JESTER, to settle our argument earlier...

[Ack-Ack]

Contrails DO NOT form below 30k!!!

As long as you're in an area with the ground temperature is -40 degrees F or lower and with high humidity, contrails will form below 26,000ft.  In Antartica and other places (Alaska, Siberia and central Canada), contrails will even form while the plane is idling if the conditions are just right.  There have been cases were airports in those regions had be closed when low-level clouds (ice fog) composed of aircraft-generated ice crystals have proved persistent.

I've played in 3 other major air sim games over the years and 20k to 30k flight patterns were not uncommon.
Not the case here. In the past week I've seen very few buffs above 15k and most below 10k if not lower.

Why??
Well for one thing there has been created a psycological "soft" ceiling by the game mechanics - the 15k altitude thin clouds. Even though there is absolutley no reason to not fly above them ( many will state they can see through them quite well) there has been created this "ceiling" that most will NOT go above even tho there is no reason not to.

I don't know what major 3 online air sims you've played but the most common altitudes that players flew in the three that I've played (AW, WB and AH) were in the range of 10,000ft or lower.  This was largely due to these games (AW and WB) being pay by the hour so a lot of players didn't want to waste money by spending unnecessary time climbing when they could be fighting instead.


ack-ack

[CAP1]

Maybe we should just let this die. Some are content to argue just for the sake of it. Let them be content in their ignorance and suckage. Some people just don't want help. I am always amused by those new people who come in here and somehow know more than people who have been here for years. Their bleating make me chuckle. In a few short months they will be gone, moved on to project their unhappiness onto another group of gamers/simmers. Sure we must suffer them for a while, at least there is another target in the virtual air for a while.    Thank you Hitech, for the squelch command.

+1

[druski85]

Maybe we should just let this die.

+1, particularly since Jester (the one I'm thinking of, anyway) has yet to respond in nine pages of posts.  Fizzle out, pointless thread...

[Saurdaukar]

LMFAO Saurdakar...you now have several people around my office scratching their heads... ^5 great attempt.

Maybe they are wondering why youre not working?

Truth be told, I just enjoy pulling chains to see how much dung flies.  

Last bastion of BBS defense.

Just FYI, so you don't make a love muffin out of yourself making erroneous assumptions again...I'm not a real life pilot...

Just FYI, so you dont make a love muffin out of yourself, making erroneous assumptions again... many of us are.



When you are ready to learn, we are more than willing to teach.  

[Ack-Ack]

Maybe we should just let this die. Some are content to argue just for the sake of it. Let them be content in their ignorance and suckage. Some people just don't want help.

Yep, some people are just happy wallowing in the gutter of mediocrity.  No skin off my back since I know if I ever run into gyrene81 that I have what will amount to essentially a free kill for me.


ack-ack

[Wreked]

As long as you're in an area with the ground temperature is -40 degrees F or lower and with high humidity, contrails will form below 26,000ft.  In Antartica and other places (Alaska, Siberia and central Canada), contrails will even form while the plane is idling if the conditions are just right.  There have been cases were airports in those regions had be closed when low-level clouds (ice fog) composed of aircraft-generated ice crystals have proved persistent.

I don't know what major 3 online air sims you've played but the most common altitudes that players flew in the three that I've played (AW, WB and AH) were in the range of 10,000ft or lower.  This was largely due to these games (AW and WB) being pay by the hour so a lot of players didn't want to waste money by spending unnecessary time climbing when they could be fighting instead.
ack-ack

Maybe so in Antartica / Canada and others - I'm only referring to western Europe - and the exact/fluctuating level of contrails is miles away from the point of my post - that was only as an aside from my point of game tech affecting game play.

It must be a long time since you've been in WB's - for quite some time you rarely see the pony mafia below 20k and S3 action is frequently in the 25k to 35k level weekly( if it at all concerns strategic bombing). Started out in AW in '86 - Atari ST1040 c/w 12" screen and mouse  LOL and FHWB 2.77 for a few years too.

Only been here for a few weeks but AHII is MILES ahead of the competition - It has an active community (head bashing aside lol) and terrific flight modelling from what I've seen so far. Hoping this is the last place I'll have to hang my hat - pleasure to meet you all.
cheers eh!

