HardCore

[guncrasher]

I have been to the ava a few times and always had fun.  but to be honest i cant see the airplanes unless they have an icon.  last time i was there was with jughead and he had a laptop that was like 30 years old while mine is a really nice one.  but due to my eyesight i had to ask him where the planes where till i could see the icon.  that's basically the reason i dont go there.


semp

[Nr_RaVeN]

I have been to the ava a few times and always had fun.  but to be honest i cant see the airplanes unless they have an icon.  last time i was there was with jughead and he had a laptop that was like 30 years old while mine is a really nice one.  but due to my eyesight i had to ask him where the planes where till i could see the icon.  that's basically the reason i dont go there.


semp

Your Right, the correct equipment makes it far more enjoyable. Especially if your eyesight is poor,think of a big monitor as a new pair of glasses.
The correct equipment for a no or limeted icon environment takes simmiming to an entierly new level.

 

Listen, it's 2012, times are changing.. With quality 1920x1080 42"-46" monitors now priced @  $500 and dropping, along with tools like track ir, we are seeing more and more folks moving toward a no icon environment.

 

Limeted icons is not for everyone, but if your willing to add a new and different skill set to your Repertoire. It's well worth the small investment to experience the immersion purity and intensity it offers.

The AVA is a good place to try it out. Icons or not the AVA set ups are fun and have a special event feel to them 24/7 and the crowed is very friendly and supportive,not snobby or elite  

CLICK HERE FOR VIDO Tips on playing in a no icon environment

[Wiley]

Listen, it's 2012, times are changing.. With quality 1920x1080 42"-46" monitors now priced @  $500 and dropping, along with tools like track ir, we are seeing more and more folks moving toward a no icon environment.

And then there are people who just believe that your eyesight, video setup and how you've got your settings tweaked shouldn't be the single most important aspect of being able to play the game. 

Wiley.

[Karnak]

Listen, it's 2012, times are changing.. With quality 1920x1080 42"-46" monitors now priced @  $500 and dropping, along with tools like track ir, we are seeing more and more folks moving toward a no icon environment.

As I said, you fly with advantages that make it work for you.  For those who don't have those things, no icons is crippling.  I don't have trackIR, which means the zoom is only really useful for things right in front of me as I cannot look at a pixel and then zoom in on it.  Basically the more limited the icons the more dependent on hardware one's success becomes.  Icons are an equalizer.

fyi, 1080p sucks.  My old, sadly no longer working, 23" screen was higher resolution than that.  Unfortunately screen makers are, by and large, abandoning PCs in favor of just making TV screens.  If you want an actual PC screen it'll cost you a lot more.

[Nathan60]

And then there are people who just believe that your eyesight, video setup and how you've got your settings tweaked shouldn't be the single most important aspect of being able to play the game. 

Wiley.

I already explained that less resolution means bigger contact dots so I fail to see how this is an advantage. Pleasse explain how having the vid cranked to max is going to help someone see a con dot when higher resolutionn is going to mean that dot is SMALLER?

[Nathan60]

As I said, you fly with advantages that make it work for you.  For those who don't have those things, no icons is crippling.  I don't have trackIR, which means the zoom is only really useful for things right in front of me as I cannot look at a pixel and then zoom in on it.  Basically the more limited the icons the more dependent on hardware one's success becomes.  Icons are an equalizer.

fyi, 1080p sucks.  My old, sadly no longer working, 23" screen was higher resolution than that.  Unfortunately screen makers are, by and large, abandoning PCs in favor of just making TV screens.  If you want an actual PC screen it'll cost you a lot more.

I dont have those things  and they do not cripple me in any form. I zoom to find contacts but do you often zoom while looking for a con once merged? If your already in contact why zoom? when not in contact and looking for a contact whats so hard about zooming and using mouse. I'm not attackig that you dont have problems but dont assume EVERYONE will have the problems you have. If your eyes are bad that is beyond the control of the staff. Most of the people that have posted negatively about AVA have demonstrated a bias against the staff of the AVA so I take your posts on the subject with that in mind.

[Wiley]

I already explained that less resolution means bigger contact dots so I fail to see how this is an advantage. Pleasse explain how having the vid cranked to max is going to help someone see a con dot when higher resolutionn is going to mean that dot is SMALLER?

I never said having your vid cranked to the max.  What I DID say, is that depending on how you've got your settings tweaked (lower resolution, AA/AF off, and any other little tricks you can use to make that dot bigger or stand out more, most of which makes the game look worse overall) coupled with your eyesight shouldn't be the single most important aspect of your ability to play.

