Author Topic: Acks Are Too Strong (Read 452 times)

funked · « **on:** January 27, 2000, 07:25:00 PM »

I hate to sound like a broken record, but this is the biggest problem with the game for me. It makes it very difficult to attack point targets in historical fashion.

The accuracy is too good.
The vertical range is too high.
The rate of sustained fire is too high.
There appears to be no dispersion.
There appears to be no "fear". I.e. a strafing pass should keep their heads down sometimes, and a bomb going off nearby should at least cause a delay in firing while they pick themselves up and wonder why they are bleeding from their ears.

MiG Eater · « **Reply #1 on:** January 28, 2000, 01:16:00 PM »

I guess some of these items could be said about the B-17 as well.

The accuracy is too good.
The vertical range (ceiling) is too high.
There appears to be no dispersion (in bomb trajectory).

I guess those items keep people flying bombers though lending some balance to arenas.

I do like the idea that funked suggests: a momentary delay in the firing of an ack if a bomb was close enough to stun the "gunners" but not enough to kill it. This might give Jabo's some possibility of success against the acks without resorting to a vertical dive bomb drop from 20k.

MiG

funked · « **Reply #2 on:** January 28, 2000, 06:44:00 PM »

Mig - If we fix the acks, who needs BUFFS? BUFFS were historically good against dispersed targets, not the point targets we have in this game. AH targets are more appropriate for attack aircraft.

troxel · « **Reply #3 on:** January 29, 2000, 10:26:00 PM »

I agree. It would be great to be able to have near misses with rockets on an ack cause the gunners to pause at least for a few seconds, or affect their accuracy in some way.

Perhaps what would be better is to create more AAA on the ground by airbases, while decreasing their accuracy and range. By adding a few .50 cal gun positions around a base, decreasing the 30mm accuracy woulndn't upset the balance of field capture by too much.

It seems that all there is for AAA is laser accurate 30mm. I can't even imagine a BOFORS gunner being able to track targets at high speed and deflection angles with even a remote amount of accuracy beyond 1-2k.

Even if these changes cause field captures to be done by many more Jabo than Buff missions, great! It would still require people to cooperate to take a field, and would help mix up the type of aircraft people fly. Buffs are still powerful tools to use for base capture, but they are best suited for strategic attacks.

funked · « **Reply #4 on:** January 30, 2000, 10:53:00 PM »

You've got the right idea troxel, more guns that are less accurate.

JoeMud · « **Reply #5 on:** January 31, 2000, 12:38:00 AM »

PLAYER CONTROLED ACKS!!!!

JimBear · « **Reply #6 on:** January 31, 2000, 09:34:00 AM »

You mean instead of getting my back laid open while the engine is cranking up that i could be behind some sandbags swinging a Pom-Pom gun around to take a whack at the nme trying to close the base down??? I like the idea, but would it require being a "manned" position at all times? Or just running in and kicking otto out of the way

JimBear

dolomite · « **Reply #7 on:** January 31, 2000, 10:37:00 AM »

I see no problem with no otto for AA. I would use it for base defense, and I'm sure others would rather man a gun than hop into a plane that is sure to get whacked on lift off.

Better still to have the ackwagon, driving around blasting enemies. This would prevent wagons from getting bombed, and force the JABO runs to get them. The only trouble IO can see there is the spawn rate of ackwagons...

Swager · « **Reply #8 on:** January 31, 2000, 11:46:00 AM »

Ack!! I hate ack!

I mean I really hate ack!!

It shoots me down and stuff!

It shot me in my parachute!!

How low can you go??????

I hate ack!! It sucks!!

If you strafe ack, you should get a message, "killed # ack tenders"

Man! I hate ack!!

A few days ago checking ack, "Hey Swager, check if ack is still up."

"Duh! Okay", I replied.

"Ack is still up", as I floated down in my parachute.

I really hate ack!!!

------------------
Damn Ghostrider! This bogey is all over me!!

funked · « **Reply #9 on:** January 31, 2000, 02:33:00 PM »

My favorite is how they can IFF a bandit in a 10k furball and nail that plane but not the nearby friendlies. Ludicrous!

bloom25 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 31, 2000, 05:14:00 PM »

Don't you guys know, those aren't WWII vintage acks. They are actually a set of phalanx anti-aircraft/missile defense guns pulled off the Nimitz during her retrofit. (Phalanx (hope I spelled it right) is a radar-guided gatling gun firing 3000+ rds/min)
Also, HTC equipped the above with a mini-ammo factory below them employing hundreds of sheep in slave labor camps. This accounts for the unlimited ammo.

Just be thankful they don't have phoenix missiles pounding you from 100 miles away.

Ok, ok, serious now. Honestly, can't we tone down the ack a little, until HTC gets around to creating a more "realistic" anti-aircraft system.

bloom25
THUNDERBIRDS

Toad · « **Reply #11 on:** February 01, 2000, 01:47:00 AM »

"Winning" the game (getting a reset) is based on taking fields.

It's impossible take a field when the ack is up; therefore, the ack must be knocked out.

It's nearly impossible to take out ack with a Jabo <I can't do it, but some guys say they have killed an ack or two this way>.

Therefore, you generally HAVE to use a bomber to win through to a reset.

Now if this is an aircombat game, why is tactical bombing the primary requirement for winning?

Just wondering

juzz · « **Reply #12 on:** February 01, 2000, 04:28:00 AM »

If this is an aircombat game, why does winning entail "capturing" the enemies airfields?

funked · « **Reply #13 on:** February 01, 2000, 02:00:00 PM »

Bloom, my dad was an AAA commander for the US Army. One of their weapons was a vulcan with radar mounted on an M-113. He says the AH acks are much better.

Juzz, Air Combat (at least the real stuff) is about destroying the enemy's ground assets and protecting one's own ground assets. This is why combat aircraft exist.

funked · « **Reply #14 on:** February 04, 2000, 04:09:00 AM »

Punt! The more I play, the more annoying this gets.