I've been a member of The
Musketeers Squadron for quite a while. In that time, I've made many
friends—and a few enemies too—thanks to my association with the
squad. Yet, how did I become a Muskie, you might ask? Well, there was an
atomic radiation leak and—oh, never mind, you'll never believe that one. Okay,
here's how I became a Muskie:
My saga begins...
It all started in1993. I'd struck
up a friendship with a coworker with an interest similar to mine in military
aviation. He was also really into this thing called Air
Warrior. I'd recently become enamored of an
elaborate jet simulation offered by Fightertown USA, a company based here in Southern
California. Fightertown
offered its customers 30 minute rides in jet flight
simulators on their premises. Their static simulator rides cost about a dollar a
minute, while their full motion sims cost about two bucks a minute. If you do the
math, you can see that it can be pretty expensive to ride these on a regular basis.
It's a lovely experience, but many folks really can't afford to fly these sims very often,
even with the discounted monthly memberships the company offers. Thus I was ripe for
an alternative that wouldn't drain my wallet. Little did I know!
My new friend—whom some might know by his call sign: Rapier—clued me in to an on-line
computer combat flight simulation called Air Warrior. He told me that I could
experience the same kind of multi-player action that the Fightertown sims offered, but on
a larger scale and at a fraction of the cost, and from the comfort of my own
home. I would be able to use real combat tactics, talk to other players with a
real-time text buffer, and even be able to join squadrons! Moreover, the aircraft
that Air Warrior modeled were of the World War Two era, which made the combat more
absorbing and was more intriguing to me because I've always been fascinated with that
period of history. I was immediately interested but I didn't own a computer or
know anything about them so I was truly clueless.
Time passed. I finally got around to buying a
computer a few months later but I was still a "compudweeb" and knew little about
messing with the autoexec.bat or config.sys files—which I would need to do to make
the game work. By now it was 1994 and another two or three months went by before I
turned my attention back to the game, which I'd relegated to a shelf in my home.
Luckily for me, Rapier is a pretty helpful sort, and he guided me through the task of
loading and configuring the game for my super-fast—not—Acer
486DX2/50. It was the game's SVGA version 1.2, with 16 colors, polygon shapes
and periscope flight window. I remember the first accessory I bought for this game
was an $11, two-button joystick I picked up at a computer swapmeet. It would be the
first in a long line of addiction-driven purchases.
After several unsuccessful attempts to make the sim work on my
computer—these included some phone calls to Rapier while staring at a black computer
screen with lots of DOS gibberish on it—we finally made the darn thing work.
The first time the game's credits screen came up and I actually clicked onto to the master
menu screen, I think I was a little giddy and a bit shaky too. I can't explain why,
other than to remind you young'ens out there that even though I'm comparatively
young, computers and computer simulations were something that I'd only dreamed of when I
was a kid. So here I was, about to play "fighter pilot" using a device
that daunted and yet beguiled me. It was a childhood daydream come true!
My first combat sortie
My first combat experience in Air
Warrior against another human being was a modem to modem "duel" against
Rapier. Now, at the time I didn't realize just how embarrassing this could
be. Rapier, you see, was then one of the most skilled Air Warrior pilots
around. I recall finally getting our computers connected to one another via
the modems and clicking the game's "fly" button only to find myself on a
simulated runway and realizing I hadn't a clue as what to do next! Despite all my
reading of the game's manual and all the chats with Rapier around the water cooler at
work, it all just evaporated away in my head as it dawned on me that I was actually going
to compete against another living, breathing person.
After some confusion, I managed to get "airborne" and
began to fly around the virtual landscape, trying to type messages to Rapier, fly the
ship, and traverse the exterior views by using the numeric keypad on the keyboard. I
recall being so bewildered that I was almost overcome by sensory overload. Finally I
settled down enough to answer Rapier's messages and we decided to meet over a mountain
near an airfield—I don't recall which field it was—so we could begin the duel.
I flew to where I thought it was, trying to make sense of the "map"
feature, while Rapier proceeded to where it was actually located .
"Where are you?" Rapier eventually asked.
"Near the mountain," I replied.
"Which mountain?"
"This mountain right here, where we agreed. Can't you see
me?"
"No." This went on until we concluded that I was
two mountains away from where I should have been, and some minutes passed while Rapier
flew to my location.
