Yes, it's the good ol' RPS request!
No, it's not a RPS request for the MA!
1. The RPS planeset configuration option
Currently, Aces High has a tremendous amount of game environment options which is very useful for the players to set up. Not all of these wonderful options are necessarily in work in the MA, and yet, they're still there - God's Eye mode, lead computed sights, calibrated sights, bomb auto calibration, and a zillion more useful options....
So, why stop there?
How about a RPS option as a sub-option for planeset configuration, which might use a table-based date/timeline system so a player can easily set up a vehicle/aircraft plane set by augmenting a few parameters, instead of having to set up everything from scratch when they build a game?
For one thing, it'd make the life a lot easier for event CMs or Combat Theater staff, and any of the new maps introduced for events or scenarios can be set up in a breeze... or it could be of use to even H2H players who like to play historic setupsm but not with much knowledge on how to set the gaming environment.. It might even be of use in ToD...
What I'm imagining is a sort of a "date input system" in the planeset configuration screen... There'd be a "RPS" box which you could check.. when you check on that, a "date input" sub-screen/box will pop up, in which you will input the date in Month and Year - ie) "September / 1940". You input it, select "apply", and then the planeset configuration would automatically include/exclude planes and GVs according to the selected timeline.
Otfcourse, initially, it'd take some hard work - especially in research. However, once the data on service introduction dates(which I'm guessing you guys know of already) is gathered, I imagine the programming wouldn't be too hard. It'd just be adding conditions to plane selection so some would show and others would be unavailable, according to the input data on timeline... the whole thing is basically introducing a filtering method to the planes/vehicle setup list. (No offense to HT if it's harder than it is) But once it is done, anyone can then benefit from instantaneous plane setups. No more grueling task of individually checking a plane on/off from the fields to setup a certain environment intended... or making unintended mistakes in events or Combat Theaters.
2. Country option
This "RPS option" would be even better with a "country option" - it would be another option available at the planeset configuration screen. Basically, it would be another method of turning on/off the plane available by country sorting - ie) Germany, USA, GBR, USSR, JPN, Italy, etc etc.. - that can be used alongside other options such as the RPS option.
For instance, if you want to setup a 1940 BoB scenario, you'd first check the "RPS" box, and input the timeline, and the RPS filter will make available/unavailable the plane/gv set according to the timeline.
Then, assuming knits and bish are in the map (and the rooks hidden), and you want knits to be Germans and bish to be Brits - you check a "country" filter with the knits, and select "Germany", and it will exclude/include the planes belonging to that country, and then select the bish, select "Great Britain" in the country filter.
With the input of two parameters, you set up a BoB map in less than 1 minute. Currently, to do this manually with a new map, you'd have to uncheck all the planes not needed and do it twice, for the two countries in the map!
.......
So, to sum it up, how about adding a "RPS/Timeline" filter, and a "Country" filter in the plane/field setup screen to make things a whole lot easier?
