Contents:

  Flawed Beginning
  History Begins
  Early UOP's
  "The Dr.1 is Porked!"
  SWWISA
  The Last Classic UOP
  To the East!
  Revolution of CdT
  A New Breed of UOP
  Pat Wilson and WFP
  Stachel's Hell's Angels
  The Promised Land
  The End of the Road

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The Society of World War I Sim Artisans: SWWISA

            Individual efforts could only take Red Baron so far. By late 1999 and early 2000, a lot of discontent had arisen on the Flight Sim Forum. There were more arguments and general unruliness than many of the members of the community ever wanted to see. Eventually it became apparent that some form of organization would be needed if progress was to ever continue. Stachel, a SWWISA member, explains how and why SWWSIA was formed: 

“Some quick background on SWWISA...but it should really come from Uhlan... way back in 1999/2000 there were a lot of arguments and dis-continutity on the Flight Sim Forum, which is where we all came from. It was the grand meeting place of all personalities in the RB community. It was even before Wings of Valor [a major Red Baron site in 2000]. There were a few sites out there that were very good, but [there was no other single place where everyone involved could go besides The Flight Sim Forum]. It was a good place to talk, and exchange ideas, but that soon became the opposite. There is no blame needed, or any one to point fingers at, just know that it was time to move on and design another outlet for like-minded individuals to gather and openly exchange ideas without confrontations.

Our founding members were Uhlan, CdT (Karel), and a few others. It was a small group that quickly grew into a larger one just based on the open-minded principle. Karel set the tone with his new line of models using Anim8r. It was a movement of sorts. It was a really great time in the life of this Sim.

It worked out well for everyone. I joined SWWISA later on, after the first release of HA, as I felt I could contribute to the group by what I learned from modding. It was a lot of fun and the guys in SWWISA were all very helpful and always there for me. I know this 'club' or as we liked to call it, guild, is virtual, but it was the best place I knew of to talk to some great personalities. We had Historians, Artists, Modders, and Modelers, even Programmers.

I think that might be a good starting point that you can build on.  I don't know all the insides because I was a 'trawler' until I made HA.  I just liked coming to the SWWISA forum and talking to the guys a lot more than the Flight Sim Forum.  This SWWISA forum was a great idea, and I'm glad that it still upholds the initial ideals it was built on.  That's why we accomplished so much.  Prior to SWWISA, it was pretty much a free-for-all."

            Once this movement within the community had taken shape, progress finally kicked back into high gear. The major movers and shakers within the community had organized and were ready to tackle some of the greatest obstacles in Red Baron together, sharing resources and knowledge to make the game as great as it could be. On the heels of this movement however, the last of the great single-endeavor UnOfficial Patches was to be released by one of the community’s forefathers: WingStrut’s 2002 release of 1918 Air War.