The virtual flight lines were alive with the starting cough of radial engines as San Francisco became the epicenter for the Air Warrior 98 convention. Appropriately located within earshot of the airport, participants from across the country gathered for three days of flying and camaraderie.

This was the tenth such gathering for the first, and largest of multiplayer air combat simulation games. Air Warrior started out as a Macintosh-based game, and now sports the latest in 3-D technology that its original creators could only have dreamed of back in the late eighties. The game is home to thousands of pilots who access Air Warrior through Kesmai's Gamestorm service.

Air Warrior's founders, such as designer Kelton Flinn, attended this year's convention. Jonathan Baron (Blue Baron) of Kesmai remarked that what guaranteed a Con's success was the simple act of getting a bunch of people and computers into a room and they would take care of the rest. It was also a changing of the guard, as Air Warrior's producer moves on to the creation of naval simulations, leaving the next generation of Air Warrior to newcomer Arnold Hendricks who will create the next generation air combat simulation "Jet Warrior". More on that later!

As Mr. Baron pointed out, the Air Warrior conventions are unique in that the players, not Kesmai, plan and run them. It is a mark of Air Warrior's true foundation, a bedrock of community upon which the game rests. Rob Wood(Stilletto) and Eric Howell (Torp) began planning for this convention shortly after the last one ended a year ago in Houston Texas.

Although AW Con 98 did not officially begin until Friday, volunteers worked late into the night the previous evening preparing the rooms for arriving participants. Tables filled with computers and snaking cables. Squadron posters and pennants went up on the walls, transforming a large banquet hall into a suitable flight deck. An archway of red, white, and blue balloons was carefully assembled, with a banner across the top to welcome the arriving pilots. A divider separated players from the awful violence that would accompany the crud table next door.

Entrance to the flight deck was guarded by two mannequins outfitted in authentic world war II-era combat gear. Facing them was a receptionist table displaying books by author/WWII pilot Mozart Kaufman who was also the scheduled guest speaker. The convention's commercial sponsors were busy as well, both Saitek and CH Products stacking up an impressive array of controllers. The Cockpit Group came in and placed two of their Virtual Cockpits in the middle of the flight deck for those who demanded more than a simple chair and table in their realism. Pacific Bell Internet was there to provide the connections.

The first day dawned with fog rolling in off the bay and pilots queuing up at the doors for the 9:00AM opening. The morning was spent setting up systems and renewing acquaintances with players finally meeting wing mates and adversaries in person. The warm reunions underlined the strong sense of community from which the conventions were born. Action warmed up with the afternoon weather, with screams of victory (and pain) from the crud table accenting the carnage wrought as Con goers ranged across the Air Warrior arenas in their planes sniffing for blood. Background music pumped out sounds from the Forties, planes cartwheeling to their deaths to the tune of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy". A steady stream of door prizes kept pace, with both Saitek and CH Products being handed out to lucky winners. So it went into the night...and into the early morning.

Saturday the beat picked up with the flash of real props as the Hayward Air Show roared into the skies over San Francisco bay. Con goers were treated to a display of air power ranging from World War II to the composite winged wonders of the modern era. Nimble aerobatic planes danced and spun across the sky, contrasting with a lumbering C47 providing rides to those who could afford it. Russian Yaks were both on display and in the sky, including a Chinese airplane flown in by Air Warrior "Eye Balls".

It was the planes from the last World War that captured hearts as they rumbled and droned in honor of those who had endured and persevered those many years ago. This spirit was also in abundance with another stop on the San Francisco adventure, the CV-12 Hornet. Newly outfitted as a floating museum, the carrier is a veteran of Pacific battle against the Imperial Japanese Navy. Saved from the scrap heap by a large volunteer effort, the ship was a diamond in the rough in its second weekend of display, giving Con visitors a close look at the efforts done and still in progress to reclaim the old vessel.

