Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: chrish483 on December 14, 2007, 08:00:00 AM
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Tonight I'm doing some shopping and i was thinking of picking up a PC game for some off line practice and i was wondering if anyone could recommend one or two. Are there any that compare to what we have here on AH?
thanks
chris h
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in a word, nope!
IL2 series is widely considered the best available single play dogfighter. graphics are very pretty but flight models are not a touch on AH.
Targetware (do a web search) can be fun but graphically is far worse than ah2. it is free the last time i checked it.
in the sense of head possitions, flight model, and all the things we take for granted here, you will be largely dissapointed by any box sim you buy.
i would say go with IL2 - pacific fighter or forgotten battles.
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Flight sims, strategy, or first person shooter?
Off-line practice, IL-2 is pretty good from what I remember. Haven't played it in years. Then of course you have Microsoft Combat Flights Sims 1,2, and 3. Oldies but goodies if you can find them.
For strategy games, I've heard Company of Heros is very good. Although I've never played it. I'm sure somebody else can offer advice on this one.
The first person shooter games are of course call of duty series. Very fun to play but they tended to get a little boring after. I prefered the Brother in Arms series. These games were fantastic. The ability to control your squad added another element the CoD games were missing IMHO.
Hope those help. You can of course look up these games to see previews and possibly download demos from the net. Good luck.
Obie
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for the most part i only have one phone line so i need to keep the line open for calls and such being this time of year, but mostly a game for flying the planes that we have here.
The offline AH TA is just to basic but thanks for the responces so far gives me some ideas and ill look at best buy and see what they have on hand.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IL-2_Sturmovik_(game)
check it out now if you want, this is what you will be wanting i think, there is nothing that competes that i know of.
edit.
hmmm crazy link did something wierd lol
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Originally posted by chrish483
Tonight I'm doing some shopping and i was thinking of picking up a PC game for some off line practice and i was wondering if anyone could recommend one or two. Are there any that compare to what we have here on AH?
thanks
chris h
We are active in almost all the above mentioned, if you find your game, and we play it, feel free to join us anytime, were just a bunch of ex Military/some still active and drunks that like to game and have fun, comms are open 24/7 as well as friendship....you can find our gaming info and servers at
=Captains of Combat= / 490th BG =OUTLAWZ= (http://www.captainsofcombat.net)
Not really drunks, just practicing and wanna be's :D
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There is only one game that i would recommend and that is IL2 forgotten battles of Ubisoft.. Superior graphic work, realistic gunnery, realistic view system, and realistic Flight Model plus a very extensive on-line community. . Don’t know why people think that AH FM is more accurate than IL2. But the far superior game will be Battle of Britain: Strom of War, from Ubisoft also. Company claims that the actual aircraft model comes from the original blue prints of the aircrafts plus an excellent interior cockpit design.
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I find the AI pilots in IL2 utterly stupid. I landed 5 kills in a zero the other day, and I am NOT that good in AH2.
Furthermore, I can't get a decent view system set up no matter what I do. AH2 has such an elegant view system. I don't know why nobody else uses it. I have a TrackIR, but that's only useful at night when it's dark.
IL2 has very pretty graphics. If AH2 could import some of them...well, I'd never leave the house probably.
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BatfinkV's right. IL-2's flight model stinks compared to Aces High II. This is especially true of IL-2's stalls, although the physics are notably inferior in all other aspects as well. In addition to this, the individual flight models for the various aircraft are generally less accurate.
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I can't get a decent view system
Well that’s new. Decent view system like 360 degrees? I have never fly with a WWII fighter, naturally, but I don’t think they had the ability of looking 180 degrees backwards. For a view like this u got to be Regan in the exorcist. This is realistic? Yes makes my life easier spotting the enemy, but that’s not the case. During WWII most of the enemy killing was due to surprise attack from 6 o’clock.
Stall? Yes it does stall easily, but I think this is how it really happened, in those days, with those fighters. IL2 has no FBW neither forgive mistakes. The controls in AH are so accurate and has so immediate response that u think that you fly an F-16 instead off a WWII fighter. And there is the gunnery issue also. Machine guns don’t burst 100% from the very first nano sec. There is a time to adjust. This is happening in IL2.
