Documentation: New players require it

[Gnfitr]

Thus far, I have not really encountered
any real bugs of note that have not yet
been already documented by the alpha
testers and  the beta group.

[ I have spent only about 8hrs flight time,
and have figured almost everything out,
or have asked others to help me with
what I could not.   Althought I now know
how to play, my flight skills now need
drastic improvement, hehe ]

However, I would like to bring to AH's
attention that thus far, most of the testers have flown an online sim similair to warbirds, Raider Wars, etc, and most of the
keycommands, plane control, and text
commmands on the radio we take for granted.

I believe that a small 3-10k text file, added
with the client program, should be added to
the executable file, to allow new players
to better understand, learn about , and
most importantly, not lose interest
in the game.

I really can't find any faults with the
game, other than apparent lag issues, but
it's lag, and therefore not controlable
by AH itself.

However, documentation, in other words,
is sadly lacking,

In point form, some important topics
that could be covered in a READMEplay.txt
file somewhere...

i.e.; an abbreviated keylist, much like
what we have already in the clipboard;

a brief description of how to employ the
Joystick settings, dead pan setting, and
in game Calibration, and what they do, and
how;

a brief description of how to operate the
bomb bay doors, how to select the fuel and
bomb load for aircraft, and what impact
they have on aircraft;
for example, B-17 manuverability, take off
distance for runway , increase wieght/
less speed, lighter wieght/more speed, etc.

some items for operating other equipment on
fighters ( ie, rockets, bombs, drop tanks ).
how to ditch the drop tanks, fire the
rockets, drop the bombs.

---gnfitr---

[aircat]

 this would also help those already "in the know" of the game. as it seems to frequent that we stop and have to explain basics such as "how do I turn on the engine" "how do I get out of my plane after it stops" "how do I bail out" also along with a few game play parts like "what is convergance" I am in the sim ALOT under a differant name and see from 1-3 new people a day that have never flown in WB or AW to realy have a clue. a small grafical manual can be added to the clip board. this would assist those while in the game and make it so the players dont have to take 30 minutes to explain the basics,which they could have learned in 5 to 10 minutes reading. then we could start awnsering more of the more detailed stuff... such as ACM. all to often when the new people are told to read the info supplied on the web sight they reply something to the effect "I just wanted to get started, I'll learn as I go".

[Sorrow[S=A]]

Hmm, I don't think so aircat. I went into this sim with no experience, took me about 4 hours to take off. I was able to figure out all the controls with Indians Webpage for guidance.
  In any case all indians stuff will be irrellevant when they send out the Manual. When this comes it will be easier by far.

[indian]

yep but till then see below.

------------------
Tommy (INDIAN) Toon
  Cherokee Indian
My Homepage
Where you can find the Key Commands in  files for Word6 Wordpad and text mode.

indians Homepage

Aces High Word6 and Wordpad Doc's available on my web site.

[Granger]

Hmm..what you are asking for is impossible for now, because fuel rates and such are not yet set in stone...todays data will be obsolete tomorrow. I'm sure once everything is finalized you will see charts of this type, but for now its gonna have to be best guess im afraid.

Granger

[Gnfitr]

I am not asking for items such as Granger has
mentioned.  Obviously, the game is going
through "tweaking", to get the balance right.

However, a small readme text file,
stating the merely obvious, would go a
long way right now. Even for a beta tester.

Some simple things "now" could be covered,
such as a B-17 carrying large Bombs
( 1000lbs), a lot of fuel, would need a lot
of runway at take off, very slow in
climbing, turning.

Planes such as the Spitfire, and BF109, and
LA5, have only one drop tank, and therefore,
however you switch these tank, they will
indicate current fuel level in operational
tank.

A notation about carrying drop tanks or
rockets, selecting the Backspace Key, and
then making sure that the lower ammo counter
switches from Cannon to "RKTS" or "DT"
[ Rockets or Drop Tanks ], isn't mentioned
anywhere  

As for the HTML manual, or a modification to
the current Clipboard, that is not currently
necessary.  It can be done near the end of the beta, and at the company's leisure, when
all the game mechanics have been worked
out.

