Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: caldera on April 13, 2025, 07:55:59 AM
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Greetings all. :salute
Been away for a while. Any major changes in the past 5 or 6 years?
Starting to get the itch. No, the other one. :joystick:
And are the skies still safe for P-40s?
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Some changes.
Lower numbers, average 100-140 at prime time in MA
The game is still a blast.
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The day HTC revert theinstant Satellite-AWACS-Radar, and remove big Maps during Euro friendly TZ i will.
Reminder : its a wwII sim not a 22nd century future war with wwII planes in Arenas.
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The day HTC revert theinstant Satellite-AWACS-Radar, and remove big Maps during Euro friendly TZ i will.
Reminder : its a wwII sim not a 22nd century future war with wwII planes in Arenas.
Not sure what you mean by this, big maps are not removed during Euro TZ. Same maps 24/7.
Radar is personal preference, but the current helps new players find action before being discouraged. Which is actually helpful with lower numbers. Bigger numbers, not as much. There’s already a high learning curve, ya gotta give the new a break somewhere.
I’ve seen dumber things in other sims/games.
WWII didn’t have an MA, the game part of the sim.
If you want true WWII then fly scenarios which no other game has like AH.
<shrug>
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Have to agree with him the current radar settings makes AcesHigh A very expensive arcade game.... the AH web page still calls AH a combat simulation using WW2 planes.
Air combat is hard to do, why do we need a EZ mode radar?
Someone is going say it helps players find the fight. I call BS, a fighter pilot having to find the enemy or being found is all part of the "SIMULATION".
Only the furballers would think the dar settings are good the way they are right now.
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Have to agree with him the current radar settings makes AcesHigh A very expensive arcade game.... the AH web page still calls AH a combat simulation using WW2 planes.
Air combat is hard to do, why do we need a EZ mode radar?
Someone is going say it helps players find the fight. I call BS, a fighter pilot having to find the enemy or being found is all part of the "SIMULATION".
Only the furballers would think the dar settings are good the way they are right now.
Didn’t say they are better, just different. Scenarios don’t have that.
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Battle of Britain scenario was a blast!
If you want a change/challenge in ma just set icons to friendly only and don't use the clipboard
Best bet is to spend $15 and make your on decision
Hope to see you in ma soon
Eagler
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Only the furballers would think the dar settings are good the way they are right now.
We do!
Regrets that it interferes with the let-me-sneak-out-of-a-fight war-winning aspect of the game.
- oldman
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Only the furballers would think the dar settings are good the way they are right now.
Makes it harder for temps to pick from alt
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Just jumped back in today after only playing a week in the past 10+ years. Still has the same feel just looks a bit different. Some small changes such as the radar, but the only big big difference I found was the player numbers. With that said I was able to get shot down plenty so 100+ players gets the job done!
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Greetings all. :salute
Been away for a while. Any major changes in the past 5 or 6 years?
Starting to get the itch. No, the other one. :joystick:
And are the skies still safe for P-40s?
It's about the same, I was gone for around the same time. It still scratches an itch that no other sim has scratched for me so I'm doomed to play this until someone comes to their senses and makes the exact game I want to play.
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We do!
Regrets that it interferes with the let-me-sneak-out-of-a-fight war-winning aspect of the game.
- oldman
To only furball limits the planeset used to a few very fast/ turny planes if you want to be competitive.
I flew mostly 190a8, and the 109g6, and had a blast, using the limited information old radar gave me, and my opposing force with same parameters.
To see radar signature in real-time even during a furball is something even planes of today can't accomplish.
Information in wwII was very limited, and it should be in a wwII simulation.
Hiding behind a mountain to get a favorable position was a valid wwII tactics, and a modern plane tactic, another is to shoot down someone who do not know where you are, SA was, and half of the job as a fighter pilot.
