AW3mv vs Aces High

[OHIO]

Fellow Warriors:

       I'm considering a move from AWmv to Aces High, I was wondering if any of you could tell me some pro's and con's about A/H vs Air War, A little back ground on me, I flew on AOL AW2 and AW3 for 3 years and I was the Squad CO of 1st*STRIKE*BlackWidow's, and a former Widow Maker, now I fly a little on GS and EA and I hate to say it, but I would rather go back to the aol's 1.99hr than put up with some of the junk thats going on at EA's Romper Room style arena's. So please if any of you know me or ever flew on aol please send me some Info on A/H.

           OHIO a.k.a. The Big Buckeye

[ 06-07-2001: Message edited by: OHIO ]

[Ripsnort]

Old Warrior head here from Dos days, so my comments relative to todays AW3 is meaningless, however, I will say that the learning curve may be alittle steeper for one transgressing from sims that I used to fly, such as EAW, WB's, to here.  Stay with it a min. of 3 weeks, and you'll adjust.

[OHIO]

Rip: Thank you for the info, nice web site, I'll look forward to down loading A/H unless there's a box set running around?

            OHIO

[batdog]

2 free intial weeks... use them to decide. If your having problems with flight models fly a Niki or Spit. The game has some great people who will help you if you need assistence.

 xBAT

[Ripsnort]

OHIO, thks for complements, GIJeff made the site.

No box version of AH around, but the download is relatively small, (27 meg today?)

Look us trainers up anytime, we're always willing to help transition any squad/pilot over.  1 hour in the TA can give you a wealth of information about the sim, in's and outs, things to be aware of, etc.

[AKSWulfe]

18MB, but to get good qaulity sounds rather than defaults it comes out to about 26-30MBs.
-SW

[Westy MOL]

Ohio, the list as to how and why AH surpasses AW:MV is long one.  One that transends just the software itself  

 The really good thing is you can try AH for free - zip, nada, zilch - fora full two weeks to see for yourself.

  -Westy

[paintmaw]

ptMAW here from aw3 big pac . don't come here too long if your planning to go back to AW3 . Aces will spoil you and you won't be able to go back .IMO AH is the best online sim out there . Join the KNIGHTS though  

[xHaMmeRx]

Howdy OHIO,

Just made the move myself after 4 - 5 years of AW.  I few RR most of the time (as +HMR+ of the =GHOSTS=, we got along well with you window washers er widow makers   ) , FR for about the last year.

If you are interested in FR type environment, then AH is the place to be.  AW FR has dried up to the point where it is unusual to see more than 30 or 40 people in there in the evenings.  If RR is for you, AH doesn't have one!

Graphics in AH blow AW away easily.  Not a real pilot so I can't comment on flight models but I will say some of the obviously wrong things from AW can't happen in AH.

If early war planes are your thing, AH doesn't have many at this time.  Late war planes are well represented in AH.  More planes are being added all the time, unlike AW, and the hope of many is for some early war types.

If cost is a factor, AW is still a bargain at $10 a month, but you get what you pay for.

Just my thoughts so far.  Hope it helps.

HaMmeR

[Dead Man Flying]

There are a lot of areas where AH clearly surpasses AW, a few areas where AW exceeds AH, and some areas where it's anybody's call.

Being years newer, Aces High sports better graphics and true 3D cockpits.  The 3D cockpits are especially nice because they allow players to adjust default head positions to see around obstacles, like real pilots would do.

Aces High sounds are customizable, and there are some wonderful sound packs out there to replace the mediocre default sounds.

Aces High's flight model definitely beats Air Warrior's.  It models a number of forces not present in AW -- torque, for instance -- and ballistics are the most realistic of any online flight sim.

Aces High allows different convergence settings, numerous bomb loadouts, various gun packages, fuel tanks, and more.  Choices here also clearly affect the handling properties of the individual planes.

