Welcome

Welcome to Dawn of Aces!

Dawn of Aces is a massively multiplayer simulation of WWI air combat based on iMOL’s successful  Warbirds game engine.

In 1914, a mere 11 years after the Wright brothers made their first flight at Kittyhawk, the world plunged into war. As the conflict in Europe ground towards a years long stalemate along the trenchlines, aviation became one of the primary means of seeing beyond the enemy’s front and of carrying the battle past the desolation of No Man’s Land.

The task of these early pilots was to scout enemy positions, spot for artillery, carry out light bombing, and deny the use of the air to the enemy for those same purposes.

At the start of the war, unarmed planes simply carried a pilot and observer aloft on scouting flights. When enemy aircraft passed each other, it was with nothing more than a wave. Soon, pilots started bringing rifles to fire at enemy aircraft. These gave way to machine gun mounts for the observer, and then to single seat machines with machine guns mounted above or to the side of the propeller to fire ahead, and finally, to synchronized machines guns firing through the propeller of the ever more advanced aircraft designs. The Fighter plane was born.

WWI has been called the first “Modern” war, with the introduction in great numbers of such weapons as the machine gun, tank, and airplane. The pace of technology, especially in the air, was often the deciding factor in battle, with first one side then the other attaining a superior level of technology with which to overpower their inferiorly equipped enemy.

The average lifespan of a pilot at the front was woefully short. The aircraft were fragile, often experimental, and the pilots lacked such devices as parachutes. Though many accounts recall the chivalry of the air, the war for the skies was a brutal and unforgiving business. Surviving and succeeding called for skill and daring, and no small measure of luck.

The combatants were strict in awarding credit for downing an enemy plane. Such a kill had to have been seen or confirmed by an independant observer. Obviously, such confirmations were lacking if the victory happened to take place over enemy territory. .A pilot who managed to down 5 enemy aircraft came to be known as an Ace. These men were famous on both sides of the lines, and celebrated as heroes.

In Dawn of Aces, you’ll take the part of a pilot for either the Allied or Central powers, and your mission will be to actively seek out and shoot the enemy from the sky. If you’re successful, you’ll gain awards, rank, and perhaps fame in the international community of pilots in this massively multiplayer internet game.

If you fail…well…you’ve got an advantage over such famous Aces as Richthofen, Lufbery, Fonck, Ball, Udet, Mannock, Voss, and Rickenbacker…because you can just hit the “fly” button again.

Enjoy!


Installing Dawn of Aces


System Requirements

Before installing Dawn of Aces, check that your system meets the following requirements:

·	P-100 or greater processor running Microsoft Windows 95

·	16mb RAM (32mb RAM for accelerated graphics version)

·	17mb available hard drive space (49mb if using hi-res 1024x768 artwork)

·	Joystick  (throttle and rudder pedals recommended but not essential)

·	Sound card

·	Speakers

·	Mouse

·	Modem (9600 baud minimum) required for network play (highly recommended!)

·	W95 configured microphone for voice communications using MEGAvoice.

·	For accelerated 3d graphics, we recommended or support 3d cards using the following chipsets:

·	Recommended:	Voodoo 1 & 2 chipset

·	Supported:	Riva128 (Nvidia)

·	        Permedia 2

·	        Intel I-740

We do not support cards using the following chipsets:

Rendition Verite 1000

Virge

Voodoo Rush


Dawn of Aces Setup

Once installation is complete, there will be a “Dawn of Aces” group in your Start menu. Click the start button and point to “Programs”. Imagic Online should be listed in the popup menu. Click on Imagic Online, then theDawn of Aces icon to start the program. The first thing you should do is click on “Dawn of Aces-Setup”. This is where you set your joystick, connection, and flight configuration options.

Below is the setup screen, with the stickmapping tab selected.

Stick Setup

The 1st tab, Stick setup, should not be confused with stickmapping. Stick setup sets basic values and should be done before mapping joystick buttons. See Joystick Setup for more info.

Flight

The Flight tab lets you set basic flight options.

The altitude, blackout, structural limits, start behind drones, and terrain settings are for offline play. Online, these are set by the host.

The altimeters settings will cause your altimeter to read in English, metric, or default (historical) units.

“Stick set messages on” will display a message whenever you switch stick sets for those using multiple sets on

programmable joysticks.

Cockpit shading on causes the cockpit art to shade in a realistic manner. Turning this off can help frame rate.

Sound

The Sound Setup screen allows you to vary the volume of individual sounds in Dawn of Aces. For example, of the sound of your engine is too loud and drowns out everything else, you can move the slider for that sound down a bit to let you hear everything else.

HTH

This screen allows you to set in-flight HTH options. They will only affect HTH sessions.

Note that settings for easy flight and blackouts here will override (in HTH play) settings for the same parameters in the flight setup screen. See Head to Head play for more info.

Colors

This screen allows you to customize the shading of thecountry colors. This affects icons. Some players find different shades are easier to see against the terrain/sky.

You can also set the transparency of the radio display with the radio transparency slider in the Colors setup.

