Central Intelligence Network:
A room similar to the O’Club, or a menu on the clipboard consisting of 3 basic features in an easy to read, filterable format. You can monitor all actions and information about your country, intentions, and any information about enemy movement. A 3-part system:
1. Intelligence Gathering and Reporting
2. Information System
3. Stating your Intentions
1.) The first part is ‘INTELLIGENCE GATHERING AND REPORTING‘. The intelligence section would be like a folder which allows pilots to log critical information with a timestamp and expiration in a room that looks like the officer club. Think of PIREP”s (Pilot Reports) in the real world. If you’re flying and notice thunderstorms or some strange weather disturbances, very heavy turbulence in a particular area, you can call in a pilot report and it is issued to other pilots for future flight plans in that area. This is a place to post sightings of enemies in certain sectors, their altitude, and direction of flight. You can post carrier locations, sightings of mass ground vehicles, heavy bomber formations en route, and bases/strats that look like they may be under attack. You would post the critical information first (time, heading, altitude, type, amount, location), then any additional notes or details, and a time for this to expire. Nobody cares about 1 B-17 located in sector 8,10 4 hours ago, so each input would have an expiration set by the user. Currently, the only intelligence we have is the chat log, which is useless, and the message is gone faster than it takes to type it. Plus, nobody refers back to it. When you log on aces high, this would give you something to review instead of just looking for a furball or dar-bar. You can first review intelligence data before making a decision on what you are going to do, and even plan a mission with your squad based on this intelligence.
2.)The Central Intelligence Room can offer other information on the network via the ‘INFORMATION SYSTEM’ Information that is already in the game, but making it easier to read and all in one place, eliminating the need for dot commands. Down time of buildings, strats, bases, and towns would be listed in order of most damaged to least damaged. This way people know what needs the most attention at any given time, and what base is the closest to being captured. You can plan a bomber mission to hit whatever is left untouched at a certain base. All this information being easily and readily available was asked previously by 49Baller, but it fits into my “Intelligence Network” feature I would like to see implemented.
3.)The third, and possibly most important part of this Intelligence Room feature is 'STATING YOUR INTENTIONS'. When two squads who don’t speak to each other, plan a bombing run, or intercept in the same area, it is inefficient and a waste of resources. We don’t need 2 squads and 16 planes hunting down 3 Lancasters. We don’t need 3 squadrons bombing the same strat or airfield, dropping 100,000 lbs. of ords on the same target. Or an M3 wasting his time driving to town only to have 2 goons fly in and drop troops. And we don’t need a 3 hour GV mission being wasted because someone decided to bomb the city with B-17’s the second the GV’s showed up. Wasteful, inefficient, and resource-draining! I think you get the picture.
Stating your intentions in the central intelligence network will allow pilots to review who is going where, and when. And then plan their mission based off this information. If squad X plans on taking A63, and has all the necessary aircraft to do so in 1 swoop, take another base! If that heavy bomber formation that was spotted and reported in the intelligence network already has 8 Fw-190’s en route to intercept, don’t go join them! Intention stating would work much like intelligence reporting, you would state what planes you are bringing, to where, to do what, and what time. It would have an expiration time, and any additional notes (e.g. need additional fighters). This menu too can have a filter, so you can sort intentions in order by most recent, by airbase being attacked, type of flight (escort, bombing, intercept, gv), and by expiration time. If you see in the notes that the group leaving to intercept needs additional fighters, then join them!
This changes gameplay immensely. It makes the game more organized, improves communication, creates realism, and enhances teamwork. It will also create incentives to go spotting on reconnaissance missions and providing surveillance for your country. The intelligence system would constantly be checked in between flights, during flights, and when you first log on. It would add a whole new element to Aces High, and is extremely easy to do (It’s just organized notes and information).
Currently, word of mouth is very sloppy and unorganized in Aces High, the chat is not working! People don’t care and sometimes don’t see the messages that strat runners are heading to X, or NOE mission going to A84, or locations of the carriers, large GV formations gathering in sector x, etc.
*Additionally, you could also use this room to post information such as pilot rankings, statistics, kills, sorties, squad stats, map wins, aircraft information, players, roster, war tours, and all other statistics for stat-junkies.
Very Very Basic Example:
At 10:36 joePilot reports b17 formations in sector 10,17 at 15k heading southwest
At 10:41 mikeAce reports airfield A36 under attack by Me-110’s at 7k
11:05, Only One Fighter Hanger left at A31 needs to be destroyed, and town is White Flagged
At 11:30, The 58th Fighter Squadron is hitting Bish City with 15 Lancasters, need escorts
At 11:31, Bill’s Squad agrees to escort the 58th to Bish City, 58th no longer needing escorts
12:45 Pilot Reported heavy ground fire in sector 10,8,9. GV’s moving West, possibly 5-10
13:29 Carrier Located in 5, 8, 3 heading North, multiple fighters have launched from it
14:50 23rd Squadron sending tanks and supply vehicles to destroy and capture A104
16:50 2 C-47’s carrying troops heading towards A123 for capture
16:55 C-47’s heading towards A123 shot down, needs troops
16:55 A123 town guns re-up in 6 minutes
17:20 45th Squad sending tanks to destroy Rook City
18:30 Spotter planes reported near sector 5, 7 looking for carrier location, heading South @ 15k
From time to time, I wouldn’t even mind sitting in the officers club, gathering information from pilots in the
field via VOX, and gathering/organizing it all from home. Then when someone wants a briefing, they can tune to my radio and I’ll give them a rundown from the radio room on whats going on in the war, and different pilot reports in the area.
