast scope, WarBirds is not a very demanding
piece of software. You do not need a red-hot Pentium, a ten-gigabyte hard
drive, or a super-fast modem. The basic system requirements are, in fact,
quite modest.
System Requirements
•
Microsoft Windows 95.
•
A Pentium 90 or faster (Pentium 133 if playing with a D3D compatible
3D accelerator card).
•
46 MB free space on your hard drive (104 MB to run the game on its
highest graphic resolution—1024 x 768).
•
An Internet connection—every America Online account comes with
one; so does every ISP account. (Only necessary for playing online).
•
A joystick. (Highly recommended. You can use a mouse to fly, but it is
much harder).
•
A Windows 95 compatible sound card.
•
A modem that sends and receives information at a rate of no less than
9600 bauds. “Baud” is the term used to measure bandwidth, which is the
amount of data you can squeeze through the phone line that connects
you to cyberspace. The higher the baud number, the faster you can send
and receive data.
Getting Started
For Added Enhancement
•
A 56000 baud modem—greased lightning in a box, and not very expensive.
•
A D3D compatible 3D accelerator card. If you do not own a D3D card,
we suggest you check our constantly updated 3D card FAQ, at <http://
www.iMagicOnline.com> for supported cards.
•
A “virtual cockpit” rig. Afancy joystick with lots of programmable buttons (so you can configure gun-shooting, bomb-dropping and so forth
according to your personal whims), and foot-pedals to control the rudder. This kind of setup is not cheap, but it dramatically increases the illusion of being in a real cockpit.
•
A hi-fi speaker system. Another aid to greater realism, especially if it
has a sub-woofer, so you can feel the engine’s roar in the pit of your
stomach.
•
A “force feedback” joystick. This is a new development and, simply put,
the joystick senses the force and inertia of any move made, and transmits feelings of weight, torque, and G-force which simulate what you
would feel at the controls of a real plane, or race car, or whatever the
simulation is. Lots of players swear by them; just as many swear at
them. Try one out at Ye Olde Computer Shoppe before investing, as they
are not cheap.
•
A microphone designed to work with Windows 95 so you can chat with
other pilots (and taunt your enemies).
•
A headset (so you don't wake up the kids).
Installation
Before installing WarBirds, please close all other applications that may be
running.
Insert the WarBirds CD into your CD-ROM drive. After a few moments the
WarBirds Autoplay screen appears.
Click Install to begin the installation of WarBirds and follow the onscreen
instructions. WarBirds installs all the components you need to play online,
including DirectX 5.0.
At the end of the install program, you are asked to create an iMOL account.
You need to create an account to play online, and to receive your five free
hours. In addition, you need to be an iMOL member to receive the $30.00
online credit offer.
14
Warbirds Manual
After installation is complete, restart the computer so that all of the new settings can take effect.
Run WarBirds by selecting the Start menu, then Programs, then iMagic
Online, then WarBirds and, finally, click on WarBirds.
If you have a WarBirds D3D compatible 3D-accelerator card, you can play
with 3D acceleration by clicking on WarBirds (Direct 3D).
You do not need the CD-ROM in your drive to play WarBirds.
Creating an iMOL (iMagic Online) Account
You need to have an account with iMOL to fly WarBirds online. Creating an
account with iMOL is easy. Every new account created through WarBirds
receives five free hours of online play. Additional hours are charged at the
assigned hourly rates, listed in the WarBirds Arena menu.
There are several ways to create an account. During the easy account creation process, you complete a form that asks you to assign a Login ID and a
Password to your account. When you enter WarBirds online, you are asked
to assign yourself a callsign—a nickname or handle. Choose this carefully,
because you will live and die by that callsign in WarBirds. Vulgar and profane callsigns are not permitted in WarBirds.
Creating an Account during Installation: At the end of the installation
process of WarBirds, you are be asked to check the appropriate box if you
want to create an account. Complete the electronic iMOL Registration form,
then click OK, to create an account.
Creating an Account from the WarBirds Game menu: After starting WarBirds, select Create Account from the Startup menu.
The iMOL Registration form is displayed. Complete the form and click OK
at the bottom. The form is electronically sent and approved within minutes,
usually seconds.
Creating an Account by Phone: You can start your account by calling
iMOL. Just dial (817) 424-5638.
15
Getting Started
Modem Setup
To play games via a modem, make sure that your modem is installed properly, then configure certain optional settings for optimum performance. If
necessary, connect and configure your modem following the manufacturer’s
instructions or the Windows 95 documentation.
Once you have configured your modem, you need to turn off data compression to ensure smooth play.
You can change these settings using the Control Panel.
To change your data compression settings, follow these instructions:
1.
Open the Control Panel.
To do this, click the Windows 95 Start button, then select Settings, then
Control Panel.
2.
Double-click Modems to display the Modem Properties window.
3.
Select the modem whose settings you want to change.
4.
Click the Properties button to display the Properties window for the
selected modem.
5.
Select the Connection tab.
6.
Select the Advanced button.
7.
Make sure that Compress data is not checked.
8.
Select Hardware for flow control. The hardware control is usually the
default.
9.
Select OK to return to the Properties window and apply the new
settings.
16
Warbirds Manual
10. If the phone line quality is poor,
your modem may not be able to
establish a stable connection. If this
happens, reinstate the Use error
control check mark, but be sure to
disable (remove the check mark
for) data compression.
17
Getting Started
Joystick Configuration
Configuring your joystick can be as simple or as complex as you like. We are
assuming that, at this point, all you want to do is jump into the fray as
quickly as possible, so here is the quick procedure for joystick configuration.
Quick and Easy Joystick Configuration
1.
Boot-up your computer until the Windows 95 desktop appears.
2.
Click Start.
3.
Highlight Settings, then click Control Panel.
4.
Double-click on Game Controllers.
5.
Your joystick is listed (assuming it is connected and the software that
came with it has been loaded...), and highlighted.
6.
Click Properties. If you have one of those fancy rigs with foot-pedals
that control the rudder, check the box next to that option; otherwise
leave it blank.
7.
Select Test. There is a box that represents the limits of your joystick’s
movements along the vertical and horizontal axes, and an indicator that
symbolizes the stick itself. Move the stick around to test it.
8.
If it is necessary to calibrate your joystck, select Settings. Click
Calibrate and follow the onscreen instructions. When you are satisfied
with the way your joystick moves the indicator around in the box, click
Finish, to save the settings.
NOTE: Whenever you start a WarBirds mission, press F12 to center the
joystick and ensure precise control.
Complex Joystick Configuration
For most players, the simple Windows 95 joystick-configuration process is
adequate. Your plane goes where you want it to, climbs or dives, or whatever.
Some players, however, especially those who have logged a lot of hours
playing WarBirds, like to customize their joystick configuration to get the
maximum out of it, especially if by doing so, they stand to gain a tactical
advantage.
If you want to experiment with this, click Setup when you are in the Control
Tower. See “Customizing Your Joystick” on page 55 for further details.
18
The Basics of Flying and Fighting
In the Control Tower
Whether you choose to fly online, offline or head to head, the first place you
go is the Control Tower. This is the opening screen of any WarBirds session.
Observe the buttons at the top-left of the screen: these access functions
which allow you to set up the kind of session you are in the mood for, and to
choose which aircraft you are going to fly.
Control Tower
The Basics of Flying and Fighting
Setup Screen
Click Setup, to access the options screens.
Flight: Click Flight. A list of options is displayed. Check Easy Flight: this
option makes your aircraft somewhat easier to control and minimizes the different—sometimes ornery—handling characteristics of certain aircraft.
Flight Screen
Leave Blackouts unchecked for now. When you are ready to experience a
more realistic flight, check this option to experience a momentary fainting
spell (blackout or redout), if you turn your plane so hard that the G-force
interferes with the blood-flow to your brain. This can be a dangerous event
during a dogfight. When playing offline whether or not you decide to add
this bit of realism is entirely up to you.
The Start Behind Drones option, which is only available when playing
offline, starts you in the air behind a sitting duck target. In other words, you
do not have to actually takeoff from an airfield. Since takeoffs are important,
leave it unchecked for now.
Leave Cockpit Shading unchecked. Checking here gives shading in the cockpit art during blackouts and redouts. Leaving it unchecked may make the animation smoother if you are playing on a slower computer, or with an older
video card.
Starting Altitude allows you to begin in midair and is only available when
playing offline. Since we are going to practice takeoffs, type 0 (zero) in the
space provided, to begin on the ground.
Leave the default for Offline Terrain.
20
Warbirds Manual
Sound: Click Sound to adjust the volume of all the game’s sound effects—
this is very helpful if you have a napping infant near your desk.
Sound Screen
HTH: Click HTH to set up head to head duels with a specific opponent,
either online, over a LAN or a modem-modem link. See “Flying Head to
Head” on page 29 for full details.
Colors: Click Colors to adjust the brightness and intensity of the colors representing the various countries in the game. Unless you have monitor problems, accept the default settings.
Color Screen
21
The Basics of Flying and Fighting
Close: Click Close to return to the Control Tower.
Select Screen
From the Control Tower, click Select. When playing offline, there are several
missions for practice available (see “Missions” on page 34).