But then again this just my personal feeling. I will not stop playing AH cause has the greatest online community and system from any other, plus I don’t want to start another debate witch game its better, or more close to reality.
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The main reason keeping me away from IL-2 series is the unrealistic viewing system.
You know, pilots have been able to move their heads sideways, back and forth in RL so that they can actually peek around the window frames.
AH2 viewing system has 6DOF while IL-2 series only 2DOF... big issue with TIR.
Surely the AH head can twist around and around, but it hardly matters compared to the IL-2 series with a single eye ball anchored in the middle of the cockpit.
Hopefully BoB:SoW will finally realize it more properly.
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Originally posted by BlauK
AH2 viewing system has 6DOF while IL-2 series only 2DOF... big issue with TIR.
Absolutely. That is one of the two reasons I can't play it anymore.
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Battle of Britain 2 Wings of Victory by shockwave productions is probably the most graphically impressive flight Sim on the market bar none. If you have the computer to run it. The game itself is very deep as you run the entire war effort. But if you just want something with a great flight model and incredible graphics take a look at their website. http://www.shockwaveproductions.com I will warn you though, you need a serious system or the load times will kill you. Especially if you download the optional multiskin pack. It adds in actual historical individual plane markings for all of the thousands of aircraft. So if you shoot down a Me 109 from a particular squadron that exact aircraft with its number is now gone. As you can imagine the computer power required for this is intimidating.
My old computer was a P4 2.4ghz, 1 meg ram, geforce 6800 and a mission load time was 3-5 minutes. There is a handy program included that shuts down all non-mandatory servies in windows that dropped the load times down to about 1-2 minutes. My new system loads in seconds though. core 2 6850 at 3mhz, 2gb ram, 8800 GTX etc....
The downside...
Coming from AH you will imediately have difficulty keeping track of enemy aircraft. BOBII is aimed at realism. There are no red tags over the plane and clouds really are for HIDING in. Take your eyes off a bogey for a split second and he is G.O.N.E.
The other thing you will immediately notice is the enemy skill levels. No AI can ever (at least not yet) really simulate a real pilot on the other stick. AH vs a top pilot is far far harder than the AI at even the highest settings. Then of course the AI wont make a truely imbecilic move by mistake as even the best players occasionally do. Even the best are human and sometimes goof. I guess I am trying to say that the AI can be somewhat predictable once you get used it whereas a real person may do anything.
I have never seen this game on the shelf at a store, I ordered it. But then I am in Fairbanks, Alaska and the nearest Real stores are 350 miles away.
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Originally posted by PanosGR
I have never fly with a WWII fighter, naturally, but I don’t think they had the ability of looking 180 degrees backwards.
I've sat in, though not flown, several real World War Two fighters. It's quite possible to see straight back and even a bit to the other side (in other words, more than 180 degrees on each side) in most of them, if you're not strapped in tightly. So yes, 360 degrees of vision is perfectly realistic.
The Me-109 is one of the exceptions. Not only is the cockpit so ultra-cramped that motion isn't easy, but the model I sat in had the hooded canopy.
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Maybe, in the sense that u are probably right since u had the opportunity. I have only sat and flown – at least three times- in various modern jet fighters and trust me the way u are strapped in, in their ejection seats its quite impossible to see backwards 180+. On the other hand I really don’t how the WWII pilots were strapped in, or how tight they were so I really don’t know, but I trust your opinion.
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thanks for good responces guys, almost time to take off here and when i get back ill tell you what i found.
on another note here, if any of you guys like WW2 fighter model kits heres a link to model expo and they have some giant ones with over 30 inch wing span and you can turn them into RC planes as well, there at the bottem of the page look for the 44.99 prices
http://www.modelexpo-online.com/cgi-bin/sgsh0101.exe?SKW=GUILLOWS@&FNM=08&UID=2007121415404244
they have theP-47-D, F6F-3 hellcat, F4U-4, JU 87B stka and SBD-3 dauntless, C-47, and otheres too
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well im back and i ended up with the Microsoft combat flight simulator 3 and the powerpack 1 (they had the powerpack 2 and 3) but ill wait till later for those. and i got the IL-2 signature collection 5 games in one.
