Fist of all may I take this opportunity to hope fellow AHers & all at Hitech Creations had a fantastic Christmas and have very drunken Millenium celibrations.(Might give me a chance to get a kill)
I'm not really a Newbee any more having flown AH since V 0.37 and think the way it has developed over the last few months has been fantastic I am aware the many stages in it's life have been largely transparent ro someone like me but I still appreciate them all the same.
One thing which does sadden me though is the small number of flyers who seem to find it necessary to exploit (Cheat) "Enhancement Opportunities" (Bugs). I know this is a Beta and "Investigating" these things is what Beta's are for. Call me naïve but cheating is abhorrent to me. If someone like me with a kill ratio of about 6 - 1 against doesn't need to do it then neither do you., My kill ratio was getting better until I discovered the delights of the C47. How do you get a kill in a C47 apart from crashing into the enemy? If you find a means of gaining an advantage which is at best questionable Test it (Once) , Document it and then let HT know (You know it makes sense). Controlled "Warping" (I've seen flyers who must be flying a helecopter to pull some of the "Stunts" I've seen & got on film)), Firing B17 guns from your chute, switching sides to listen to the enemies intentions (No proof just a theory) etc will just end up turning this into another arcade shoot em up. If that's what you want fine, go and play "Air Attack" on BT Wireplay or "Red Baron" on Wonnet
Anyway enough moaning. Something about me now
Personally I like the fact that I find AH hard. I have nothing but admiration for the many "Aces" I seem to tangle with. I run AH on a very basic system (Compaq Armarda 1750 laptop) which is used 99% for work. It is definatly not a gaming machine & a very old joystick back from "Dos" days. I have tried various modern joysticks which work fine on desktops but not on my laptop. Santa didn't come through again this year despite many pleading letters so it will have to do for a few months yet. One thing which does cause me terrible problems though is the forward view in a single engined fighter. (Bring on the Mossie & P38) My graphics card is just not up to the job and I get a grey haze drifting back & forth which makes targeting very difficult (That's my excuse anyway). Could we (I) please have the option to turn off the Prop graphics? I know from chatting with other flyers many work with or live locally to each other. Unfortunatly I have to rely on the message boards and the general chatter during flight. Something I have found very useful though and might be of benefit to new flyers is I always record (Alt-r) my flights, not because I learn anything from the flight itself but the help given in answer to questions online is very informative (Just load the film hit FF and note anything down you think useful).
Where would I like AH to go from here.... Anyone still reading this?.
Seasons.....
Those mountains would look great with snow on them
Weather.....
Rain, Fog etc. (Visability)
Day/Night..
The refinaries would make a nice display & Oh those city lights.
2 countries.
I'm sorry but I don't think the 3 country idea works. Usually when I log on it's 17 - 20 each (Bishops & Rooks) & 4 -6 Knights but perhaps it's just when I log on. I'm a bit out of Sync in the UK When do all the Knights fly? Can we have only 2 countries? could we limit the planes to axis or allied for a particular country (I wasn't sure about this but I'm coming round) I know the axis/allied thing is not possible yet until we get some axis bombers, troop transports etc.
Restricted Aircraft @ fields.
You can't freeze players out if they get killed (I would never get on) but some fields seem to have more planes than JFK I think planes like fuel should be restricted and visible to be shot at. Blow em up and they have to be flown in from another field. or a repair time could elapse. That would mean heavy bombing, strafing etc would give the C47 (Me) a chance. Also at night (see above) the burning airfield would make a good beacon. C47's could then also carry weapons, fuel etc to rebuild the field once captured (I think repair time should carry over after the field has changed hands but would be speeded up by bringing the stuff with you).
Icons,
In my last post 24/11/99 I suggested making all Icons white to make a vis on someone just that bit harder, no one said no and those who did reply seemed to think it was basically a good ides. I think this should also be extended to radar. One a vis has been made the radar dot could revert to the country colour. Also any plane not on radar - Below 60ft I think,could have it's icon disabled again this would make a C47 only visible at distance for it's final run in as it begins to climb to let the "drunks" out.
Bombing.
Bombing is to easy. (I know it's only a Beta) But even I can hit an ack from 20,000ft. nuff said.
Itelligence.
During my moan earlier I mentioned I suspect some players are switching sides to listen to enemy messages. I consider this to be cheating but to good an idea to ignore. How about a "Storch" or a "Lysander". These could land in a field drop off a spy and leave them monitoring the enemy radio which would be visible to the country who dropped the spy perhaps in Red (to both countries) in the message window. The location of the spy would have to be visible from the air (But not on radar) and could be killed via a strafing run, another Lysander etc landing or a C47 drop.
This bit added......
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Can we have a radio installation to blow up. that way we could take the enemies radio off the air or a while (It could just leave the open channel on line)
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And finally........
I don't fly and have never flown any other online sims I'm still new to all of this and current phone charges in the UK mean I have to choose my fun very carefully. I get ping times of around 370 - 400 with Zero packet loss, and it's 16 hops to HiTech from my house, added to this I only get a connection speed of 33.6 so if you see me "Warping" let me know. (After you shoot me down).
I would like to thank all the flyers I have been exposed to over the past few months and have nothing but admiration for you all. The willingness to answer questions from those of us who are still learning is always gratefully received.
As you have probably guessed I suck in fighters but am happy to throw C47's at fields all day (Restricted planes would stop my fun & games also). So if you are in a B17 on your way to make a mess of a field and you see me on the "Roster" give me a shout and I'll bring a C47 (As many times as it takes). Fellow knights only need apply.
I know this is only a Beta and some of these inane ramblings would, if accepted be a long way off. I hope none sound like I'm having a go I'm not AH is shaping up to be the "Hounds Testicles" of flight sims long may it continue.
This bit added.........
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I've done a mod to the excelent Dickweed maps showing the various routes through the mountains. Just or the hell of it really they are pretty basic but reasonable accurate anyone interested?
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TTFN
Snafu "Situation Normal (All Fouled Up)"
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[This message has been edited by snafu (edited 12-27-1999).]