[Motherland]

MA flying is not historical in the least and you will only be met with frustration if you try to fly historically there.
I fly in the MA simply for the thrill of the fight (whether that be 1v1 or diving in and out of a giant red blob with a few squadies and racking up kills), not worrying much about score/living/dieing etc.

FSO is a completely different matter however and it is most likely the reason I still play the game. If you can get signed up for the next event I would encourage you do so.

[Ack-Ack]

Maybe so in Antartica / Canada and others - I'm only referring to western Europe - and the exact/fluctuating level of contrails is miles away from the point of my post - that was only as an aside from my point of game tech affecting game play.

In theory, if the conditions are met then you'd have the same thing in Western Europe.  As someone said, it's based on temperature and not altitude but the conditions have to be there for it to happen.

It must be a long time since you've been in WB's - for quite some time you rarely see the pony mafia below 20k and S3 action is frequently in the 25k to 35k level weekly( if it at all concerns strategic bombing). Started out in AW in '86 - Atari ST1040 c/w 12" screen and mouse  LOL and FHWB 2.77 for a few years too.

Yeah, it's been a long time since I've played WB.  I left shortly after HiTech sold it to Wild Bill, which was back around '98 or so.  Since at the time WB was still primarily charge by the hour, it was actually rare to find fights above 10,000ft.  Same with AW when I first started (back in '93), since people were paying up to $12 an hour to play they'd rather spend that time fighting then climbing and again rarely saw planes above 10,000ft.  When AW went to unlimited play, the 'glass ceiling' disappeared and fights got higher.


ack-ack

[trigger2]

So you're one of the resident "experts" in aerial combat...amazingly, I'm not impressed, should I be? I've learned more from real life pilots.
No, I'm quite a ways away from an expert, but I would say I know more than most. I've learned most of my information from real pilots as well, both combat and private.


Also an expert in programming I see. Amazing how you associate "player interaction" with "quality of gameplay". Correct me if I'm wrong (as I'm sure you will), but you're saying that even if the game is unplayable due to the poor coding, the "quality of gameplay" is enhanced by the people who are playing it...makes one wonder why people complain about glitches and anomalies in video games.

That, I am. C#, PHP, various scripts/action scripts.
Here's the definition I've got for gameplay

Gameplay includes all player experiences during the interaction with game systems, especially formal games. Proper use is coupled with reference to "what the player does".

and as far as I know, there is more interaction with other players than there are glitches, that there should be enough to show why what the player does affect gameplay more than the coding. I think you're thinking of Game Mechanics.


Ya know, if it weren't for that last little tidbit of actual good advice, I would question your IQ...but I'll be nice.
No worries, we've all been questioning yours.

[Soulyss]

I do find it entertaining that a thread designed to settle an argument has spawned 120+ replies worth of arguments.

[Lusche]

I do find it entertaining that a thread designed to settle an argument has spawned 120+ replies worth of arguments.

Isn't it always that way?

[pluck]

Isn't it always that way?

Is not    

[gyrene81]

Maybe they are wondering why youre not working?

Actually they were trying to figure decipher what you wrote...it was funny.

Last bastion of BBS defense.

Actually this isn't a bbs any longer...but ok.

Just FYI, so you dont make a love muffin out of yourself, making erroneous assumptions again... many of us are.

You missed the point, I don't assume on way or the other...the presumption is that approximately 15% +/- 3 of the general active population here has actual flight experience and of that, perhaps 25% +/- 5 has combat experience in a fighter of some sort.

When you are ready to learn, we are more than willing to teach.  

Been ready as long as the respect is mutual.

[PFactorDave]

the presumption is that approximately 15% +/- 3 of the general active population here has actual flight experience and of that, perhaps 25% +/- 5 has combat experience in a fighter of some sort.

I'd wager big cash that those estimations are really really high.  The 15% with flight experience...  Maybe, but I doubt it is anywhere near that...  The 25% of those folks having actual combat experience is insanely high in my opinion.

But none of that really is important in regards to the original post of this thread.

[CAP1]

I'd wager big cash that those estimations are really really high.  The 15% with flight experience...  Maybe, but I doubt it is anywhere near that...  The 25% of those folks having actual combat experience is insanely high in my opinion.

But none of that really is important in regards to the original post of this thread.

i flew combat with my r/c zagi...does that count?