Games PC WARBIRDS III User Manual

WarBirds III

Draft

Manual

29th May 2002

Copyright © 2002

i

Entertainment Network

Copyright Notice

Copyright © 2002 by iEntertainment Network. All rights reserved.
This manual and the
information. No one may give or sell copies of this manual or other works of
ment Network, 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

WarBirds III

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.

program are unauthorized. Any person/persons reproducing any portion of

WarBirds III

program are copyrighted and contain proprietary

i

Entertain-

Questions or Problems

If you have difficulties with this game and cannot find the solution in this manual, you
can also obtain customer service online. We can be reached as follows:

Web site: http://www.ient.com/warbirds/
Email: [e-mail] or [e-mail]
Telephone: [phone] noon to 8pm Eastern Time on Friday or Saturday

i

Entertainment Network and the iEntertainment Network logo are trademarks of

i

Entertainment Network. All other companies or products mentioned herein are the

property of, and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Contents

Download & Installation 9

PC System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Macintosh System Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Downloading & Installing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

DirectX 8.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Latest Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Preflight Selections 13

3D Device Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Setting Up your Game Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Changing the Game Controllers and Actions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Selecting a Controller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Centering the Joystick, Rudder and Throttle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Calibrating your Game Controllers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Flight & Offline Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Sound Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Color Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Video Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Stick Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Customizing the Input Mapper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Contents WarBirds Manual

Flying Basics 25

Selecting an Aircraft or Ground Vehicle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Selecting a Country & Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Taking Off. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Autopilot Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

3D Cockpits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Changing Field of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Numpad Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Joystick Hat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Finding & Attacking Targets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Dogfighting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Identifying Targets & Friendlies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Bailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Offline Missions 33

Offline Practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Flying Online 39

Creating a WarBirds Account. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Alternative payment methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Logging into an Arena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Private Arenas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Viewing the Activity around the Field. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Using the Radio 45

Message Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Radio Tuning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Transmitting a Message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Receiving Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Ignoring Other Players. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Game Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Maneuvering 49

Control Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Trim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Autotrim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

4

WarBirds Manual Contents

Maneuvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Structural Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Overspeeding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Overstressing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Spin Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Engine Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Bombing & Gunnery 59

Bombing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Executing a Bomb Run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Gunnery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

Signing-On as a Gunner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

Jumping Gunner Positions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Artillery Spotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Firing Artillery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Degrees of the Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Capturing Enemy Airfields & Towns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

Ground Vehicles 67

Selecting a Ground Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

Driving a Ground Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Manning a Gun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

Destroying Targets with Paratroopers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

Offline Ground Vehicle Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70

Carrier Operations 71

Carrier Takeoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Carrier Landings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72

Manning a Gun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73

Torpedo Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

Community 75

Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75

Squadrons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

Squad Maintenance Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

Scoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78

Checking your Score . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79

Checking the Bomber and Fighter Rankings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79

Checking Squad Scores. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80

Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80

5

Contents WarBirds Manual

Customizing WarBirds III 83

Loading Customized Aircraft Skins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83

Customizing Gun Sights & Gauges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85

Customizing Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86

General Sounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86

Plane Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87

Dot “.” Commands 89

Offline AI Dot Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94

Keyboard Commands 95
Apendix A: Cockpit Controls 99
Appendix B: Selection Screens 105

Plane Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106

Field Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Gunner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Squad/Score Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Launch Squad Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Apendix C: Setup Screens 115

Stick Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Flight Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Sound Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120

Colors Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121

Video Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122

Stick Force Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Input Mapper Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

Trouble Shooting 129

Cleaning up your System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Scanning your Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Defragmenting your Hard Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Modem Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

Setting up a Windows Dial-Up Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

Optimize your Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133

6

WarBirds Manual Contents

Known Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Poor Frames per Second (fps). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Other Programs Running in the Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Stuttering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

Flickering Water and Coastline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137

Overriding Processor Detection to Eliminate Exception Crashes137

Loss of Frame Rate while Flying over Towns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138

Textures show up as White on a Macintosh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138

Macintosh Radeon and Geforce 2 Cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Cursor Keys don't change Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Loss of USB Joystick Functionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

The W-Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Customer Service 141

Online. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

Tech Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

Billing & Account Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

Credits 143
Index 147

7

Contents WarBirds Manual

8

Download & Installation

PC System Requirements

• Pentium II, 400 MHz, 600 MHz recommended.

