Two changes to make the MA more interesting & why it will never happen

[beet1e]

My two changes would be:

• Get rid of the Bar-Dar feature on the maps.
• Turn off the Mission Editor.

It is clear to me that surreptitious stealth missions do not have a chance in Aces High, because the Bar-Dar alerts the enemy to the approaching attack, even if the stealth group is below radar cover. Add to that the flashing warning on the map, the siren and Yankee warning that there is a ”Base under attack”, and any stealth mission is doomed to failure.

As for the Mission Editor, at first I thought this might be a good idea, but it’s nothing more than a gangbang generator. I never join these missions because I know they’re just going to develop into gangbangs. Where’s the challenge in that? I look at the map, and when I see a green blob I know that the Mission Editor has been activated. Several times an hour, I hear the call go up for LANCs, B17s, Tiffies, P38s and Goons to up from field Axx. On one recent mission, the organiser called for ten goons. Yes, TEN goons! A gangbang, if ever there was one, assuming the count of other aircraft was in proportion to the number of goons.

OK, and here is why HTC will never implement these changes. And the main reason is that the typical AH player likes gangbangs, and enjoys flying in a group of 10 guys vulching a couple of cons trying to defend their field. Seems that Doofus-Dweebius wants nothing more than to smash down the enemy by brute force, and as I have said before: the outcome is about as predictable and interesting as pondering the fate of a wine glass when dropped from a height of 10 feet onto a stone floor.

I would prefer a thinking man’s game akin to Chess, and not the aerial boxing match/tag wrestling fight that we have right now. But, it seems that we will never see that in AH

Finally, I need to add that the number of replies to this post will be in direct proportion to gangbangery quotient and overall co-efficient of dweebery in Aces High.  Come on, don’t disappoint me, guys.  And Rude – consider me up for the WotW nomination

[JB73]

check out my whine... i think i got u beat:p
roflmao
interesting idea though, but i don't care for it.
for having the chaones to put it up

[funkedup]

Get rid of the Bar-Dar feature on the maps.

If you go under 500' AGL they won't see you.

Turn off the Mission Editor.

It's a team sport.  If  you want 1 vs. 1 check out the dueling arena.  

[BOOT]

 beet1e wrote;       As for the Mission Editor, at first I thought this might be a good idea, but it’s nothing more than a gangbang generator. I never join these missions because I know they’re just going to develop into gangbangs. Where’s the challenge in that?

Beet1e

You are obviously joining or witnessing the wrong missions...
Missions can be complex, strategic and extremely interesting if they are put together properly.... Buffs lift 15 minutes b4 escorts
Rendevous with escorts... close formation flying...

I invite you to join one of our 327th Steel Talons Missions...
Our squad nites are Wed and Saturday at 9:00pm est.
In ROOK land...

BOOT

[Black Sheep]

ive actually never seen the dar bar work right under 500 - still shows up

[pbirmingham]

Originally posted by beet1e
My two changes would be:

• Get rid of the Bar-Dar feature on the maps.
• Turn off the Mission Editor.

It is clear to me that surreptitious stealth missions do not have a chance in Aces High, because the Bar-Dar alerts the enemy to the approaching attack, even if the stealth group is below radar cover. Add to that the flashing warning on the map, the siren and Yankee warning that there is a ”Base under attack”, and any stealth mission is doomed to failure.

 Seems that Doofus-Dweebius wants nothing more than to smash down the enemy by brute force, and as I have said before: the outcome is about as predictable and interesting as pondering the fate of a wine glass when dropped from a height of 10 feet onto a stone floor.
[/B]

You want to milkrun undefended fields, and they're the weenies for wanting to vulch?

You somehow think that the outcome of your sneak attack is less pre-ordained than that of a heavy attack on a defended field.  I would think that conclusion somewhat difficult to defend.

Originally posted by beet1e

I would prefer a thinking man’s game akin to Chess, and not the aerial boxing match/tag wrestling fight that we have right now. But, it seems that we will never see that in AH

Let's hope.  The strategic element is not what attracted me to this game, or to Air Warrior before that.  I'm in it for the fight, not the war.

If you want a game akin to chess, why not try playing chess, then?

[funkedup]

Good point.  If you want Chess, you should play Chess, or Combat Mission, or at least fly scenarios.  The MA at best is Tic-Tac-Toe or Checkers.  It's the kiddie pool where the least common denominator rules.  But it's full of things to blow up.  
Wing up, get kills, be happy.

[Sandman]

Rude, can we have two winners in the same week?

[beet1e]

LOL!  only 2 hours, and 6 replies already. You guys just couldn't stay away

I do play Chess - hence my use of the analogy. But I do not, nor did I ever, play that idiotic schoolboy version of Chess, in which every pawn counts as a Queen, in addition to the Queen itself. That is a scenario in which something gets taken every move. Totally infantile and stupid.

