Support Aces High

[Slate]

I am right there in the target market for all of the gaming industry. There is a reason I still play this game. The challenge, the competition, and dogfighting in planes, the people, the skill, the concept. It's beautiful on the inside haha.

It took me like 3 years to really figure out this game and how to fly all the planes in it, how to find fights and win in disadvanatged positions. It was something I craved, and was really passionate about. I met the muppets and felt those were the guys I fit in with. You just don't get that with COD or BF type games. I played Microsoft Flight Sim and Combat flight Sim in my early young years but this game blew me away.

The problem that bores people from the game is lack of action and aimlessly flying around with nothing to shoot at. If this takes 20 minutes, the game gets boring. If you get shot down, flying 15 min to a base again is a real desicion.

If there was a way to make the map boundaries smaller and close bases off so that the arena is compact in a smaller area for off hours, this would condense the action and cause more fights, tangos, and fun during the off hours. As more people joined, more bases would open up. Just like real war!!! Plus the base capture game would be more concentrated. If this were applied during off hours, you'd start to see these people enjoy the game more. This would fix 98% of the problem people are having in the off hours. Plus if HQ goes down, people still kinda know where the action is.

1. Shorter base distances.
2. Close off bases and condense the arena into a smaller area during off hours so that fights are consentrated on the same overall map. As more people enter, more bases open up. It could be like every 50 players that enter, 10-15 bases open. This would be realistic too.


What do you all think?
 

   Bases need some distance to allow it from becoming a Gv spawn.

    The smaller maps off peak is a sensible idea many have brought forth but I like your Idea of an ever expanding map as forces are increased. Don't know how it could be implemented but perhaps with limiting plane sets at certain bases.
    I would like to see the dynamic of having 8 p51s 8 Yak3s, 8 KI84s at base X and 8 ME 109s, 8 fw190ds, 8 Spit XIs, at base Y  If you wanted a flight of 20 P-51s you would have to draw from several bases.

[Tumor]

Find a way to build the community = Save Aces High

I used to enjoy the O'Club.... Skuzzy.

[100Coogn]

Find a way to build the community = Save Aces High

I used to enjoy the O'Club.... Skuzzy.

   Well said.

HiTech could probably push this update out a little faster, if he wasn't on here trying to defend a great game that he created.
Let the man do his job.  Some of you guys don't like the way this game is, try creating your own.  Bet it's not as easy-peasy as you think.

Coogan

[Changeup]

  Let me help you out as your sarcasm is misplaced and uninformed.  The confusion on my part comes from the fact that the quote in my post was deleted yet the original post from which I quoted remains. Get it?

And it's flamebaiting.  Just saying...

[Dead Man Flying]

Aces High is a great game.  But look at this thread for a minute, and you'll see why it's so difficult to "fix" it.  I see people arguing that the game needs to become more hardcore, that it needs to be less hardcore, that it needs better graphics, and that the graphics are fine.  There's a million ways to "fix" this game, but many of them are directly at odds with one another.

After awhile, if you play something enough, you're going to get bored.  Building a strong community is helpful, but the friends I've made in Aces High I wound up playing with in other games too - Drex and I played World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic together, and I've played Diablo III with Grizz.  The relationships here transcend the game, and thus won't solely save it.  When I got together with Drex for dinner a couple of years back while in Oklahoma City on business, neither of us had set foot in an AH arena for years.  So there's that.

I will say that the I've always had two major issues with AH that I think make it inaccessible to newer users.  One, it lacks an easy user interface; the one it has is functional and actually pretty powerful, but it's clunky and unintuitive.  A lot of new players are going to get lost and give up before they even figure out how to map buttons and enable their controllers.  And second, the game needs a game primer for new players - not a tutorial on how to fly, per se, but rather a tutorial system on how to fly in Aces High.  It's okay IMO to throw people into the meat grinder, but it's not okay to give little guidance on how to start engines or what different field maps, sides, fuel multipliers, and the like mean.  Aces High did a great job of serving as the natural evolution for Air Warrior and Warbirds, and back then these sorts of facts seemed obvious, but now the new players come from completely different backgrounds.

Just my two cents.  It's still a great game, and I hope it remains successful far into the future.

[DmonSlyr]

   Bases need some distance to allow it from becoming a Gv spawn.

