The new AH2 flight model is just as HT described it in many ways. It feels the same, but somehow different. The planes now have a much better 'feel' near the stall, and at low speeds. Much of the over crispness seem to have disapeared in the low speed handeling. From my limited test flights it also seems that it is MUCH easier to get you arse in deep dookie near the deck.
If youve ever flown a heavy plane like the p-47 for a time, you know that it tends to porpoise if you try and pull up too hard. In other words, you can change the AOA in a high speed dive and point the nose up, much more quickly than your wings and the laws of areodynamics will allow. You end up loosing gobbs of lift, and although your pointing forward or even up, your plane is still drifting down with its inertia, the buffeting airflow over the wings being no match for a few tons of metal with a mind to become your ordinary tiller cultivator.
Ah2 and its more accurate force modeling, seems to make planes much less resposive in those situations where you run out of altitude, airspeed and ideas all at once. Even planes like the Spitfire, that AH has traditionally labled a beginers plane for its easy handling is succeptable to a little power slide. Flat spins are also more prevelant when you push our plane into areas just not covered at all by the flight envelope.
The ground on the other hand is crawling with trees and shrubs of all kinds. just like real life, the ground is an undulating mass of large resonably predictable elevations and angles, littered with unpredictable, folliage that owns the 0 to 100 foot levels above ground. You dare not dip below 100' for more than a second (and thats not really advisable) or you may be toast.
One 'issue' is with the rendering engine used for some of the folliage. to give cover to GVs, a 3 tier folliage bitmat kind of cover has been used. 3 flat textures, one above the other, create a great visual look from the air, and take almost no rendering power to use. The down side is these layers, are just that LAYERS, and have ZERO DEPTH....meaning that they are invisable when viewed head on. Since they are parallel with the ground, any plane flying along at 50' will not see them at all until they are litterally 1/10th of a second from a collision.
Im not sure if HT has a fix in mind, or if this is going to be the way things are for now. I do know that flying low is very dangerous becaue of the difficulties in seeing potential danger soon enough and becuase of swirling winds, ground effect buffeting and the like making it a bumpy ride. But this is sure to raise the whine-O-meter at least a few notches for the time being.
Take the new handling and add in the new ground and trees, and you have a recipie for Grandma's Good Ole Fashon Proxie Kills.
