Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Dadtallica on February 05, 2023, 09:48:40 AM
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How many maps are in the MA rotation?
I generally play in the 8-11pm est hours so I am never sure what maps I may be missing. I purposely limit myself to those times because it is super easy to sit down to play AH and then not realize it’s six hours later lol.
I feel like I get to see them all at some point but I don’t even know. Is there a list of current MA maps? Baltic has always been my fave. I kind of like pizza so put me in that camp. Europe has been a fun change so more real life ones would be nice. Like to see a continental world atlas style map.
Wish I had time to make them. I started to fiddle with it when I first started playing but never had time to dedicate to it. Maybe when I retire I can get back into it. Some of you are super good at it! :salute
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We have 15 in the rotation now, this image shows thumbnails for all but the latest one, ETOMA:
(https://i.imgur.com/bh6WLSF.jpg)
CURRENT AH MAP ROTATION
0, 'sfma2016' 8, 'smpizza'
1, 'riftval' 9, 'buzzsaw'
2, 'fjordma' 10, 'craterma'
3, 'grinder' 11, 'oceania'
4, 'baltic' 13, 'ndisles'
5, 'montis' 14, 'northco'
6, 'mindnao' 15, 'etoma'
7, 'bowlma'
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Thanks for the list Oboe. Many of the maps get rolled in a day by the morning bish crew which leaves only about 4 of them that stay up most of the time and take up most of the weekends which creates slow boring fights during morning and afternoon and players who would play log off because there not enough condensed action fighting. These are the maps that should be removed and replaced with 3 new ones I've seen posted on the boards recently. Would make a world of difference for gameplay.
Yall should have seen the size of the fights on Friday night before FSO with Baltic. It made me feel like old times again. These fights can happen big times when the maps are more suited for the #s.
These maps are almost all in a row, which comes on the weekends most of the time. I for one just cannot stand this rotation. The earlier you can build #s in the afternoon, the better the fights will be going into primetime. This would build larger #s overall for the game. I for one think new players see some of these huge maps on the weekends and just don't know what to do or where to go and just log off because it doesn't look like any action is going on.
BowlMA
CraterMA
Oceana
Buzzsaw
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Yes thank you oboe!
My favorites are still Baltic, NDisles, Crater and Pizza
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I hear there is a backlog of new ones waiting to be added or approved? Is there a set number the rotation always has or it is it whenever they are added.
Can we vote buzzsaw out? :aok
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I hear there is a backlog of new ones waiting to be added or approved? Is there a set number the rotation always has or it is it whenever they are added.
Can we vote buzzsaw out? :aok
According to Hitech there is no limit on the number of maps that can in the rotation.
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According to Hitech there is no limit on the number of maps that can in the rotation.
Then he must have pretty strict criteria because this map set is not largely different from 10 years ago.
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Then he must have pretty strict criteria because this map set is not largely different from 10 years ago.
He does and all maps are player made and take months of work to put together. I appreciate all the hard work they put into them..... well except buzzsaw :neener:
You can follow the journey of the Europe map HERE (https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,404260.0.html). This one took 6 months from start to submission, then it had to be tested and approved by HTC.
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I am a fan of everyone’s work (not buzzsaw :D) I know how much goes into it.
Europe still has that icon issue but I am a fan. Maybe a tad too many bases for the MA but not FSO
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I still miss AKPizza, but that map is way too big for the numbers that are left
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I am a fan of everyone’s work (not buzzsaw :D) I know how much goes into it.
Europe still has that icon issue but I am a fan. Maybe a tad too many bases for the MA but not FSO
I did not hear of any icon issues the last time ETOMA was up. If there are issues please post on the forum. I have cleaned up the Roads and Tracks to facilitate vehicle crossing them, but I have not sent it to Hitech yet. Waiting to see if he has the time and wants to re-compile everything.
I have submitted another map to Hitech, "3points". He is reviewing it now I assume. Also working on map #3, hope to have it done by Easter. :salute
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Ok maybe then you got the icon. I heard a few mentioning it maybe last weekend? If I’m wrong then yay and good work! Still too many bases lol
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Which was that MA map I haven't seen since AH2, it also had a tank town on an asymmetrical, large island with a lot of vehicle bases and gave rise to good fights around the coast?
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I did not hear of any icon issues the last time ETOMA was up.
Nobody wants to be annoying and post the same thing over and over again. ;)
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Updated MA terrain thumbnails with ETOMA:
(http://i.imgur.com/Z8FpkSI.jpg) (https://imgur.com/Z8FpkSI)
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Good work, Oboe :aok
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I don’t think I’ve ever seen Montis. Could be wrong.
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I don’t think I’ve ever seen Montis. Could be wrong.
I know Montis was up this previous Saturday afternoon. Not sure for how long however.
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I know Montis was up this previous Saturday afternoon. Not sure for how long however.
Lasted about a day, was gone by 6pm Sunday. For me personally. Don't care if maps get rolled quickly. It's the ones that stay up all weekend or 4 days I get tired of.
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Lasted about a day, was gone by 6pm Sunday. For me personally. Don't care if maps get rolled quickly. It's the ones that stay up all weekend or 4 days I get tired of.
Agreed. I don't care how long a map lasts unless is 3 to 4 days and stale garbage. We have a couple of those, and I hope they leave rotation as soon as they have replacements. Hell even if they don't have replacements. I've been here over 20 years and I log when I see them. I can't imagine the impression they leave on a new player.
The gameplay possibilities this game has is one of its few advantages over its competitors. When you put a chokehold on that with a garbage map, you are shooting yourself in the foot.
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Nobody wants to be annoying and post the same thing over and over again. ;)
Very true Snailman, but you can't fix it if you don't know about it.