Video

The video option sets resolution. Setting the 1024x768 resolution requires that you have the 1024x768 artwork extracted into your Dawn of Aces directory. The text size setting affects the text font for your radio display buffer.

*** Note for 3d accelerated version users***

You can choose what video card drivers to use from the video setup screen. Make sure this is set properly, and *always* make sure you have the latest drivers for your card.

Stick Force

Stick force sets up force feedback joystick options. The settings should be self-explanatory.

Network

The Network setup tab allows you to choose your route to the Dawn of Aces server. If you are experiencing a bad connection with the route you’re using, try switching to one of the others. If this still does not clear up the problem, contact our tech support for further advice.

Keyboard Settings

This screen allows you to customize Dawn of Aces keyboard commands by mapping various functions to the desired keys. The default keys will suffice for most players, but you may wish to experiment.

First, highlight a command from the “Key Function” list. Then press “Set Key”, then click on the key you wish to send that command. Make sure you do not set more than one command to the same button.

Joystick Mapping

Like Keyboard Settings, this screen lets you customize what command is sent with what button/hat on your joystick.

To set a function for your joystick, you must first insure that your joystick sends button or hat presses, such as BUT1, HAT_FWD and the like. If your stick sends a key such as “F” to fire guns, or the keypad “8” key for forward view, the stick mapper will not function, since it’s looking for the button/hat presses instead.

To set a function, either choose the desired stick button/hat press from the joystick functions list, or click on the appropriate button on the stick mapper, then select the desired game function from the Function 1 list. You can set a particular stick button or hat position to perform multiple game functions by further selecting game functions from the Function 2, Function 3, and Function 4 lists.

For multiple stick sets, select the next set with the stick set 1, 2, 3, or 4 button and select functions for the buttons/hats in that stick set. When in the game, you can select stick set 1 with the F5 key, set 2 with the F6 key, set 3 with the F7 key, and set 4 with the F8 key.


Joystick Setup

Before you can fly Dawn of Aces, Windows ’95 must be able to recognize your joystick configuration.

From the “Start” menu, select “Settings” then “Control Panel”. Double click the “Game Controllers”, and set up and calibrate your controllers. If you cannot find your particular hardware listed, you can try to set up a custom configuration (select “custom” from the hardware list) or contact your hardware’s manufacturer for specific instructions.

Start the Dawn of Aces- Setup program from the Start menu.

Select the “Stick Scaling” binder tab. You’ll see three buttons marked “Roll”, Pitch, and “Yaw”, and some sliders. You can use these sliders to customize the control response of Dawn of Aces to suit your hardware or flying style. The default values are a good starting point, but you may find a different arrangement that you like better. If you prefer, you can enter the response values directly in the boxes under the sliders. The Scaling Sliders control the amount of response from joystick input through the range of travel of the stick. Each slider represents a portion of stick movement, and the slider setting controls the response when the stick is moved that far. So if you have the “50” slider set at 50, moving the stick halfway from center would give 50% of that movement, or a total of 25% response (your plane’s control surface moves 25% of its total movement). Setting the “90” slider at 100 would give the full 90% control response when the stick is moved that far from center.

The “Deadband” slider controls the amount of “dead space” around neutral for each control. The default values will be fine in most cases, but if your stick is especially sensitive around neutral or doesn’t center precisely you might try increasing the deadband for the corresponding axis.

There is also a DAMPER setting. This will dampen joystick “spikes” somewhat by averaging joystick inputs. Higher settings result in more dampening. If your joystick seems to “jump” from time to time, increasing this setting may help.

The first time you get into a Dawn of Aces aircraft, start your engine, (“e” key) release all the controls and hit the “F12” key to memorize the center position for your joystick.

Note: The joystick scaling functions can be accessed while online also.


Sound Setup

This is the screen as it looks from the tower. It functions the same in the Start Menu setup tab.

The Sound Setup screen allows you to vary the volume of individual sounds in Dawn of Aces. For example, of the sound of your engine is too loud and drowns out everything else, you can move the slider for that sound down a bit to let you hear everything else.


Connection Setup

If your dialer is set up for it, WarBirds automatically detects your W95 dialer and logs on to the game host when you press the “Go Online” button at the Start menu.

If you need to set up a dialer or are having problems connecting, try the steps in:

Setting up Win 95 Dial-up Networking

and

Optimizing PPP connections for Dawn of Aces

If you still have problems, contact iMOL Tech Support at 817-424-5638.


Keyboard and Command Reference

Dawn of Aces Keys

Using the Radio

Host Commands


Dawn of Aces Keys

Engine Controls

Engine Start/Stop	e

Throttle Up	=

Throttle Down 	-

Full Throttle	0 (zero)

Engine Idle	1

Aircraft Controls

Left Rudder	a

Right Rudder	d

Center Rudder	s

Center Stick	F12 (release controls and hit F12

to memorize center position)

Autotrim controls

Autotrim Level	x

Autotrim Speed            	 shift x

Autotrim Angle             	 ctrl x

Jump             	enter enter enter (quickly)

Exit plane	.e (must be on ground and stopped)

                                      	Note: All "dot" commands must be entered via

  	the radio. If the light gray  radio bar is

  	not visible at the bottom of your screen,

activate it with the slash key (/) before

  	entering a "dot" command.