Again, alot of the game mechanics are sound,
just a few items require correction, but I am
sure they will be addressed in future releases.

Thus far of note, I have only observed only
2 problems, that everyone, including HiTech have noticed;

A/.  The issue with the art work with
the flying sheep/rams  

B/.  And the death bug, where the last control setting and blackout/redout settings
remain during the during of the player
returning to the tower, and relaunching.

[aircat]

Sorrow,
what Im saying it would be easier for it to be set up once and have it accessable to the newbie, rookie, dweeb what ever you want to call them. instead of having it asked 600 times a day and those willing to help have to type it out that many times... ok it took you 4 hours.... its better then someone not know whats going on it would take even a fast typest a loooong time to explain every detail. its easier to make a detailed map and figure out where your going then to stop at every gas station to ask for directions.

[Sorrow[S=A]]

Aircat: You missed my point. I _was_ a dweeb/rookie/newbie. I had _never_ flown an airplane sim before now. With help from Indians site (HiTech should put a link to it on the FAQ) I learned: How to get the sucker into the air (On the old hi-torque model not the newer easier one)
:How to identify how different fighters should be used and the most commong tactics: and how to do basic ACM and avoidance.

I don't think anyone is going to come into here with less experience than I had. And I was able to get it with this message board and Indians site, his jpg printout of commands and the many links scatterred through his site and the message boards.

If someone is pestering the Beta for instructions for how to get into the air I reccomend pointing them to the Message Boards and Indians site (One will lead to the other). Don't be a sucker and try and baby walk them online. They should use offline until they can fly anyhow!

I personally would much rather see the dev team working on models and programming/bug fixes than doing documentation at this point. With the amount of qualified people here if you think it's that important get them together and do a cut and paste. I am sure HTC would love to have someone GIVE them a readme doc for the download as long as it was correct. Until then I see no reason for them to go use time creating in depth training and documentaion readme's until the game is out of Beta. Let's face it, you want to play a Beta, you should either be experienced with what your doing or be willling to learn without someone holding your hand. Anything else is just a hindrance not a help to a Beta test.

[indian]

Thanks sorrow. And ask me any time online if I dont know I will find out. Thse doc's on my site are permenant and I will upgrade as need some wont want to read the complete manual.

------------------
Tommy (INDIAN) Toon
  Cherokee Indian
My Homepage
Where you can find the Key Commands in  files for Word6 Wordpad and text mode.

indians Homepage

Aces High Word6 and Wordpad Doc's available on my web site.

[aircat]

 Sorrow,
you are one of the few exeptions then. but as much as Im on I see lots of them come on and start asking questions. I dont mind a few but when they start spamming for awnsers and in one case they figured out the radio and privated me about several aspects of the game. often when I tell them to read the info on the board and/or Indians site they simply reply "I just want to fly, I dont want to waste time reading" now we can continue to make them mad and have them stop flying and tell all his buddies that AH blows and the pilots are total D!ck Heads. which would blow AH P.R. granted those that are playing in beta now for the most part love the game. but HT wouldnt be able to support it on only those going to stick around after. the beta could easily be its downfall in public relations. so till then I'm helping the newbies for future pilot possibilities.

[Sorrow[S=A]]

Hmm, well aircat, I can't say much here. If someone repeatedly doesn't get the point or says anything as redundant as "I just wanna fly not read" quite simply they aren't really a contender to BE in the game. It may be bad pr, but these guys will be the ones coming back with 3Lit3 nametags and complaining that the planes should be bigger so they can shoot them down easier.

If you really are stuck on this, do like I said, get some E-mail flying to Indian and some of the others and put together a readme for the download. I am sure if you queried about 5 of the more prolific posters here on the boards you could cut and paste one together for Hitech. This would solve the problem much quicker than bugging Hitech for more documentation.

[Gnfitr]

Actually, if you take a moment to read up
on the new rev.36 v0, the Readme.txt file
now has a little info on the gunner
part of the B-17's, and mentions the
added fighter.

Hey, what more can I ask, that much info
is enough for me...

Problem Solved....  

Thanks Hitech