Documentation

[Baldrick]

I find that the available AH documentation (Help, Wiki, Training Corps)
regarding objectives, gameplay and indicators is either quite bad or I
am too stupid to find it (probably the latter).

E g
http://www.hitechcreations.com/Help-Section/Flight-Sim-Information/aces-high-help-gameplay.html

Nowhere can I find what a blinking field icon, or a field with a red
border, or 'Base is under attack' means.
Also, are fields captured by sending troops to the map room as Help says? From the
context it sounds like the field's tower (it was so some years ago, wasn't it?).

Otherwise, I think the help is ok, you can't write down everything. But
Gameplay and indicators are quite important IMHO.

I do not understand the concept of master fields and zones either. Is it used?
Putting on zones in the radar map shows one zone, but War Status shows
several zones (eg field 1 = zone 3, field 2 = zone 4 etc). And which one is
the master field in these zones?

Thanks for any help

[Lusche]

No, you are not stupid. The gameplay information is presented somewhat less than optimum in my opinion

Blinking field icon - Field is under attack, that means an enemy plane or vehicle is within the alarm trigger range, which is 21K yards forplanes and ~5k yards for vehicles and boats. A hostile carrier task group does not trigger the alarm, even when someone is sitting in a gun, nor does a bailed pilot
"Base under attack" - An alarm sound that is played whenever a base has it's alarm triggered.
Red border - Field is not capturable

Fields are captured by getting troops into the maproom, which is located on the base in case of ports and vehicle bases and in towns in case of airfields. Prerequisites: the destruction of all auto guns on ports & Vbases / the destruction of all guns in town and so many buildings that the flag in town near maproom turns white

The Zone Base concept has largely lost it's function in gameplay today, it's now being used to trigger the 'evacuation' of the factory complex on large maps (one of the zone bases gets captured = factories move). Years ago large maps had several zones with a different function.

[Chilli]

Lusche did a wonderful job of answering your questions, and good questions they were.    I have been playing AH for over a decade, and as I tell most new comers I still learn something new everyday.  I never knew what the actual distances were for flashing icons.   

I do want to clarify one issue though.  It concerns the base capture requirements.  Only the auto field guns need be destroyed.  In the cases of towns or maprooms near field auto guns, any auto gun within 1,000 yds. of the maproom or troop carrier will cause the troops to be instantly destroyed or not run to the maproom.

[Klam]

off track....slightly.....

Something else that is new to me.  I check 6 a friendly, who was pm'ing in a conversation with an opponent.
I guess he was using /.r because the next line of conversation came to me.

I replied using /.r  "what?" to his line of text.

He tells me it was meant for someone else.


Go check 6..........you might read a groovy reply

[Mongoose]

  I find that it's not so much that the documentation is bad, but that it is out of date.   Once upon a time, it was very good, but it sorely needs to be updated.

[Baldrick]

Thanks all, that was very usefull information!

Regarding the warning ranges, I found the parameters BoatWarningRange,
VehicleWarningRange, FighterWarningRange and BomberWarningRange.
Do the have somerhing to do with it? Their values seem strange though.

Two final question, please.
1. could someone provide me please with the max altitudes of the different flak types?
2. The lowest alt for bar dar seems 500 m (there is no parameter for it, isn't it?),
    is that ground or sea level?

[Lusche]

Thanks all, that was very usefull information!

Regarding the warning ranges, I found the parameters BoatWarningRange,
VehicleWarningRange, FighterWarningRange and BomberWarningRange.
Do the have somerhing to do with it? Their values seem strange though.

Yes, that are the alarm trigger ranges. The values are given in feet.

Two final question, please.
1. could someone provide me please with the max altitudes of the different flak types?
2. The lowest alt for bar dar seems 500 m (there is no parameter for it, isn't it?),
    is that ground or sea level?

1.
Auto puffy ack starts at 3k feet and has basically no practical altitude limit
Auto ack (small caliber) goes up to about 7k feet
Player controlled 88 have a range of 1.5k to 12k (yards)
Player controlled 5" AA guns on ships have no minimum range

2. The variable that governs dar bar is SectorCounterAlt, which is set to 250feet above the ground in the MA.
Note that only imperial units are being used in the game. Altitude is given in feet, so if you read "Lancs @ 7k" it's 7000ft = ~2400m. Distance (icon range data) is given in yards.

[Baldrick]

Excellent Lusche, thanks a lot one more time!

[SIK1]

And Lusche explained all that without a graph. 

[Peyton]

Yes, that are the alarm trigger ranges. The values are given in feet.


1.
Auto puffy ack starts at 3k feet and has basically no practical altitude limit
Auto ack (small caliber) goes up to about 7k feet
Player controlled 88 have a range of 1.5k to 12k (yards)
Player controlled 5" AA guns on ships have no minimum range

2. The variable that governs dar bar is SectorCounterAlt, which is set to 250feet above the ground in the MA.
Note that only imperial units are being used in the game. Altitude is given in feet, so if you read "Lancs @ 7k" it's 7000ft = ~2400m. Distance (icon range data) is given in yards.

Having said all of that, it makes me think of a question.  If an icon is 300 yds away and I have my .303s set for 300, I assume I am setting them for 300yds?  If that is so, is 300 yds too far for .303s?
What is the optimal range to set .303s and .50 cals in a fighter?

[Karnak]

.303s should be set no further than 250 yards.  They lose power rapidly beyond that point.

[Krusty]

If you can train yourself, .303s should be fired under 200. That's the trick, though (getting in that close). A Hurr1 firing 8x .303s at 800 yards won't even tickle a target, but the same burst can kill a plane in 1 second at 100 yards. They lose power fast.


As for the .r, it happens sometimes that it will respond to the wrong person. Especially if you get multiple PMs. If you are only PMing with one person it's fine, but if you are getting multiples, it's best to type it out fully with the name in there. Otherwise it's supposed to do the most recent PM. I wonder if check 6 is technically a PM? Maybe that's why it replied to you.

[Klam]

I wonder if check 6 is technically a PM? Maybe that's why it replied to you.

It would seem so

[fuzeman]

  I find that it's not so much that the documentation is bad, but that it is out of date.   Once upon a time, it was very good, but it sorely needs to be updated.

Quote from: MK-84 on August 10, 2012, 11:13:16 PM
     I think my wish then is for a consolidated, concise and clear instructional manual of how the game operates.


Be careful what you wish for. Think how a manual would prevent quick changes like this one. It would change 15 mins of work into 2 hours because of having to keep the manual completely up to date.
So the choice would be made not to make this type of change.

HiTech