It's the little things

[Wanker]

There are lots of threads about the major issues of any flight sim, like Flight modeling, gameplay, etc. I'd like to talk about some of the seemingly trivial stuff in AH that makes it really shine in comparison to some other online sims out there(who shall remain nameless).

Little things like the propeller animations during engine start, flight, and shutdown. Hehe, when I fly a bomber these days, I always start each engine up seperately, because it looks and feels so right.

And the drop tanks. I can't believe how much more immersive AH is compared to WB because of drop tanks. Last squad night, when  the flight above me jettisoned their drop tanks, one went right by my canopy. Very cool!

Finally, the one little feature that has impressed me the most is the ZOOM key. While not realistic, it does help make up for the tiny size of the planes from your cockpit view. I was totally amazed when I used it for the first time in combat, and I could actually tell that my opponent was banking his wings for a right turn.

The attention to detail that HTC has shown with AH is very impressive. Can't wait to see what the future holds(I hope that same attention to detail is implemented in the Nordern bombsight. Buffing is way too simplified, IMO).

<S> and WTG HTC!


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[This message has been edited by banana (edited 06-14-2000).]

[Yeager]

Yup!

Yeager

[ygsmilo]

Its the things you never expect and go,,,Whoa when they happen.  

My example a few days ago I had just logged on and went to field under attack and on my roll out I noticed a B 26 making a run against the field, while I was watching him with the straight up view I could see the bombs arching over me,,, cool.

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Milo

JG 2

[mason22]

i love the ZOOM button...it makes everything feel like it's moving in real time... just wish i had a ton of monitors, one for each view... to mention that you can really line up those tracers on the NME cons. (yah, like i get a lot of that action..heh)

[Kats]

Actually having a zoom key is more realistic than not having one.

I do agree, the little things certainly add to the "fun" and immersion of the game.

TBH, when AH was announced, I was very negative about the whole thing - figuring it was just kicking a dog (WB) when it was down. I do have to admit that I was wrong and these guys have done a fine job so far and the potential is huge. (I actually wrote pyro privately about that, after all - fair is fair). It's still a bit unclear which direction AH is going to take so early in it's development and how successful it will eventually be, but I believe the foundation is there for a great simm.

Anyhow, about the little things   I am looking forward the most for the mission waypoint editor - I think that "little thing" will be amazing.

If I was the PR dude in that company, I would fill out the BoB plane set, use that terrain editor and build a 1:1 English channel and for the first Playnet sponsored scenario I would run the BoB.

You'd see the s3 group here in a flash and I guarrantee 750 participants. If not, a case of Cohiba's (lancero's) gets sent ot playnet on me   and of course a few bottles of Lagavulin to flush them down with  

[popeye]

Yeah I love the engine start/stop too.  (Some smoke and vibration would be a nice additional touch.)  

popeye

ps.  Kats, careful where you send the bribes.  

[Kats]

hehehe popeye, I root for all them!!!!!

[Revvin]

I agree about padding out a plane set, wether its BoB or a Pacific planeset and they run a scenario it would really make people sit up and take notice, I suggestedthis a while ago on this board but it did'nt seem to be received very well, still don't understand why as there are so many players only playing WB because it has scenarios and AH does'nt..imagine the increase in the community if a planeset was padded out and combine it with the mission editor and map editor! HTC just might see a population explosion

[AKSeaWulfe]

 

Originally posted by Revvin:
I agree about padding out a plane set, wether its BoB or a Pacific planeset and they run a scenario it would really make people sit up and take notice, I suggestedthis a while ago on this board but it did'nt seem to be received very well, still don't understand why as there are so many players only playing WB because it has scenarios and AH does'nt..imagine the increase in the community if a planeset was padded out and combine it with the mission editor and map editor! HTC just might see a population explosion

I'm not sure why it wasn't met with enthusiasm. I for one and awaiting HTC to complete a planeset and have at the very least a historical arena. In fact, we could actually run one right now, just need two more bombers and a new map. I remember WAY back when in WB the Battle of Britain terrain came out and they set up an HA arena using that terrain with 109F4s for the german side as fighters, SpitIXs and SpitVs for the british side and the germans had the Ju88 bomber. Icons were nill for the enemy and faily close for friendlies I believe. That arena was SO fun. I spent more time in THAT particular arena than I did in main arena or even scenarios that were up while that arena was up. This was back in the day when you would see on average the same amount of people in the MA as here in AH right now. You'd see names in the HA arena you'd see only once or twice in the MA, which is why I think it wouldn't detract from the MA here. Obviously this is a lot of work for HTC, but I'm sure more customers would come over for a HA arena if it was setup like that for a month. It was very interesting to say the least. I enjoyed it MUCH more than the MA and it was very mission oriented. More people flying in wings and some very interesting fights with planes zooming around missing the giant beacon over their plane saying "Hey I'm an enemy, please come over here we're x.xK apart and I'm in a plane that turns superior to yours, so I can win and I'm  gonna talk smack if you don't engage me!" :-P
Just kidding, I like the MA, but HA and scenarios are very very cool! I can only encourage HTC to produce one, I'm not demanding it and perhaps waiting for it will make it just that much more exciting? Dunno, but I agree w/you Revvin.
-SW
AKSeaWulfe+

[Revvin]

Erm I'd just better make myself clearer before anyone else comments, when I said not very well received I was referring to the communities response not HTC's..sorry for any confusion.