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I'd say the game is much tougher than it use to be because there are less players in the sky. This means finding balanced fights is harder. There's a lot of players above "noob" ratings so there isn't so many easy sticks to shoot down. On top of that, many many players still stick to the easy mode trainers which makes the game even tougher for players. I've seen way too many vets in 262s and Tempest just zooming around for easy picks and never have to worry about actually using skill to evade a battle. So this is something that has made the game even harder for most players IMO. I still think there are players just trying too hard in the easy BnZ planes. Id love to see more midwar plane usage but "muh $15$ blah blah". I guess I'm one of the few who understands that everyone in a tempest, 262, and 190D, makes for a slower boring gameplay. So you just really have to be more patient and allow these guys to make a mistake BnZing you, or you get to 20k yourself and try to get them off guard but it just takes more patience and SA understanding to fight all of these super late war planes on top of them mostly being very good Vet pilots.
Is it safe for a P40? Only if you really know what you are doing. I have really enjoyed flying the P40 the last 3-4 months. You have to be really patient getting alt. The 50s don't work like normal 50s, for some reason it takes like 100 50s to bring anything down so that makes it tough. It does however out turn a lot of planes and is very quite balanced. I love flying it, but only if my team has the advantage in the fight. If your side is not winning the battle, than it's very tough to stay alive when the other side is jumping you with 3 190Ds and a spit16 and you have no fighter help. So it's really a very Situational plane but its one of my favorites!
Anyway, we need more sticks in the skies so come back and give it a shot and just have fun and don't take it too seriously because the MA is a very unforgiving place and it's not a fair match up ever. If you want fair matchups, the special events like FSO and scenarios are the place for you.
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Just sign up as an auto side switcher and you will be guaranteed to find a fight as the game will place you on the lowest numbers side..
Eagler
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Just saddle up and take the drive. There are endless takes on the sim/game. Almost all want it to cater to their own style. Just find out for yourself if its what you remember and liked about it. The core of MMP game play that sucked us all in remains.
Its not like at its peak when it was fishing in a barrel where you just fly, pull the trigger and you’ll hit something.
As has always been, its not the AC model that matters as much as who it flying it. Some want a challenge minus the challenge part. I’ve watched a Brewster hand a D9 its butt. I call most complaints small beans that repeat themselves, like eternally.
Just fly and make what you want of it. It’s .50 cents per day.
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As has always been, its not the AC model that matters as much as who it flying it. Some want a challenge minus the challenge part. I’ve watched a Brewster hand a D9 its butt.
Yes but it takes a lot more skill to be good in a Brewster. A Brewster has to battle its way out of a fight in the defensive. A 190D can simply press X and run. That right there represents the real challenge/skill level and why I shrug when I see "good pilots" resort to these crutch planes.
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Yes but it takes a lot more skill to be good in a Brewster. A Brewster has to battle its way out of a fight in the defensive. A 190D can simply press X and run. That right there represents the real challenge/skill level and why I shrug when I see "good pilots" resort to these crutch planes.
Like music, its all personal preference. Thats the freedom of the MA.
I guarantee I will TnB in a D9 or 51. But thats not what it was designed for.
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I feel the radar complaint is the most silly of all. Who cares if you know what’s the plane is. There must be other things to worry about.
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I feel the radar complaint is the most silly of all. Who cares if you know what’s the plane is. There must be other things to worry about.
If this is one of the biggest complaints all the real important stuff must be in order. <shrug>
Doesn’t bother me one bit. Don’t even care.
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Coming from BOB where there is no radar..ma settings seem easy easy mode..
Eagler
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Coming from BOB where there is no radar..ma settings seem easy easy mode..
Eagler
RAF got dot radar in last frame, which is more realistic. One benefit of current is when someone speaks the icon enlarges and you see where they are. Which is convenient, but gamey. I get all that, but its not a deal breaker for me.
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I'd say the game is much tougher than it use to be because there are less players in the sky. This means finding balanced fights is harder. There's a lot of players above "noob" ratings so there isn't so many easy sticks to shoot down. On top of that, many many players still stick to the easy mode trainers which makes the game even tougher for players. I've seen way too many vets in 262s and Tempest just zooming around for easy picks and never have to worry about actually using skill to evade a battle. So this is something that has made the game even harder for most players IMO. I still think there are players just trying too hard in the easy BnZ planes. Id love to see more midwar plane usage but "muh $15$ blah blah". I guess I'm one of the few who understands that everyone in a tempest, 262, and 190D, makes for a slower boring gameplay. So you just really have to be more patient and allow these guys to make a mistake BnZing you, or you get to 20k yourself and try to get them off guard but it just takes more patience and SA understanding to fight all of these super late war planes on top of them mostly being very good Vet pilots.