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

Misc. Keys

External View toggle      	alt-v  (does not work online)

(note: you can change viewing angle in external mode using the view keys)

Map View toggle	F1

Zoom In (map/external view) 	[

Zoom Out (map/external view)	]

Icon Toggle	F2 (hit f2 to toggle display of enemy info)

Expand/Shrink text Window 	TAB

Move Text Window	F3

Ground Clutter on/off	F11

View Range cycle             	alt-r   (reduced range = better frame rate)

Save current screen image as a .pcx file. (screenshots)  	alt-s.

Show Frame Rate  	alt-p

Highlight Player xxxxxx (Turns icon white)  	.hl xxxxxx

Switch to Mouse Control: 	alt-m

Gunner Keys:

Jump to Observer position:	1

Jump to Tail Gun position:	2


Using the Radio

In Dawn of Aces, you can transmit on any of 4 user selected radios. Each radio can be tuned to any of 106 channels.

The channel assignments in Dawn of Aces are:

Common	100 (everyone can transmit and receive channel 100)

NOTE: When you are in a tower or HQ, only those

players in the same room will receive your channel

100 transmissions. To transmit to players in flight,

use one of the country, squad, or private channels.

Central Powers (Red) Channel	101 (anyone can transmit, but only Central Powers pilots (Red) receive 101)

Allied Powers Channel	102 (anyone can transmit, only Allied Powers pilots (Green) receive)

Squad Channel	110 (private squadron channel, squadron members only)

Intercom 	111 (multi-crewed bombers only)

Individual players  	Tune the player’s 6 character in-flight ID.

Dawn of Aces allows channels 1-99. Channels 1-50 are private within a country… Channels 51-99 are common to anyone tuned to them, regardless of country. Only radio 1 can be tuned to these channels. These channels afford private communications for fliers that are not members of the same squadron

Your radios will not reset to default tuning every time you enter an arena. Once you've tuned your radios in an arena, the settings will be retained. The only exception is if radio 1 is tuned to one of the country channels (101-102)… in that case, it will default to your current country channel whenever you enter the arena.

The radio bar indicates the radio number (1-4) and the channel tuned.

To tune your radios, use the command ".radio X YYY" where X is the radio you want to modify, and YYY is the channel you wish to assign to it. In flight, you transmit by hitting the "/" key for radio 1, “<shift> /" for radio 2, "<ctrl> /" for radio 3, and "<alt> /" for radio 4. You can enter the ".radio" command with no arguments to receive a summary of your radio’s currently tuned channels.

For example… a player flying for purple might leave radio 1 tuned to 100, and tune radio 2 to 102. In flight, he or she would then hit "/" to transmit to everyone, or "<shift> /" to transmit sensitive information to his or her own countrymen only. If the player is a squadron member, tuning radio 3 to 110 would allow for communications with only the members of his or her squadron by hitting "<ctrl> /".

Radios may also be tuned to individual planes with the ".radio # XXXXXX" command, where # is the radio you wish to modify and XXXXXX is the six character callsign of the player you wish to assign to that radio.


Host Commands

Most host commands are integrated into the graphical interface. However, the “dot” commands listed below will also work.

Note: 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. (Note: "on the ground" means in the tower)

Note: If the radio entry bar (light grey) is not visible at the bottom of the screen, hit the slash key (/) 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 SIGN	shows a players score…. Replace "SIGN" with the player's callsign

.rank	displays rankings for the top 100 pilots (updated daily)

.squad SIGN	info about a squadron. Replace "SIGN" with the squad leader's callsign

.move [f,b,g] XX	move to the field, briefing room, or General room of your choice. Note: 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 Dawn of Aces arena, or quit the program if offline. (must be in tower)

.invite SIGN	invites player with callsign SIGN to join your squadron. (squad leaders only)

.jsquad	accepts a squadron invitation

.withdraw	withdraw from your squadron

.name	names the squadron (leaders only)

.slogan	assigns or changes the squadron motto (leaders only)

.remove SIGN	removes a player from your squadron. Replace "SIGN" with callsign of player to be removed.

(leaders only)

.disband	disbands the squadron (leaders only)

.speed xxx	sets autotrim to speed “xxx” (always in MPH)

.plane	displays list of planes by number and scoring multiplier


Start Menu

This is the Dawn of Aces Start menu.

Clicking “Go Online” will log you onto the game host and display a list of available arenas. Click an arena and then click the "Play" button to enter it. You are now at The Tower Screen

Clicking “Practice Offline” will send you to the tower at Field 1, OFFLINE. You are now at The Tower Screen

Clicking “Head to Head” will display options for setting up a Head-to-Head session. See Head to Head play

Clicking “Create Account”  will bring up the IMOL account creator. Enter the information in the spaces provided to create your new account.

Clicking “Web Page” will launch your default web browser and direct it to the iMOL web page at www.imagiconline.com where you can find additional information about Dawn of Aces or other iMOL games, as well as links to player sites.

Clicking “Setup” will display setup options for Dawn of Aces. See Dawn of Aces Setup for more info.