"Are you ready to fight?" he asked.
"Where are you?" I responded.
" Behind you,"
"I don't see you."
"I'm right behind you, check your views," he said.
Even though I'd just done this, I did as instructed and pressed the "2"
key on the keyboard's numeric pad again, which showed me a view of what lay behind my
aircraft. I didn't see his plane.
"I still can't see you, where are you?"
"Sheesh, I'm right here behind you! Look!" With
that, Rapier gunned his throttle and zoomed past me, "Helloooooo! Are you
ready to fight now?"
"Yes," I said, thanking my stars that he couldn't see
my sheepish look.
"Alright, we'll separate to about 5,000 yards, each reverse
course and then I'll call 'fight's on', got it?"
"Yes," I replied, still feeling like a moron. We
separated to the agreed upon distance and then reversed back onto a merging course.
"Fight's on!" called Rapier, as our planes rocketed
toward each other at a combined speed of almost 500 knots.
"Okay," I replied, heart pounding.
Our planes rushed past each other at the merge. Finally
recalling my talks with Rapier about tactics, I decided to pull the stick back, attempting
to put the plane into a half-loop and thus reverse direction so I could get behind
him. However, I pulled too hard and "blacked out" immediately. (My screen
turned black to simulate excessive "G" forces acting upon me, the pilot.)
Meanwhile, Rapier easily reversed course and saddled up on
my "six" (right behind me) and opened up with his guns from point blank range.
My black screen turned red, accompanied by the sound of my aircraft exploding.
I then found myself looking at the gray-colored game interface. "You
have been shot down," said a dialog message! So ended my first combat sortie
against another person. This scenario was repeated over and over for another hour or
so. I don't believe I was ever able to get Rapier's plane in my crosshairs that day.
Not even close. I finally called it quits, disgusted with myself; humiliated,
humbled and yet totally hooked.
After that, I played the game off-line for a few weeks,
getting my feet wet. Rapier finally talked me into opening an account with GEnie,
a now-defunct on-line service, which was then one of the few ways to play Air Warrior
against other people. This was at a time when the Internet was just coming into
public awareness, and the World Wide Web was a fairly new phenomenon. In order to
play online, we players had to use GEnie's telephonic nodes by dialing in via the game's
interface, which provided a dial-up dialog for this purpose. There were no fancy
graphics with mouseover hotspots or pop-up help windows. It was all gray screens and
text menus.
Finally I took that
fateful step and played my first on-line session of Air Warrior—in relaxed realism
(RR) mode. Yes, I chickened out, despite Rapier's cajoling and badgering that the
only satisfying way to play the game was in full realism (FR) mode. I remember Rap's
frustration with my timidity, after all those months of trying to get me airborne.
Still, I admit it, I was a wuss at first. I suppose I just didn't want to embarrass
myself among the "big boys". That's how I thought of those guys
that flew in the FR arena. I wanted to be part of that group, but after my duel
with Rapier, I was also wary of the repeated humiliating defeats that I knew would come as
part of my learning to fly in FR. Moreover, at that time the game cost two dollars
an hour to play on-line, which didn't help matters either for my fragile ego or my wife's
willingness to embrace this new hobby of mine. So I procrastinated, and
procrastinated, and procrastinated; Rapier was ready to strangle me.
How I became a Musketeer
I'd been flying for a few of months in
the RR arenas, using the combat call sign "FNG". Some readers might
recognize the irony of that moniker, which is why I chose it. One night, the RR
arena emptied out early. No targets; I was alone. Well, I thought, there'll
never be a better time. So I left the RR arena and entered the FR arena. There were
just a few players there. Being the scaredy-cat that I was, I flew around
testing the waters. However, I soon found myself facing a lone enemy Spitfire
IX. We initiated combat, and I "died" almost immediately.
Rather than slink away with my tail between my legs, though, I came back up at a nearby
airfield and went after the guy again. His call sign was Castor.
Well, you guessed it. Blam! I was shot down again. And
again! Castor, seeing that I was a "baby seal" waiting to get
clubbed, took pity on me and for the next half hour or so, he coached me through some
combat maneuvers. We parted friends, and I much the wiser. I'm sorry to say I
never encountered Castor again.