It's cheesy.

Wiley.

[Nathan60]

I never said having your vid cranked to the max.  What I DID say, is that depending on how you've got your settings tweaked (lower resolution, AA/AF off, and any other little tricks you can use to make that dot bigger or stand out more, most of which makes the game look worse overall) coupled with your eyesight shouldn't be the single most important aspect of your ability to play.

It's cheesy.

Wiley.

OK, and I said I had no problem when I had my computer with the 6870. antialising isnt going to make it stand out more the only valid point here is the lower resoluton, but the trade off in that is a smaller field of view which makes it EASIER to lose sight of a con. I can see soem of your argument but for any setting thier is going to be a trade off and NOTHING that is being discussed between you and I is off limits to anyone else. Track IR is a tool that anyone has access to and once your in a figth your not going to be zoomed in with it as some imply

[Nathan60]

To be clear the only thing I tweek is the field of view everything else I raise as high as I can to get a prettier game but not lose too much FPS, and with a 6870 Radeon card or a 6600 nvidia card I play about the same in the AVA. The no icons is different from the MA but no amount of tweaking is going o give an unfair advantage no matter how you  look at it as any tweak will have a consequence Lower resolution for bigger con dot? That's going o get you a smaller field of view, raising the field view will get you a smaller con dot. Track ir is usefull in a fight but not when zoomed(unless your at dead 6 and hitting 'z' isn't TRACK ir specific) AA only makes the edges smoother and doesn't help with much of anything other than making the game prettier. I'm not sure what other little tricks there could possibly be, and as for eyesight mines horrible but I dont blame the AVA staff for that.

[Wiley]

Not true.  Turning off AA makes the dots easier to see because it doesn't smooth the edges.

Good for you, you've got your setup so you can see dots.

My point is, the fact that you either have to futz around with your video settings to be able to see them at all, or you can futz around with them to be able to see the dots better shouldn't be the main determiner of your effectiveness.  The guide Raven linked to is a fine example of this:

3. Set a resolution that is appropriate for your monitor size. Don't run the highest resolution you can just to do it. I use a 19 inch monitor and find 1024 X 768 in Aces High the best for no icons. Find one that works for you.


High resolution and maxed out graphics settings is not always better. Go offline or in an arena like the DA and play with your video settings to discover what settings allow you to "spot the dot" with the greatest ease. Each hardware setup will differ but the things that have worked for my in the past are as follows.


4. Experiment with anti-aliasing. Anti-aliasing smooths the edges by filling in pixels with intermediate colors. On a computer displaying a dark, small object AA sometimes tends to wash it out against the background. Find the AA setting that works best.

With an implied "...because if you don't do this, your ability to spot them will be less than it could be.'

Wiley.

[Nathan60]

Not true.  Turning off AA makes the dots easier to see because it doesn't smooth the edges.

Good for you, you've got your setup so you can see dots.

My point is, the fact that you either have to futz around with your video settings to be able to see them at all, or you can futz around with them to be able to see the dots better shouldn't be the main determiner of your effectiveness.  The guide Raven linked to is a fine example of this:

With an implied "...because if you don't do this, your ability to spot them will be less than it could be.'

Wiley.

I have never seen that post but I'm sorry  I still don't thin that tweaking anything is the main determiner of effectiveness, I think ACM and SA trumps any tweaking. As I already stated I tweak nothing other than Field of view so I dont see where your going with the bolded part. You can't simply ignore parts of my posts to make your point, or state that something is implied an you see it. I really dont see tweaking as something akin to icon atall your not going to see all the cons all the time and in his post Raven even says to find what works best for you. It's not a gamebreaker IMO it's fine if you opinion differs but dint put your opinion out as fact at every opportunity

[Nathan60]

Inessence your implying its impossible to be competative in AVA unless you use the setup that works best for you(which you should do anyway), which is kinda asinine as some people have rudders and other "tweaks" and fly in the MA's with such 'tweaks' yet there are people playing with a laptop and mouse and doing well in there. Also how is the no Icons any different from the no icon in FSO?

[bustr]

NrRaven,

The aggressive sell of CT way back when, now AvA. As "a real man knows this is the superior way to play AH" has never worked in the history of AH other than to polorise players. You fail at Marketing 101 since you are not trying to target a specific market but, attempting to create a new market. You fail at marketing 102 becasue you are insulting your possible additional market for not buying your product by telling them how lesser they are by not buying your product.

