How do I play?

[Little Mecky]

I'm very new to Aces High, and I'm not too experienced with war flight sims either. I've been banging my head trying to figure exactly how to play this game. I have no problem learning how to fly, adjusting game settings and so on, as there are quite a few internet resources for that. But I can't figure out the gameplay.

The 'gameplay' section of the help file either explains it too generally or too specifically. It tells you a lot, but misses some areas. Most of what I've found searching the internet teaches you things like flight maneuvers, game settings, and the like, but that's virtually useless if you don't know how to use them. My main problem right now is how to capture territory (in detail ). If I know exactly how that's done, it'll make figuring everything else out a lot easier.

[Soulyss]

I'll chime in and see if I can shed a little light on things.... (at least in part)

Some people consider capturing territory to be the whole point of the game... which is fine, however there are other facets... the key is to find whichever aspect of the game is the most fun for you.  Some people just like to Furball/Dogfight.  Others want to "win the war", some people like to drive tanks, others bombers... I'd try everything and see what is the most enjoyable to you.  

But since you asked specifically about base capture I'll outline how it works.

To capture a field (be it air, vehicle, or port)  you must land 10 troops in the map room.  At an airfield the map room is located at town found nearby.  In order for the troops to count towards the total required ALL the structures at the town must be destroyed.  This is done by bombs, rockets, guns, etc.  Once all the buildings are destroyed troops can be delivered via the air in the C-47 or via land by a M-3.  This is the most basic... it usually gets a little more complicated because people tend to try and stop you.   But that's the basics...

if you're starting from scratch I would try and book some time with a trainer who can get you started.  I'm not sure who is heading up the training at the time but if you ask around the training arena I"m sure you can find someone who will show you the ropes.

[Cobra412]

Little Mecky welcome to Aces High.

The game play is fairly straight forward.  There are 3 teams that all fight against each other.  Each side has to try and take one team down to a minimum set of bases.  Once this has been accomplished the country with the most bases wins and is awarded perk points.

Taking enemy territory is very simple to explain but not always as simple to carry out.  Each airfield has a town close to it with a "map room".  This town is the main key to taking the airfields.  You need to destroy all objects within the town by whatever means necessary.  Once all objects are destroyed you can then use one of three options to officially capture that airfield.  You can use an M3 vehicle with 10 troops.  You can use a C-47 with 10 troops.  And last but not least you can use an LVT with 10 troops.  All bases only require a total of 10 troops to capture the base.  

To air drop from the C-47 be sure your atleast 800 feet above the airfields altitude.  Hit O to open your door and release your troops by hitting your salvo button.  You can hit your salvo button 10 times or you can type in .salvo 10 and all troops will be commanded to drop with one push of the salvo button.  They take a little while to all jump out so it's a good idea to make a horizontal arc flight path right over the town.  You can also attempt to land your C-47 and follow the same procedures for commanding the troops out.  Be sure you are completely stopped before commanding them out or else they will essentially die.

The same C-47 landing procedure can be followed for the M3 and LVT captures.  Be sure to hit O to open your door and be sure to be completely stopped before commanding them out.

To find your map rooms in the towns, ports and the vehicle bases do as follows.  Hit ESC to bring up your clipboard.  Right click anywhere on the map in the center of the clipboard.  A drop down will pop up, select clipboard maps.  A window will pop out that has drop down options.  The upper drop down labeled clipboard maps is where you can cycle through all the different airfields, vehicle bases, ports, ect...  Cycle down to the one labeled Town.  You will see each map is labeled.  You can just take your troops to the area that is labeled map room.

Vehicle bases have no town and the only thing necessary to take down is the AAA.  Same goes with the ports.

Slowly but surely as you capture bases the surrounding cities, ammo factories, troop factories, ect... will automatically be taken over and given to your country.  There are what is called zone bases around each map.  You can tell where they are by how it's spawn areas branch out to all the surrounding bases.  These are key to taking over an area to gain control of the cities, ammo factories, troop factories, ect...  

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

[SuperDud]

A good place to practice and ask questions is the training arena. Stop by there and normally theirs someone willing to help you.

[Soulyss]

D'oh, forgot about the lvt.

From here, I'd consider hitting the TA (training arena) practice, get start gettinga feel for things and then come back here to post specific questions.  Generally people are helpful around here but you will probably get a better response if you keep the questions specific like you did above.  I'll  do what I can to answer any Q's you may have.

[Furious]

My advice.

Learn to fight first.

No point in bringing bombs anywhere if you can't survive long enough to use them.

[Vudak]

A key part of understanding the gameplay is understanding the radio.  Once you have that down, you will be instructed on gameplay.

On Country Channel (Green), you will be told WHERE to fight.

On Channel 200 (Grey), you will be told HOW to fight.
