Back at the convention the contests continued, including a "sheep impersonation" event...deserving no further elaboration from this author. For those unfamiliar with the full-realism arenas in Air Warrior, classes were conducted in the art of staying alive in an environment of black-outs, spins....and eager adversaries. Then came the main academic event as Robert Shaw (author of Fighter Combat) discussed g-effects and various ACM tactics to an attentive and occasionally sober audience. Competition began shortly after with a series of ladders for both bomber and fighter pilots, with the winners taking away two 3Dfx cards each.

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And then it came....Night of The Jeeps. Those who ventured into the 9:00pm auto-scenario found themselves manning either B17s or jeeps. That's right. Jeeps. Bouncing jeeps. Sixty-thousand foot and falling jeeps. Gunned jeeps, that frantic B17 pilots hammered at when not collapsing over their guns in helpless laughter. Another Air Warrior legend was born. The ladders continued, with Michael "Jordi" Bowman taking the buff competition. In the RR arena, Brian "A51" Rennolds took the final kill.

Sunday came as Sundays do after two days of hard play. Quietly. Pilots trickled in, their numbed bodies warming to the task of ariel destruction by mid-day. The FR fighter bragging rights were seized by Karl "Ketchup" Nicholas as tables cleared for the evening's banquet. Two speakers were presented, one of them Mozart Kaufman who talked about his exploits as both a fighter pilot and prisoner in World War II. He took great pride in being one of only three pilots who told master interrogator Hanz Sharp "Not a Goddamn thing".

Arnold Hendrics, Kesmai's new-hire, came on to introduce both himself and the upcoming "Jet Warrior". He acknowledged that the current flight engine of Air Warrior had run it's course and needed a major refit. That job would be accomplished by the creation of a jet-based simulation based on air combat in Vietnam. Play will involve both US and North Vietnamese air forces. It will have a more sophisticated campaign system and center on missions conducted against North Vietnam. Missions would be provided for both fighter and bomber aircraft of the period. It is intended as both a solo and massive multi-player game. Tentative aircraft offerings are the F4 phantom, F105 "Thud", A6 Intruder, A4 Sky Hawk, Mig 17 and the Mig 21. Further information was kept behind his knowing grin.

The conventioneers stubbornly kept the event alive well after its official closing. It didn't matter that the computers were being packed up. Air Warriors clustered around the hall, talking among themselves well into the morning. It was a powerful statement about the community that came together for the weekend from all points of the compass. As Jonathan Baron put it, "A reunion for those who never met each other". So it was. Following is the official press release on "Jet Warrior:"

"Pilot skill was paramount during the controversial and politically charged Vietnam War," said industry veteran Arnold Hendrick, designer/producer for the project. "Finally, gamers will be able to experience what our valiant servicemen really faced, 30 years ago, in the deadly skies of North Vietnam."

Currently in development as both a solo and massively multiplayer title, Jet Warrior - Vietnam will include an all-new 3D system that takes advantage of the latest computer technology, including advanced 3D hardware accelerators. In addition, a new terrain system will faithfully portray the varied topography of Vietnam and surrounding regions. The game will allow players to choose from nearly a dozen different types of fighters, strike fighters, and bombers to engage each other in air-to-air and air-to-ground combat.

"Jet Warrior - Vietnam is one of the most ambitious gaming projects in development today," stated Gordon Walton, general manager, Kesmai Studios. "Simultaneously creating a full-featured solo game and a massively multiplayer game, both using a new interactive campaign system, is a huge undertaking. Few development teams have experience developing massively multiplayer games, and those that do don’t work on solo sims. Kesmai has the unique ability to do both at once."

"The Navy's famous 'Top Gun' school was founded during this war to teach pilots how to win air-to-air combats in the jet age," continued Hendrick. "These same tactics can be used by players in Jet Warrior - Vietnam™ - it's that realistic. In addition, novice-friendly options will make this one of the easiest flight simulators to learn and play."

For our original review go to Air Warrior III