Escpecialy when you thinly veil the insult that some number of us play AH in the technology dinosaur ages which justifies that the AvA is superior if you have superior technology. Ergo, anyone who dosen't wake up and get with it, is a lesser player than yourself and your small cohort of AvA fans. This only works if your goal is to recriut a specific minority of the general population to an exclusive club or organisation. That I expect from squads like AoM and Top Gun because they focus on being exclusive and highly talanted at ACM. Your defence of your sales pitchs sounds like you are only looking for a few good men.

For many from the MA the best thing you have "poorly" presented is the link to SimHQ's basic gunnery page. You don't even explain a very important technical aspect about gunsights and using them for range finding in Aces High. A 100Mil main ring gunsight in a 512x512 bitmap gunsight file will accuratly give you a fighter's wingspan at 150 yards or the radius of the ring at 300 yards. Or with a Revi a 10m wingspan at 100m.

Fundamentals of Gunnery:  http://www.simhq.com/_air10/air_312a.html

Your sales pitch is a failure becasue you fail to hide your true elitist feelings about the AvA and it's play perameters versus the MA's. You make your targeted sales audience feel insulted if they cannot measure up to the standards you use as your sales imagry to show how playing in the AvA is better than playing in the MA. You are telling your audience you don't want most of them from the very begining of your sales pitch. This only works for Rolls Royce cars and Lear Jet sales. So tell me what percentage of the population owns one of these?? What percentage of the MA population shows up in the AvA??

If you want more players to check out the AvA, stop selling it like the Marines advertising for their Officers Corp and you are the personal personification of an AvA god. You are pissing on their $14.95 a month which is just as good as yours. So they are voting with their feet which product they want to find their "fun" in. This has been the biggest ongoing mistake with the CT\AvA when it comes to who they allow to open their mouths for them. The loudest "Loyalist" is never the best "Publicist" when it comes to winning hearts and minds.

[Wiley]

I have never seen that post but I'm sorry  I still dont thin that tweaking anything is the main determiner of effectiveness, I think ACM and SA trumps any tweaking.

Lose sight, lose fight.  There is precisely nothing more important than being able to follow and track the bandit.  If you don't see the bandit, you have no SA.  All the ACM in the world isn't going to help you if you can't see the enemy aircraft.

As I already stated I tweak nothing oither than feild of view so I dont see where your going with the bolded part. You can't simply ignore parts of my posts to make your point, or state that someohting is implied an you see it.

What I meant by the bolded part is, you are fortunate enough to have the right combination of settings enabled/disabled by default, and a monitor that allows you to see the dots with your eyesight.  I'm glad you lucked into that.  It doesn't change the fact that for many, we can't see stuff until the dots change somewhere in the 8k range or the 6k range if we're lucky.

Inessence your implying its impossible to be competative in AVA unless you use the setup that works best for you(which you should do anyway), which is kinda asinine as some people have rudders and other "tweaks" and fly in the MA's with such 'tweaks' yet there are people playing with a laptop and mouse and doing well in there. Also how is the no Icons any different from the no icon in FSO?

There's a gigantic difference between having pedals and adjusting your control inputs and being able to see a bandit.  If you don't see that, I can't help you.

As far as FSO, I tolerate low icons in the FSO by pretty much having a seeing eye wingman.

Wiley.

[Nathan60]

Lose sight, lose fight.  There is precisely nothing more important than being able to follow and track the bandit.  If you don't see the bandit, you have no SA.  All the ACM in the world isn't going to help you if you can't see the enemy aircraft.

What I meant by the bolded part is, you are fortunate enough to have the right combination of settings enabled/disabled by default, and a monitor that allows you to see the dots with your eyesight.  I'm glad you lucked into that.  It doesn't change the fact that for many, we can't see stuff until the dots change somewhere in the 8k range or the 6k range if we're lucky.

There's a gigantic difference between having pedals and adjusting your control inputs and being able to see a bandit.  If you don't see that, I can't help you.

As far as FSO, I tolerate low icons in the FSO by pretty much having a seeing eye wingman.

Wiley.

Wiley severla time this week I had "regualrs" tell mne they never saw me but listend to where i was by engine noise,so even in a fight the guys that have all tweaked out their comps lose sigth of me as for seeing cons at 8 to 6 k th only way i do that is if they are above me and not in clouds, you want to know how peopel know where you are? Hit esc and bring up the clipboard map as the dot radar is up.m My monitor is a 25 inch CRT monitor an its mnot the best out there. I didnt luck into anything I still have difficulty finding a con but Im not going to say "hey this guy saw me first thats not fair' Its nioce of you to tolerate FSO however but your reason for doing so seems flat to me as you can do the same thing in the AVA.