Is it safe for a P40? Only if you really know what you are doing. I have really enjoyed flying the P40 the last 3-4 months. You have to be really patient getting alt. The 50s don't work like normal 50s, for some reason it takes like 100 50s to bring anything down so that makes it tough. It does however out turn a lot of planes and is very quite balanced. I love flying it, but only if my team has the advantage in the fight. If your side is not winning the battle, than it's very tough to stay alive when the other side is jumping you with 3 190Ds and a spit16 and you have no fighter help. So it's really a very Situational plane but its one of my favorites!
Anyway, we need more sticks in the skies so come back and give it a shot and just have fun and don't take it too seriously because the MA is a very unforgiving place and it's not a fair match up ever. If you want fair matchups, the special events like FSO and scenarios are the place for you.
So it's basically the same, except less noobs and more leet pilots? Lot's of Yak-3s still?
I used to kinda sorta almost know what I was doing.* Not great, but not terrible IMO.
* Fact checkers have determined that statement to be "mostly false"
Anyway, I'll probably be back on soon. Please be gentle with me. <S> everyone
- Snuggie
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So it's basically the same, except less noobs and more leet pilots? Lot's of Yak-3s still?
Technically, it's a lot fewer noobs and somewhat fewer elite pilots. A result of the pond drying up and few new players coming in.
As for the Yak-3, it's not that many. In current tour it's fighter #13 in kill count, with a good but not outrageous k/d :old:
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I've come to the conclusion that some AHers are great at explaining why others should not play.
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As you can see, one of the things that has not changed is people badmouthing the game and discouraging people who might want to join.
Something that would definitely improve the game is if this Caldera guy would start flying again. :cheers:
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As for the Yak-3, it's not that many. In current tour it's fighter #13 in kill count, with a good but not outrageous k/d :old:
Sorry, but I could not help myself... :uhoh
As most here are usually only interested in the pure fighter combat side, here are some more specific numbers (top 20) for last tour:
(https://i.imgur.com/pmIxlYU.png)
(Sorted by 'usage' by overall Kills + Deaths)
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it would be interesting how AWACS radar have changed planeset demographics before and after the change
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Sorry, but I could not help myself... :uhoh
As most here are usually only interested in the pure fighter combat side, here are some more specific numbers (top 20) for last tour:
(https://i.imgur.com/pmIxlYU.png)
(Sorted by 'usage' by overall Kills + Deaths)
Wheres the perk planes? If you look at last tour stats. The tempest got the 5th most kills of fighters at 1624 and only 295 deaths. More than doubling the 262. And those are some good sticks at the top of that kill count. How is the 190D not a 5 eny when generally every single month its a top 5 kills fighter with among a better K/D than other 5 eny planes? The spit16 over usage is pretty bad too. Every month the top fighter kills lately. If they ain't running, they flying the best turn fighter for speed with cannons in the game. It just makes the game so tough for people.
Like music, its all personal preference. Thats the freedom of the MA.
I guarantee I will TnB in a D9 or 51. But thats not what it was designed for.
I cant find any connection to music. While some say "preference" I say lazy easy moders taking the easy way out which is just making the game harder for less skilled players to find enjoyment constantly having to fight against players who can press X and run when they get in trouble. You may fight in them, but others just want to sit on a perch and pick.
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it would be interesting how AWACS radar have changed planeset demographics before and after the change
I dont think it has. The arena was moving toward using the fast uber planes long before the radar change. The radar doesnt update instantly, there is a delay. I'd have to login to find it, but I think its 10-15 seconds. The radar doesnt give you an alt so you still have to find them, high or low? I look at it as how things were back in the day. We had squads, and most of them had many players on at the same time. Communication was good and reports were always coming in from other players giving location alt and type of planes, so the radar we have now isnt much different.