The Select screen has six buttons. Score, Gunner, and Pilot are used for combat missions (see “Scenarios” on page 43).
Click Plane to access the Plane screen.
Plane Screen
Plane Description: On the left of the screen is a list of the aircraft that can
be flown. Scroll through the list to see the entire inventory of aircraft available, and read the brief description about each. Some aircraft are easier to fly
than others. Select the British Spitfire; it is particularly forgiving to novices.
Convergence: The default convergence is 300 yards. This means that fire
from your machine guns and cannon will converge at a range of 300 yards.
Even though the actual range of a typical aircraft machine gun is 1,000
yards, it is extremely unlikely that you will hit a small, elusive, target at that
range, except by blind luck. Between 150 and 400 yards is a more realistic
range to engage an enemy, although some players prefer longer ranges, especially if they have trouble getting close to their targets.
22
Warbirds Manual
Fuel: Click on F on the fuel gauge to load your aircraft with a full tank of
gas, or enter the amount you want loaded in the space provided. It is rarely
necessary to load a full tank of fuel. Normal fuel load online is between 35
and 40 percent. An aircraft handles better without all that heavy fuel.
Ordnance-Loadout: There are several switches that govern how many
bombs and rockets you carry on a mission. The aircraft flies faster and is
more maneuverable without the drag of bombs under its wing, so select No
Load Out for now.
Click Field to access the Field screen.
Field Screen
A map of the mythical continent over which WarBirds campaigns are fought,
is displayed.
Location: In the location scrolling list are all the airfields you can start from.
For a training mission, it does not make any difference—just leave the
default for the first one.
Country: There are four countries to fight for, each with a different color.
After playing for a while, you will probably develop loyalty to a certain
country, but until then sign up for any one of them.
Map: The map has a “You Are Here” indicator which moves as you select
different airfields. Click on the map to select the airfield nearest to that point.
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The Basics of Flying and Fighting
If you have trouble remembering which color you are, look at your gun
sight—it is the color of your country.
Now that you have chosen a plane to fly, and a field to takeoff from, exit the
Select screen and return to the Control Tower.
Help
Clicking Help brings up the complete online help for WarBirds. Whenever
you need help during a game, this is where to find it. For many players, the
Keyboard Control charts (see “Keyboard Controls” on page 61 or the “Keyboard and Command Reference” sheet provided in the box) the most helpful
information.
Taking Off
Is everything ready? Then it is time to takeoff!
To takeoff:
1.
From the Control Tower screen, click Fly.
2.
You are now sitting in the cockpit, at the end of the runway. Although
each aircraft in the game has a cockpit modeled on its real-life
counterpart, all of them have the same basic instruments:
–
An RPM indicator, showing what amount of power the engine is
generating.
–
A compass.
–
An altimeter.
–
An indicator showing how many rounds of ammo are left.
–
The automatic pilot indicator.
3.
Press F12 to center your joystick.
4.
Press E to start your engine.
5.
Use = to rev up the engine to about 25% of its full power—this gives
enough power to taxi (if you need to get a better line up on the runway)
but not so much that you might lose control.
6.
If the aircraft starts veering (yawing) to one side or the other, press A
(steer left), S (center), or D (steer right), to use the rudder to steer. Use
these keys sparingly, or you are likely to end up spinning helplessly on
the grass; a gentle nudge is sufficient. Yawing is caused by engine
torque and is not present in easy mode.
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Warbirds Manual
7.
When you are lined up and ready to go, increase the engine power to
full by either pressing = until the RPM gauge goes into the red, or
pressing 0 (zero) which is a shortcut to full throttle. The aircraft starts
rolling down the tarmac, picking up speed. When your airspeed
indicator shows 130 mph or faster, ease back on the joystick; the
aircraft should lift off.
8.
Press G on the keyboard to raise your landing gear—if you forget to do
this, the aircraft flies with all the grace and maneuverability of a barn.
You can also damage your gear if you go too fast with it down.
Attacking
1.
Now it is time to find a target. In online combat sessions, you often
need to refer to the map to locate the action. Put the aircraft on
autopilot by pressing X on the keyboard. The aircraft flies straight and
level until either X is pressed again, or you take over the controls once
more. Now press F1 to access the map. Engaging autopilot before
looking at the map ensures that no sudden changes in direction, or
nosedives into the ground, occur.
2.
When you spot a target on the map, notice the direction and distance it
is from you, then press F1 again to return to the cockpit and alter your
course to intercept. Targets are not displayed on the map when playing
offline.
3.
When a target comes into view, it is labeled with either a callsign or the
plane type. The number beneath the label tells you how far away the
target is in hundreds of yards. If your guns are set to converge at 500
yards, that is the range you want to be close to. Remember to lead the
target, so your bullets reach the place where the target will be; if you
fire straight at the target (except at very close range), your tracers pass
harmlessly behind it.
4.
When the target is in your sights at 500 yards, lead it just a bit...now hit
the trigger button on your joystick and watch your tracers converge.
The target flashes. A hit! Good, isn’t it?
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The Basics of Flying and Fighting
Landing
When you have flown around for a while, whacking drones, and you are out
of bullets or low on fuel, it is time to head for home. If you are offline and do
not want to practice a realistic landing, press Exit Plane at the bottom-right
of the screen. You are transported back to the Control Tower. When online,
Exit Plane only works when you are stopped on the ground.
To execute a realistic landing:
1.
Achieve a good approach. That is, find your airfield and line up your
plane with the runway while you are still three to five miles away. Your
altitude should be between 1000 and 1500 feet.
2.
Throttle back to an airspeed of about 120 mph; more than that is too
fast for a safe landing; less than that, and you may stall and fall out of
the sky before reaching the runway.
3.
Press G to lower the landing gear.
4.
Press Q to lower your flaps (some planes require more than one push
on Q to fully lower their flaps).
5.
Approach the runway in a shallow descent, using the throttle (- and =)
to control your speed, and elevator trim (K and I) to control your rate of
descent. Ideally, you should pass over the beginning of the runway at an
altitude of less than 75 feet, and a speed of just under 100 mph.
6.
Just before touchdown, gently pull back on the joystick, raising the
nose just enough for you to see the horizon below your gun sight.
7.
When the tires screech on the tarmac, press the Spacebar to engage the
wheel brakes. When the plane comes to a complete stop, click Exit
Plane to return to the Control Tower.
Autopilot Settings
Autotrim mode: Press X to engage the autopilot. The aircraft now flies
straight and level until X is pressed again or you take over the controls once
more.
Speed mode: Press Shift-X to display the Speed box. Type in the speed you
want to maintain. Depending on your throttle setting, the aircraft may climb
or descend—experimenting with these settings allows you to achieve the
preferred climb rate. Most of the aircraft in WarBirds attain optimal climb
rates at speeds between 140 and 180 mph.
Angle mode: Press Ctrl-X to instruct the autopilot to maintain the climb or
descent angle of the aircraft at the moment it was engaged. Be careful if your
aircraft is descending when you engage Angle mode, or you could crash.
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Warbirds Manual
Views
Since enemy planes have a nasty way of diving on you out of the sun, sneaking up on your “six” (directly behind you), and seemingly popping up out of
nowhere, it’s a good idea to look, at regular intervals, in all directions. To do
this, use the View keys.
Press 4 and 6 on the numeric keypad to look left and right. Press 2 to look
behind you. Pressing the 5 key lets you look straight up. Pressing different
combinations of keys, and using 7, 9, 1 and 3, gives the 45 degree views. For
example, if you press 4 and 2, the view is like taking a quick glance over
your left shoulder. Try out different key combinations to become familiar
with looking around. Ideally, it needs to be intuitive and this can mean the
difference between victory and defeat.
NOTE: If you have a joystick with hat switches you can also set them to
the various views.
Flying Online
When you have shot down lots of drones (offline targets) and become proficient at taking off and landing, you are ready to engage in some real combat.
If you have not yet done so, create an account with iMOL (see “Creating an
iMOL (iMagic Online) Account” on page 15).
1.
Start WarBirds.
2.
Click Go Online.
3.
Enter your Login ID and Password, then click Okay.
4.
Scroll down the Arena list. The first listing is for a real-time combat
arena. Select it and click Join.
5.
The first time you play online, you are asked to enter your callsign—
this is the label by which you are identified within the game.
6.
From the Control Tower, select a plane, a country and an airfield (see
“The Basics of Flying and Fighting” on page 19).
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The Basics of Flying and Fighting
7.
Once you are airborne (and assuming there is not a dogfight going on
directly over your air base), put the plane on autopilot and press F1 to
consult the map. There are two arrows superimposed over the terrain:
the red arrow points toward the nearest group of enemy planes; the
white arrow points toward the closest formation of friendlies. These
arrows do not point out the location of individual planes—once you
follow them to the general area of combat, you have to scan the skies
like a real pilot would, in order to spot both friend and foe.
Remember: Each plane you spot has an label identifying it, and a range
number telling you its distance away.
8.
As soon as you join the fray, you start receiving messages from allied
pilots, and a running commentary on the action from the Host. These
messages are displayed along the bottom of your screen. You might, for
example, receive a warning that an enemy plane is “on your six” (take
evasive action quickly), or a request for you to join an attack on an
enemy airfield. To respond to radio messages, click the Radio button in
the bottom-right of the screen and type in your message. (See “Radio
Procedures and Protocols” on page 52).