• 128 MB RAM, 384 recommended for best play.

• DirectX 8.0 compatible, or DirectX 8.1 compatible (recommended

for best play) sound and video cards with Windows 98SE, ME,
2000, XP drivers, as applicable to your operating system.

• Joystick, mouse and keyboard. A throttle and rudder pedals are

recommended. Several manufacturers make models of their flight
control systems for the PC.

• 14.4K or faster connection to the Internet. To connect via PPP/

SLIP/LAN, you must have Windows Dial-up Networking and TCP/
IP drivers installed (included with Windows).

• 16 MB 3D card.

• Recommended 3D cards:

– ATI Rage 128
– ATI Rage Mobility128
– ATI Radeon
– Matrox G400
– NVidia GeForce 256
– NVidia GeForce 2MX
– NVidia GeForce 2
– NVidia GeForce 2 Ultra
– NVidia GeForce 3
– NVidia GeForce 4
– NVidia Quadro
– NVidia Quadro 2 Pr0
– Power VR Kyro II

Download & Installation WarBirds III Manual

Macintosh System Requirements

• PowerPC-based Macintosh or compatible computer, 400 MHz or
faster.

• MacOS version 8.6 or higher.

• 256 MB RAM required (needs at least 300 MB virtual memory
under 9.x).

• OpenGL version 1.2.1 (included in the download).

• A 14.4 K or faster connection to the Internet for online play.

• Joystick, mouse and keyboard. Throttle and Rudder pedals are
recommended. Several manufacturers make models of their flight
control systems for the Macintosh.

• 3D accelerator card with Direct Support for Apple's OpenGL.

• Supported 3D Cards
– ATI Rage 128 VR
– ATI Nexus
– ATI Radeon
– Nvidia GeForce 2MX
– Nvidia GeForce 3

• Mac compatible joysticks tested and supported:
– Saitek Cyborg 3D
– Saitek Cyborg Gold
– Saitek X series (only supported under OS 9.x)
– MacAlly I-Stick
– Gravis Dual control Xtreme
– CH Pro F16 Fighterstick, Pro Throttle, and Pro Pedals ADB (no

support for ISP callibrator)

– CH F-16 Combat Stick, CH ProThrottle, CH ProPedals USB

Thrustmaster FCS Mk I, Thrustmaster WCS, Thr ustmaster
RCS ADB

10

WarBirds III Manual Download & Installation

Downloading & Installing

Before installing
ning. After installation is complete, restart the computer so that all the
new settings can take effect.

If you have trouble downloading, there is a CD with all the

III

files for only $9.95 (at time of writing), which can be ordered from
the Downloads page at http://www.ient.com/warbirds/down-

loads.html.

1. Download

–

WarBirds III

– FurBall at http://www.furball.warbirdsiii.com/

2.

PC Only:

application, and double-click on it. Follow the instructions on the
screen.

3.

Mac Only:

file. It unstuffs into a folder called WarBirds III. Double-click on the

WarBirds III

OpenGL 1.2.1 installer folder. Double-click on the OpenGL 1.2.1
file in this folder.

4. Launch

application, which is located in the WarBirds III folder.