And that's the way I feel about....

...no, I wont say it

Pbirmingham - fair comment. But you and I are diametrically opposed in what we want from a sim like AH. I am in it for the war, not for the fight. After all, the role of fighters was to provide air support. What's the use in that if there's nothing to support?

[Taiaha]

Hey Beetle.  Fun flying with you in the vicinity of A5 and A22 this evening.

I actually agree about the Dar Bar.  But rather than have it abandoned completely, I'd almost have it function more like real WW2 radar.  Lots of ghost images, false hits, etc.  You're right that it is pretty much omniscient at the moment, the below 500 thing has never worked for me.

Disagree about the mission editor, however.  It doesn't automatically translate into a gang, at least from my experience.  Indeed, I've been part of some very good base defenses that have broken up poorly coordinated missions that thought they were setting up for a gang. And I've also been parts of armadas that broke up because of poor coordination, etc.

So I'm not really seeing the mission editor unbalancing the MA in any way--in fact, I don't see it being used that much, not as much as I expected when I first joined AH, anyway.

[funkedup]

Beet you want a war but no organized missions?  You think they went out in onesies and twosies in WW2?

[pbirmingham]

Originally posted by beet1e
Pbirmingham - fair comment. But you and I are diametrically opposed in what we want from a sim like AH. I am in it for the war, not for the fight. After all, the role of fighters was to provide air support. What's the use in that if there's nothing to support?

It's a lot of fun, that's the use in it!  

You see Aces High as being like a strategy game, with rewarding, deep skills to be mastered, much like the rewards that unfold before a student of chess.

There's another aspect of mastery to Aces High, with its own skills and rewards.  The comparison may be pompous, but I think of mastering the skills of ACM as having similar rewards to the martial arts.

Those guys punching and kicking each other are doing things that may seem useless -- what good are all those jumping kicks when there are no mounted soldiers to dismount -- but people who have mastered the art seem to get a lot out of it.

[Toad]

I always love it when people speak in absolutist terms about what should or should not be considered fun.

[beet1e]

Taiaha – yes, I remember flying with you recently, and it was good. I could not work out how to pronounce your name to give you a 6-call, but you seemed to recognise my attempt. Interesting that you use the word omniscient – The only other time I heard the word was in the WW2 film, Where Eagles Dare, and Colonel Turner (Patrick Wymark) said it during the mission briefing: ”Neither Admiral Rolland nor myself claim to be omniscient; is there something that we’ve missed?”

Funked up – I didn’t say that people should go in onesies and twosies; I said turn off the mission editor. One is not synonymous with the other!  By which I mean that missions can still be organised without the ME. We did it in WB, remember? The thing I hate is all this ”Let’s up 4 LANCs, 6 B17s, 8 Tiffies, a couple of dozen P38s and 10 goons, and see if we can capture a small field”, conveniently leaving up enough hangars to ensure adequate vulching opportunities, which is the main reason why many join the mission in the first place. That’s why we see so many N1Ks appearing at a field that’s about to fall.

There’s nothing wrong with organising a covert mission amongst a group of likeminded guys. It’s the lynch mob mentality I can’t stand.

Toad is right – it’s just a game, but at the same time we clamour for realism...

Pbirmingham, If that’s what you want, fine. But I can tell you that the pilots of WW2 did not liken their skills to a martial arts contest. There was none of this WTG stuff that we see in various sims. My father was in the Royal Air Force during WW2 (though was barred from aerial duties on medical grounds). He knew enough of the pilots to know that most were scared stiff. The average life expectancy for those front line guys was about 6 weeks. I know there were aerial aces who got hundreds of kills, but I am inclined to believe that it was due to circumstances in addition to skill. They didn’t go up with the intention of honing up their “martial arts” skills; they went up not knowing if they would still be alive at the end of it.

One last thing - I stayed up very late last night in AH - 3am for me. And the game is very different then from 6-9 hours earlier. Seems like I work better with you Yanks

[Wotan]

I agree the mission gangbang planner is useless. gangbangs pop up on their own. The planner just give the ma generals an excuse to scream over channel 2 "join my well planned clever gangbang"


Some will come and tell you this is the "organization" we need in the main.

I mean if one were inclined you could almost develope a whole campaign with the mission planner. Different "missions" hitting a wide range of targets moving toward an overall goal. But thats a bit much for the main general.

"join my mission"

10 f4us
10 typhies
5 lanc
5 b17s
10 la7s
5 goons

"join now we need to get organized" lol

get rid of it or lemme squelch channel 2