Clicking “Help” displays this help file.

Clicking “Quit” exits the Dawn of Aces program and returns you to your desktop.


The Tower

Clicking “Fly” sends you to your cockpit, ready to takeoff.

Clicking “Select” displays the following selection screens:

Plane Select screen

Field Select screen

Squads Select screen

Gunners Select screen

Scores Select screen

Clicking “Setup” displays the following setup screens:

Joystick Setup (See Joystick Setup  for more info)

Flight Setup screen

The Flight tab lets you set basic flight options.

The altitude, blackout, structural limits, start behind drones, and terrain settings are for offline play. Online, these are set by the host.

“Stick set messages on” will display a message whenever you switch stick sets for those using multiple sets on

programmable joysticks.

Cockpit shading on causes the cockpit art to shade in a realistic manner. Turning this off can help frame rate.

Sound Setup screen

The Sound Setup screen allows you to vary the volume of individual sounds in Dawn of Aces. For example, of the sound of your engine is too loud and drowns out everything else, you can move the slider for that sound down a bit to let you hear everything else.

HTHsetup

This screen allows you to set in-flight HTH options. They will only affect HTH sessions.

Note that settings for easy flight and blackouts here will override (in HTH play) settings for the same parameters in the flight setup screen.

Colors

This screen allows you to customize the shading of the country colors. This affects icons. Some players find different shades are easier to see against the terrain/sky.

You can also set the transparency of the radio display with the radio transparency slider in the Colors setup.

Clicking “Help” displays this help file.

Clicking “Quit” exits back to the Startup Screen.


Radio/Command Bar

All messages from players and the host are displayed here, colored according to the channel on which they were sent. Clicking in this area activates it. When the area is active, the tab key will switch to each button in the lower part of the screen. Clicking out of this area allows the tab key to be used to expand the Radio Display Buffer from 3 lines to 25 lines. This area is also active in flight.

The up/down arrow buttons scroll the Radio Display Buffer. These buttons are also active in flight.

Clicking the expanding box button expands the Radio Display buffer from 3 lines to 25 lines. This button is also active in flight.

The “Radio” button activates the radio typing buffer when in flight. The normal / keys still work normally.

Clicking “Voice” allows you to choose a player or players to talk to using voice comms. See Voice Comms for more info.

Clicking “Exit Plane” exits your plane and sends you back to the tower. This button is only active in flight. If you’re on the runway, clicking this button will only add a sortie to your score. If you’re in flight, it will normally be scored as if you’d been shot down.

Clicking “Key Help” displays a keyboard command reference. This button is also active in flight. One of the included tabs is “Custom”. You can display any 256 color .pcx format file here by editing “the “custom.pcx” file in the WB directory or replacing the “custom.pcx” file with your own file, renamed “custom.pcx”. Handy for mission maps, callsign lists, and so forth. The new image must be the same size as the original “custom.pcx”. (Note: This is a greyscale image. Also note: “MS Paint” will not save in .pcx format)

Clicking “Roster” displays a list of all players online in the arena. In flight, it displays the number of players in the arena by country.

Clicking “Room” displays a list of all players in your room (briefing, tower, conference). This button is inactive in flight.


Plane Select screen

Clicking on the drop down box displays a list of available planes. Highlight a plane on the drop down list to select it.

The “More info” button displays additional info for the selected plane.

Note that, unlike WarBirds, there are no options to change fuel or loadout settings.


Field Select screen

You can select and move to a field by either clicking on it on the map, or by selecting it from the drop down box. Central Powers fields are colored purple, and Allied Powers fields are colored red.

You can also choose to fly for the Central or Allied Powers by clicking the appropriate button. Normally, there is a time limit on switching countries.


Squads Select screen

The squads screen is where Squad Leaders manage their squad, and where players can see who is a member of what squad.

The “Squad Lookup” button allows you to display the roster of any squad. Enter the 6 character ID of the Squad Leader in the box provided, and click “Lookup”. The roster of that Leader’s squad will be displayed, along with the squad name and motto.

Other options will be displayed in the “Available Commands” drop down box as appropriate, and may include sending invitations to join a squad, accepting an outstanding invitation, dropping a player from a squad, and so forth.

To form a squad, you must invite another player and they must accept the invitation. Once they accept, your squad is formed.


Gunners Select screen

You can fly with other players as a gunner (in the F2b) or observer (any plane). Enter the ID of the player you wish to join in the “Join with” box, then click either “Gunner” or “Observer”. You request will be sent to that player, who then can accept or reject your request.

You can now gun in your own aircraft. Press “2” to jump to the gunner position, and “1” to jump back to the pilot seat.


Scores Select screen

The Scores screen allows you to look up scores for yourself or any other player. Your ID will be the default.

Pilot scores details individual accomplishments and are generally cleared every 3 weeks.

To check a Squad score, enter the ID of the Squad Leader. These reflect the combined score of all members of the selected squad.

Pilot medals displays the medals you have earned to date, as well as the action and date in which the medal was earned. These are not cleared.

Pilot rankings displays a list of the top 100 pilots, by overall score.

Squad rankings displays a list of the top 100 squads, by overall score.

