Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Sabre on March 09, 2001, 02:26:00 PM
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Before we begin, I’d like to challenge anyone posting to this thread to keep this dialogue civil…no name-calling, country bashing, or hormonal venting please. This is a serious issue that must be evaluated in a detached, unemotional manner.
Since the introduction of the new terrain, there has been some exploitation of a display artifact. NOTE: exploitation is not necessarily equivalent to cheating; cheating denotes a violation of an established/universally accepted game rule…If it has not been forbidden by competent authority (HTC), then you can’t really call it cheating. You can call it a bug, a glitch, whatever; the point is, if you fly off the edge of the map displayed on the clipboard, the radar bar disappears and you are essentially invisible to radar until your aircraft re-inters the white border around the map. Because key strategic targets on this map are grouped close to the printed map edge – and clustered together, to boot – all three countries are extremely vulnerable to these ‘sneak attacks.’
Having laid the foundation for our discussion, I have formulated the following questions. The answers I give are my opinion, and are set forth here simply to stimulate the discussion.
1) Is any one country more vulnerable to, or able to more readily exploit, this artifact? No, most definitely not. The symmetry of the terrain insures no country has an advantage either way…at least initially. As the war progresses, loss of bases can of course alter that, but that is the nature of a fluid environment such as the MA.
2) Did HTC anticipate the effect this artifact would have on gameplay? I’ve no idea. However, its such an obvious ploy, it’s hard to believe they didn’t anticipate that some would do this. Since they didn’t do anything to prevent it, one could argue HTC didn’t feel it would ‘ruin’ gameplay.
3) Is there a counter, i.e. a defense against this? Yes. Like Napoleon’s innovations on the battlefield – or any military innovation, for that matter – this one’s impact is likely to be fairly fleeting. Some people are better about watching the activity on the radar map than others. Should an enemy spot the telltale signature of a large raid at the edge of the map that suddenly disappears, it will likely be obvious what is taking place. If no one notices or chooses to react, the enemy force will likely accomplish their mission. Going the long way around has it’s own price. If you’re found out and intercepted, you just wasted a huge amount of time. If not, your patience is rewarded and your country may benefit.
4) Is it ‘realistic?’ While it is somewhat deceptive to talk about realism in the AH main arena, let’s try to put this in context. War is all about exploiting another’s weaknesses. If HTC decides at some point to do away with the sector radar bar for aircraft flying under, say 300 feet, can anyone taking advantage of this be considered to be cheating or gaming the game? What if (and I hope they do) they change the code to allow terrain masking? For that matter, if I fly below radar-dot altitude and keep a hill between myself and any enemy aircraft in the area, am I cheating? What about people who simply fly so low that their icon doesn’t appear to enemies at the normal 6k-yard range? I do this all the time, and regularly fly right under enemy planes that simply weren’t being alert enough. What about climbing to 30k in a buff (or even a fighter)? The game allows it, and the player doing so pays his own price for doing so. How is that different, I wonder? In real life, there are all kinds of ways to fool radar that we can’t use in AH. One could simply see this as a built in way to simulate staying out of detection range, and using deception and terrain masking to sneak up on a target. Since everyone now knows about this artifact, isn’t it each country’s responsibility to guard against it? And if they fail to do so, isn’t it realistic that that country should pay the price for their failure to be vigilant?
5) Is it morally wrong to take advantage of it? I do believe certain moral values to be universal (examples: killing another human being for no reason, stealing, lying to avoid harm to your self, or to harm others). Other behaviors are wrong only in the context of a particular culture. I can and do respect anyone’s opinion on such things, without necessarily agreeing with them. While on-line games have evolved a loose culture of sorts, it is different for every game, and there is very little set in stone regarding the cultural norms of AH. So simply objecting to off-map radar dodging on moral grounds, is shaky ground to be on indeed.
6) What should be done about it? The answer there depends on whether (A) it is negatively impacting gameplay; and (B) is it hurting HTC’s profit line to allow this to continue. My own suggestion is that radar-dot detection range should extend in every direction by the standard one-sector range. The map should be slightly enlarged on the clipboard to show terrain at least that far from any major target. I personally think HTC should NOT show a sector bar if you’re off the printed portion of the map. It should be possible to go far enough out to be completely off everyone’s scope, so to speak. It introduces a dynamic into the arena that keeps the situation more fluid and unpredictable. This is especially important for this terrain, as many have complained about it being too static (a “fur-ball generator” is the term I’ve heard used).
Well, that’s my take on things. I invite counter arguments (based on logic, I hope, and not on a simple emotional response).
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Sabre (a.k.a. Rojo)
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Im sure this will get tweaked. Everyone on the map should have the same capabilities to be seen or not.
Why dont they (HTC) just give us the ability to soom the map view out 3 or 4 more sectors...
Y
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Originally posted by Sabre:
Since the introduction of the new terrain, there has been some exploitation of a display artifact.
This particular exploitation was returned to the MA on the ndisles terrain. It is not new to Lake Uterus. Before ndisles the last recorded incident was during beta IIRC.
1) Is any one country more vulnerable to, or able to more readily exploit, this artifact? No, most definitely not. The symmetry of the terrain insures no country has an advantage either way…at least initially. As the war progresses, loss of bases can of course alter that, but that is the nature of a fluid environment such as the MA.
Take a closer look at the map mate. The country in the south is nearly immune to this type of tactic while the NW and NE countries are verra vulnerable. The Southern HQ is in the center of the map while the NW and NE HQs are in the corners. Much shorter flight off the map as there is no corner to turn and then 4-6 more sectors to fly through
Also, during the beta, wasn't it setup where if you flew off the map you were discoed? I seem to recall nothing but black outside the 'known map', ie no textures at all. Made a good backdrop for a low flying aircraft as your dot was impossible to see. But crossing into that 'no man's land' was an instant disco.