Only 16 players inflight in the MA right now.

[BnZs]

So...the concensus is that the game needs more advertising and also needs maximum graphics that impress when used in said  advertising? Of course said graphics may take monstroua computers to run when turned up to 11 as Skuzzy has pointed out, but the game will remain graphically scalable, I see no sign of that changing. Said graphics don`t need to actually be playable on the average system to have attraction value.

[Arlo]

Some think if your not a brown noser your not for HTC .

Oh, you're one of those thenthitive ones.  

[Sunka]

Oh, you're one of those thenthitive ones.  

Good suggestion for helping the game Arlo ty.

[Gemini]

Or ... if more people didn't just see 'a mindless sycophant' when others insert the pros of this game versus perceived cons then it might be a more honest conversation.  

You can't even have a useful conversation (if such a thing is even possible on the internet) when it is de-railed by posts like those made by USRanger + guncrasher

They either have not read the thread properly, or do not understand the points being made. But they still chime in with their irrelevant post, insinuating that anyone who dares to criticize is not appreciative of the many things that make AH great.

We do appreciate those things. That's why we don't want the game to die out because of a lack of players.

[Arlo]

Good suggestion for helping the game Arlo ty.

Hey,you and Gemini deviated to character assessment as a means of furthering the discussion, friend. Don't blame me for ya'll deviating to defensive mode.  

P.S. (repeat)

Speaking of Minecraft and what it takes to get the word out and bring in players:

"Social media sites such as YouTube, Facebook, and Reddit played a significant role in popularizing Minecraft."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minecraft

[Sunka]

All good suggestions to help this game ty arlo.

[Arlo]

All good suggestions to help this game ty arlo.

You're welcome.

It's honest and forthright. It takes into consideration active participation of the community and individual claims of interest in truly supporting the game versus repeated demands that HTC increase cost in graphic development or other expensive ventures that could also result in impacting the cost of the game (which would be self-defeating when it comes to increasing the customer base).

Lets have some volunteers.  

[GScholz]

Arlo, I have great hopes for the GFX update HTC is working on. That said, I cannot understand why you can't recognize just how far GFX quality has come since 1999. In 2001, two years after AH was launched, Il-2 showed up; a WWII sim no one had seen coming of from a tiny developer from Russia no one had heard of. AH2 today looks slightly better than the original Il-2 from 2001. I know HTC has been forced to deliberately hold back on the GFX front due to the complete ineptness of their main consumer base to keep their hardware up to date. Personally I think every computer component should be equipped with a small explosive device with a two-year time fuze, but that's prolly just me...

[Sunka]

I think every computer component should be equipped with a small explosive device with a two-year time fuze, but that's prolly just me...

+1

[Arlo]

That said, I cannot understand why you can't recognize just how far GFX quality has come since 1999.

Where'd you imagine that?  

I know HTC has been forced to deliberately hold back on the GFX front due to the complete ineptness of their main consumer base to keep their hardware up to date.

And that? 

[Chilli]

Popped in a few times last night (mine, between 10-30pm and 12-30am) and decided to flag it.... when I saw the map knew the main reason.... but ... it has been dwindling for some time....

Not many down here know about this game as there is no advertising other than what we..the people that play pacific time..... add to the likes of facebook etc..

Yet it seems like when I surf the web, even NZ sites, I quite often see a Warthunder banner.... may be an ad sense thing not too sure about that... none the less...it is getting very sad on my end unfortunately

I might have to look at getting a night job so I can get some decent game time during American times...the things you'll do to play AH

Tongs, don't do it    I work nights here in the US eastern time zone so I am able to fly with the likes of you and  others    

Other than that, I think that you are on to something about the amount of advertising.  I have always been proud to see the TV ads aired while watching History Channel or the likes.  

The next question is what is the right market to reach???

There are portions of the game (evidence by some of the YouTube videos I have seen) that would boast wonderful graphics and gameplay.  There are portions of the game that display a wonderful community of players and team work (my personal reason for the addiction = my name is ChiLLi, I am an AHaddict).  Then there is the elite class of virtual pilots and trainers, that are a wealth of historical, technical and gaming dynamics that can be challenging, even to seasoned real life pilots.

Spending bucks on expensive ads, as opposed to some sort of physical presence at Air Shows, Museum events, etc. must also be a monumental task for such a small workforce (as USRanger has noted).

Free game download and 2 weeks free is already a great deal, but what kept me long after the 2 weeks was definitely the community and broad choice in gameplay (there was always something new to learn or get better at and someone available to give you tips).