Medal milestones displays the criteria for earning the various medals.

See Medals screen for more info on medals and ranks.


Medals screen
Medals and Ranks

Medals are awarded for specific milestones, on the date the milestone was reached. These can be displayed on the scores screen. Medals are a permanent part of your pilot record.

Ranks are awarded at the end of each 3 week tour, based on your standing on the overall pilot ranking scores list. Each rank will be progressively harder to attain, but you’ll never lose a rank. Ranks are a permanent part of your pilot record.

Note: Medals and ranks are not awarded according to any historical criteria, and should not be confused with their real-life counterparts.


Quick Flight Guide

You may be in for a surprise when you first jump into the cockpit of an aircraft in Dawn of Aces. All of the forces acting on an aircraft are modeled to provide an experience that’s much closer to flying an actual aircraft than you might expect. While most pilots of full scale aircraft will feel right at home in the virtual skies of Dawn of Aces, the rest of us can expect to go through a brief period of acclimation. While a thorough explanation of the physics of flight is beyond the scope of this guide, a few easily understood concepts should make the transition from ordinary flight sims to Dawn of Aces as painless as possible. If all you want to do is get in the air as quickly as possible, the next few topics are all you’ll need to read.

Taking Off

Autotrim

The Map

View Keys

Landing

Structural Limits

Spin Recovery

Anti-Aircraft Guns

There are NO parachutes

Offline Missions


Taking Off

(There’s nothing wrong with your joystick)

Be sure your joystick is recognized and calibrated in the Windows 95 Joystick control panel. When you strap into a Dawn of Aces aircraft, release your controls, start your engine (“e” key) and hit the “F12” key to memorize the joystick center positions. If you’ve done this and you’re still drifting off the left side of the runway, read on…

All of the engines in Dawn of Aces produce torque. Just as in the real world it is the pilot’s job to compensate for this. On the runway, you’ll need to work to keep the plane moving in a straight path until flying speed is reached. The engine’s torque will make most planes turn left and veer off the runway unless you compensate for it. Use the rudder for directional control on the ground. For most of the single engine planes, two or three clicks of right rudder (“d” key) will be sufficient. Ease your plane out of the revetment, line up with the runway, and increase the throttle smoothly. Use your rudder pedals or the “a”, “s”, and “d” keys to control your direction with your rudder. Once your speed is above 60-70 mph or so, you can ease back on the stick to lift off. Try to move the stick as gently as possible until you have gained some airspeed and altitude, or your flight will be a short one. Don’t forget to neutralize the rudder (key “s” or center pedals) and set the autotrim. See Autopilot .


Autotrim

Though WWI pilots had to trim their aircraft continually, we don’t force you to perform that task here. The autotrim modes will take care of most of your trimming.

There are three autotrim modes available in Dawn of Aces

Straight and level Mode

To fly straight and level, hit “X”. Hitting “X” again or moving the controls will disengage the autopilot.

Speed Mode

Hitting <shift “X”> tells the autopilot to maintain a specific airspeed. Set the speed by typing “.speed xxx” into the radio buffer (hit / to bring it up in flight) where xxx is the speed you want the autopilot to maintain. Depending on your throttle setting, the autopilot may cause the aircraft to climb or descend in order to maintain the selected airspeed. This mode is commonly used to achieve a desired rate of climb The optimum climb speed for most of the fighters in Dawn of Aces is somewhere around 90 mph. Hitting “X” or moving the controls disengages the autopilot.

Angle Mode

Hitting <ctrl “X”> causes the autopilot to attempt to maintain the climb or descent angle of the aircraft at the time it is engaged. The autopilot will crash the plane into the ground in this mode if you allow it to. Hitting “X” or moving the controls will disengage the autopilot.

These commands are available both in flight and on the ground.


The Map

You can look at the map anytime in flight by hitting the “F1” key. Hitting “F1” again returns you to the cockpit. Your position is represented by a “You are here” arrow in the center of the map. The map will scroll as you move around the world. During an online session, two GCI (Ground Controlled Intercept) arrows appear on the map display. The red arrow indicates the direction to the nearest group of enemy planes. The white arrow points to the nearest group of friendly aircraft. Note that the arrows do not indicate individual planes… you must constantly perform visual scans of your immediate area to avoid being surprised by an enemy. You can zoom in or out on the map with the “[“ and “]” keys. It is always a good idea to engage the autopilot when you intend to look at the map.

The Front

You’ll notice a dark irregular line stretching across the map near the middle. This is the front, with its trenchlines and No-Man’s Land. The front is a dangerous place, with anti-aircraft guns and trigger happy soldiers scattered along its length. Higher altitudes are highly recommended.

Balloons

Near each field, you’ll find observation balloons. These balloons act as a spotting network in the game, providing you with information on the whereabouts of enemy planes in their area. To deny the enemy such information, you can attempt to destroy the balloons near his fields. Be forewarned, since they provide valuable intelligence, you can expect them to be well defended by anti-aircraft guns.

To destroy a baloon, fire at the gondola hanging beneath it. At present, the balloon itself will not register hits.

