The AH 3D engine

[Dos Equis]

I don't wish to complain, I will be a paying customer here in a week, and I love what the game is and what it can become. But I do wish to make a somewhat radical suggestion to HTC.

Remove the buffs. Lose them. Put a Norden in the P-38 and add the Mosquito and the Me-110. Don't even add medium bombers, fighter bombers at the largest. Add the Dauntless and put Torpedos in once you develop ships. But large slow gunned planes is not for this 3D engine.

The engine, for HT comments that there is no plane limit, is simply not capable of displaying the needed elements for buff boxes. There were invisible explosions, all kinds of mayhem, and the large buff formations reek havoc on framerate during today's scenario. The buffs and the gunners are cool, and you can reuse the gunner code and some things for the M16 Halftrack. But the buffs should go.

Just one players opinion.  

XX

[funked]

Uhhhhhhhhhh I don't think so!

[Rendar]

Yeah right!  Remove the buffs, and watch the number of customers go down...  I usually only fly buffs in any game when possible.  

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mp-ten
Lt. J.G. VF-100 "The Haze"

[Pongo]

Don
I will assume that you havent been here long. Give HT a chance at this...Hes pretty good at his job. We have seen wonder after wonder in the last 3 months. I still think that it is related to AMD k6 proccessors...
I had no prob on my celery....


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Pongo
The Wrecking Crew

[JoeMud]

<opens mouth>..........no I promised HT I wouldnt.

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Peace!....but I still dont like spits.

[Chain]

   

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Chain
Aki Holopainen
    aki.holopainen@quicknet.inet.fi    

   

HLeLv FennoManiacs

[This message has been edited by Chain (edited 02-28-2000).]

[Duckwing6]

PONGO: i'm running a Celeron with 128MB Ram and A Voodooł 3000 AGP and i HAD a problem with invisible airplanes .. my framerate was about 11 during the big Raid (flying a B17 myself) and all of a sudden Planes started to blow up.. i guess it either has to do with bandwith overload and rendering speeds when you have that high numbers of A/C in such a confined space ...

But i can't a gree with the original remove the Buffs .. Bad idea ! A lot of poeple Love to fly them and they are a pretty important part of this game IMHO!

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Phillip "Duckwing6" Artweger
Flight Officer "E" Flight
Skeleton Crew

[This message has been edited by Duckwing6 (edited 02-29-2000).]

[MANDOBLE]

We need buffs as we need a graphic detail
level slider in the setup screen.

[funked]

Joey, secure that flamethrower!

[Dos Equis]

Well, let's count my answers:

1. No.
2. No, or other people and he will quit.
3. Pongo calls me "Don" and assumes I'm a newbie, says it's a dumb idea.
4. JoeMud wants to flame me but doesn't.
5. Some Finn Dweeb says "you suck".
6. Duckwing agrees that framerate is an issue but like Buffs anyhow.
7. Mandobile makes a good suggestion.

Well so much for suggestions, but the game is a much better tactical engagement sim than one of strategic bombers any way you cut it. Box sims like B-17 should be focused on the strategic elements, with game objectives like factories, etc.

Right now AH is a snowball fight, and hopefully the addition of the Panzer and M16 make some A/G stuff interesting, but everyone  who is measuring the effect of buff boxes on the game realistically knows that past 4-5 buffs, there are issues and they're not easily solvable without everyone having a 1GHz PC and a 256 Meg GEForce and a T1 to the house.


XX
Flying Pigs

[This message has been edited by Dos Equis (edited 03-11-2000).]

[Ichi]

In a name, Aces^High is an Air Combat sim. As such, it needs no bombers, needs no ground vehicles to succeed. If you wanted more than fighters vs. fighters, you'd almost have to call it,..  Well, something else.

I agree with Dos, bombers (and tanks) don't make the game, fighters do.

Ichi
The Flying Pigs

[JFalk]

I cast my vote for keep the bombers, here is my list assuming Lancaster is next:

JU 88, Handley Page Halifax, Tupolev TU-2, Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero, and B-24 Liberator

I know the Halifax is similar to the Lancaster bit eventually I would like to see the trio of RAF 4 engined heavies including the Short Stirling.

[Replicant]

Hi all

We need the buffs, otherwise it would be like eggs without the bacon!  

As for the Lancaster, Halifax etc... well I am a fan of these bombers, but as there won't be any night bombing in AH, I can't see them having much of a chance as they haven't got enough gunners, unless they fly really, really high!  Attack them just below side on, or from beneath and they're history. (I'll still fly one mind!).

'Nexx'

[Pongo]

Dos.
Its real easy when to tell when I think that an idea is dumb. I say so.
I am sorry about getting your prefix wrong.
I was focusing on your mention of the invisible planes in the big raid. The week before your post was probably the first time HT had had this mentioned. All i said was to give him a chance to fix it. Your "sugestion" was to cancel bombers out of the program I didnt say your idea was stupid. But that you say so is interesting.
Most of these fighters were designed in the context of bombers. Either to intercept or to escort. Removing bombers would put them in a capability vaccum. We could just project what the fighters would be like without bombers to worry about and have a nice game of what if.
Duckwing I was joking about the amd processors, I was a bomber on the raid, I have a celeron, i had invisible planes. little smile should have been a givaway.

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Pongo
The Wrecking Crew

[-lynx-]

Errr... Ummmm... Before you guys start flaming you should consider the actual purpose of a BUFF (B17, Lancaster and such like) - startegic bombing, carpet bombing of SQUARE MILES at a time etc. That's why they were used in such large numbers (apart from obvious "safety in numbers" routine). We have NO startegic targets - no cities or industrial complexes to flatten. Hence having a B17 in AH is like having a drone for 190 to practice on.

Tactical bombers (represented at this moment by B26) played far more interesting role as far as AH-like environment is concerned - lets have A20s, Pe-2s and maybe even (drool) Tu-2.

They never flew in large formations. They delivered ordnance primarily on tanks and trucks were're about to receive as targets. They were everywhere and did everything - they were FUN (I know it's not entirely appropriate here but you know what I mean).

May I suggest a simple solution to that annoying B17 at 35K you just can't be bothered to climb up to? Introduce dispersion of bombs as they fall. Simple as that.

Last time I checked there were no laser-guided ordnance in use by either side. How come you can hit a gun implacement with one carefully (masterfully, artfully - insert your own here) aimed bomb??? Remove that and only dedicated buff drivers will get together to do a high alt raid. That will, in turn, promote use of tactical bombing using smaller, faster more fighter-like delivery platforms a la Mossi etc. No more buff boxes, no more FPS hit Everybody's happy.

And Pyro (while you're at it) can we please please have LOW clouds? It was a major factor with buffing with "normal" bombs - can't hit what you can't see...

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-lynx-
13 Sqn RAF