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Originally posted by PanosGR
I have only sat and flown – at least three times- in various modern jet fighters and trust me the way u are strapped in, in their ejection seats its quite impossible to see backwards 180+. On the other hand I really don’t how the WWII pilots were strapped in, or how tight they were so I really don’t know, but I trust your opinion.
Fighter pilots, then and now, loosen their straps to enable them to see all the way behind them. Not being able to check one's six is far more dangerous than not being tightly strapped in. Then again, as mentioned some aircraft just won't allow seeing behind you no matter what. Usually these have mirrors to help compensate, but not all (the Me-109 didn't).
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Originally posted by PanosGR
Maybe, in the sense that u are probably right since u had the opportunity. I have only sat and flown – at least three times- in various modern jet fighters and trust me the way u are strapped in, in their ejection seats its quite impossible to see backwards 180+. On the other hand I really don’t how the WWII pilots were strapped in, or how tight they were so I really don’t know, but I trust your opinion.
Theres pkenty of footage on youtube showing pilots in modern fighters leaning all over with obviously lose straps. Tight straps are for newbies to keep em from breaking stuff. Same applies too old fighters. Keep in mind for a dead 6 glance back you only need to move your head to ~120 degrees. I use natural head movements for my view in AH and can look around 180 without a huge effort.
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I would love the red tags on cons to disappear even if was just one night a week (titanic tuesday?) would make things very unpredictable, and it would be a lot harder to track planes in a fight or tell what ur up againest.
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You can make them disapper, just hit Ctrl-i to cycle through them!
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Originally posted by chrish483
Tonight I'm doing some shopping and i was thinking of picking up a PC game for some off line practice and i was wondering if anyone could recommend one or two. Are there any that compare to what we have here on AH?
thanks
chris h
why not just play ah2 offline its free
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offline play with AH is the TA, drones dont shoot back and the only thing that does shoot back are the ACKS, the other aircraft are on a set path so its a basic trainning area in the offline play, try it out for yourself and youll see.
im liking this IL 2 game, not bad, better then the microsoft combat game and both dont hold a candle to AH2 in graphics.
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I have a kind of love-hate relationship with the IL-2 series. The views in the cockpit indeed are pretty limiting, but then again, there are working mirrors in some of the planes and the damage model gives much more variety to the flight model. In AH2 an mg holes in the fuselage or wings doesn't much feel in the plane's performance. In IL-2 a damaged plane needs to be trimmed to compensate the damage (if possible) and the damage affects the speed and performance of the plane. This have a straight impact to the dogfight in general. If you damage your superior opponent (say LA-5FN) in your 109G-6's machine guns, you will gain something from it and balance the odds. The mentioned LA-5FN just can't run away if enough of damage is inflicted...
These kinds of small details increase the immersion for me and donate a sense of playing more a "simulator" no matter the flight model or viewing system (let's face it, the views are same for all, friend or foe). But then again, AH2 is more relaxed, more alive, and certainly more fun to spend my weekend beers with that the details mentioned above doesn't much affect my choise of a game.
IL-2 ain't massive multiplayer game but perfect for single player missions and if one has decided to buy the IL-2 one should most definitely buy the 1946 version of it which includes all the previous publications of the game.
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Originally posted by beau32
You can make them disapper, just hit Ctrl-i to cycle through them!
I meant for everybody :aok
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Originally posted by pervert
I would love the red tags on cons to disappear even if was just one night a week (titanic tuesday?) would make things very unpredictable, and it would be a lot harder to track planes in a fight or tell what ur up againest.
This would work if the plane set was divided in a way that you could tell enemy aircraft from friendly. But since we can go spit vs spit or 190 vs 190, there's no way to distinguish enemy aircraft from friendly.