Each balloon’s observation radius is indicated by a large ring on the map, colored either red for Allied balloons, purple for Central Powers balloons, or grey for a balloon that is presently inactive or destroyed.


View Keys

Use the numeric keypad to see the different views from the cockpit. “4” and “6” on the keypad will look left and right respectively. The “2” key is for looking behind you. The diagonal keys will give you diagonal views. For example, 7 looks forward-left, and 3 looks to the right-rear. You can also use multiple-key combinations for other views, for example “4” and “2” will give you an over the left shoulder view (the same as pressing 1). The “5” key is used to look straight out the top of the plane, or to provide a 45 degree up view in conjunction with any of the other view keys. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the various view keys. One of the most important aspects of flying in combat is the ability to use the view keys effectively. Practice will pay off later in the online arena.

Hitting <alt “V”> in flight will switch to an external view of your aircraft. You can use the view keys to see the aircraft from various angles. Hitting <alt “V”> again will return to the cockpit view. This command is not available in the online arena.


Landing

Landing is considered the most difficult aspect of flying, and rightly so. The key to a good landing is setting up a good approach. You want to be lined up with the runway from several miles out, at an altitude of 750 to 1000 feet. Your airspeed should be around 70 mph. as you begin your final approach. Approach the runway in shallow descent, using throttle and elevator to control your airspeed and descent rate. If all goes well you should cross the threshold of the runway at very low altitude at just under 60 mph. airspeed. Just before you touch down, raise the nose of the plane slightly so that the gunsight crosshair is a bit above the horizon. Once you’re on the runway, hit the wheel brakes (spacebar) to bring the plane to a stop. Once the plane has stopped, exit via the “.e” command. Don’t be discouraged if you find landing difficult at first… like anything it gets easier with practice.


Structural Limits

One thing to keep in mind ss the effect of structural limits on the airframes. There are 2 effects here: One is overspeed,  where diving the plane too fast will cause it to lose parts as they are torn off by the heavy vibration or wind force. At around 200 mph (your airspeed indicator will be pegged, most likely), you may be experiencing shuddering and the plane may become harder to control. In fact, those effects will become a problem before you reach overspeed limits. To avoid overspeeding the plane, when you begin to feel the plane not responding to the controls due to the force of the wind limiting movement of the control surfaces or shuddering violently, pull back your throttle and gently pull out of your dive. Some planes are able to dive faster than others. A bit of practice offline will give you a good idea where the limits are.

The other effect is structural failure due to overstressing by pulling too many G’s. This is heavily dependent on plane type. There will be a warning sound, like metal or fabric straining and bending, to let you know you are overstressing your airframe. When you hear this sound, ease up on your controls and/or throttle to avoid losing important parts of your plane…such as the wings.

Again…a bit of practice offline will tell you how hard you can push the aircraft.


Spin Recovery

Putting it simply, spins happen when one wing stalls and pulls the plane into a spin towards the stalled wing. Most commonly, this is because you pulled or pushed the nose too hard at slow speeds. When you do this, you’ll feel the plane begin to “mush”. If you keep pulling hard, the plane will roll and the nose will drop. If you ease up or let go of your controls, you’ll find the plane recovers very quickly. However, if you continue pulling too hard, a full fledged spin can develop. You’ll see the airspeed drop and stabilize below stall speed, and the plane will rotate quickly along the yaw axis. If you’ve managed to get into this state, you will be unable to escape until you get the speed back above stall speed. Follow these steps in order until you see the airspeed begin to climb again and the rotation slow down:

1. Full rudder in the direction opposite the spin. (this gets confusing if in an inverted spin, make sure you’ve got it right)

2. Push (or pull, if inverted)  the nose towards the ground to build speed.

3. If at full throttle, ease off. If at idle, ease power on.

4. Try to push (or pull) the stick back and forth to develop a rhythmic swing of the nose up and down until you get it pointed towards the ground enough to try keeping it that way.

5. Anything else you can think of.

6. Crash.

As a general rule, spins are a lot more dangerous the lower you are, since it takes time to recover. Knowing this, it’s a good idea to fly a bit less aggressively at very low altitudes.

Also, be aware of secondary spins. This is when the plane recovers from the first spin and quickly enters a second one in the other direction because of the extreme position of the controls used to recover from the first. To avoid this, as you see the plane reaching the point of recovering, ease up and be ready to neutralize the controls.

You will often find that when the plane recovers, it’s inverted. Do not panic, gently fly it out and get righted. Yanking the controls just after recovering from a spin is a sure recipe for a secondary spin. ]


Anti-Aircraft Guns

As mentioned earlier, there are anti-aircraft guns that can and will shoot at your plane. You’ll find individual soldiers, infantry machine guns, anti-aircraft machine guns, and 75mm anti-aircraft artillery (ack ack).  The 75mm’s will normally be near the front and also around the balloons. The machine guns and soldiers are generally near the front, though they may also be stationed near airfields.


There are NO parachutes

One of the reasons for the high casualty rate among WWI pilots was the fact that they had no means of safely escaping from a damaged or burning plane. Still, should things get too hot in your cockpit, you can jump out of your plane by hitting the <enter> key 3 times. Maybe, if you’re low and slow enough, you can survive the fall. I wouldn’t bet on it.