So what SHOULD the focus of future ads be????  Better improved graphics????  Grease monkey tinkering with gun convergence and ACM flight tactics?????  In game online interaction with virtual pilots?????  A 60 second ad would surely be inadequate to get the focus of all 3.  

Possibly, comping a decent hotel room and a marketing booth at local air shows for trustworthy professional volunteers from the AH community, would reach those beyond the xbox gamer, but also include those with specific enough interest in the aircraft and vehicle details to ignore a slightly cornered 3D model here and there.

[Wiley]

So...the concensus is that the game needs more advertising and also needs maximum graphics that impress when used in said  advertising? Of course said graphics may take monstroua computers to run when turned up to 11 as Skuzzy has pointed out, but the game will remain graphically scalable, I see no sign of that changing. Said graphics don`t need to actually be playable on the average system to have attraction value.

Obviously the graphics are an issue.  Graphics are great, as long as you don't need more computer than God to run it.

This part about trying to get people away from WT, from ReVo's post, is the heart of the matter though:

The response from every single one has been "I can fly this game with a mouse and it takes five minutes to be good. I don't care about simulation and I don't want a joystick."

The gameplay of this game is not for everyone.  You can advertise until you're blue in the face but these factors are all working against it:

- It's a niche genre.  Many of us have friends who might share our interest in aviation, but poll the people you know at your workplace/school, people you know casually, and how many of them would even remotely be interested in a WWII flight sim?

-A huge learning cliff.  It requires either freakish natural talent or a fair bit of dedication and time to succeed.  This means means very, very few people out of the already small subset of people who are interested in flight sims will want to put in the time to get to a point where they enjoy the game.  Look at the rest of gaming in general.  I can think of 2 games off the top of my head that actually qualify as somewhat difficult.  EvE and Dark Souls.  I'm sure there are others, but the vast, vast majority of games have groomed people to expect ease of gameplay and no consequences for screwing up.

- This game is by its very nature hostile to casual gamers.  Apparently some people can play it with a mouse, I doubt there are more than a dozen who play regularly and are any good at the game.  It requires gear and even though it's only $20 for a stick, it's $20 for a stick you don't have to pay if you're going to go play BF4 or whatever.  Also for the most part, it's not a game you can pick up for 15-20 minutes at a time and feel like you've done much of anything.  This is also contrary to the vast majority of other games.

All the graphics and advertising in the world aren't going to change the above 3 points.  I really think the people who will stick with a game like this go looking for it versus people who see an ad on History and think, 'Maybe I'll give it a try.'

Wiley.

[GScholz]

And that? 

Take a 5 year old computer, with a built-in Intel video chip, and run todays high end graphic games on anything other than the lowest possible setting.  Not going to happen.

The Intel video chip has 68% of the computer market.

If you look into the beta we have out now, it is a graphics improvement which will still run on that 5 year old Intel video chip.

1/3 of the computer market is not enough to sustain Aces High.

So you want to get rid of Windows XP support?  That would pretty much kill Aces High as Windows XP still has the largest market share of Windows operating systems.

Getting rid of Intel support and Windows XP support would leave about 10% of the computer market available.  That would end Aces High.

Our graphics engine is actually very sophisticated.  Look at our current beta plane models and then consider we are doing all that with a game that still fits on a single CD.  Yes, the size of the download does matter, for several reasons.

Btw, this is what Il-2 looked like back in 2001:

[Gemini]

Interesting quote about Windows XP, I wonder if the thinking will change now that WinXP is about to become unsupported and therefore (i imagine) very prone to security exploits for users.

edit: to expand upon this for those who don't already know Microsoft is ending support for Windows XP on April 8th, 2014. Beyond this date, there will be no further security updates for XP and it is very likely that a batch of exploits will surface the day after support has ended. This means that those of you who still run Windows XP on your machines will be vulnerable.

[BnZs]

Purported ineptness on the part of the customer base (aka as the game runs good enough for my taste and I aint made of money) has nothing to do with it, as AHII like every flight sim I`ve ever tried can turn the graphics way down to get frames on dinosaur machines. This does nothing to stop the top end for those with the machine to run it from being improved.  

Arlo, I have great hopes for the GFX update HTC is working on. That said, I cannot understand why you can't recognize just how far GFX quality has come since 1999. In 2001, two years after AH was launched, Il-2 showed up; a WWII sim no one had seen coming of from a tiny developer from Russia no one had heard of. AH2 today looks slightly better than the original Il-2 from 2001. I know HTC has been forced to deliberately hold back on the GFX front due to the complete ineptness of their main consumer base to keep their hardware up to date. Personally I think every computer component should be equipped with a small explosive device with a two-year time fuze, but that's prolly just me...