WarBirds III

, close all other applications that are run-

WarBirds

WarBirds III

Web site at http://www.ient.com/warbirds/

Using Windows Explorer locate the downloaded

Using Stuffit Expander, uncompress the downloaded

Installer file inside this folder. There is also an

WarBirds III

from one of the following sites:

by double-clicking on the

WarBirds III

DirectX 8.1

Many games and other Windows programs use DirectX, a standard­ized set of tools which allow programs to communicate with and con­trol your system’s hardware. DirectX-based programs use DirectX
‘drivers’ to perform many functions, such as painting graphics to the
screen or having your sound card play sound effects.

With new technology constantly being introduced (such as next gen­eration 3D Accelerators), DirectX is updated to support these new
technologies, and the hardware manufacturers release new ‘drivers’
for use with the most recent version of DirectX.

We advise that players download and install DirectX 8.1 from
MicroSoft at http://www.microsoft.com/directx/ hom eus er /do wnl oad s/

11

Download & Installation WarBirds III Manual

Latest Drivers

We recommend that you download and install the latest drivers for
your hardware. This includes your Joystick, Sound card and Video
card.

Updated drivers can be obtained from each manufacturer's Web site.

Recommended Video Card Manufacturers

Connect to the Internet, then click on a link below to go to that manu­facturer’s Web site.

• NVidia—http://www.nvidia.com/

• Matrox—http://www.matrox.com/

• ATI—http://www.ati.com/

12

Preflight Selections

Close all other applications, toolbars, animated cursors and system
tray applets when playing

in the Background” on page 135.

PC Users:

Start

and then

Mac Users:

on the

Launch

, then

Programs

WarBirds III

Launch

WarBirds III

application.

3D Device Selection

WarBirds III

WarBirds III

, then

iEntertainment Network

.

WarBirds III

. See “Other Programs Running

from the Windows desktop. Select

, then

WarBirds III

for the Macintosh by double-clicking

,

Before launching
High Color (16 bit) or higher. When WarBirds III is launched, the 3D
Device Selector window is displayed.

WarBirds III

3D Device Selector Window

set your Windows Display Settings to

Preflight Selections WarBirds III Manual

1. Select an option from the drop-down menu. If you see T&L HAL

use it. It means transform and lighting (T&L) calculations are
done by the 3D hardware. This is a

good thing

since it frees up

CPU cycles.

2. Select a resolution, this must be the same or less than your

Windows setting. 32 is recommended, 16 may cause polygon
flashing or tearing.

3. Select one of the Z-Buffer options. Set this to the highest you can,

but be aware that some hardware (NVidia) needs to have this
match the bit depth you select for resolution.

4. Select Full screen mode to have the

WarBirds III

window take up

the whole of the screen.

5. Click the box to enable triple buffering, if required. Triple Buffering

improves the smoothness of the graphics, but it can be system
intensive. You may find your framerate drops when it is selected.

6. Click

Exit the rolling credits screen by pressing

Okay

.

or clicking. The Plane

Esc

Selection screen is displayed with the Main menu on the left.

Setting Up your Game Controllers

WarBirds III

automatically configures your Game Controllers, so most

players do not need to do anything.

Mac Users using a USB Joystick:

Download and install the Mac

Joystick Calibrator.

1. Download the file iSP_Calibrator.sit (1.6KB, 6/22/01) from http://

files.warbirdsiii.com/WarBirds/WBIII/ISp_Calibrator.sit.

2. Double-click to unstuff the downloaded file.

3. Double-click on the unstuffed file, ISp Calibrator.

4. Click on the

5. Follow the instructions on the screen.

Calibrate

button.

The purpose of this utility is to solve Macintosh joystick calibration
issues such as getting only 50% throttle input or pitch input. If you see
the calibration button grayed out, this means that your joystick does
not support calibration via the ISP calibrator. To calibrate your stick
you need to use your joystick manufacture's software. This utility is
NOT meant for use as an input mapper (programming certain buttons
to perform specific functions). To program specific buttons use the

14

WarBirds III Manual Preflight Select ion s

Input Mapper within the
the button graphics within the calibrator screen display a red crossed
circle.