    The smaller maps off peak is a sensible idea many have brought forth but I like your Idea of an ever expanding map as forces are increased. Don't know how it could be implemented but perhaps with limiting plane sets at certain bases.
    I would like to see the dynamic of having 8 p51s 8 Yak3s, 8 KI84s at base X and 8 ME 109s, 8 fw190ds, 8 Spit XIs, at base Y  If you wanted a flight of 20 P-51s you would have to draw from several bases.

Yeah but 15-18 miles would be fine too, for tanks, IMO. But I really only focus on the air combat aspect which I think is the main theme of the game. All these tank enthusiest scare me. I do think it is a great part of the game though for sure.

There is that map that is quite small with no CVs. It would be an awesome map if it just had a few bases in between each other, once the FHs go down on a field, it is impossible to up from another base to defend. Once you die, you have to fly another 20 min to the base if you don't go on the deck, only to either not find someone to fight, or you get ganged because your teamates die and don't want to up again because it is too far.  Notice festers new map. It is very very large. But despite that, his bases are close together. This allows for defense from other bases that are near, allows for fast action fights, limits high altitude gangers, creates more exciting game play all around, makes taking bases more fun, and when you get shot down, you don't have spend 20 min flying back to the enemy base. The layout is great fun for all aspects of players as well.
If you ever go into the AvA arena, you can see how much fun it is when bases are closer together.  

Speaking of the AvA, this is where you find Axis V allied fights. It's hella fun, btw. Really test your skills vs no icons, which in my opinion is awesome, and the strategies you can imploy are very different than in the MA when you have visuals of icons. I think the ganging gets turned wayyy down with no icons. AvA is a blast!! I don't think it would work out too well in the MA. The Allied planes for the most part are much better than axis as a group, and I don't think the numbers would be even.

Limiting planes would piss people off, much like the ENY cap already does, with far apart bases this would be a catastrophy. We need all the furballs we can get at this time.

[DmonSlyr]

Aces High is a great game.  But look at this thread for a minute, and you'll see why it's so difficult to "fix" it.  I see people arguing that the game needs to become more hardcore, that it needs to be less hardcore, that it needs better graphics, and that the graphics are fine.  There's a million ways to "fix" this game, but many of them are directly at odds with one another.

After awhile, if you play something enough, you're going to get bored.  Building a strong community is helpful, but the friends I've made in Aces High I wound up playing with in other games too - Drex and I played World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic together, and I've played Diablo III with Grizz.  The relationships here transcend the game, and thus won't solely save it.  When I got together with Drex for dinner a couple of years back while in Oklahoma City on business, neither of us had set foot in an AH arena for years.  So there's that.

I will say that the I've always had two major issues with AH that I think make it inaccessible to newer users.  One, it lacks an easy user interface; the one it has is functional and actually pretty powerful, but it's clunky and unintuitive.  A lot of new players are going to get lost and give up before they even figure out how to map buttons and enable their controllers.  And second, the game needs a game primer for new players - not a tutorial on how to fly, per se, but rather a tutorial system on how to fly in Aces High.  It's okay IMO to throw people into the meat grinder, but it's not okay to give little guidance on how to start engines or what different field maps, sides, fuel multipliers, and the like mean.  Aces High did a great job of serving as the natural evolution for Air Warrior and Warbirds, and back then these sorts of facts seemed obvious, but now the new players come from completely different backgrounds.

Just my two cents.  It's still a great game, and I hope it remains successful far into the future.

Yeah that's true Levi. I do think the training or beginners guide would be quite handy. Setting up a stick is hard for people who don't know. For example, I just got a new comp, my axis were backwards on AH so I had to switch elevator and aileron axises to even fly straight (push forward and I turn left haha). Hell it took me about a week to even figure out the radio and what channel to use and how to use it. So I think you are right about that aspect!

[Oldman731]

I will say that the I've always had two major issues with AH that I think make it inaccessible to newer users.  One, it lacks an easy user interface; the one it has is functional and actually pretty powerful, but it's clunky and unintuitive.  A lot of new players are going to get lost and give up before they even figure out how to map buttons and enable their controllers.  And second, the game needs a game primer for new players - not a tutorial on how to fly, per se, but rather a tutorial system on how to fly in Aces High. 

Agreed on both points.  Hard to say how many people never even show up in the arenas because they can't figure out how to get there.

<S> +Todd.