The game , as it has always been, is what you make it. You want to fly fighters, turn on the auto switch and it will put you on the low numbered side where you will most likely be under attack. You want to fly bombers, plenty of target to be had, flying off the map is even still allowed :devil Want to GV, many GV battles going on as well as base takes from the ground. Win the war, plenty still do that, check out Lusche's recent posts about the numbers of captures going up.
The numbers arent what they use to be which is the only real down fall of the game. Some of us are pushing youtube videos and posting them where ever we can to try and drive some more traffic to the game. Always looking for ways to get the word out and get a few more players.
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I cant find any connection to music. While some say "preference" I say lazy easy moders taking the easy way out which is just making the game harder for less skilled players to find enjoyment constantly having to fight against players who can press X and run when they get in trouble. You may fight in them, but others just want to sit on a perch and pick.
>personal preference<
Your style is personal preference, not mandatory.
Why are we talking about this crap in a return player thread?
Does anyone think at all?
Some here would have a hard time selling diamonds and gold, they’d talk about everything wrong with it, then wonder why the customer walked away.
Kinda makes some efforts fruitless.
<smh>
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The radar doesnt update instantly, there is a delay. I'd have to login to find it, but I think its 10-15 seconds.
Currently, 5 seconds.
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I dont think it has. The arena was moving toward using the fast uber planes long before the radar change. The radar doesnt update instantly, there is a delay. I'd have to login to find it, but I think its 10-15 seconds. The radar doesnt give you an alt so you still have to find them, high or low? I look at it as how things were back in the day. We had squads, and most of them had many players on at the same time. Communication was good and reports were always coming in from other players giving location alt and type of planes, so the radar we have now isnt much different.
The game , as it has always been, is what you make it. You want to fly fighters, turn on the auto switch and it will put you on the low numbered side where you will most likely be under attack. You want to fly bombers, plenty of target to be had, flying off the map is even still allowed :devil Want to GV, many GV battles going on as well as base takes from the ground. Win the war, plenty still do that, check out Lusche's recent posts about the numbers of captures going up.
The numbers arent what they use to be which is the only real down fall of the game. Some of us are pushing youtube videos and posting them where ever we can to try and drive some more traffic to the game. Always looking for ways to get the word out and get a few more players.
When it comes down to it, numbers is the only valid problem. The rest is gameplay police, who end up discouraging playing it, its a habitual obsession.
Might be different if they wasted 30-50 hrs on a video to draw a few in just to have them talked out of playing by the ones complaining about numbers.
Every thread is an opportunity for repeat complaints, thinking the first 50 times didn’t work, maybe 51 will. Lets put it in a return or new player thread for attention.
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Wheres the perk planes? If you look at last tour stats.
There was an error in "total kills", so I replaced the picture with the correct version, where the Tempest appears on #12. You might have to clear your cache if it doesn't show up correctly yet, it didn't for me at first.
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it would be interesting how AWACS radar have changed planeset demographics before and after the change
I'm thinking of making an animation of killshares over the years, but that might take a week or two.
However, I don't think we would see a distinct change which can be simply attributed to the AWACS dar alone. There are more factors impacting plane choice, the biggest one IMHO the change in the nature of battle/fights caused by lower population.
Also, the population change makes single players having a much bigger impact on those charts - a single player could barely make a dent in the stats of a popular plane back when the kill numbers were more than six times as high.
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>personal preference<
Your style is personal preference, not mandatory.
Why are we talking about this crap in a return player thread?
Does anyone think at all?
Some here would have a hard time selling diamonds and gold, they’d talk about everything wrong with it, then wonder why the customer walked away.
Kinda makes some efforts fruitless.
<smh>
I'm just giving my honest opinion of gameplay. If you can't handle that, I'm sorry. I'd much rather have 50 Calderas back flying P40s, don't get me wrong. I'm just pointing out how challenging the game is while talking smack to all the vets scaring them away in their Uber late war monsters.
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Technically, it's a lot fewer noobs and somewhat fewer elite pilots. A result of the pond drying up and few new players coming in.
A fair and accurate assessment.
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What I don’t get is in the numbers talked about players with one kill last tour was in the 700s
This tour in the 2000s. Ok? Something isn’t making sense to me.