9.
From this point on, what happens is up to you. Fly as a loner, accept or
decline missions, or attach yourself to the nearest bunch of friendlies
and be prepared to help them out. In time, you start to recognize certain
pilots’ callsigns, and develop an online relationship with them. You
may be invited to join a bomber crew or a squadron. WarBirds is
entirely open-ended, in the sense that once you start flying, your actions
are yours to determine.
A Note on Etiquette
The vast majority of pilots you meet online are friendly and cooperative, and
forgiving of your mistakes if you identify yourself as a newbie. Enemies tend
to be chivalrous, even as they shoot you down in flames, but they may also
taunt you (all in the spirit of good, competitive, fun). Human nature being
what it is, however, you may sometimes encounter someone who gloats over
your defeats, brags about his prowess, or broadcasts insulting remarks. The
technical term for such an individual is “jerk”, and if this pattern of ill-mannered behavior persists, the Host admonishes the offender, and the more civilized pilots shun him.
Finally, you do not have to worry about an enemy pilot joining and posing as
a “friendly” then suddenly turning on you. WarBirds has an ingenious safeguard against such treachery: if you attempt to fire on a friendly plane, your
bullets are deflected back to your own aircraft—in other words, you shoot
yourself down.
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Warbirds Manual
Flying Head to Head
WarBirds supports free head to head play. You are be able to connect with
any other WarBirds player to teach or learn dogfighting techniques, or to just
duke it out one to one.
Head to head sessions are initiated by clicking Head to Head on the Startup
menu.
The Host New Game and Join Existing Game buttons are for TCP/IP or
direct play sessions which you have already arranged with another player.
TCP/IP: For a TCP/IP session, the joining player needs to know the IP
address of the hosting player.
Choosing Direct Play allows you to setup a session using IPX, Modem, or
Serial connections.
IPX: Selecting IPX searches a LAN for a hosting machine and connects
over the LAN.
Modem: Modem play simply requires you to enter the phone number of the
host to connect via modem.
Direct Serial Link: Serial connections require a serial cable connection
between the host and guest machines.
The last two options, the iMOL Games Lobby and Direct Play Lobby, are not
yet in use.
HTH Screen
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The Basics of Flying and Fighting
The HTH screen, accessible from the Setup screen, allows settings for the
current session to be changed. All settings are made on the host computer.
Enter the callsign by which you wish to be known, as in an online combat
session.
NOTE: Settings for easy flight and blackouts here override settings for the
same parameters in the Flight screen.
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Practice Offline
When you select Practice Offline from the Startup menu, you are taken to
the Control Tower with Game screen selected.
Game Screen
There are five simple missions available for practice: Air Attack, Bomber
Ambush, Surface Assault, Landing-on-a-Dime, and Open Arena. There is
also an option for flying the missions with a time limit. To fly a mission,
select the one you want, then choose your aircraft from the Plane screen, and
choose the airfield from the Field screen, then click Fly from the Control
Tower (see “The Basics of Flying and Fighting” on page 19). While in flight,
there is a score display at the top right corner of your screen which lets you
know how you are doing. Some aircraft cockpit art obscures the score display. If you cannot read the score, look out of your cockpit in different directions, where the cockpit frame does not block the display.
Practice Offline
Options for Offline Play
From the Control Tower choose Setup, and click Flight. Look at the Offline
Play Only section. Point and click in any of the white boxes beside an option
to turn it on (check), or off (empty).
Blackouts: If you pull too many G’s or too few (negative), you may blackout
or redout respectively. Online you have to deal with this situation, so to get
used to it offline, before you have an enemy on your “6”, check this option.
Structural Limits: With this checked on, your plane has all the weaknesses
of a real plane in flight. Too fast or too hard and it might snap apart. Don’t
worry about this too much, these are war planes so they are fairly sturdy, and
are not likely to fall apart under anything but severe punishment (your aircraft starts shaking, and you may hear metal fatigue sounds when you reach
the limit). Online, this is always activated, so if you want to learn where your
plane’s structural limits are, check this option.
Start behind drones: With this checked on, when you select Fly in the Control Tower, you start behind a drone, just as the name implies. This is useful
if you just want to practice your gunnery and don’t want to have to find and
chase a drone before you can shoot. When a mission has no drones, checking
this option has no effect.
Invulnerable to Weapons: With this checked on, your plane cannot be damaged by enemy fire. The bomber gunners in Bomber Ambush and the antiaircraft ground fire cannot harm you. Although this option allows you to
practice your attacks and offense, don’t get too used to invulnerability.
Online, of course, you do not have this kind of protection against enemy fire.
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Warbirds Manual
Unlimited Ammo: With this checked on, your ammo does not decrease
when you fire. You can shoot forever. If your plane is loaded with bombs or
rockets, you do not run out of them either. This is a useful option for offensive practice, but don’t let the infinite ammo spoil you for when you are
online and need to conserve. A plane out of ammunition is defenseless.
Indestructible Drones: Checking this box gives the offline drones the same
invulnerability that you have with the Invulnerable to Weapons option. Use
this option to practice your gunnery without having to hunt down another
target every time you kill one. This option when combined with Unlimited
Ammo, allows you to practice your gunnery skills continuously on one target.
Starting Altitude: In the box to the right of this option, type in the altitude
in feet, at which you want to start your flight. Zero altitude starts you on the
runway. If you put in 5000 (no comma needed), you begin your flight in midair at 5,000 feet, on autopilot. If you start in the air, remember to turn up your
throttle so you don’t immediately begin losing altitude. Online, you always
start on the runway of your chosen airfield.
Offline Terrain: Scroll through the list to see the terrain available, and
choose what you want to fly over. Online, the terrain is chosen to match the
Arena map.
Offline Missions Compared to the Online Game
The offline missions are great for practicing the basics of WarBirds, but the
actual online game is quite a different world. You can ambush the bomber
formation over and over and over offline, and become proficient at hitting
the planes and avoiding the gunners. But until you go online and see a
bomber formation, possibly escorted by a few fighters, you have not experienced the true excitement of WarBirds, because online, the bombers and
fighters are not drones that fly in circles or a straight line. Every plane in the
air is piloted by a real person playing the game, and whereas your self-determined mission in the game might be to shoot them down, their mission is to
shoot you down, or bomb your airfield. And they are certainly not going to
give you an easy time!
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Practice Offline
Missions
Air Attack
In this mission, you see many, many aircraft circling over
your airfield. All of the WarBirds aircraft are represented.
Pick out a target and attack it. The planes only make individual circles, without maneuvering. Practice lining up
behind a target drone. As you get better at this, and can
hit the drones regularly and repeatedly from behind (the
“6” position), you should then practice attacking from different angles and at
different speeds.
Use this mission to practice your situational awareness. Continuously scan
the sky around you, know where the nearest drones are, and learn to predict
where they will be a few seconds later. In an online furball (that is the technical term for a lot of planes fighting in a small area), you really need to be
aware of the location of any and all nearby friendlies and enemies. Do not
become so focused on your target that an enemy can pull up behind you
without you knowing. Offline, of course, the drones do not attack you,
although sometimes their crossing, circular paths make it look as though
they are coming up on you. When you see this happen take defensive action,
while keeping an eye on both the enemy behind you, and the target you are
having to break off from. Then, after you shake off the enemy, go back and
attack on the original target. Practicing this helps immensely when playing
online.
Fly above the mass of planes, or just above one particular plane, and learn to
work out the direction of travel and altitude of your target. Taking a few
moments to make this determination improves your chances of making a
successful attack. Online, diving down onto an enemy plane when you do
not know its direction and probable intentions, may put you at a disadvantage in the final showdown. If the plane is coming toward you when you
attack, you will probably end up in a head-on confrontation where your target is approaching and shooting directly at you. It is no fun to have a 20 mm
shell come through your cockpit windshield, not to mention those destructive collisions. Dead pilots cannot brag.
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Warbirds Manual
Use the F2 key on your keyboard to toggle the icon over the drones. The icon
settings are:
•
Arena Default: Showing the distance in hundreds of yards, and the
pilot’s callsign.
•
Plane Type: Showing the distance and plane type, i.e. P51, SPIT, 190.
Range Only: Showing only the distance.
•
•
Off: Showing no icon at all.
Do not leave the icons on the arena default all the time and, for example,
always go after Pyro. Switch the icons off or to range only, and try to identify
the type of planes around you visually. Try to judge ranges without the icon.
In some special events online, the icons are adjusted to give a historical feel
to the game play.
NOTE: Online, enemy pilot callsigns are not shown. The Arena default
setting shows only the names of your countrymen, and only the plane type
of enemy craft.
Damage to drones is similar to that which occurs in the online game. The
major difference is that a drone can still fly with several control surfaces,
such as ailerons, elevators, or rudders, shot off. Online, a plane may well
start to go down with this damage because the pilot cannot stay in control
without these pieces. A drone explodes if you shoot off a critical part of a
plane, such as a wing. Online, the planes do not usually explode, but start
spinning and spiraling, diving to the ground; the pilot normally bails out.
