In anticipation of potential steam release

[Fishh]

Let's face it, kids these days are spoiled. I am quite sure each generation has said that about the prior generation but I digress. The point I am making is that the steam crowd will expect AAA cosmetic features because...well they are spoiled.

I have two small requests that will make the game "look" more professional.

1) At startup I would like the game to default to full screen mode or whatever your video settings default too.  I remember when I first started hitting ALT + ENTER several times and nothing happened. My game is always starts up in a boxed windowed mode.

2) The music, the super LOUD music on startup.  Please default the music volume a bit lower, most of us use headsets (I think?). Possibly implementing buttons to lower or mute the music at startup all together would be beneficial to give the player the POWER! 

Maybe these are already featured in the front page. I cannot locate these fixes. I believe these small fixes would go a long way to the finicky community.  Some of you may say to hell with them, if they don't like it they can piss off.  But I for one, want to bring in as much fresh life to this game as possible and these small cosmetic fixes would do just that.

[The Fugitive]

Once you select either off-line, or on-line the game switches to full screen.

As for the music, while in the game go to, Options/Preferences/Game Sounds. Click the "Advanced" button, click "music" in the list and adjust the slider to the level you want.

[oboe]

Everything Fugi said.   I had to lower the volume of the startup music, too.

and,

Welcome Back Fishh!

[Randy1]

What is steam?

[oboe]

If your question is serious, Steam is a digital distribution platform developed by Valve Corporation, which offers digital rights management (DRM), multi-player gaming, video streaming and social networking services.

http://store.steampowered.com

HiTech has said the game will work the same as before for non-Steam users - we can continue to run AH as we have before.   The players who download it from the Steam store will access it through their Steam front end I guess, and updates to the game will occur through Steam.  Steam will give AH3 LOTS of exposure to gamers. 

[Randy1]

If your question is serious, Steam is a digital distribution platform developed by Valve Corporation, which offers digital rights management (DRM), multi-player gaming, video streaming and social networking services.

http://store.steampowered.com

HiTech has said the game will work the same as before for non-Steam users - we can continue to run AH as we have before.   The players who download it from the Steam store will access it through their Steam front end I guess, and updates to the game will occur through Steam.  Steam will give AH3 LOTS of exposure to gamers.

Oboe, it was a real question.  I had seen several post about the steam thing but had no clue what it was or why htc was interested. 

[lunatic1]

cheaper advertising than any other outlet

[oboe]

Oboe, it was a real question.  I had seen several post about the steam thing but had no clue what it was or why htc was interested.

It's huge with gamers, and has a ton of games available, many free to play.   Check it out.  There are lots of advantages to being on Steam - I hope it works out well for AH3.   

[Petey]

anyone ask the question.  How is IL2 doing on steam?

[Wiley]

anyone ask the question.  How is IL2 doing on steam?

*snrk*  That's actually a pretty good and interesting comparison.

http://steamcharts.com/app/307960

But I'm sure IL2 is different and just not as attractive to gamers as AH and the heavens will open and thousands upon thousands of people will pour in here once we get on Steam.

Wiley.

[Krusty]

There is still a solid core of IL2 fans and with many mods like Blue Sky they have added many planes to the game, but these are fan-made and subject to a lot of interpretation in terms of how they are modeled. The online play is also dependent on localized servers rather than one place you join for constant action. Much more like elaborate custom rooms that persist longer, in AH terms.

IL2 has never directly compared to AH. Never. Not even in both their hey-days. Fun fact, IL2's first release was back in 2001, not long after AH went live.

[Mister Fork]

IL2 has benefited from STEAM - online player numbers have doubled over the past two years from the link provided.

As with Aces High, it'll definitely benefit from the visibility alone.

[Mister Fork]

One more question - how do we stop the 'puppy spanking' from the newbies that will happen when people try and play the game for the first couple of times?  New player shows up all enthused and we end up clubbing them to death in balls of flame and unwanted plane-to-tower portal jumps.

How do we give them a chance to get airborne and fly around without killing their enthusiasm? 

[Krusty]

When has that ever stopped growth? I know it felt like 2 years before I had a "legitimate kill" to my name. I know I died lots to feed others' kill buffers. There are always crutches, EZ mode planes. There's always the Spit16, the Yak3 now. That will help 95% of all new players right there.

[Ack-Ack]

One more question - how do we stop the 'puppy spanking' from the newbies that will happen when people try and play the game for the first couple of times?  New player shows up all enthused and we end up clubbing them to death in balls of flame and unwanted plane-to-tower portal jumps.

How do we give them a chance to get airborne and fly around without killing their enthusiasm?

Air Warrior used to have a training academy that, IIRC, lasted six weeks and taught the new player pretty much what they needed to know to survive in the main arenas.  In addition to the AWTA, there was a newbie arena for new players to learn the ropes in the kiddie pool before dipping their toes in the big boy pool.