Offline Missions

There are a number of offline training missions available to help you hone your skills for online play.

You can choose to have from 0 to 3 wingmen accompany you on any of the missions. Your wingmen will fly formation with you, and  when enemy aircraft are sighted, will attack while trying to keep with the formation. The difficulty levels adjust the AI of enemy aircraft.


Scoring, Ranks, and Medals


Additional Resources and Info

If you already have access to the Internet, stop by the iMOL Games Web Site at

<http://www.imagiconline.com>

for up to the minute news and information about Dawn of Aces.

You can find additional links to personal and squadron web pages by clicking the “Community” button from the Dawn of Aces homepage at www.imagiconline.com.


Connecting to the 'Net

After you’ve explored the virtual world of Dawn of Aces and sampled the various aircraft, you’ll probably want to test your skill against other pilots. The iMOL Games host provides virtual combat arenas 24 hours a day, seven days a week. From time to time, historical scenarios complete with custom terrain re-create the famous air battles of years gone by. iMOL also maintains a newsgroup at “news.imagiconline.com” where Dawn of Aces pilots can meet for online chats, send and receive EMAIL, download files, and read and post messages in a variety of forums.

You’ll need access to the Internet to reach the iMOL Games host. You can play Dawn of Aces from any Internet provider in the world.

If you’d like more information about connecting to Dawn of Aces, call the iMagic Online Customer Support Department at (817) 424-5638 from 9am to 11pm Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

Once you have an account with an Internet access provider, and a Win95 Dialer setup, you’re ready to setup an account with IMOL. To do this,open your favorite web browser and direct it to “www.imagiconline.com”. You’ll see a “Join Now” button, click it and follow the instructions on-screen.

After your IMOL account is setup, you’re ready to fly!

Start the Dawn of Aces program and click the “Go Online” button. The first time you log on, the program will prompt you for a player ID and password.  You will also be asked to select your in-game ID. This can consist of up to 6 characters including lower case letters, or the - (dash) symbol, and cannot be not be in use by another player. Once set, this cannot be changed. Since this is the ID players will identify you with, choose carefully.

Long time experienced players are sometimes asked to become official Trainers. These players can be indentified by the = signs in their ID’s. (Ex. =worr= is a Trainer). iMOL employees are indentified by the upper case letters in their id’s. (Ex. -PYRO- is an employee of iMOL).

See Windows 95 Dial-Up Networking in this guide for more info on setting up a Win95 dialer.

(Note, you can also setup an account with iMOL by calling us at 817-424-5638)


Setting up Win 95 Dial-up Networking

Using  Windows `95 Dial-Up Networking

VERY IMPORTANT! Check with your provider first. These are generic settings and may not work with your ISP.

Step 1: Verifying that Dial-up Networking is installed.

Press the START button, select SETTINGS... then CONTROL PANEL. Double-click the  ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS! icon. Select the WINDOWS  SETUP tab, then highlight the COMMUNICATIONS component and press  DETAILS.... Make sure that the DIAL-UP NETWORKING option is installed as  one of your components. If it is installed, there will be check in the box to the left of it.  If it is, go on to step 2. If it is not setup you need to put a check in the box to the left  of DIALUP NETWORKING and click the OK button. You will need the setup  disc or discs for this step. Once you are back to the ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS! screen, click OK,  this will take you back to the  CONTROL PANEL

Step 2: Verifying that the Dial-up adapter and TCP/IP are installed.

Go to the CONTROL PANEL and double-click NETWORK. Both DIAL-UP  ADAPTER and TCP/IP should be present under the CONFIGURATION tab.  If  they both are, then you are ready to proceed to step 3. If they are not, follow these steps: To add the DIAL-UP ADAPTER, hit the ADD... button, double-click ADAPTER, then scroll down the list until you can select MICROSOFT. Choose the DIAL-UP ADAPTER and hit OK. If you need to install TCP/IP, hit the ADD... button, double-click PROTOCOL, then select MICROSOFT, then TCP/IP, and hit OK. Now your NETWORK dialog box should contain both DIAL-UP ADAPTER and TCP/IP. Select DIAL-UP ADAPTER, click PROPERTIES... then choose the BINDINGS tab, and make sure the TCP/IP box is checked. You're now ready to proceed to step 3.  Your computer will prompt you to restart it. Click OK.

Step 3: Creating your connection.

Open up MY COMPUTER from the desktop and double click the DIAL-UP  NETWORKING icon. Double click the MAKE NEW CONNECTION icon. Type your ISP’s name as the name of the computer you are dialing. Click  the CONFIGURE button. Under the GENERAL section, set the maximum speed to the highest  baud rate your modem can handle. Do NOT check “Only Connect at This  Speed”. Your modem should have been automatically configured by Windows  95.

Under CONNECTION, you need to have the preferences set to Data  Bits: 8; Parity: none, Stop bits: 1. Under OPTIONS, nothing needs to be changed. Click the OK button. Click the NEXT> button. Enter the phone number that you use to dial in to your ISP. If you have call waiting add *70,  (with the comma) to the beginning. This will temporarily disable call waiting.  Press the NEXT> button, then the FINISH button and the new dial-up icon will be created.

