Aces High is incredible. Hardly a day goes by where I don’t see something that truly amazes me. (And no… I’m not talking about warps, ghosts etc…) Visually, it is a treat. On 32Bit color, with hi-rez and a 19” monitor, sometimes I forget I’m really just sitting in a chair. Smoke trailing falling planes with the orange glow of a setting sun in the background, tank rounds arching through the sky, pieces falling off planes, or a fur ball of bees dancing in the distance that grows into a sky of planes… I love it all.
Of course… it isn’t just visual treat. I can hardly believe how much thought has to go into flying and fighting in AH. At first, I just flew my plane toward the enemy and pulled the trigger. You could spot me easily… I was the one blasting away at D1.8K hoping to get one lucky ping. Three months later… I am still learning something new each day. (And I haven’t flown half the planes)
It isn’t all about skills either… if so… I’d probably would have never kept flying because I was the worst of the bunch and getting shot down repeatedly wasn’t all that much fun. But then, an amazing thing happened. I circled unseen in a group of clouds between an enemy base, and one of ours that was being attacked. When I saw a P-38 pass below, I swooped down, wings squeaking, right onto his 6. Before the con couldn’t even bank, I had enough holes in it for the kill. There was only a 1-2 second window where he could have even seen me… I think it is the ‘thinking part’ that keeps me around. I like trying to hit ‘em where they least expect it. Of course… rarely does that happen, because there is always someone out there on the other side that is thinking in my shoes and mounting a challenge. It’s fun trying though.
In dogfights, I find my hand clenched so tight around my flight stick it’s sweaty. My family knows that the best time to talk to me isn’t while I am in the middle of a dogfight. I concentrate so hard the only thing I can say is ‘not now’ or ‘just a sec’ if I can get out any words at all. My cats even know to avoid me when- ‘he has that look in his eyes.’
Gooning, tanking, buffing, JABO, and straight dogfighting are so different… and each has their own required skills, pace, and rewards.
AH is far from perfect… but it is evolving and getting better with each release. Why did I bother to write this when I could be flying? (well… actually I’m not at home so I can’t fly right now) It is because I think sometimes people (including myself) get so caught up in the negative, that we lose sight of what a cool thing we have, even just the way it is.
I hereby dedicate this thread to comments about what you like most about Aces High. Everyone has to have something right… I mean… where all flying AH for some reason.
<S> All!
[This message has been edited by Paxil (edited 11-14-2000).]