We have new players on the roster nightly.
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There was an error in "total kills", so I replaced the picture with the correct version, where the Tempest appears on #12. You might have to clear your cache if it doesn't show up correctly yet, it didn't for me at first.
How would the tempest get #12? Are you only looking at fighter rank kills or all kills except bombers and tanks? I mean the tempest is the best bomber hunter in the game and ruins many long sorties for those guys. All I'm saying is the Tempest, Spit16, and 190D are being used way too much by many of the better fighter sticks in the game and it really makes the gameplay harder than if people were incentivized to fly more challenging planes.
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caldera - I gotta say, flying Aces High in VR is a completely different experience - it turns your flying knowledge on it's head.
From an immersion perspective, the difference of flying with 2 screens and maybe a TrackIR, and flying with an Oculus Quest 2 headset is the difference between driving a 1988 Toyota Corolla 4 door hatchback and 1969 Pontiac GTO 4-speed RA4 JUDGE.
Which is more fun to drive/fly?
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What I don’t get is in the numbers talked about players with one kill last tour was in the 700s
This tour in the 2000s.
Where are you getting this '2000s' from?
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How would the tempest get #12? Are you only looking at fighter rank kills or all kills except bombers and tanks?
Like I said: Total kills and deaths. Everything.
We have no sortie numbers (we used to have them for a time aeons ago), nor 'time in plane' (I would kill to have something like this!), so this is my crutch to get something similar to usage. Using something like kills (or even just fighter kills) only, would distort the picture even more, as popular planes like the P-38L or P-47N would be very underrepresented. This list was just trying to show the most 'popular' fighters and their actual performance in fighter vs fighter combat in the MA. It's not sorted by 'efficiency'.
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Where are you getting this '2000s' from?
Mine of your recent post, not going to look for it. I may have read it wrong. But there are new -4 new/return players nightly, just in the time I look.
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Mine of your recent post, not going to look for it. I may have read it wrong.
Definitely you did :old:
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Definitely you did :old:
Now I’ll have to find it.
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Tempest sucks at high altitude.
When I run into one with even a c202 at 30k, they dive away.
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Tempest sucks at high altitude.
When I run into one with even a c202 at 30k, they dive away.
Diving away is an advantage. And it's weakness is stall fighting, so of course it's going to run away. Extending away quickly is the biggest advantage a plane can have. On top of having the best cannons in the game so it's easy to collect a kill in 1 pass, where as the C202, you'll be putting 100s of rounds of bullets in them. Cannon planes make everything much better in these types of games because 50s and below take much more bullets and longer gun solution time on the plane to take them down. That's why the Nik for example is such a deadly plane, even though it's slow.
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It's not extending if they don't intend to engage at some point.
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It's not extending if they don't intend to engage at some point.
The advantage of having the faster plane is that you can choose to engage or not engage when ever you want. If nothing can technically catch you, than you are the most advantaged.
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The advantage of having the faster plane is that you can choose to engage or not engage when ever you want. If nothing can technically catch you, than you are the most advantaged.
So some are saying it should be strictly TnB in planes designed to BnZ? Or we should just fly TnB planes?
You can chase me, once you turn back I’m on your 6, and I’m faster :)
Some players bite that hook. two birds one stone. Not only do I regain E, ya just handed me the 6.
Just FYI, a plane designed to BnZ needs to extend to regain speed so you don’t always have the advantage.
Frankly, I think those who fly with large nose canons strictly to HO are a bigger problem in that epidemic.
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insisting this is the thread for this.
You're on your own. I'm not rowing upstream anymore.
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caldera - I gotta say, flying Aces High in VR is a completely different experience - it turns your flying knowledge on it's head.
From an immersion perspective, the difference of flying with 2 screens and maybe a TrackIR, and flying with an Oculus Quest 2 headset is the difference between driving a 1988 Toyota Corolla 4 door hatchback and 1969 Pontiac GTO 4-speed RA4 JUDGE.
Which is more fun to drive/fly?
I would much rather have a '69 Road Runner with a 440. Big and bad, like a Jug or a Hellcat.