There were comments passed along the lines of seeing a more mix and match approach from HTC which is all very nice having a diverse planeset if HTC only plans to have the current MA furball type arena. To compete with iEN I feel HTC should start looking towards one planeset at  first and then developing it before moving onto the next, by doing this they give us a scenario planeset and give themselves some breathing space for the next planeset while we play scenarios. By choosing the right planes they could cover the European theatre and give us more than just BoB.

As I see it IMHO HTC and iEN are competing against each other, CRS are covering a wider goal and focusing on early war which is all very nice but there are stil lalot of customers who prefer late war that iEN and HTC will be fighting over.

Sorry if I've hijacked your thread banana, to try and stay on topic its things like the panable view system and strat that make this so satisfying for me to play.

[AKSeaWulfe]

 

Originally posted by Revvin:
Erm I'd just better make myself clearer before anyone else comments, when I said not very well received I was referring to the communities response not HTC's..sorry for any confusion.

There were comments passed along the lines of seeing a more mix and match approach from HTC which is all very nice having a diverse planeset if HTC only plans to have the current MA furball type arena. To compete with iEN I feel HTC should start looking towards one planeset at  first and then developing it before moving onto the next, by doing this they give us a scenario planeset and give themselves some breathing space for the next planeset while we play scenarios. By choosing the right planes they could cover the European theatre and give us more than just BoB.

As I see it IMHO HTC and iEN are competing against each other, CRS are covering a wider goal and focusing on early war which is all very nice but there are stil lalot of customers who prefer late war that iEN and HTC will be fighting over.

Sorry if I've hijacked your thread banana, to try and stay on topic its things like the panable view system and strat that make this so satisfying for me to play.

I knew what you were saying. :-) My reply "I'm not sure why it wasn't met with enthusiasm" was about HTC's customer base. I in no way directed anything I said toward HTC or the way they are currently doing things. I just said that if HTC modelled the Ju88 and a BoB terrain set, we'd have an HA setup, just needed to implement it. I covered myself by saying I know this is hard work and considering where we are at with v1.02r3 I believe HTC is doing extremely well and I enjoy playing AH more than I did several releases ago. :-)

However, one of the coolest things about AH that I think is amazing is the 3D cockpit. No game to my knowledge does this so well. You can pan your "head" up/down or side to side and then look out each view and do a combination of key presses to give you a full 360degree view(of course plane structures get in the way sometimes but I like that too). If a canopy bar gets in the way of your intended target, no problem, just pan a little to the left or right and/or up or down. It really helps for locating a target when he goes under your nose. That feature alone makes this game amazing. In my 7 years of combat sims, this one has the best view system in *MY* experience. I love it!
-SW
AKSeaWulfe+

[StSanta]

Hm, maybe I should start using the zoom key?

This far I haven't, I've viewed it as unrealistic for one but mainly because it narrows down the FOV and I sorta am bounced ALL the time whenever I fcous on something  .

Maybe I won't use the zoom key after all  



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StSanta
II/JG2

[Pyro]

 

Originally posted by Kats:

TBH, when AH was announced, I was very negative about the whole thing - figuring it was just kicking a dog (WB) when it was down.

The thing is, this project wasn't reactionary.  Although unannounced, the work on this game was going on before it had anything to do with kicking a dog when it's down.  We were quite prepared to kick the dog standing up. We kept the project to ourselves until we were close enough that it made sense to announce.  The fact is, we're very confident in what we do and can do, and while the scene changed a bit, it never really made a difference to us.  If we didn't believe we could make our own success, we wouldn't be here today and with such a small group as we are.



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Doug "Pyro" Balmos
HiTech Creations

Most plans are just inaccurate predictions.

[Pongo]

Well when you talk about the small things..I gotta say the whole way gunnery works here is the best that has been done that I know of. The way that range effects sprite numbers, the way the leathatlity of allmost all the guns works, the way the hit location is indicated to you and the damage is relative to that hit. The zoom key and the way you can choke it back a little, head location for each plane, watching my control surfaces move as I track a con over my wing or tail....
This game was done by guys that love this stuff.

know if they would only get rid of the outboard cannons on the FW when I dont select em. And make a nice bonk sound when my head would hit the canopy of my 109...
(A friend and his son was watching me defend 56 last night. when I started to black out at one point my friend said what is that...
and his 10 year old son said...
He hit his head.

[gatt]

Some days ago I got my fuel tank damaged and landed on an enemy rwy waiting for our goon.

A squad mate landed and parked close to me. Well he radioed that he was watching the fuel leaking from my fuselage on the tarmac! I still cant believe it.