On the other hand, AW costs only $10/month vs. $30/month for AH.  Is Aces High three times better than AH?  That's for you to decide after trying it out for a couple of weeks.

Air Warrior also supports user customizable plane and terrain textures via SAC, a wonderful feature for scenarios.

What we can't judge are the intangibles.  Is Aces High more fun than Air Warrior?  Again, that's for you to decide after playing it for awhile.  Which game has the better community?  Again, that's for you to decide.  Some have noted that the AH community seems quick to jump on newcomers and generally behaves badly.  Frankly, I haven't seen this, and the community here has always been absolutely wonderful to me -- even helping me out when my throttle broke (thanks again Schnell!).  Air Warrior obviously has a storied history with a large and active community as well.  Which is better?  Your call after some time here as well.

Hope that helps.  

-- Todd/+Dead/DMF

[Hornet]

Come on over Ohio, simply AH is a superb game. The handful of people at HTC offer 10 times the support and focus on their game than AW gets from massive sized EA. AH is what AW could have been.

And don't worry about the whole RR/FR thing from AW...it was all RR compared to AH. Take the basic ACM/SA lessons learned there and grow them. Put the time in, the results will come    

Hornet

[MiG Eater]

I was a very dedicated AW player for 5 years.  The advent of Aces High offered so much more to me as a sim combat pilot, I found that I could not fly AW anymore and have a good time flying it.

To sum it up:

AW=dud       AH=STUD!

MiG

[paintmaw]

but i only pay $10.00 a month for aces  

[GunnerCAF]

OHIO,

The Cactus Air Force has made the move from AW to AH.  The CAF has been in AW for about 8 years, and I have been flying AW for 7. AH a great game and it is well run.  Great customer support.  There are some bad habbits to unlearn from AW, but the experiance has been fun.  Give the 2 week trial a go and see how you like it.  Good luck with the move, I know how hard it to keep a squad together to make a transition like this.

Gunner <CAF>
CO, Cactus Air Force

[ 06-07-2001: Message edited by: GunnerCAF ]

[Steven]

I started with Air Warrior MV in January and played that about 3 months before taking a month off and then starting Aces High just 3 days before the end of May.  All through May I had both AW and AH and could and did make direct comparisons.  The biggest difference is the immersion.  Since (for online flight simming) I had grown accustomed to Air Warrior, I was literally blown away by Aces High when I first tried it.  AH graphics on my 1.3 Ghz are incredible compared to what I had gotten used to with AW.  It is more like real terrain rather than a painted billiard table with a few peaks.  This combined with the excellent aircraft models and art made a HUGE difference when I would go back to AW after getting ued to AH.  As far as the flight models, at first I thought AH too wobbly.  But after getting used to the Aces High flight models and going back to try AW, the AW flight models now seemed too rigid and like flying on rails.  I knew they weren't great, but now they seemed incredibly bad.  (I think if you get used to one FM over the other the other's differences will seem magnified.)  The big kicker is that by March the numbers in AW were dwindling and by May Air Warrior seemed dead and I literally felt there should be tumbleweeds blowing by.  With Aces High, there is much more action occuring and the action varies...it feels more like "war."  I remember the first time flying along and seeing a Task Group shelling coastal targets, or the first time I saw the sun go down.  Impressive and immersive.  The tracers took a little bit getting used to, but it didn't take long and now it's what I prefer.  I really think you have to try it and make up your own mind.  Then you should feel good knowing you've made an educated decision whatever that may be.  The only drawback really is that Aces High will be new to you and won't feel comfortable at first.  You will have a learning curve and don't get discouraged if you find yourself getting shot down a lot.  Don't give up.

I assume like most people you want online combat to fight other human opponents.  This is where the action is and overall...the suspension of disbelief is much greater here.  My biggest gripe with AH would be how easy it is to take a base and reset the map.  It seems as though a reset occurs almost every other day or less!  I only remember seeing a couple resets when flying AW but being a Knight I'm seeing them first hand about every other day.