When a drone explodes, it reappears elsewhere in the sky. Even without the
reappearance, there are so many planes in the air during Air Attack, that you
need never worry about running out of targets. Unless you chose Unlimited
Ammo in Setup, eventually you have to land to reload your guns. Even with
unlimited ammo, you can run out of fuel.
Bomber Ambush
At the beginning of this mission, you receive a message
over the radio alerting you to an incoming flight of
enemy B-17 bombers. Try to intercept and shoot them
down. Sounds simple doesn’t it?
Unlike the Air Attack mission, the gunner positions on
the bombers shoot back at you. This is what makes this
mission a real challenge. The flight of bombers flies straight and level at
about 5,000 feet altitude, so they are big, slow, and easy targets to hit. But,
and this is a big but, there are gunners in the nose, top, belly, left-waist, rightwaist, and the tail (for a total of ten 50 caliber machine guns on each plane),
35
Practice Offline
who shoot at your plane, and they will leave it in pieces if you are not very
careful—probably, even if you are careful. The standard real-life tactics in
World War II were to attack a bomber formation head on, so a fighter could
fire at, then pass by the bombers quickly, giving the defending gunners only
a few seconds to fire.
If you are a bomber pilot and want to practice formation flying, select Gold
as your country in the Field screen. The bombers in this mission are Gold,
and their gunners do not shoot at countrymen. For a novice bomber pilot, it
might be best to start behind the drones. Choose this from the Setup options,
under Flight, available from the Control Tower. That way, instead of having
to takeoff, climb, and catch up with the formation, you start about 1500
yards behind them, at the same altitude, and you can just close up and hold
formation with them. For optimum gunner coverage, and thereby safety,
keep your formation within a range of 0-1, that is no more than 100 yards.
When you go online with a formation, this distance makes fighter attacks
very dangerous for the fighters.
NOTE: When you start in the air offline, put your throttle full up, by using
the = key or by pressing 0 (zero). It may take a few seconds for your
engines to pull you up to speed, but they do so eventually. At first, the
formation may gain some distance on you, but as your speed picks up, you
slowly start to close with it. The formation is flying at about 180 mph.
These bombers take damage just like the Air Attack drones, and continue to
fly until blown up. You will discover that bombers are tough to shoot down.
Online, bombers give WarBirds another strategic element besides the basic
dogfight. Although a formation of bombers is a tough nut to crack, you may
often see a lone bomber flying a mission, with or without a fighter escort. As
you can see from flying the Bomber Ambush mission, hunting bombers is no
cakewalk.
Open Arena
This is the mission for basic flight and reconnaissance
practice. There is not much going on in this arena, just a
single drone plane circling each airfield, and lots of
empty terrain to explore. For those players who have
been playing WarBirds for a while, this is the basic
offline arena you are used to. Use this area to test fly new
planes and new maneuvers. Learn the flight characteristics of many different
types of planes, this knowledge can help you in an online dogfight.
When you first try out WarBirds, you will probably become attached to one
particular type of aircraft. That’s great. Online, however, the Main Arena
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Warbirds Manual
operates under a Tour of Duty schedule, known as the Rolling Plane Set
(RPS). The RPS schedule can be found on the iMOL web site, and it mimics
the plane set rotation of World War II. A Tour of Duty is three weeks long,
wherein the plane set rolls from early war, to mid war, to late war, and finally
to all planes available. In the Plane screen, a Select option which you access
from the Control Tower, you can see the dates of the war that the selected
plane was available to war pilots. Note the dates for your favorite planes. If
you only fly late war aircraft, it is advisable to find an early war plane as
well, so you are comfortable (and deadly) in all stages of the RPS. Use the
Open Arena offline to test the choices.
Surface Assault
When you pick an aircraft for this mission, be sure to
chose your ordnance according to the targets you want to
hit. Pick heavy bombs for hard targets, lighter bombs or
rockets for softer targets (you can usually carry a larger
number of light bombs than heavy bombs), or torpedoes
for ship targets. The larger bombs also have a wider blast
radius, so a near miss may still damage your target.
If you pick a bomber to fly, you have the bomb sight to help you keep level
for bombing, but if you pick a fighter with a bomb load, you need to practice
dive bombing.
Once you have mastered hitting your target with explosive weapons, you
should try doing it while being shot at. Fly to a nearby enemy field (that is a
field of a different color than you—your gun sight shows your country
color), and attack it. If you are using a low-level bomber or a fighter-bomber,
you will probably see lots of yellow and red tracers zipping up at you as you
attack. If you are in a high altitude bomber, like the B17, you may fly above
the range of most ground fire, but anti-aircraft artillery may still be able to
reach you. Fortunately, not all airfields have these guns, but expect it over
major targets, including the carrier group.
Carpet bombing (dropping bombs all over the place in one run) can be fun,
but try to be precise with your drops. It takes more than one run to hit every
target at a base, so you need to turn around and make a second, third, and
maybe even a fourth pass, to totally destroy all the targets.
Online, bombing is the first step in capturing an enemy air base. When your
country wants to expand its borders, and pick up new real estate, it needs
bombers to do the heavy work. Bombers do the raids, fighters provide cover,
and if it is all done properly, your country gains a new airfield.
37
Practice Offline
Landing-on-a-Dime
For beginners, takeoff and landing are difficult missions
all by themselves. This mission lets you practice these
two basic procedures. You can find technical takeoff and
landing tips on the iMOL web site, at the Flight Academy. For this mission, you need to takeoff and climb over
200 feet, then wait for the radio message which tells you
to land.
You are scored on your grace and skill at this maneuver. You may have heard
the phrase: “any landing you can walk away from is a good landing”. Well,
in this man’s army, that is just not true. The mechanics in this outfit really do
not like having to repair aircraft that some jock dropped out of the sky. The
razzing you receive at the unit mess hall is not pretty, so try not to smash
your engine, or break your landing gear, or snap off a wing when you land—
your tour of duty will be much easier.
Having said the above, let us contradict ourselves. Sooner or later, you need
to practice ditching. It is not uncommon online to have your landing gear
damaged or your engine knocked out by enemy fire. Use this offline mission
to practice the art of dead stick landing, and gear-up landing.
Fly up to some random altitude, then press E to shut off your engine. Resist
the urge to turn it back on, and just try to coax your aircraft down to the airstrip. Using only altitude and maneuver, control your speed and make a safe
landing.
Next, takeoff and turn around for a landing, like normal, but this time, don’t
lower your gear. Done properly, your plane just slides in on its belly with
minimal damage, and no explosion. For extra difficulty, try a gear-up landing
with no engine. Do not laugh at the idea. Online, you may have to do it
sometime, unless you want to be a wimp and just bail out. If you think your
mechanics give you a hard time over bringing them a damaged aircraft, think
what your commanding officer may say when you come back with no aircraft at all!
Also, try ditching somewhere other than on a paved runway. Learn what terrain is easiest to land on, including water. You never know when you may be
forced down far away from a friendly base. Fortunately, since this is a game,
no one gets captured by enemy troops (just like a killed pilot can just replane and takeoff again)—virtual reality goes only so far.
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Warbirds Manual
Timed Games
In the Game screen, there is the option of setting a timer for your missions.
Point and click in the white box next to Timed game, and pick a time length
between 1 and 60 minutes. You can use the slide bar, or just click in the
white area and type in the time directly.
Mission countdown time is shown under the score counter in the top right
corner of the screen, in minutes:seconds. When the timer reaches ten seconds left, a message pops up over your gun sight, warning you.
Once you have the hang of shooting down drones in the Air Attack mission,
see how many you can kill in two minutes. If you are so good that you can
destroy a bomber formation in the Bomber Ambush, try it with a five minute
time limit. If you can place a 500 pound bomb on each target of a major airfield, try it with a 10 minute time limit. Use the timer to count down how
long it takes you to takeoff and fly from your home airfield to the next field
away.
Becoming good at missions within a time limit helps you play successfully
online. Online, if you find a single enemy plane ripe for attack, you need to
be quick about it, because you do not know how soon their friends may show
up to help them out. If you find an enemy field with no aircraft nearby, and
begin bombing it, you can be assured that someone is going to notice and
fighter defenders will soon start showing up. You need practice in getting to
your target, hitting your target, and getting away all within only a few minutes.
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Practice Offline
Debriefing After a Mission
When you finish a mission, whether by exiting your plane, crashing, or running out of time, you are taken back to the Control Tower where you can see
your score for that mission. You are given the options of continuing that mission, changing missions, or looking at the points table.
Score Details
If you want to fly again in the same mission, click Continue, and then click
Fly from the Control Tower. You are returned to the mission, to finish from
where you left off. If you want to fly a different mission, click Select New
Game and choose what you want from the Game menu. If you want to see
the Points Table, click Display Points Table. This table shows you how your
points are awarded.
Scoring
The score box, shown at the top right corner of your screen when you are flying, keeps track of the targets you have destroyed, the number of hits you
have made, and your overall score. If you are using the timer, the time
remaining is given just under the score box.
