First thing I need everyone that does NOT have a sound pack, is to download mine for an example to get an understanding of why its important to have a sound pack. This is a quick download less then 6MB, if you are unhappy with it or want another, we have plenty of sound packs in the Custom Skins and sound packs on the BBS, many quality sound packs are available from Twinboom, Mitsu, Ranger and etc. The reason my sound pack is not hosted is I customized mine from a collection of sound packs, very few of my sounds are authentic so I don't host it, I give credit mainly to twinboom for my sound pack, although I did chop up a bunch of packs and put this one together.
Here's a quick link to download it:
www.367thdynamitegang.com/upload/butcher-tanksounds.rarYou need an RAR program like WinRAR to unzip this pack, WINrar is free and easy to use, when you are done installing it simply double click on this file and extract it into your Aces High / sounds folder. IF you need help with this, let me know there's a few people that had trouble with it in the past and I'd like to get people set up with this (it can be a challenge) to someone who lacks understanding of windows Explore. Don't get frustrated though.
Basically this file contains all the sounds for every GV in game. The basic idea is every tank is unique in a sound perspective, understanding the identification is almost like RADAR, you can figure out what kind of vehicle is starting up, and what range.
It does take time to understand this, after years of doing it I can finally use this information like radar, explaining what range and type of tank it is.
Note:
In a situation where there's more then one tank, this is where it gets tough, you have to use line of sight (LOS) to get a visual on whats in your area.
Also cooperation between friendlies is almost a requirement, since you dont know if most friendlies have a sound pack - simply asking them to "shut down" their engine helps both you and the friendlies track the enemy a little better, some might rely on your ability to track enemy tanks in helping them get into position.
Now the biggest key will be setting up those sounds, which I will do in the clinic because frankly I would be alt tabbing for 30 minutes writing down what needs to be changed.
Basically the sound settings in GAME also have to be changed, they can be done in two ways that I have it figured out: one for fighters/bombers and one for ground vehicles, setting it up correctly helps a player identify and track a tank in game - this is one reason the sound pack is so important - if all tanks sound the same, you might end up trying to have a "good, bad and ugly" shoot out with a king tiger while in a M4(75) - identifying him with a sound pack gives an advantage as you know you can't simply start shooting at him from 2k out hoping for a kill, if his engines running then he can't hear you - giving you the advantage that you picked him up FIRST, and you are first to act.
First to act in a general rule also means first to shoot, given a few advantages it can go a very long way.