WarBirds III

keys.

WarBirds III

does not use Input Sprockets to map functions to

setup dialog. This explains why

Changing the Game Controllers and Actions

To customize your Game Controllers, select
menu. The Setup screens are displayed, with the default Stick menu
at the front.
pedals and a throttle control, with each action on a given controller
controlling a particular movement of the aircraft. (See also

ing the Input Mapper” on page 24

WarBirds III

allows you to use multiple joysticks, rudder

).

Setup

from the Main

“Customiz-

Stick Setup Screen

Selecting a Controller

1. Select a joystick from the drop-down menu alongside

top part of the Stick screen. That joystick will control the Roll
function of the aircraft.

2. Then select the

is the X-axis.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with the

until each function is controlled by the controller in the way that
you prefer.

Axis

that you want to control the Roll. The default

Pitch, Yaw

and

Throttle

Roll

controllers,

in the

15

Preflight Selections WarBirds III Manual

Centering the Joystick, Rudder and Throttle

1. The box in the bottom lefthand corner represents the limits of the

joystick’s movements along the vertical and horizantol axes, with
the cross showing the position of the joystick. Move the stick to
the limit of its movement in all directions a couple of times, then
click

Center Joystick

2. The red line at the top of the box shows the position of the rudder.

. Repeat if necessary .

If you have a “twisty” joystick, twist the joystick to its full extent in
each direction a couple of times, then click

3. The bar on the right of the box represents the throttle position

Center Joystick

.

(assuming you have one). Move the throttle control to maximum
and minimum a couple of times, and then select

Center Joystick

.
If you have rudder pedals, move them as far as possible in each
direction, and the click

NOTE: Whenever you fly in

then press

to center the joystick and ensure precise control.

F12

Center Joystick

WarBirds III

.

, release all controls and

Calibrating your Game Controllers

1. Select the action you want to calibrate,

or

Brakes

2. Select

.

Center Joystick

to center the joystick that controls the

action you have selected.

3. Adjust the slider controls, deadband and damper until the cross in

the calibration square moves with the controller as you want it to.

4. Select

OK

to return to the Plane selection screen.

Roll, Pitch, Yaw, Throttle

16

WarBirds III Manual Preflight Select ion s

Flight & Offline Setup

To adjust the Flight and Offline Mission options, select
Main menu, and then the

page 33 .

Flight

tab. Also see“

Flight Setup Screen

Offline Missions” on

Setup

from the

1. Click to enable or disable the General Settings. When the button

is lit that setting is enabled.
–

Show Pitch Ladder

in the cockpit.

–

Show HUD

flying.

–

Show Stickset Messages—

swapped stick sets. (see “

page 24 for information regarding Sticksets).

–

rShow Radio Bar Buttons—

tons are displayed (see “

–

Show Help Bar

played.

—Select to have the HUD (red text) displayed when

—Select to have the pitch ladder displayed

Select to be notified that you have

Customizing the Input Mapper” on

When checked, the Radio bar but-

Using the Radio” on page 45).

—When checked the help buttons are dis-

17

Preflight Selections WarBirds III Manual

2. Set the percentage of brake power that is used when the brakes

are initially engaged and whether to have the differential brakes
activated from the rudder or the joystick.

3. Select which mouse button you want to:

– Tune Radio to Player
– Send Check Six message to Player

4. Click to enable or disable the Offline Settings. When the button is

lit that setting is enabled.

Unlimited Ammo—

–
–

Invulnerable to Weapons—

damaged when hit by enemy fire.

–

Disable Blackouts/Red outs—

and redouts that occur when pulling so many Gs that the blood
supply to the brain is affected.

–

Disable Structural Limits—

when being pushed beyond its limits (see “

page 55).

–

No Cockpit—

5. Select one of the four offline missions.

–

Free Flight—

takeoff, landing, and maneuvering to become familiar with vari­ous aircraft.