You are awarded points for simply hitting a target, but the weapon you hit
with determines how many points. For instance, hitting a plane with your
guns is not that hard (once you practice at it anyway), so you only get ten
points for that. But if you hit a plane with a bomb (highly unlikely) you get
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Warbirds Manual
1500 points. Hitting a ground target with your guns net only two points, and
only 100 points with a bomb.
Points Table
You are awarded points for destroying a target: 1000 for a plane, 150 for a
ship, 100 for a building. These points are cumulative with the hit points. That
is, if you hit a plane 10 times with your guns to destroy it, you get 1100
points (10 points x 10 hits = 100 points + 1000 points for destruction = 1100
total points). Actually, you won’t receive exactly 1100 points. Every round
of ammo you use is deducted from your score: -0.1 per bullet, -25 per rocket,
-25 per bomb. So if you fired 20 rounds to score those 10 hits (a great percentage for offline, and astounding for online), you have a penalty of -2
points, and an actual total of 1098 points. Fortunately, the computer keeps
track of all these numbers for you, but we thought you might like to know
how it all worked.
Above and beyond the score modifiers, you have 10 points deducted every
time you are hit by enemy fire. Watch out, and don’t get hit by ground fire or
bomber gunners! You also get 500 points for landing successfully (2500
points if you land on a carrier). You have 250 points deducted if you damage
your plane on landing. Remember those mechanics?
In Bomber Ambush, due to the difficulty of destroying bombers, the penalties for taking hits and expending bullets are greatly reduced.
41
Practice Offline
In the Open Arena and Surface Assault debriefing screens, hit percentages
for bombs and missiles may sometimes register 100 percent even when they
did not all hit. This is because it is possible (and common) to hit multiple targets with a single weapon. Doing so increases your hit percentage (although
it can never go above 100 percent).
42
Advanced Play
Scenarios
While random dogfights and head-to-head duels are certainly fun (and can
be enjoyed on demand, whenever you are in the mood and have a few hours
to kill...no pun intended), sooner or later, you will probably want to take part
in a fully fledged scenario.
A scenario is a linked series of engagements, usually fought over a period of
days, pitting all the pilots of one country against those of another. Scenarios
can be scheduled in advance (one side issuing a challenge to another, rather
like arranging an old-fashioned gentlemen’s duel), or you can join one in
progress and lend a helping hand to your favorite country.
Victory Conditions and Scoring
Victory in a scenario goes to the side which captures or neutralizes all of the
opposing country’s airfields. This is not easy to do. Capturing an enemy field
requires smooth teamwork and split-second timing. If you surprise the
enemy and quickly suppress his defenses, a capture can be a quick and brutal
affair. On the other hand, if the enemy is waiting for you with a CAP (Combat Air Patrol) shielding his field like an umbrella, and lots of anti-aircraft
guns manned and ready, it can be a costly action indeed.
Scoring is done for individual pilots. You can check any pilot's score by
clicking Score on the Select screen in the Control Tower.
Advanced Play
A Typical Capture Operation
There are three phases to a successful capture operation:
The Attack
The side which initiated the attack needs to destroy all the important enemy
ground assets. These include hangars and other structures, flak gun emplacements, and any enemy aircraft caught on the ground. Speed and accuracy are
essential because damaged facilities are repaired rather quickly, which
means you have to destroy them all over again, usually with a greatly diminished supply of bombs and rockets.
Hangars and other buildings are considered destroyed if their roofs are
blown off; it is not necessary to destroy the walls although you can if you
want to—doing so increases the time it takes to repair those structures.
Ordnance-Loadout: Ordnance or loadout is the number of bombs and rockets your aircraft can carry. When playing offline, practicing your bombing
and strafing skills, you can load a plane with everything shown on the Plane
screen (see page 22). If you are playing online, your aircraft can only carry
the amount of ordnance its historical counterpart could haul.
Destroying a hangar or other ground structure usually requires a direct hit
with a bomb or a full salvo of rockets. It is possible to do the job with massed
gunfire, but it takes a lot of time and effort to do so and your chances of success dwindle accordingly. As a rule of thumb, a rocket does about half the
damage of a 100 lb bomb. The amount of ordnance required to knock out a
specific target depends on the weight of the bomb, the range and angle it is
dropped from, and the accuracy of the pilot. Bombs have a blast radius, so it
is not always necessary to make a direct hit, but closer is always better.
Flak: When you approach an enemy-held airfield, you should notice multicolored streaks appearing in the sky around your plane. These are tracers
being fired at you by the AI-controlled anti-aircraft crews defending the
base. This is flak, the German word for anti-aircraft artillery. In modern aviation parlance, it is referred to as Triple A, but since WarBirds is set in a
World War II environment, we use the word familiar to pilots of that era, on
both sides. Besides which, flak has a sharper, more deadly ring to it that the
somewhat sanitized Triple A, doesn’t it?
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Warbirds Manual
There are four types of flak cannon, based on the four most common AA
guns of the World War II era: 50 caliber machine guns, 20 mm and 40 mm
cannon, and the deadly heavyweights of the flak inventory, the dreaded 88s.
Each type of weapon has a different color tracer, so, when you are not too
busy trying to stay alive, you can figure out exactly which weapons are
shooting at you:
Yellow tracers:
50 caliber and 20 mm
Red tracers:
40 mm
Nasty-looking puffs of smoke:
88s
The heavier the weapon the greater its range, so you usually see 88s first,
then tracers from the lighter guns.
Flak Suppression: AA emplacements are easy to knock out. A single bomb,
rocket, or a well-aimed machine gun burst usually does the job. They are
very small targets, however, and, unlike hangars, they shoot back. To capture
an enemy field, you need to knock out the smaller caliber weapons and the
88s.
The Landing
To capture an enemy base, at least one of your side’s planes must land on the
enemy runway and its pilot must exit the plane before any of the damaged
facilities are repaired. Speed is essential.
Putting up CAP (Combat Air Patrol)
Taking possession of an enemy airfield usually causes a reaction on the part
of the opposing country, not unlike jabbing a stick into a hornet’s nest.
Planes from any surviving enemy fields swarm in your direction and attempt
to recapture their lost asset.
Therefore, as soon as you capture a base put up an orbiting umbrella of
friendly aircraft. This aerial screen is your CAP (Combat Air Patrol), and the
stronger it is, the better your chances are of keeping control of the base you
have just taken.
45
Advanced Play
Carrier Operations
In addition to its airfields, each WarBirds country has a small AI-controlled
fleet; a carrier group, comprising of a single carrier and six escorts (two
cruisers and four destroyers). Ships cannot be captured. If you lose all your
land bases, you lose a campaign, even if your navy remains intact.
The carrier group, however, is still a powerful asset, a moving air base whose
planes can add considerable punch to any operation. Sinking an enemy ship
is a major achievement—not only do you feel proud of yourself, but also, if
the carrier is close to your own fields, it prevents any attacks coming from it.
Ships can be sunk by bombs, but doing so usually expends a lot of ordnance,
since the ships are all armored and can throw up a wall of flak.
When a carrier is sunk, the surviving vessels regroup and head for their
country’s home port, where the sunken carrier is regenerated. Once restored
to full strength, the fleet resumes active operations. If an escort ship is sunk,
it waits at the port until the carrier is sunk and joins the fleet at the port.
Carrier Takeoffs
Flying from the deck of an aircraft carrier is one of the most demanding
skills a pilot can acquire; landing on one is even hairier—the deck is only
800 feet long, after all, and only a portion of that can be used for takeoffs or
landings.
There is not much margin for error. Takeoffs are handled in the same way
they are from land runways, but with some additional risks. Engine torque—
the force generated by the propeller which causes a sideways pull— can easily hurl you over the side if you lose control for an instant. Your plane also
needs full climbing power to become airborne once it clears the deck.
Carrier Landings
Airmen sometimes describe carrier landings as controlled crashes, because
they are such delicate maneuvers. Firstly, you need to make a slow, level,
approach, with just enough power to avoid a stall. If you sense that your
approach is not going well, do not be brave and try to save it, just throttle up
and climb gently away, circle around, and try it again.
Carrier aircraft do not have the luxury of taxiing to a gentle stop—there is
not enough room. Instead, they come to a bone-cracking halt by means of a
gizmo called the arresting gear. It is, basically, a big hook that extends down
from an airplane’s tail and, if everything goes right, it catches on one of the
thick cables strung across the aft part of a carrier’s deck.
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Warbirds Manual
A successful carrier landing goes like this: approach the ship at a fairly steep
angle, then, when you are properly lined up with the deck, flare the nose up
and chop the throttle all the way down just before your wheels touch down.
Just keep one thing in mind: the ship is moving, and what may initially seem
like a good approach might, in fact, be too short to compensate for the fact
that your landing area is moving away from you. Short approaches are the
single most common cause of crash-landings.
Obviously, carrier-based flying is much tougher than ground-based flying.
Most veteran online players, however, eventually strive to master it, just
because it is so exhilarating when you get it right!
Carrier Vessel
Torpedo Attacks
The torpedo is the weapon of choice when trying to sink a ship. Bombs only
damage the superstructure, so you have to pound a ship to bits in order to
sink it with brute iron. Torpedoes, however, strike at the hull, below the water
line, and a single well-placed “fish” can inflict a mortal wound on any ship.
