Author Topic: ACES vs FA3.5 (Read 497 times)

HomerFett · « **on:** February 21, 2004, 09:40:01 PM »

I recently rekindled my love of flight sims (back from the days of the Microprose games) and started playing (this past month) FighterAce 3.5. I found the link to Aces High and noticed its the same kind of pay to play Multiplayer game. I have checked around and not read anything comparing the two games. Could someone please give me some input on the difference in the two games. Or maybe even how does this game compare to a game like IL2. Thanks for the help I am considering joining your ranks.

...oh yeah does this game support the TrackIr2? I just ordered one today

Blue Skies!!

Urchin · « **Reply #1 on:** February 21, 2004, 11:41:28 PM »

From what I hear, Fighter Ace really sucks. Never played it, so I couldn't tell you from personal experience.

IL-2 FB is fun. Looks better than AH, but Ah is more "compelling" if you are into 'making a name for yourself'. AH can grab hold of you and not let go for years... IL-2 is more of a touch and go thing for me. I'll play it for a week, let it sit for a few months, play it for a week, etc.

wklink · « **Reply #2 on:** February 22, 2004, 12:14:46 AM »

Fighter Ace doesn't suck but it is (at least when I flew it) not the hard core flight sim that Aces High is. It has it's good points, most notably a more realistic planeset (Germans vs Japanese vs Brit vs Russian vs US) so you won't see spit vs spit dogfights and the field capture thing is pretty interesting but the lack of players in the realistic arena's killed it for me.

I don't like flying with cockpit off yet that is what happened in the intermediate arenas. The fact that you would see maybe 8-10 folks in the Realistic arenas tops meant that the game really was marketed for the arcade or semi realistic flier. This is too bad, the aircraft are rendered well, the realistic flight model isn't perfect but it is hard and in general not badly done and as I said I liked the strat idea in the game.

Given a choice between the four major online WW2 games I would pick Aces High for your air combat fix. If you are a fan of ground sims then WW2 Online is a good bet. Warbirds isn't bad either but they have lost their luster over the years. Fa 3.5 is good if you want a relaxed mode of dogfighting. That isn't bad, different strokes for you know but it wasn't for me.

Roscoroo · « **Reply #3 on:** February 22, 2004, 12:34:43 AM »

Il2 fb .. Great eye candy .. the FM is really good for full sim emersion .. but its 32 player hosted rooms ... it has alot of simple tweeks to change fm , views, the arena , ect (no two rooms are the same set up ) I play it every couple of weeks or so

FA 3.6 .. is the same basic FA 2 flight models (intermediate , Full )
It has very foggy skys compared to AH . the servers/ lantency doesnt run as smooth as AH does . And it still has overmodeled rocket ship planes . ( One sec you see the dot the next your just a ball of fire ) Just pop into FA3's FFA arena and youll see what i mean. the final thing that keeps me from permentally flying FA3 is the game still has a tendency to lock up even on my 2.2ghz AMD w/the ti4600 card in it . The think i do like about FA is its huge plane set . ( i just flew FA again this last xmas )

Now I'm not knocking the 2 above games thats just my own opinion of them (I like them bolth but have more fun in AH )

Now Here In AH you get the only Arena that has 500-700 players in it. It has a great Flight model . (ww2ol doesnt count guys )
It may not have il2's eye candy but you know what to expect when your in the game . Your questions get ansered fast and guys will take time out to help you learn . (ignore the Alt f-4 comments)

AH 2 is in open beta testing right now , but they are taking there time putting it together (HTC/AH is a very small company and we get some amazing stuff from just a few people )

I'll even start it out for ya www.netaces.org

I suggest you try all the different Flight sims and set your own opinion though .

Ps, track ir is supported in AH2 ... and i think some of the guys may have it working in AH 1 ( im not shure cause i dont have one)

_Schadenfreude_ · « **Reply #4 on:** February 22, 2004, 02:15:47 AM »

There are a lot of people who moved from FA to AH over the last couple of years - I did so myself - as other have posted FA has a very nice graphics engine, it's a historical planeset - ie JP vs US vs GE vs SU vs GB - but is aimed at a relaxed physics and invisible cockpit crowd.

AH is a little more difficult and is aimed at a market that wants a more realistic flight and gunnery model.

However making the transition takes about 2 weeks as the basic concepts, SA, Gunnery, ACM etc are pretty much the same.

When I left FA about a year ago there was a huge argument raging amongst all the old hands between the more realism vs the easy mode - in my opinion AH is a far better game in terms of gameplay - I miss the eye candy of FA and I do miss the people who I'd flown with and against - in some cases for years but wouldn't go back.

I've seen a lot of people go from FA to AH - never seen anyone go from AH to FA.

As far as IL2 goes - it's not a MMOG ( Massive Multiplayer Online Game) - tried it and found it too small - was just one short furball at 3000 feet and I think the designers favour the SU a/c to a ridiculous extent.

Come and have a look for me in the MA or CT if you ever want to wing up - the net aces link is well worth reading to ease your transition into the game.

Tequilla · « **Reply #5 on:** February 22, 2004, 08:10:26 AM »

I have trackir2 and use it in ah1. I had to create a virtual joystick and do some tweaking to get it to work.
As for trackir2 in AH it only works in mouse look mode not enhanced mode which is a major drawback.
Very disappointing.

pugg666 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 22, 2004, 08:30:07 AM »

Something that no one else has mentioned about AH yet, first 2 weeks is free (no credit card required). After your 2 weeks is up all the head to head servers are still avaliable to fly in even if you don't decide to pay to play.

try it for yourself and see

HomerFett · « **Reply #7 on:** February 22, 2004, 08:56:07 AM »

Thanks for all the input everyone. I downloaded the game and have been trying offline mode. I do like the feel of the planes a bit more. There are some things I miss from FA such as the cockpits seem to be more realistic and I guess I am just used to all the controls where this will take some time and Ill need to remap some things. The one thing I do really dislike about FA is the dot to death syndrome mentioned above. Although there are some very good piolts in that game too. The landscape graphics seem better in this game as well for sure. I guess I'll give it a try. Are there any plans to make a larger plane selection like that in FA... cause that seems to be the only gripe I heard. Judging from the amount of responses I already got from this post it seems as though the community (at least some) are willing to step up and answer the "new guy" questions.

One more thing: What is the difference between AH and AH1?

WldThing · « **Reply #8 on:** February 22, 2004, 09:07:28 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by HomerFett
One more thing: What is the difference between AH and AH1?

Basically two different games. New graphic engine, etc..

HomerFett · « **Reply #9 on:** February 22, 2004, 09:13:30 AM »

So which one is the one I should download... I only see one link? Man now I am confused AH, Ah1 and AH2.

Roscoroo · « **Reply #10 on:** February 22, 2004, 09:29:40 AM »

http://www.hitechcreations.com/download.html

the above is AH 1.114 the current version ... Try this one 1st

AH 2 beta is in the News, Announcements, & Information thread

I'll be in and around the game and the message board most of the day .

Oh yea AH and AH1 are the same thing .... its AH2 thats our new beta that just came out (new grafic's engine ,flight models,and eyecandy re-tuned , and room for FPS and perhaps some submarine warfare also )