The famed First World War flight sim Red Baron has taken to the skies of Kickstarter, with original creator Damon Slye at the stick.
Developed by Dynamix and released by Sierra Online in 1990, Red Baron was a critically-acclaimed combat flight sim set in World War One, in which players took to the skies in famous German, French and British fighters of the era for tight-turning dogfight action. It was a big hit, earning the 1991 Simulation of the Year award from CGW – and now Slye is trying to bring it back with his new indie studio, Mad Otter Games, and funding support from Kickstarter.
Red Baron is intended to “hit the sweet spot between simulation and game” by providing an intuitive yank-and-bank experience for newbies along with a complex “under the hood” simulation that players can grow comfortable with over time. “It is not just about documental realism,” the Kickstarter states, “but about confronting the player with the same challenges and psychological reality that WWI aces faced.”
The updated version of Red Baron will provide an offline and DRM-free single-player campaign running from 1915 to 1918, plus a persistent multiplayer experience with both historical and MOBA-style maps. Players will experience “historically authentic events” as they progress through the game, and gain access to new and better aircraft as the war wears on, including “at a minimum” models from Sopwith, Spad, Nieuport, Fokker, Albatros and Pfalz.
The Red Baron Kickstarter is seeking $250,000, a relatively modest goal made possible by the fact that team has already sunk that amount into building the current prototype. “It is relatively close to alpha testing; this is why our development cycle is shorter than many of the other Kickstarter games,” the team explained. “We also have a frugal and responsible development team with strong leadership and tiny overhead costs (unlike a big publisher). All of this lets us put all the value straight into the game.”
Red Baron fans from back in the day have probably already left to throw money at this thing; the rest of you have until November 22 to do so. Buyer beware and all that, but as a man who owns three joysticks (none of which have been plugged in for the better part of a decade) I hope this one turns out to be a big success.
Source: Kickstarter