It was kind of fun driving slow poke tin cans in the '80s. You could wring them out for all their worth and not be going fast, but they felt fast, because they were loud inside and seemed to be coming apart at the seams.
I was fine with using the hat switch for views and am sure that VR is nice, but would rather spend my money elsewhere.
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I still use the hat switch myself. Just cannot get the look behind views how I want with VR and Track Ir, and it just hurts my neck too much in WW2 with how much I look around.
So some are saying it should be strictly TnB in planes designed to BnZ? Or we should just fly TnB planes?
You can chase me, once you turn back I’m on your 6, and I’m faster :)
Some players bite that hook. two birds one stone. Not only do I regain E, ya just handed me the 6.
Just FYI, a plane designed to BnZ needs to extend to regain speed so you don’t always have the advantage.
Frankly, I think those who fly with large nose canons strictly to HO are a bigger problem in that epidemic.
I think you are over thinking it. I'm saying there is a skill level. Like a p40 takes a very high skill level to be successful most of the time. Planes like a spit16, La7, Tempest and 190D, take a very low skill level to be successful because of how capable they are vs other planes, regardless of the pilot (even though yes the pilot matters). I'm trying to convince vets to get out of the low skilled planes and into higher skilled planes in order to give the less skilled players more of a chance to have fun and be successful in the fight. :aok
Remember, good players in low skilled planes are far more deadly than good players in high skilled planes and it makes an impact on the arena.
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I'm trying to convince vets to get out of the low skilled planes and into higher skilled planes in order to give the less skilled players more of a chance to have fun and be successful in the fight. :aok
Remember, good players in low skilled planes are far more deadly than good players in high skilled planes and it makes an impact on the arena.
It's my personal option to use the old Brewster ( even I know most of the HA fighter planes are faster and powerful and can kill me easily ) since the fun on the turns, twisting and long shooting is amazing. I'm not a killer pilot, but rookies and veterans have fun fighting with me and my Brew... I believe that attract more pilots to our game. :salute
ZE
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Always gotta be careful when ZE’s Brewster is in the area, he’s a good shot in it. :aok
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Always gotta be careful when ZE’s Brewster is in the area, he’s a good shot in it. :aok
JAJAJA, nooo Stampf93 , we need to be careful with you around. :lol :salute :salute
ZE
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So some are saying it should be strictly TnB in planes designed to BnZ? Or we should just fly TnB planes?
You can chase me, once you turn back I’m on your 6, and I’m faster :)
Some players bite that hook. two birds one stone. Not only do I regain E, ya just handed me the 6.
Just FYI, a plane designed to BnZ needs to extend to regain speed so you don’t always have the advantage.
Frankly, I think those who fly with large nose canons strictly to HO are a bigger problem in that epidemic.
Personally I'd rather dodge HOs all night than chase anyone "extending".
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Edited:
So when one ups to engage B29s in a Tempest, expect to see me there escorting at 35k in anything that will get up there.
Then players can "extend" away 30k feet to land and put together excuses.
I don't mind 163s and used to hunt them......unless they don't show up on dar at all which may be because of the crazy climb rate. That's happened twice in my aces high career so it's a fluke but it was in AH3.
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Personally I'd rather dodge HOs all night than chase anyone "extending".
Some who are flying fast planes are just coming in to straff and egg they had no intension to be caught up in a fight they would lose in a TnB. I’m nit one of them. However if I have 2-4 on my 6 you can bet in Vegas I’m pulling away instead if stopping and posing for their shot. A lot of details excluded from the complaint. In fact if I get 1500-2k out I AM going to flip on all 2-4 of them. Also, I will pull that troll line just to deplete their canons for my flip, because they are spraying the full chase. I watch out my rear window more than front to dodge incoming fire on my 6, hence I hit a lot of trees. Lol
As far as HOs I give a short warning burst at 1500, if they continue I just dump the whole load on them. Some will bank out. And sometimes if its not a total HO night I’ll use my own evasion tricks to get on their 6.
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I'm a sucker for the HO ever since I got lucky to PK a jokers squad P47 with a HO in a D3A but it hasn't happened since.
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Careful... that Epstein guy liked hos and we all know what happened to him.