Click the right mouse button on the newly created dial-up icon, then select PROPERTIES. Click on the SERVER TYPE button. Set “Type of Dial Up  Server

” to “PPP, Windows 95, Windows NT, 3.5, Internet”.

Under the Advanced Options section, only “Log on to Network” should be checked.

Under “Allowed Protocols”, only TCP/IP should be checked.

You will need to contact your Internet Service Provider for the proper TCP/IP settings and DNS numbers. (Very Important)

Click OK until you’re back to the desktop, and you should be ready to connect.

You should always contact your Internet Service Provider for settings specific to their service.


Optimizing PPP connections for Dawn of Aces

To get the best possible PPP connection to the Dawn of Aces host, you’ll need to change some of the default settings that Windows 95’s Dial Up Networking chooses for you. Win 95 sets up the Dial Up connection’s properties such that it is optimized for high speed file transfers and web browsing, applications which stress bandwidth and data transfer rate. Dawn of Aces communications do not require huge bandwidth (even a 9600 baud modem provides plenty of bandwidth for Dawn of Aces), but rely more upon quickness of response and lower data rates.

We suggest making a separate Dial Up connection for Dawn of Aces use, rather than adjusting the properties of your existing connection every time you want to play the game. Just go into your Dial Up Networking folder and double-click the “Make New Connection” Icon. Follow the prompts to create the connection, then once it’s made, copy all of your TCP/IP settings to it from your existing Dial Up connection. The following changes will optimize the new connection for Dawn of Aces use:

1. Right click on the new connection, and choose “Properties”. Click on the “Configure” button and lower the maximum speed to 38400 or 19200 (you might want to try it both ways… results can vary.)

2. Next, click on the “Connection” tab. You’ll see two buttons near the bottom of the box. Click on the “Port Settings” button first. Make sure that “Use FIFO Buffers” is checked, then move both sliders one or two notches to the left from their default positions. Again, results may vary… iMOL currently recommends setting both sliders to the first notch from the far left. Click on “Ok”.

3. Now, click on the “Advanced” button. UNCHECK the “Compress Data” box. In some cases, you’ll also want to UNCHECK the “Use error control” box, but again, you might want to try it both ways, as this setting seems to differ with different ISP’s. Make sure that “Use flow control” is checked, and that “Hardware (RTS-CTS)” is selected. Click “Ok”. Click “Ok” again.

4. Next, click the “Server Types” tab. All three of the “Advanced Options” should be UNCHECKED. TCP/IP should be the only “Allowed Protocol” checked. Click the “TCP/IP settings” button, and double check that your DNS numbers are correct. (Check your existing settings or contact your Internet Service Provider) Make sure that “Use IP header compression” and “Default Gateway” are both checked. Click “Ok”, and ”Ok” again. Your Dawn of Aces connection should be ready to go.

If you still experience problems with these recommended settings, please contact iMOL’s support at (817) 424-5638 or via EMAIl to “doatech@icigames.com”

Good hunting!


Head to Head play

Dawn of Aces supports free Head to Head play. You’ll be able to connect with any other Dawn of Aces player to teach or learn dogfighting techniques, or just to duke it out one to one.

Head to Head sessions can be initiated by clicking the Head To Head button on the start menu.

The “Host New Game” and “Join Existing Game” buttons are for TCP/IP or Direct Play HTH sessions you’ve already arranged with another player. The joining player must know the IP address of the hosting player.

The last two options, the iMOL Games Lobby and Direct Play Lobby, are not yet in use.

Below is the setup screen for HTH flight options. These should be self explanatory.


Using Voice Comms in Dawn of Aces

1.  Hardware Requirements.

The only additional hardware required to use voice comms is a microphone configured for use with Win95.

2.  Using voice comms in the Dawn of Aces online arenas.

·	 Tune the players you want to talk to with the Voice Interface or use the .talk XXXX command. You may include three player ID's in this command with a space between each 6 character ID.

(for example .talk -PYRO- SNAIL- --HT--)

·	 Press the INSERT key to transmit. (hold it down while speaking, release when done speaking)

·	 Everyone you have tuned will hear your voice. Note that each player must issue the .talk XXXXXX command to transmit voice. Tuning them will not enable them to talk back until they use the .talk XXXXXX command to tune you.

3.  Using Voice comms in HTH play.

·	Press the INSERT key to transmit. No tuning is required.

This is the Voice Interface Window…

Type the id of the player(s) you wish to talk to in the blank fields at the top of the window. Up to 3 may be entered. The “Apply” button accepts the current id’s without closing the voice window, the “Cancel” button cancels any selections and closes the voice window, and the “OK” button accepts the current id’s and closes the voice window.

The bottom part of the window is used when another player requests voice comms with you. Their id will be displayed in the box and you can accept with the “Accept” button or decline with the “Squelch” button.

The “Manual” button stops the window from automatically opening each time someone requests voice comms with you. If someone requests voice comms while “Manual” is lit, the “Voice” button will blink and a text message will appear in the radio display.