(Please don't let my late night sarcasim scare you away from this game it really is a blast and whatever way you choose to play it I'm sure you'll have many fun nights).

[VWE]

Learn this: .squelch vudak  

[TexMurphy]

While you said you need more hints on game play then flying Im gonna give one on flying anyways, but its gonna impact your ability to learn gameplay.

Make a shortlist of planes where you select one plane for each role and stick with em till you learn them. Dont jump between planes within the same role cathegory.

For example:

Fighter: Yak9U (imho excelent plane to learn in due to low ammo count and great flight characteristics)
Naval Fighter: F6F

JABO: F6F
Naval JABO: F6F

Attack: 110

Bomber: B-24

By learning each of these planes you will be very much part of the gameplay. You will also become a much better pilot if you stick to a ride for an extended time period (minimum 2 months imho) and then swich. When swiching dont swich all the planes in your arsenal but just one at the time. That way you always have something to fall back on skillwise.

Also be aware that skill in this game is developed in steps. You take a huge leap and then reach a plateu. After a while you take another huge leap. Also there are slumbs in this game which can be quite big, usually that is to the dogfighting aspect of your game play.

Dogfighting is very mentally demanding as it requires alot of situation awareness, which is very mental. If you reach a slumb, you will know because you die to everything after killing most things, there are a few things you can do.

Either:
Focus more on JABOs and Bombing during this period, get a break from dogfighting. Your mentally tired you need a rest.

Or:
You need to refocus as you are getting sloppy and making basic mistakes. Good thing to do is to write down a list on paper about the most basic things to do in a fight. Have that list infront of you when you fly. Each time you die look at that list.

Examlple of my list of key things:

1. Gain alt.
2. Never climb towards targets
3. Engage highest target.
4. Go under him on the merge.
5. After merge go high and over in an immelman
6. Never follow targets to the deck unless there is a huge number advantage on your side.
7. Gain alt.

The two I fail the most are 2 and 6 and they are the reason to 80% of my deaths.

Good luck man and welcome.

Tex

[Ecliptik]

Don't confuse the poor guy.

Jabo:  Abbreviated form of the German word "Jagdbomber", meaning fighter-bomber.  You'll see the the term "Jabo" in these forums used in reference for any sort of attack plane or sortie, even though pure attack aircraft like the A-20 and Il-2 are in a different class from true fighter-bombers like the P-47.

[Little Mecky]

Thanks, everyone, for all your posts. Sure helps a lot! I'll be sure to visit the training arena, and ask questions here and there if I have any.

[TracerX]

Some Ideas on how to learn the game better:

1.  It has already been mentioned, but learn everything there is to know about the radio and communication.  This includes ".dot" commands like .move, .salvo, .wingman and so forth.

2.  Find or follow someone that knows what they are doing.  When I was really new, I would get shot down before I knew I was in trouble.  (Now I still get shot down all the time, but I know I'm in trouble )  So find someone who knows what they are doing, and watch what they do.  Training arena is a good substitute here.

3.  Find a squad that is to your liking.  You will learn all kinds of stuff from the veterans in the squad, and you can have some friendlies that will help you survive a little longer when you get yourself into trouble.  It is always better to fly with at least one other person than flying alone.

4.  Watch the Mission editor, and join a lot of missions.  You will get to see how people plan and execute attacks.  It is also a great place to find a squad you would like to fly with.  Not all squads are active in making missions however.

5.  Keep reading the message boards, and find the links to the good reference sites like netaces.org.

[humble]

The best thing you can do is spend a few hours in the TA....you'll take months off the learning curve. The real core of the game is air combat. To effectively take ground you need either numbers or skill...since numbers will vary skill works better:)....

Once you've spent some time in the Training arena find the dueling arena...its full of mean bullies who will kick sand in your face....

Again this will cut months off the learning curve, most off these guys are actually pretty nice and will happily give you the occasional pointer (while wupping the snot out of you)...film these and watch em...then go back to the TA and talk to work with "your" trainer to get a better understanding of whats happening....rinse and repeat...

Spending 20 hours split up like this is better than 200 hrs of general game play. You can also use the "join" function in the MA to hop a ride as an observer...just use text or "vox" to ask 1st so you dont piss someone off inadvertently.

finally find someone to wing with (or ask a squad to let you tag along) that is into the digital dirt aspect (base capture) of the game...you'll get a good idea of whats involved and with your training you'll be able to help out and play a valuable role....

[Blue Mako]

BLUEmako's guide to gameplay:

1) Thingy's with red icons are bad thingies.  Making them blow up will result in the respect and admiration of your peers.  Do not let them blow you up.

2) Thingy's with green icons are good.  Do not shoot them or you will be punished.

Here endeth the lesson.

[VWE]

Dang, copy my sig line but don't give me the credit... sheesh