You can only arm planes with torpedoes if their real-life counterparts were
capable of carrying them. An American TBF Avenger and a Japanese B5N2
“Kate” could carry one such torpedo, while the German JU-88 could haul
two of them. Just click on the Ordnance switches which are on the Plane
screen (see page 22), which is accessible from the Control Tower by clicking
Select.
47
Advanced Play
Executing a successful torpedo attack is much trickier than simply dropping
a tight pattern of bombs. In order to hit a ship, the plane executing the drop
needs to fly steady, low, and slow—below 200 feet and at about 200 mph.
This naturally makes it a vulnerable target, since every gun in the enemy
fleet has a nice steady shot.
When there are enemy CAPs (Combat Air Patrols) on the scene, and there
usually are, a torpedo plane, being only able to make more the minimum of
evasive maneuvers during its attack run, makes an inviting, almost defenseless, target.
The angle of attack is crucial. Ideally, a torpedo plane should approach at a
right-angle as this gives the biggest target. A head-on or stern attack renders
the torpedo plane slightly less vulnerable, but also decreases its chance of
scoring a direct hit. In any case, there is always a chance that the ship may
execute a hard-starboard turn just as your tin fish is streaking in...
The Zen of Bombing
While solo combat is the most glamorous form of online flying, a lot of WarBirds players enjoy an occasional bombing mission. Some even make a specialty of bombing.
Bomber missions are especially gratifying when you are flying online with a
group of friends or with people whose callsigns you have come to know and
respect. One player—usually an experienced one, since bombers are more
difficult to get airborne than fighters—selects a bomber. He or she controls
takeoff, navigation, and acts as bombardier when the time comes.
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Warbirds Manual
This pilot’s friends then choose which defensive gun positions they want to
crew on the mission. If there are not enough people to man all the available
machine guns, open slots remain.
To join the mission, offer your services by typing your callsign in one of the
open slots. The chances are, you will be accepted; if you are not, do not take
it personally—the pilot is the commander, after all, and he or she may be
waiting for someone in particular to show up. For more details, see “The
Joys of Gunnery” on page 51.
Setting Up a Bombing Mission
Choose the bomber you want to fly from the Select Plane screen. Select your
bomb-load using the Ordnance-Loadout switches on the same screen.
Some pilots and bombardiers prefer to manually drop each bomb by pressing
B when they are over the target. Others claim better accuracy and increased
damage by dropping their bombs in timed salvos, so that the explosives land
in a ripple pattern. This is called “pickle mode” because the World War II
bomb-release device supposedly resembled a pickle.
Customize a drop-pattern from the Control Tower using the following radio
commands:
<.salvoXX> where XX is the number of bombs in each salvo.
<.delayXXX> where XXX stands for the delay, in milliseconds,
between the release of each bomb in the salvo (50 - 1000 milliseconds).
NOTE: Enter “pickle mode”, by pressing F9 while in flight, to enable your
salvo settings. You can enter new settings while flying to the target.
Executing a Bomb Run
You are flying in pilot mode, and your gunners, you hope, are keeping
enemy interceptors at bay. Observe the situation around you by using the
keyboard controls (see page 61).
If you are flying an uncrewed bomber, press Alt-V to toggle the external
view of the bomber. Use the various view keys to check out the environment,
just as you would in any other mission.
Remember that each sector on the WarBirds map is 20 miles across, representing 400 square miles. As soon as your bomber enters the sector where
your target is located, make your approach turn—ideally at a distance of 1015 miles.
49
Advanced Play
Press Y to assume the bombardier’s role. The autopilot engages automatically when you do this, allowing you to concentrate on your new task. You
are, however, still able to make gentle course corrections to center the bombsight’s cross-hairs on the target.
Now press 2 to look through the bombsight. WarBirds bombsights simulate
the famous Norden sights of World War II, and the bombardier’s view is
essentially the same no matter what kind of bomber you are flying.
You see the aiming cross-hairs and a needle located in the upper-right portion of the display. You know you are on the right course when that needle
centers on the green light, but you must hold a straight and level course for
the needle to center itself. Any violent evasive maneuvers at this point compromise, if not ruin, your chances of a good drop, so you are dependent on
your gunners to buy time for you to complete the bomb run. If you need to
increase the magnification of the bombsight view, press [; to decrease the
magnification, press ].
Now comes the moment of truth: press O to open the bomb bay doors. This
is rather important, unless you want to bomb the interior of your own aircraft...
When the needle is centered, the green light is on, and the target is squarely
in the cross-hairs, press B to release your bombs. Unless you have previously
engaged “pickle mode”—by pressing F9—one bomb drops for each key
press. If “pickle mode” is engaged, the bombs fall in salvos according to the
settings established earlier.
Getting Home in One Piece
After the bombs are dropped, the plane suddenly becomes lighter, faster,
more maneuverable. Press Y to return to the cockpit, if necessary. You may
not be able to watch the bombs actually strike, but your tail gunner or waist
gunners should be able to give you a radio report on the results.
NOTE: Channel 111 is the bomber intercom.
If enemy planes are closing in, you may want to boost your engine power to
the maximum setting, also known as War Emergency Power (WEP). Press
Shift-E, then 0 (zero) to boost all engines to full throttle. WEP is not available on some planes.
Find your way back to your home base and follow standard landing procedures.
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Warbirds Manual
The Joys of Gunnery
Newcomers to WarBirds can learn a lot about the feel of the game by enlisting as a gunner. Your odds of survival are greater than in a solo mission
because, even if you lack experience, at least some of the other gunners will
not be, and you can gain valuable skills in leading targets and deflection
shots—that is, figuring the angles between your bullets’ trajectory and the
target’s turns, so that the bullets intercept plane.
In fact, if you have scheduled some one-on-one training with an instructor,
your tutor may suggest that you accumulate some hours of gunnery experience before attempting a solo dogfight.
How to Sign On as a Gunner
Click Gunner from the Select screen in the Control Tower. This is where you
request a gunner position.
Gunner Screen
Not all planes have the same number or configuration of gun positions, but
the full list includes: bottom, top, left waist, right waist, nose, and “obs”
(observer). The observer’s position is usually on top of the aircraft, just in
front of the cockpit. If you see an open slot for a position that appeals to you,
type in your callsign to request it.
51
Advanced Play
If the pilot accepts you, a message says so. Congratulations. If you see a
message that you have been turned down, there is probably nothing personal
going on—the pilot may simply be waiting for someone he knows and
expects to show up online, or he may wish to use the “Otto” gunners (automatic gunners).
Once you have been accepted in a gunner’s slot, click Radio and type in:
<.radio x 111>. This plugs you into the bomber’s intercom system.
Jump: A gunner can jump from his original slot to another one. This is useful if a bomber takes off short-handed and one waist gunner has to move
from left to right, depending on which direction the enemy threat is coming
from. To jump to another gun, use the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 keys, as appropriate.
The numbers vary with the number of positions the plane has.
Controlling your Chosen Gun
Some gun positions are electric turrets which rotate using the plane’s internal
power system. Others are attached to flexible mounts, so that the gunner
physically controls the aiming process. It is up to you as to which device you
are most comfortable with. The joystick is the default tool for aiming and firing guns, but if you prefer to use a mouse, just press Alt-M while in position.
We recommend mouse control for flexible guns and joystick control for
powered turrets.
NOTE: Any vacant gun positions are controlled by “Otto”, the automatic
gunner. You can override this by using the jump command shown above, or
your pilot may request that you switch positions if they feel the situation
warrants such a move.
Radio Procedures and Protocols
Radio communication with other pilots gives you the chance to socialize
with the players. It also provides you with vital tactical information and situation updates.
Radio & Channel Display
Select one of four radios by clicking Radio. In each of the displayed slots,
you can tune in your set by typing in the number of any one of 106 radio
channels. These channels serve different purposes and reach different ears,
so depending on what you need to say and to whom you wish to speak, use
an appropriate channel.
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Warbirds Manual
Channel 100: This is the common channel—every player can send and
receive messages when tuned to channel 100. If, however, you are in the
Control Tower or a designated Headquarters screen, only players in that
room receive your channel 100 transmissions.
To communicate with players during flight, you need to use one of the
squadron, country, or private channels, as shown below:
Channel ID and Number Who Can Transmit/Receive
Channel 100 (Common)
Everybody
Red Channel 101
Anyone can transmit; only Reds receive.
Green Channel 102
Anyone can transmit; only Greens receive.
Gold Channel 103
Anyone can transmit; only Golds receive.
Purple Channel 104
Anyone can transmit; only Purples receive.
Squad Channel 110
Only members of the same squadron.
Intercom 111
Only crew members of the same bomber.
Channels 1-50
Reserved for private conversations between
individual players within a country
Channels 51-99
These channels permit private conversations
among fliers who are not members of the
same country. Only the Radio One slot can be
tuned to them.
Radio Tuning
The Radio Bar, in the lower right corner of the screen, displays the radio
number and channel to which you are currently tuned. Remember that there
are four radios in the game.
To tune your radio, use the command <.radio X YYY>, where X is the radio
and YYY is the channel you want to tune it to.
