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Missions in Aces High
Missions in Aces High allow players to create and/or accept missions for organized
team play. Missions can include up to 256 players in eight separate flights, and each
flight may have up to 16 waypoints. The mission planner decides what fuel and
ordnance loadouts will be used for each aircraft and/or vehicle, as well as the mission
start time, number of participants, mission objective, etc.
To access missions, go to the Map room upon entering Aces High and you will see the
Viewer and Editor buttons in the Missions group box on your clipboard.
Mission Viewer
The Mission Viewer is where players may view and accept a mission from the list of
available missions for their country. Obviously, players must be online to view missions.
Missions are based on the Aces High game time, which is displayed on
the top line of the Mission Viewer.
The first list shows the available missions by name and the mission planner. Selecting one of
the missions shows the mission description, start time and expiration time just below the list.
The expiration time determines when that particular mission will no longer appear on the list,
meaning that players will no longer be able to view or accept that mission. The mission
doesn't expire, it's just no longer accepting participants.
Selecting a mission from the Mission List also
fills in the Flight List and draws the flight plans on
the Map room table. The Flight List shows the
aircraft or vehicle type, take-off field, take-off
time, and fuel load. The column labeled C/M
refers to Current/Max, which is the current number of players who have accepted that flight
in the mission and the max number of players who may accept. The players currently
accepted are listed in the Flight Roster to the right of the Flight List. Below the Flight List is
the flight description and the ordnance loadout for the selected flight. Small up and down
arrows next to the ord line allow players to scroll through the assigned ordnance.
As you select different flights from the list, the selected flight path will appear on the Map
room table in green, while the other flights remain gray.
The Waypoints List at the bottom of
the clipboard shows the data for
each waypoint. This data includes
the directional heading, altitude,
climb rate, throttle power (WEP,
Military, Normal, or Cruise). The "Use Best" column will either read yes or no, and it refers
to using the best of altitude and/or climb to reach the waypoint. As you select different
waypoints in the list, the waypoint segment drawn on the Map room table appears in red,
while the other segments remain green.
Accepting a Mission
Accepting a mission is as easy as selecting a flight within a mission and clicking the Accept
button. Once you are in a mission, the Accept button will change to Withdraw, allowing you
to exit yourself from the mission should you choose to withdraw. Players may only accept
one mission at a time.
Aces High Missions also include an Auto Start feature, where if you accept a mission and
you are waiting in the Map room watching the game clock when the mission starts, you will
automatically have your plane configured for you, you'll be moved to the starting field and
placed on the runway ready to go. If you accept a mission after the mission has started, you
will automatically be configured and moved to the appropriate field when the host receives
your request to join the mission.
Your participation in an accepted mission ends when your sortie ends. If you leave the
game or are disconnected, you will also be removed from any mission you have accepted.
Once you have accepted a mission and you are ready to go, your mission data is transferred
to your clipboard map where it may be viewed in flight.
Two new buttons on your inflight clipboard allow you to view the flight paths for all flights in
the mission, or just your flight. Clicking on the waypoint (the small square at the end of each
segment) highlights that segment and displays the waypoint data in a black square at the
upper left corner of the map.
Editing a Submitted Mission
If you are viewing missions and you are the mission planner, you will have an Edit button
between the Accept and Close buttons on the Mission Viewer. If you need to make a
change to your mission, click the Edit button and your mission will be sent to the editor for
changes. Don't forget to Submit the mission again after making your changes.
Mission Editor
The Mission Editor is where missions are planned and submitted to the Aces High host.
You may plan missions offline, but you must be online to submit a mission. Missions created
may be saved in a file and reloaded for future editing and submitting to the host, and also for
distributing to other players.
Creating a Mission
To create a new mission, click the Create button on the Editor. The Create Mission dialog
prompts you for a mission name, description, start time and expiration window. If you are
online, your Game ID will be filled in as the mission planner, if you are offline you may fill in
this information yourself. The expiration window refers to the time that the mission will stop
accepting participants. For example, if you enter a start time of 10:00 and an expiration time
of 10:15, at 10:16 (game time), your mission will no longer appear on the Mission List in the
viewer.
Adding a Flight
Once you have filled in the new mission information, click OK and you will be presented
with the Mission Flight dialog. The Flight number is displayed in the top left corner, and
there are edit boxes to enter the maximum number of participants and a flight description.
The flight take-off time defaults to the mission start time, but this can be changed as long as it
isn't earlier than the mission start time. Aircraft and vehicles are listed on the left, and
available ordnance loadouts are displayed in the center of the dialog for each selected plane
or vehicle. The fuel load and take-off field are selected from the right side of the
dialog. Click OK to add the flight to your mission.
Adding a Waypoint
After the flight is added, waypoints are set by right clicking on the Map room table. You
are presented with the Waypoint Info dialog that allows you to select the throttle power, and
set the altitude and climb rate. The "Use best of altitude and/or climb" button is a toggle. If
this is selected, when players view your mission in the Mission Viewer the waypoint data will
read "yes" in the Use Best column, indicating to the players that they are to use the best of
the altitude and climb rate to reach the waypoint. Once you have added a waypoint, it will
display in the Waypoints list along with the waypoint info at the bottom of the clipboard.
The newly added waypoint will be drawn on the Map room table in red.
To the left of the Flight List in the editor are the Add, Edit and Delete
buttons. The Add button simply adds a new flight to the mission. The
maximum number of allowable flights is currently set to eight. The "Edit" and
"Delete" buttons work off of the flight selected in the Flight List. The Delete
button will prompt you before deleting the flight.
To the left of the Waypoints list in the editor are the Clear All, Edit and Delete
buttons that pertain to the waypoints. The Clear All button will remove all
waypoints from the selected flight. The "Edit" and "Delete" buttons work off
of the waypoint selected in the Waypoint list. The Delete button will prompt
you before deleting the waypoint.
Submitting a Mission
Once you are satisfied with your mission plan, you may send the mission to the host by
clicking the Submit button while online. You will see a "Mission Received" response if your
submit is successful.
Saving and Loading Missions
You may save and load missions in the Mission Editor. All times in a mission are based off
of the mission start time, so if you have created and saved a mission that you would like to
run over and over, all you have to do when you load the mission is change the start time and
submit the mission to the host. The expiration window and take-off times for all flights will
calculate off of the new mission start time.