–

Target Drones—

enemy field. Use to practice shooting down almost sitting tar­gets.

–

Air Attack—

numerous. This mission gives a close approximation to the
online dogfighting. Try to shoot down the enemy before they
shoot you!

–

Bomber Ambush—

to bomb your airfield. Try to take them out before they arrive.

To practice attacking ground vehicles offline:

a. Select the
b. Open the radio bar and enter
c. To return to flying against aircraft, open the radio bar and

enter

And the enemy just became better—and more

.offbombermodel ground

Select to never run out of ammo.

Select to never have your aircraft

Select to disable the blackouts

Select to stop the plane breaking up

Structural Limits” on

Select to have no cockpit displayed when flying.

An open arena with no enemy pilots. Practice

An open arena with one drone circling each

There is a squadron of Bombers on its way

Bomber Ambush

mission.

.offbombermodel ground

18

WarBirds III Manual Preflight Select ion s

6. Select the AI level of your enemies:

–

Ace

–

Veteran

–

Rookie

7. Enter the number of enemies you want flying against you. Zero

gives a random number of enemies. There are always an equal
number of pilots flying your country as there are enemies, plus
yourself and any Wingmen.

8. Enter the number of Wingmen you want flying with you.

9. Select a time of day from the drop-down menu.

–Dawn
– Morning
–Noon
– Afternoon
–Evening
–Dusk
–Night

10. Enter a starting altitude. Zero starts you on the runway.

19

Preflight Selections WarBirds III Manual

Sound Settings

To adjust the Sound levels, select
then the

Move a slider to the right to increase the volume and to the left to
decrease it.

Sound

tab.

Sound Setup Screen

Setup

from the Main menu, and

20

WarBirds III Manual Preflight Select ion s

Color Settings

To adjust the Color levels, select
the

Color

tab.

Use the color sliders to change the shade of the icons displayed while
flying.

The message box transparency can also be changed by moving the

Msg Box Transparency

slider.

Setup

from the Main menu, and then

Color Setup Screen

21

Preflight Selections WarBirds III Manual

Video Settings

Generally, the video settings affect how
are flying. Upping a setting improves the look, but it also tends to
decrease the number of frames per second (fps) your computer can
process. For further information about changes you can make to
improve your fps, please see “

To adjust the Video levels, select

Video

then the

tab.

Trouble Shooting” on page 129.

WarBirds III

Setup

from the Main menu, and

looks when yo u

Video Setup Screen

1. Set the Var Level between 250 to 50,000. Higher numbers look

better, but may lower frame rate.

2. Set the Texture size. This allows you to limit how much VRAM is

used by restricting the size of the textures used.
whatever size the original artwork is, the others set the maximum.

3. Select the amount of detail seen on the ground objects. More

slows the system down, but the objects on the ground are more
detailed and prettier.

4. Select

aircraft is active. Higher may lower frame rate.

5. Turning off Environmental maps removes the metalic reflection

22

how far away the highest Level Of Detail (LOD) on the

No Limit

uses

WarBirds III Manual Preflight Select ion s

effects on some aircraft (P-51D for example). May improve frame
rate on some systems if turned off.

6. Select the font size of type in the radio bar and GUI.

7. Select the quality of the appearance of the terrain. Higher slows

the sytem down, but is prettier.

8. Select

the maximum distance out to render ground clutter. 0
disables it completely. Ground Vehicles beyond your clutter range
setting are not displayed.

Stick Force

For those with a force feedback joystick, which supports Direct X,
these settings can be customized to your personal preferences.

To adjust the Stick Force levels, select
and then the

Stick Force

tab.

Setup

from the Main menu,

Stick Force Setup Screen

1. Click on the box next to Enable to toggle force feedback on and

off.

2. Change the sliders to reflect how much feedback you want for a

particular effect.