53
Advanced Play
Transmitting a Message
Each of the four radios has its own key:
Radio
Key Press
One
/
Two
Shift-/
Three
Ctrl-/
Four
Alt-/
To send a message, select the radio by pressing the appropriate key, type in
your message, then press Enter.
You may also tune the radios to individual players by entering the command
<.radio # xxxxxx>, where # is the number of the radio you wish to modify
and xxxxxx is the six-letter callsign of the player you wish to assign to that
radio.
If you enter the command <.radio>, a summary of your currently tuned channels is displayed.
Example: A player flying for Purple might tune Radio One to channel 100
and Radio Two to channel 104. In flight, he or she would then press / to
transmit a signal to everyone in the current game, or Shift-/ to transmit sensitive information to Purple pilots only.
If this pilot were a member of an organized squadron, they could send messages to squadron members only, by going to Radio Three, tuning to channel
110, and then pressing Ctrl-/ to transmit.
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Warbirds Manual
Customizing Your Joystick
(Fairly technical stuff...)
Most people won’t want to bother with this. The Windows 95 configuration
process “Joystick Configuration” on page 18) is all they ever need. If, however, you have a top-of-the-range joystick—one of the new “force feedback”
models, for instance—advanced configuration may help you get the last
ounce of control from the instrument.
Some players, as they become more expert in the game, may wish to exercise
this option simply because it personalizes to a finer degree the response your
aircraft makes to the movements it senses from your joystick. Some pilots
swear that this fine-tuning gives them an edge in combat.
This is how to do it:
1.
From the Control Tower, click Setup.
2.
Select Stick.
Stick Screen
3.
Select Roll, Pitch or Yaw then adjust the slider bars. This customizes
the joystick control response of your WarBirds planes to suit either your
hardware or your personal flying style.
55
Advanced Play
The default values work well enough for most players, but with a bit of
experimentation you may find settings you prefer.
4.
Adjust the Deadband slider and the Damper.
A plane makes three basic movements in the air (other than straight ahead, of
course):
Roll: The circular movement of your wing tips around your fuselage, caused
by the ailerons, which are controlled by the side to side movement of the joystick.
Pitch: The up or down movement of the nose caused by the elevator, which
is controlled by the forward and backward movement of the joystick.
Yaw: The left and right sideways movement of your nose caused by the rudder, which is controlled by rudder pedals, if you have them, and by the A, S,
and D keys.
Each of the sliding scalers represents a portion of joystick movement, and
the slider settings control the response when the stick is moved “that far”
through its range of travel. Thus, if you have the “50” slider set at “50”, moving the joystick half-way from center gives you 50 percent, or a total
response of 25 percent because your plane’s control surface moves 25 percent of its total movement. By setting the “90” slider to “100”, you will
obtain a full 90 percent response when the stick is moved that far from center. If you prefer, you can enter numerical values for the slider-bar tunings by
typing a percentage value in the small field at the bottom of each slider
Deadband: Beneath the vertical sliders is a horizontal slider labeled Deadband. This controls the amount of dead space (no feedback to or from the
joystick) when its pitch, roll, and yaw controls are in neutral—when you are
exerting no pressure on the stick on any axis. Again, the default setting
should work fine, but some sticks are especially sensitive in their neutral
positions, and others do not center as precisely as you might wish. Increasing
the deadband along any bothersome axis may correct this little problem.
Damper: The Damper setting mutes those occasional spikes of over-eager
response, when the joystick tells the plane to move a bit more abruptly than
you would like. The Damper setting samples those spikes and averages them
out, giving a smoother ride with joysticks that seem to jump.
Whether you use these advanced settings or the one-size-fits-all configuration provided through Windows, always remember to press F12 before takeoff to center your joystick according to the settings you have made.
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Warbirds Manual
Customizing Your Gun Sights
(Really, really, technical stuff!)
Some pilots believe that mastering tricky deflection shots gives them an edge
in combat, and customizing your gun sight can improve accuracy with this.
It also allows you to add range-marks to your sight’s horizontal bars. If you
set those tic-marks for, say, 200 yards, and you close on an enemy plane until
its wingspan fills the distance between those marks on your sight, you know
you are about 200 yards away. This is important in some special events,
where enemy planes are displayed—for maximum realism—with limited
range data on the screen. Some players also use this process to establish torpedo-range marks on the outer edge of their screen, and use them as the
default sighting device whenever they plan to fly a mission against enemy
ships.
This is how you do it:
You need to specify a custom sight for each type of aircraft you plan to fly;
otherwise, they game defaults to the standard cross-hair reticule.
Custom gun sights are defined as text files which are named with the same
convention used to identify each plane’s art files, using a .gst extension (for
gun sight). Thus, a file labeled P381.gst identifies a customized P-38 gun
sight in a graphic resolution of 640, while a file labeled p383.gst identifies a
customized P-38 sight in 1024 resolution.
By placing in your directory files labeled P381.gst or p383.gst, you are creating custom gun sights at resolutions of 640 and 1024, respectively. All
planes that do not have specific custom gun sight files attached to them use
the defaults: the ordinary cross-hair reticule.
Definition of File Syntax
The gun sight file is an ordinary text file. The first line of data in a Gun sight
file specifies the total number of line segments to be defined. Each line of
numbers thereafter defines a segment along the X and Y coordinates, with
(0,0) being the center of your screen.
NOTE: You cannot define line-segments of zero length. If you want to
define a single pixel dot, you must define a segment one unit in length. For
example, to make a reticule consisting of one pixel dot centered in the sight,
define the line as: (0,0,0,1) or (0,0,1,0).
The first line in your gun sight file specifies the number of line-segment definitions in that file. For example, if you customize a gun sight to add those
extra 200 yard range marks we spoke of. The first line of numbers specifies
that the reticule is composed of six line-segments; the next four lines define
the cross-hairs; the last two lines define the small vertical tic-marks.
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Advanced Play
This particular gun sight file would look like this:
6
4, 0, 18, 0
-17, 0, -3, 0
0, 4, 0, 18
0, -17, 0, -3
12, 2, 12, -1
-12, 2, -12, -1
To see this reticule in action, copy these lines into a text file, and save it as
defgst1.gst or defgst3.gst, depending on the graphic resolution you are running, then move the file into your WarBirds directory.
The grid you are using to find the (X,Y) coordinates that you want to use for
the lines that define your gun sight looks like this:
X Axis
-8
-7
-6
-5
-4
-3
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-1
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+
1
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
0
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-1
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-2
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-3
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-4
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-5
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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+
+
+
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-6
+
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-7
+
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-8
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-9
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58
Y Axis
-9
Warbirds Manual
NOTE: 9 or -9 is not the limit of how far you can draw a line from (0,0).
The actual limit is determined by your screen resolution setting. For
example, with a resolution setting of 640 x 480, you could go up to 240
pixels, or down to -240 pixels, as you move away from (0,0).
Let us illustrate this by looking at the default gun sight that comes with every
plane in the game. Think of each coordinate as a pixel address where the
lines begin and end:
4
0, 5, 0, 18
0, -5, 0, -18
-18, 0, -5, 0
5, 0, 18, 0
Line by line, the data breaks down as follows:
•
4
Number of lines of coordinates which need to be read.
•
0, 5, 0, 18
Coordinates in (X,Y) where (0,5) are the starting coordinates and (0,18) are the ending coordinates of the top line.
•
0, -5, 0, -18 Coordinates in (X,Y) where (0,-5) are the starting coordinates and (0,-18) are the ending coordinates of the bottom
line.
•
-18, 0, -5, 0 Coordinates in (X,Y) where (18,0) are the starting coordinates and (-5, 0) are the ending coordinates of the left line.
•
5, 0, 18, 0
Coordinates in (X,Y) where (5,0) are the starting coordinates and (18,0) are the ending coordinates of the right
line.
You can take this process as far as you want, even out to the edge of the
screen to create some of those customized torpedo-aiming marks.
59
Advanced Play
Voice Communications
Hardware Requirements:
The only additional hardware required to use voice comms is a microphone
configured for use with Windows 95.
Using Voice Comms in the WarBirds Online Arenas
Using the Voice window:
Type the callsigns of the players you wish to talk to
in the blank fields at the top of the window. Up to 3
may be entered. Click Apply to accept the current
callsigns without closing the Voice window; click
Cancel to cancel any selections and close the Voice
window; click OK to accept the current callsigns and
close the Voice window.
The bottom part of the window is used when another
player requests voice comms with you. Their callsign is displayed in the box. Click Accept to accept
or Squelch to decline.
Select Manual to stop the window opening each
time someone requests voice comms with you. If
someone requests voice comms while in Manual is
lit, the Voice indicator blinks and a message appears
in the radio display.
Press and hold Insert to transmit.
