''Red Ace Squadron'' is a computer

vehicle simulation game Vehicle simulation games are a video game genre, genre of video games which attempt to provide the player with a realistic interpretation of operating various kinds of vehicles. This includes automobiles, aircraft, watercraft, spacecraft, milita ...

developed and published by Small Rockets in 2001. There is also an enhanced version named ''Red Ace Squadron Pro'', which is an update to the game based on complaints and feedback from players. It is a sequel to the game '' Master of the Skies: The Red Ace''. The game is compatible with 32-bit Windows systems from Windows 95b to Windows XP, although it is sometimes possible to run it in a 64-bit operating system, but with graphical and stability issues.

Gameplay

The game takes place in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. There are 21 missions in total, with 10 having the player fight on the German side and 10 having him on the Allied side. A secret mission is also unlockable. Completing all singleplayer missions will unlock Master mode, in which the player faces a higher difficulty and numbers of enemies. The game features 11 types of planes. Each faction has 4 types of planes that can be controlled by the player, with the Allied side sporting the

Airco DH.2 The Airco DH.2 was a single-seat pusher biplane fighter aircraft which operated during the First World War. It was the second pusher design by aeronautical engineer Geoffrey de Havilland for Airco, based on his earlier DH.1 two-seater. The ...

, the

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

, the SPAD S.XIII, and the

Nieuport 17 The Nieuport 17 C.1 (or Nieuport XVII C.1 in contemporary sources) is a French sesquiplane fighter aircraft, fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improvement over the Nieuport 11, it was a little large ...

, while the German side has the Halberstadt CL.II, the Junkers D.I, the Gotha G.V and the Fokker Dr.I. There are 3 types of aircraft in the game that the player is not able to control, those being the

Albatros D.III The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service () during World War I. A modified licensed version was built by Oeffag for the Austro-Hungarian Air Service (''Luftfahrtruppen''). The D.III was flown ...

, the

Handley Page Type O The Handley Page Type O was a biplane bomber used by Britain during the First World War. When built, the Type O was one of the largest aircraft in the world. There were two main variants, the Handley Page O/100 (H.P.11) and the Handley Page O ...

and the

Bristol Scout The Bristol Scout was a single-seat rotary-engined biplane originally designed as a racing aircraft. Like similar fast, light aircraft of the period it was used by the RNAS and the RFC as a "scout", or fast reconnaissance type. It was one o ...

. There are many different types of missions, including escorting allied units, bombing convoys and factories, dogfights and so on.

Pro version

A Pro version of ''Red Ace Squadron'' was released after a year of development. The main updates in the Pro version are improved loading speeds, updated key bindings to get around Windows XP 'sticky keys' and improved documentation. Single-player mode now had 4 levels of difficulty to be chosen from, while multiplayer saw many new features including file verification against the server to stop cheating, the ability to change aircraft map visibility with 5 different modes, and the ability to choose the map the game would start on. Servers were updated to be configurable from inside the server program, display its IP address, and allow a name and a game type name, and could also be password protected. Pick Up configuration was also improved by changing the frequency of Pick Ups, the ability to disable or re-enable Pick Ups, and the amount of ordinance a Pick Up gives to the players. Pick Ups could also be given to players entering the arena. Game-mode features were enabled within the game and versioning was introduced to stop clashes with different server/client versions. Game rooms were also expanded to accommodate 8 players at a time and a bug showing the incorrect number of players/active players/game type/name was fixed.

Proposed sequel

Jon Small had planned to launch the sequel to ''Red Ace Squadron'' in 2008, but the release date was delayed. The game was to feature a new graphics engine, multiplayer settings, as well as bigger and more detailed landscapes. The game would have been set in

. With the closing of Small Rockets in 2012, the game's development state is unknown, but is presumed to be halted. Parallel to ''Red Ace Squadron 2'', a second update for the original game was being developed, called ''Red Ace Squadron Pro2''. Like in the original update, it was to be directed by community feedback.

References

External links

Red Ace Squadron

Red Ace Squadron Pro
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070522021022/http://www.smallrockets.com/pc/redacesquadronpro/, date=2007-05-22
A fan website
2001 video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Windows games Windows-only games Flight simulation video games World War I video games Combat flight simulators Multiplayer and single-player video games Small Rockets games