23

Preflight Selections WarBirds III Manual

Customizing the Input Mapper

WarBirds III

each key on the keyboard, and button or hat on your joystick.
To customize your Input Mapper, select

and then the

allows you to customize which commands are sent by

Setup

from the Main menu,

Input Mapper

tab.

Input Mapper Setup Screen

1. Select a Stick Set, 1, 2, 3 or 4. Stick Sets are changed ingame by

pressing F5, F6, F7, or F8.

2. Select an action from one of the four drop-down menus, View,

Gunnery & Bombing, Flight, or Misc.

3. Select

sections. Up to four Controls can be set for each action.

4. Press the key or button to perfrom the selected action, or select

Hat

button can be selected to perform more than one action. Setting F
to fire both your primary and secondary weapons, for example.

5. Repeat until you have all the stick sets set up with your preferred

controls for each action.

To check whether a key or action is already in use, click the

Up

button, then press or click the controller button or hat.

24

Press to Change Control

and choose an option from the drop-down menu. A key or

on one of the four Control

Key Look

Flying Basics

Selecting an Aircraft or Ground Vehicle

The Plane Selection screen is the default screen when you first enter
the game. If it is not already in view, exit the Setup screens by select­ing

OK

or

Cancel

screens.

, or select the

Plane

tab from the top of the Selection

Plane Selection Screen

1. Select

type of aircraft you want to fly, or

Fighter

or

Bomber

in the bottom left, depending on which

Other

to drive a ground vehicle.

Flying Basics WarBirds III Manual

2. Then click the drop-down menu to select an aircraft or ground

vehicle from the list.

3. Select a Load Out from the drop-down menu, to change the

gunnery, rockets, bombs, torpedos and paratroopers carried.

4. Select whether to fly with the

select the distance at which you want your canon and machine
guns to converge, and the percentage of fuel with which your
aircraft starts out.

Easy

or

Realistic

flight model. Then

Selecting a Country & Field

Select the
screen is displayed.

1. Select a Terrain from the drop-down menu when flying offline. In

the online arenas the map is set by the arena.
–
–
–
The “b” terrains are 256x256.

Field

Europe
Malta
Tunisia

tab from the top of the Selection screens. The Field

Field Selection Screen

26

WarBirds III Manual Flying Basics

2. Select a Country color from the drop-down menu on the bottom

left. Either Red, Green, Gold, or Purple (not all countries are
available when flying in certain online arenas).

3. Select a Field on the map by clicking on it, or by selecting it from

the drop-down menu. When online, right-click (Ctrl + click for
Macs) on Carriers or any drone blips to join as a gunner. Your
location is indicated by parentheses,

for example.

[F5]

•

•

•

•

NOTE: For additional terrains, go to the Downloads page at http://

www.ient.com/warbirds/downloads.html.

Carrier vehicle •

Cv:

Small field •

Fs:

Medium field •

Fm:

Large field

Fl:

Outpost

P:

Town

T:

Village

V:

Map Controls

• Zoom in and out of the map by using the ] and [ keys, pan using
the arrow keys. Or click on the Plus, Minus and arrow buttons on
the screen.

• Toggle the floating map by using F1.

• Toggle the reference grid by clicking the Grid button.

Tak ing Off

These instructions assume that you are flying using the
mode. If you have
some of these steps are not necessary. See Step 4 of

Aircraft or Ground Vehicle

1. Select

2. You are seated in the cockpit on the airfield. Release all controls

and press

3. Ensure that the throttle setting is on zero, and then press

E

4. Use

percent of its full power. Using the rudder make your way to the
end of the runway, if you are not already there, and start rolling
straight down the runway.

Fly

to start your engine(s).

or a throttle control to rev up the engine to about 25

=

Easy

mode selected, takeoff is much easier and

on page 26.

from the Main menu.

to center your joystick (this is very important).