Comm List
60
Keyboard Controls
Engine Controls
Engine Start/Stop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E
Select all Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shift-E
Select Engine 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Shift-1
Select Engine 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Shift-2
Select Engine 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Shift-3
Select Engine 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Shift-4
Kill/Start Engine 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alt-1
Kill/Start Engine 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alt-2
Kill/Start Engine 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alt-3
Kill/Start Engine 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alt-4
Throttle Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . =
Throttle Down. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Full Throttle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 (zero)
War Emergency Power (WEP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F10
Engine Idle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Aircraft Controls
Left Rudder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A
Right Rudder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D
Center Rudder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S
Center Joystick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F12
Gear up/down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G
Wheel Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spacebar
Keyboard Controls
Flaps Down 1 notch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q
Flaps Full Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shift-Q
Flaps Up 1 notch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W
Flaps Full Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shift-W
Dive Brakes toggle (if applicable). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V
Autotrim Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X
Autotrim Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shift-X
Autotrim Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ctrl-X
Elevator trim up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K
Elevator trim down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I
Rudder trim left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J
Rudder trim right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .L
Aileron trim right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,
Aileron trim left. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M
Eject. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Enter Enter Enter (quickly)
View Keys (keypad)
Forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Back. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Forward/Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 or 8-6
Forward/Left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 or 8-4
Forward/Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
Right/Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Left/Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Right/Rear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 or 6-2
Left/Rear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 or 4-2
Rear/Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
62
Warbirds Manual
Miscellaneous
External View toggle (uncrewed bombers only) . . . . . . . . . . .Alt-V
Map View toggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1
Zoom In (map/external view) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[
Zoom Out (map/external view) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .]
Icon Toggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F2
Expand or Shrink text Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tab
Move Text Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F3
Ground Clutter on or off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F11
View Range cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alt-R
Show or Hide aircraft debris. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alt-N
Take Screenshots) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alt-S.
Show Frame Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alt-P
Switch to Mouse Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alt-M
Toggle Sky texture (D3D only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alt-K
Toggle Horizon texture (D3D only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alt-H
Gunner Keys
Jump to Observer position:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Jump to Tail Gun position: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Jump to Nose Gun position: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Jump to Left Gun position:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Jump to Right Gun position:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Jump to Top Gun position: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Jump to Bottom Gun position: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Level Bombing Commands and Keys
Open/Close Bomb bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O
Bombardier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y
Bombsight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(keypad) 2
Drop Bombs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Pickle toggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F9
Bombsight increase magnification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[
Bombsight decrease magnification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .]
63
Keyboard Controls
64
Host Commands
All host commands are preceded by a "." (period). Some host commands can
be issued in flight via the radio, others can only be issued when on the
ground, in the Control Tower.
If the radio entry bar (light grey) is not visible at the bottom of the screen,
press / once to activate it before issuing a host command.
.help
Shows a listing of available host commands.
.roster
Shows a listing of players currently online.
.fields
Shows a listing of the available fields and current ownership.
.score xxxxxx
Shows a players score. Replace xxxxxx with the
player’s callsign.
.rank
Displays the top 100 pilots (updated daily).
.clear
Resets your score.
.squad callsign
Info about a squadron.
.fuel xxx
Sets fuel level for your plane. Replace xxxwith percentage of full load preferred.
.conv xxx
Sets gun convergence distance. Replace xxx with preferred distance in yards.
.ord [0-3]
Loads ordnance set 0, 1, 2, or 3 typing the <.ord> command without a number lists the available loadouts for
the currently selected plane.
Host Commands
.move [f,b,g] XX Move to the field, briefing room, or general room of
your choice. You can only move to fields owned by
your country. XX can be any valid field number, or 1-7
for general and briefing rooms. <.move hq> moves to
headquarters.
.country [1-4]
Choose a country.
.fly
To the runway...
.e
Exit plane (must be on ground and stopped when
online).
.exit
Leave the WarBirds arena, or quit the program if
offline. (must be in tower).
.invite xxxxxx
Invites player with to join your squadron; replace
xxxxxx with player’s callsign (squad leaders only).
.jsquad
Accepts a squadron invitation.
.withdraw
Withdraw from your squadron.
.name
Names the squadron (squad leaders only).
.slogan
Assigns or changes the squadron motto (squad leaders
only).
.remove xxxxxx
Removes a player from your squadron; replace xxxxxx
with player’s callsign (squad leaders only).
.disband
Disbands the squadron (leaders only).
66
Credits
Interactive Magic
Senior Producer
David “Jammer” Green
Associate Producer
Jeremiah “OnFire” Heneghan
A Game By
Dale “Hitech” Addink
Project Manager
Doug “Pyro” Balmos
Lead Artist
Roger “Frying Tiger” Long
Assistant Game Manager
Chris “Mo” Sherland
Programmers
Jonathan “Hoof” Hoof,
Larry “Hook” Hookins,
Scott “Gringo” Inglis,
John “Kango” Lundy,
Veronica “Postal” Newman,
Stewart “Sudz” St John,
Mike “Pisan” Dickheiser
Mac Programming
Steve “Caligula” Evans,
Rod Morehead
Artists
Jerry “Klink” Comandante,
John “Monkey” Guytan,
Nathan “Natedog” Mathieu
Special Thanks, for their help with
Documentation, to
Bill Trotter,
W R “Chip” Faulkner II
Manual Editing and Layout
Sara “Slider” Ley
Credits
Additional Programming, Art &
Support
Robert “Gunjam” Salinas,
Joe “Quiz” Enzminger,
Mark “MkIX” Kaiser,
Bill “Stealth” Maier,
Mike “Boomer” McCoy,
Bob “Mandrake” Piper,
Trey “Yert” Taylor,
Stephen “Random” Wilkinson,
David “Duc” Womack
QA Manager
Mark “Ripcord” Moormans
QA Coordinator
J P “FreshMeat” Berard
Documentation
Mark “Snail” Pribe
General Manager
Joe “BenFranklin” Mannes
Network Manager
John “Killer” MacQueen
System Admin
Ali “STarmaN” Bokaiyian
Technical Support
Rodney “Hatch” Hodge,
Troy “Rampage” Lowe,
Eric “Dutch” Proellochs
Administration
Joann “Nomad” Colcleasure
Stacy “Moon” Mooney
Legal
Brian “Rolo” Holland
Marketing
Scott “C-Hawk” Hawkins,
Dave “Oscar” Murray
Graphics Engine By
Trey Smith of Graphic
Simulations Corporation
Aircraft Technical Data Supplied by FCI Associates, Inc
Special Thanks to
Ralph Royce, Curator
Lone Star Flight Museum
Additional Thanks to
Natasha Guytan,
Neil “Corn” Huntley,
Cameron “Whip” Lynch,
Sean “Voxx” Roberts,
Rodian “Wisk” Podorozhny
68
Index
Symbols
20 mm cannon 45
40 mm cannon 45
50 caliber 45
88s 45
A
added enhancement 14
Air Attack 34
angle mode 26
arena default icon 35
arenas 27
automatic gunner 52
autopilot 25, 26
autotrim mode 26
B
blackouts 20, 32
Bomber Ambush 35
bomber intercom 50, 52
C
calibrate joystick 18
callsign 15
CAP 43, 45, 48
capture operation 44
carpet bombing 37
carrier
landings 46
operations 46
takeoffs 46
vessel 47
channel IDs 53
channels 52
cockpit shading 20
colors 21
combat air patrol 43, 45, 48
commands 65
control tower 19, 31
convergence 22
country 23
D
D3D cards 14, 15
damper 56
deadband 56
debriefing 40
direct play lobby 29
direct serial link 29
E
easy flight 20
electric turrets 52
etiquette 28
Index
F
J
field screen 23
fighting 19, 25
fish 47
flak 44
flak suppression 45
flexible mounts 52
flight
academy 38
screen 20, 32
flying 19
offline 31
online 27
friendly fire 28
fuel 23
joystick
configuration 18
customization 55
jump 52
G
K
keyboard controls 61
L
landing 26
landing gear 25, 26
Landing-on-a-Dime 38
loadout 23, 44, 49
location 23
login ID 15, 27
game screen 31
getting started 13
gun sight
color 24
customizing 57
gunners 51
M
H
N
handle 15
head to head 29
help 24
host commands 65
HTH (head-to-head) 21
navy 46
nickname 15
I
icons 35
iMOL account 15
iMOL games lobby 29
indestructible drones 33
installation 14
invulnerable 32
IPX 29
70
map 23, 25, 28
missions 34
modem 29
modem, setting up 16
O
obs (observer) 51
offline
options 32
terrain 20, 33
online, flying 27
Open Arena 36
ordnance 23, 44, 49
otto gunner 52
Manual
P
T
password 15, 27
pickle mode 49
pitch 55, 56
plane screen 22
plane type icon 35
points table 40, 41
practice offline 31
takeoff 24
TCP/IP 29
tech support 10
timed games 39
torpedo attacks 47
tracers 45
transmitting 54
R
U
radio 52
commands 49
messages 28
tuning 53
range only icon 35
redout 20, 32
roll 55, 56
rudder 24
unlimited ammo 33
S
war emergency power (WEP) 50
wheel brakes 26
scenarios 43
scoring 40, 43
screen
field 23
flight 20, 32
game 31
plane 22
select 22
setup 20
stick 55
select screen 22
setting up
modem 16
setup screen 20
ships 46
sound 21
speed mode 26
squelch 60
start behind drones 20, 32
starting altitude 20, 33
stick screen 55
structural limits 32
Surface Assault 37
system requirements 13
V
victory conditions 43
views 27
voice communications 60
W
Y
yaw 24, 55, 56
71
Index
72