From that time on, I began to fly exclusively in the FR
arena. I decided to change my call sign, choosing Wraith for no
other reason than I thought it sounded cool. By this time, I'd regained a modicum of
respect from Rapier, after my months in the RR hinterlands. I started to "hang
out" in FR with him whenever I could. That first month playing in FR cost me
about $105—at two bucks an hour to play. I know of many Air Warriors,
including some Muskies, who spent multiples of that sum in one month to play
the game, but to me, in those days, $105 was grounds for a date in divorce
court. Luckily my loving wife forgave me, but that one was close...
One night, I was flying around and encountered a couple of
players called Vaper and Darpa. They're brothers and that night we were all flying
for the same side. Vaper suggested we take a B-17 bomber, with Darpa and I
serving as gunners, just for laughs. We wanted to sucker some enemy planes into
attacking us. Since we'd be in a gunned bomber, we'd be a formidable target to shoot
down and we did this for an hour or two. It worked too; we shot down a few hapless
enemies this way.
This was a special night, though, because this was the
night I became a Musketeer. Rapier had apparently been observing both Vaper and I
for some time as potential Muskie material. At that time, he was the newly
anointed commanding officer of the Musketeers. I believe the only members in the
squadron then were Bug, HeBee, Papa Joe, Thud,Vortex and Zorch. That
night—actually early morning—after our flights, Rapier inducted us both into the
Musketeers Squadron. He told us about the squad, and gave us a little pep talk
where he presented both of us with our ceremonial swords (like this: --)---------
). We went back to the arena as newly minted Musketeers and had a great time, ending
the night as the last players left in the arena.
This was one of the most memorable nights I've ever had in
my Air Warrior experience; great camaraderie, lots of joking around, and a few
hysterically funny moments. For instance, during an attack on our bomber by an enemy
plane, Darpa and I heard a blood-curdling scream— yes, a scream; I swear it's
true—emanate from our speakers. Astounded, we called out to Vaper, and got no
response. We called and called but still got no response. We were
stymied. After a minute or two, Vaper came back on the "radio" (that's
what we called the text buffer) and said he'd been blown out of the plane!
Apparently Air Warrior modeled pilot screams under certain circumstances.
If the pilot— in this case Vaper— bails out, it is accompanied by
a seldom-heard sound effect: which I call the death wail. It seems that before we blew up
the attacking enemy aircraft, he got disconnected. Air Warrior may
have treated it as a bail out and set off the scream. Either
that or Vaper hit the wrong key and actually bailed out accidentally.
In any case, we were sans pilot! So there we were, stuck in a pilotless
ship without a
way to take the controls. Darpa and I finally bailed out ourselves and we all took up another
plane. It was spooky to hear the death wail but the whole situation was so
improbable— indeed, even surrealistic— that we couldn't stop laughing about it
for quite a while.
The Present
Since those early days, I've bought elaborate control accessories
such as rudder pedals, programmable throttles, programmable joysticks and even voice
communication headgear, all for this hobby of mine. I've spent
thousands of dollars in all kinds of computer upgrades, such as new CPUs,
memory chips, video and sound cards, and in a couple of instances, entirely
new systems, all for these games. The cost of
flying at Fightertown would never have come close to what I've spent
just to play these sims!
The Muskies now number significantly
more than the handful we were back then in late 1994. We now have chapters of
the squad flying in other simulations, like Aces
High, and Fighter Aces.
All these years later, I'm still flying in
online combat sims, but times change, and our venerable Air Warrior is no
more. After its development company, Kesmai, was sold lock, stock, and
barrel to Electronic Arts (EA), the game was allowed to wither on the vine.
EA failed to put further
development dollars into upgrading the game's code. Air Warrior passed
with a whimper, and not a bang in the year 2000, if I recall correctly; the
victim of corporate weenies with nary a bit of vision .
These days, I also play
one of the newer games to enter the combat simulation genre. This
game, which ambitiously attempts to recreate air, ground and sea combat of
World War II (and does a great job of it) is appropriately and simply called
World War II Online
or "WWIIOL".
Here is a photo gallery of in-game screen
shots. It was developed by Cornered Rat Software (CRS), whose
development lineup includes people that started their careers coding for Air
Warrior's Kesmai Studios. I also fly in
Aces High II, by Hi Tech Creations (whose founder is also an Air Warrior
emeritus developer). Here are
screenshots and films of in-game
combat in World War II Online.
E-mail Wraith
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