As I approach twenty years in AHIII I've become more appreciative of the balance Dale managed to achieve between realism and practical playability. While I will always consider this game a sim I also concede that this sim is a game. Of course, I'm just stating the obvious. The flight physics have always been phenomenal. The management of the airplane is enough to be engrossing without being overwhelming (the added feature of managing our fuel to add distance/endurance, using trim to our advantage, setting up gun convergence but no need for detailed engine management/babysitting the minutia end of things).
The game part should be just as obvious. The Main Arena consists of three sided play involving capture of bases on a terrain designed to be an even playing field that doesn't resemble any known geographical location on Earth. All aircraft, vehicles and ships made for the game are available to any side. To keep things from devolving into a non-stop everyone in a late war uber plane/jet fest the perk system was developed. To slow down overpopulated sides from rolling the board so fast the ENY system was developed. To prevent players grieving each other by shooting down players on their own side, kill shooter was implemented. There's all types of fun for all types of players from dog fighting to strategic bombing to tank battles to ocean battles to even the logistics of resupply and the necessity of taking troops in for the capture. It's really a good game.
The effort to keep things practically playable is also evident in the design. Carriers need not turn into the wind (wind speed is zero at sea level - all the way up to 16,000 ft., I believe). The Norden bombsight is simplified and bombs aren't affected by wind. But even with simplifying things to keep from forcing players into spending inordinate amount of time specializing in one thing at the expense of others, there's enough realism to offer a decent amount of immersion.
The community has participants who have become lifelong friends. Some of them may not even play anymore but they return here to visit and reconnect.
I used to participate in the 'wishlist' sub-forum with a plethora of requested realism details for elements of the game that interested me the most. Carrier ops, for instance. From folding wings to canopies that open to spawning involving plane spotting on deck and taking off in order. I knew, even then, that some of what I wished for may not be practical for all and that this game is for the enjoyment of all the players. Some of what I wished for would be considered an impediment to others. And, of course, there's the ever-present 'griefer' as in all competitive combat games so the better wishes kept in mind how a change could be abused as well as used and the chances of such.
All in all, this game/sim has succeeded in all of it's apparent goals (and then some). There no other game online quite like it (similar on the surface, maybe ... but not it's equal).
Just felt like typing this, I guess. *ShruG* (Ain't nothing everyone else here doesn't know.)