F12

Realistic

flight

Selecting an

Shift

+

27

Flying Basics WarBirds III Manual

5. If the aircraft starts yawing (veering to one side or the other),

press A to steer left, or D to steer right (do not hold the keys
down). If you have rudder pedals or a twisty joystick, use them or
that instead.

6. Increase engine power to full by pressing

throttle control as high as it can go. Press X while gaining speed
to trim the aircraft.

7. When the airspeed indicator shows 100 mph or more, ease back

on the joystick to lift off.

8. Once airborne, press

trim the control surfaces.

9. Move the joystick as gently as possible until you have gained

some airspeed and altitude, to avoid paper darting the ground.

10. Center the rudder by pressing

direction and at the preferred altitude press X to engage the
autotrim, which keeps the plane flying straight and level.

to raise the landing gear, and then X to

G

, and when heading in the right

S

or 0, or by moving the

=

Autopilot Settings

Autotrim mode:

straight and level until X is pressed again or until you take over the
controls once more.

Speed mode:

The autopilot attempts to maintain the speed of the plane, by climbing
or descending, as necessary.

Angle mode:

climb or descent angle of the plane at the moment it was engaged. If
necessary, the plane descends to gain the speed to maintain an
angle of ascent. Be careful if your plane is descending when you
engage Angle mode, or you could crash.

28

Press X to engage the autopilot. The plane flies

Press

Press

+ X to put the autopilot in speed mode.

Shift

+ X to instruct the autopilot to maintain the

Ctrl

WarBirds III Manual Flying Basics

Views

3D Cockpits

Use the View system to look around and keep your situational aware­ness (SA) high.

There are three view modes to toggle between in the 3D cockpits:

• Snap

• Pan to Snap

•G-Force

+ O jumps between the different view systems.

Shift
Snap View:

press a key, or move the joystick hat and the view "snaps" to that
position. When you release the key, or joystick hat, the view returns to
the front.

Pan to Snap View:

hat the view pans around and stops at the view position. For exam­ple, pressing 2 on the numpad pans the view from the front to the side
and then to the rear.

G-Force View:

which the view changes is limited by the number of Gs being exerted
on the aircraft at the time.

Stickysnap:

snap" is enabled, pressing a key or moving the joystick hat changes
the view to that position, and it stays there until another key is
pressed, or the hat moved.

Type

.stickysnap

return to the default.

The default view is the Snap view. This is when you

Pan to Snap is when pressing a key or joystick

G-Force view is as Pan to Snap, but the speed at

In addition , the views ca n be se t to "s tick ". Wh en "st ick y-

in the radio bar to enable it and

.returnsnap

to

Changing Field of View

To zoom out (make field of view bigger), press V, to zoom in (make
field of view smaller ), press Z.

To return to the default field of view, press

jumps to gunsight view,

F4

jumps to instrument view.

F11

Ctrl

+ V or

Ctrl

+ Z.

Numpad Keys

• Press 4 and 6 on the numpad to look left and right, respectively.

•Press 2 to look behind you.

• Press 5 to look straight up.

• Pressing different combinations of keys, and using 7, 9, 1 and 3
gives the 45 degree views.

29

Flying Basics WarBirds III Manual

Joystick Hat

• Move to the right to left to look right or left.

• Move down to look behind you.

• Move up to look straight up.

• Move to the quarter views to look in that direction.

• Hold down 5 on the numpad and move the hat to look up in that
direction.

Finding & Attacking Targets

Dogfighting

The Map is used to find the nearest action in the air. Each sector on
the Map is 20 miles across.

1. Put the aircraft on autopilot by pressing

aircraft flies straight and level until either X is pressed again or
you take over the controls once more.

2. Press

opaque, and again to close the map. Use the zoom keys,

and

[

30

to access the transparent map, F1 again to make it

F1

+ ] to zoom in and out.

Shift

on the keyboard. The

X

Shift

+