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I remember back in h2h, frank3 hosted great rooms with great players.4 would choose 190s or 109s and other 4 would be allied, we would all agree to turn off icons.Man, those where the best moments of AH:)
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Originally posted by croduh
I remember back in h2h, frank3 hosted great rooms with great players.4 would choose 190s or 109s and other 4 would be allied, we would all agree to turn off icons.Man, those where the best moments of AH:)
I agree...the H2H rooms were the most fun...the "online arenas" are ok,but nothing compares to H2H with 8 players. I think "the powers that be" should enable 8 player capability for everyone that SUBScribes. :)
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It's refreshing to hear that others have as much trouble with the IL2 view system as me. It's not even the lack of a full 6 view (the nod to realism has already been explained. There are many limitations on the virtual pilot that make flying a sim harder than a real plane- a full 6 view is a small compromise for playability). It's the slow pan speed of the snap views. I don't know about you guys, but if I'm looking for a bad guy shooting at me, I can get my head around almost instantaneously.
The most fun I've had with IL2, where it really isn't too bad, is flying medium planes where the views are sorta restricted anyway. I've been enjoying flying the Me110 around for instance. It's a hard plane to see around in to begin with, so the view system is less annoying. Same with some of the other mediums like the Blenheim.
AH2 just does so much right. A logical, flawless view system, a workable autopilot, a nice flight model.
IL2 just fills a niche- opportunity to fly different planes in a historical setting, with some interesting terrains.
I'm really looking forward to Combat Tour in 2 weeks or so.
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Originally posted by pervert
I would love the red tags on cons to disappear even if was just one night a week (titanic tuesday?) would make things very unpredictable, and it would be a lot harder to track planes in a fight or tell what ur up againest.
It is not faesible to remove the red icons, this is a 3 way war and each country can fly all the plane sets, you would not be able to tell friendly from enemy.
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Originally posted by FBvirgil
why not just play ah2 offline its free
do you have a WII system My grandson likes playing blazing aces. you bomb tanks , dogfigt And sink ships. Not great but fun playing with him.
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I guess this dosent answer your question but I have been flying IL2:1946 online the last few days and have had the most fun in a very long while... I downloaded the hyperlobby client and play in dedicated servers with more than 50 people... very very cool... I have bob:2 as well... dosent touch il2... but still AH is the best for me.
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OR you could download Warbirds for free from iEN and practice offline missions and duel with any plane you choose against any plane you choose, or numbers of them, offline, forever. The graphics are inferior, but practicing against something that shoots back is a lot of fun, and it will help your gunnery a lot. Plus, if you set the AI fighters to the highest skill settings, your victories will be few, your level of frustration will be highest, and you will learn real quick.
This is not to advocate flying Warbirds online. It is definitely the inferior game, but until AH comes up with practice missions for newbies or vets, Warbirds is REALLY good for offline practice, and it is FREE.
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Originally posted by NHawk
This would work if the plane set was divided in a way that you could tell enemy aircraft from friendly. But since we can go spit vs spit or 190 vs 190, there's no way to distinguish enemy aircraft from friendly.
Seeing your team mates as usual would work there I think, I remember the rooms croduh was talking about I used to host some myself although they were hard to fill if you put realistic ammo on :lol flying around in a constant state of paranonia let your guard slip for a moment and you died. Might eliminate some of the 'annoying' things in aces high vulching ganging maybe even hoing! people would have to look and see what they are up againest on the merge.................or they might just blast ya! :lol
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In AH2 an mg holes in the fuselage or wings doesn't much feel in the plane's performance. In IL-2 a damaged plane needs to be trimmed to compensate the damage (if possible) and the damage affects the speed and performance of the plane. This have a straight impact to the dogfight in general. If you damage your superior opponent (say LA-5FN) in your 109G-6's machine guns, you will gain something from it and balance the odds. The mentioned LA-5FN just can't run away if enough of damage is inflicted...
Well put it. These are the "small" details like you said, between AH2 and IL2 that makes a difference as far it concern the “reality multiply factor”, if I may.