- oldman

[Wizer]

Much has been discussed in thus thread about Ace High support with an abundance of suggestions, some good and some bad.  What I have noticed is a lot of discussion regarding enticing and retaining new players.   I came to Aces High from Air Warrior and prior to AW I did not have any experience with WWII aircraft.  When I started AW I had to start in an arena that was for new players only.  In that arena all of us new players competed against each other, learning the game and tactics as we played.  The players helped each other, which had the effect of building the community before ever setting foot in the main arena.  Once a player accumulated a score of 10,000 points, he/she was promoted (if you will) to the main arena.  Veteran players could come to the new player arena and fly with the new players,  offering advice but could not shoot them down.  I believe that such a system in AH would be beneficial in helping the new player learn the game, while enjoying it and would result in retention of the player.

[Gman]

I will say that the I've always had two major issues with AH that I think make it inaccessible to newer users.  One, it lacks an easy user interface; the one it has is functional and actually pretty powerful, but it's clunky and unintuitive.  A lot of new players are going to get lost and give up before they even figure out how to map buttons and enable their controllers.  And second, the game needs a game primer for new players - not a tutorial on how to fly, per se, but rather a tutorial system on how to fly in Aces High.

Hi Todd - you planning on returning once the new version is out?  Hope so.

I've been railing on this issue myself for the last year.  Nothing is of more importance in terms of keeping new players, than helping them figure out wth is going on in the game as fast as possible.

I agree.  In fact IMO it would be a lot easier for new players, and possibly be a factor in retention rates with them, if all of the "new guy" type of information, from all the information in the wiki, various game manual places, and these new videos, all be accessible from a very, very easy to see button or link on the front page, and all be in that one place.  There is piles of great information on the HTC webpages, it's just not consolidated or all that easy to find in a simple 1, 2 ,3 flow chart sort of way.

- Sept this year

I'm hopeful that there will be enough change to not only bring many vets out of the woodwork, but interest new players as well.  A consolidated and more organized help/new player area would help greatly with this IMO, in addition to the new version and game itself.

- July this year

 Also create a streamlined, consolidated, and regularly updated game manual, and funnel this into the already excellent training corps.

- November this year


Next to more frequent and regular updates and innovations, nothing is more important than this issue IMO.  Look at EvE - as difficult as it is to learn, it DOES have a pretty simple, flexible, and well written tutorial system.  That's what is needed at AH - a consolidated, regularly updated documentation system, as WELL as a walk through/tutorial.  Most people don't want to "go find a trainer" as their first thing they do, they want to explore themselves, decide themselves, but they also want an accurate, up to date, and helpful tutorial.  A big red button saying "Get Started Playing Now", which takes them into a tutorial/video system with narration and examples showing how to set up their game/controls, how the game, clipboard, radio/comms, etc all work, and then get into the actual fun stuff, the fighting, and offering of trainers and such.  Even as a 15 year vet I find it difficult to find information on features I just have never bothered using, and was told to search through the "New and Updates" forum as that is where that information is kept, on the BBS, for many upgrades to the game over the years - the current docs are mostly out of date, and all over the place.

None of this really affects me, or most long time players, but it certainly has a huge effect on new players, and if the inflow of new players is the goal and thing of paramount importance, it should probably be near the top of the list of things to change.

[Volron]

So....rough guess would be folks want maps that are the same size as the ones I see in War Thunder?


A good way for Aces High to be supported would be a more active Home Page though (This of course falls on HTC).  It looks dead.  That tiny bit about Tour winners, easily missed as it just doesn't stand out at.  Be active all you want on FB and Twitter, but Home Page looks dead and it probably amount to jack.

[Hajo]

Wilbus old friend, great to see your name mentioned in conjunction with the game again.  And seeing your responses.

If I don't see you before, Happy Holidays!

[Brooke]

Hey Wilb, if you'd like a spot in the January Scenario.....my flight has a place for ya (P38J's)

Yes, Wilbus, please fly with us in the January scenario! 

The US side has P-38J's, P-51B's, and P-47D's.

The LW side has Bf 109G's and FW 190A-5's (and some 190F-8's and Bf 110's and Me 410's).

[Masherbrum]

The petty things people gripe about.   I'd mention a few things, but sadly I could predict who would be along and in what order.   But yes, petty things and it is a window into their miserable existence.   

Carry on.   Why play when you can post in a forum?

[hitech]

  Let me help you out as your sarcasm is misplaced and uninformed.  The confusion on my part comes from the fact that the quote in my post was deleted yet the original post from which I quoted remains. Get it?

If this is the case either you quoted wrong one or I read the quote wrong. If it was me I apologize.
HiTech