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Very true Snailman, but you can't fix it if you don't know about it.
We posted about the bug. I have seen no post that it was supposed to be fixed, so why post it again?
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as you wish.......
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For anyone keeping score… I call Bowlma the chicken tender map. :banana:
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For anyone keeping score… I call Bowlma the chicken tender map. :banana:
:rofl :rofl
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LOL Dad. I see it now!
I was looking over this selection of maps, and noticed all the maps are 10x10 (256mi x 256mi) except BowlMA and Buzzsaw, which are 512mi x 512mi. And honestly, so much space is wasted around the edges of Buzzsaw it could easily have been trimmed and submitted as the smaller size.
(http://i.imgur.com/Z8FpkSI.jpg)
Anyway, the idea that struck me is I would retire both BowlMA and Buzzsaw, but replace them with a deluxe version (512x512) of ETOMA, with 50% more bases and fields added to it. Representing the whole European Theater as it does, it would be a better fit on a 512x512 map. Have it up once a week on "Mega Map" weekends or something like that. I would hope the off peak hours crew would have trouble rolling such a huge map?
Kenai did a beautiful job on ETOMA. I love to look at it and still haven't finished exploring it - need to check out the desert in North Africa yet. :salute
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I like Bowlma maybe that’s me. Buzzsaw can go bye bye gets a bite from me. We certainly do not want less though. I could be wrong.
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Yes less maps if that means getting rid of the larger ones that are unfun due to low numbers..
One good map is all some of us need
Eagler
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I'd like to see more tile sets used also - how about a winter map in the rotation for example? Baltic would probably be a good candidate for snow-covered landscape. Need more variety, not just in the shape of the land masses but also in the landscape itself.
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I'd like to see more tile sets used also - how about a winter map in the rotation for example? Baltic would probably be a good candidate for snow-covered landscape. Need more variety, not just in the shape of the land masses but also in the landscape itself.
A snow map would be real cool! Maybe next decade...
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A snow map would be real cool! Maybe next decade...
Great in theory and visually fresh, but no fun for dogfights. They're very disorienting in my experience. Picture dogfighting in AH's night time over black water in reverse.
Upvote to remove immediately:
BowlMA
CraterMA
Oceana
Buzzsaw
I would add to that list with all the giganto-maps if we could replace them with smaller varieties.
I'd also like to see Northco pop up 2 or 3 times through the cycle and ETO an extra time. They disappear pretty quickly and even as a regular I've only seen them a handful of times combined. They've generated some great action every time so far, especially Northco.
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I like all those but buzzsaw.
Can we vote to have the Fjord map use a water background that isn’t a picture of actual water. It’s slightly off putting to me anyway.
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The sheer obsurdity of Buzzsaw is starting to grow on me. Please help! :x
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I'd also like to see Northco pop up 2 or 3 times through the cycle and ETO an extra time.
ETO is great but the performance issues I experience In VR are frustrating especially considering the hardware I have.
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Agreed. I don't care how long a map lasts unless is 3 to 4 days and stale garbage. We have a couple of those, and I hope they leave rotation as soon as they have replacements. Hell even if they don't have replacements. I've been here over 20 years and I log when I see them. I can't imagine the impression they leave on a new player.
The gameplay possibilities this game has is one of its few advantages over its competitors. When you put a chokehold on that with a garbage map, you are shooting yourself in the foot.
When I was a new player, everything was new. There were no "garbage maps," nor do I think there are any now. I rarely survived long enough to understand the big picture. So the map is very likely very more important to the experienced player (who uses its nuances to ambush and slay the newbs you seem concerned about, btw). But that's another topic.
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Yes less maps if that means getting rid of the larger ones that are unfun due to low numbers..
One good map is all some of us need
Eagler
Variety is the spice of life. If maps get sacrificed to appease vocal players (even those maps I dislike intensely, like Northco), then it is more likely than people like me will find something else to do for entertainment.
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When I was a new player, everything was new. There were no "garbage maps," nor do I think there are any now. I rarely survived long enough to understand the big picture. So the map is very likely very more important to the experienced player (who uses its nuances to ambush and slay the newbs you seem concerned about, btw). But that's another topic.
No... just no. If a new player doesn't know where the fight is. They aren't gonna be able to find any action that makes their time worth it.
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Upvote to remove immediately:
BowlMA
CraterMA
Oceana
Buzzsaw
I like the water maps actually but Buzzsaw makes me log instantly.
(i do like the design of the map and i see what the creator went for. So props for that. But it plays meh.)
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Variety is the spice of life. If maps get sacrificed to appease vocal players (even those maps I dislike intensely, like Northco), then it is more likely than people like me will find something else to do for entertainment.
The first criteria of a garbage map is not being able to generate a full dar bar, which indicates where the action is on a map. I'd say a new person would recognize that. The rest of the criteria comes along with the slow boring game play. Probably ideal for you at 30k in ki67s, but the majority won't pay 15 bucks a month to watch paint dry.
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The first criteria of a garbage map is not being able to generate a full dar bar,
To be fair, most maps, even the smallest ones, fail at this most of the time because of the low numbers. I only can see full darbars when flying very late at night/early morning, and even during that US primetime there is often only one of the three fronts having significant action.
During Euro prime with player numbers below 40(!), getting any full darbar anywhere is extremely rare as you need about a quarter of the total arena population in planes in the same sector as hostiles at the same time.
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even during that US primetime there is often only one of the three fronts having significant action.
That sucks for the 3rd team that can't get over to the front where the one good fight of the night is happening. They get left of of the party.
Where-as in a two side configuration, every furball anywhere on the front line can be accessed by both sides.
3-sides was great when you had 500 players in the arena. 2-sides would work better with the current numbers.
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To be fair, most maps, even the smallest ones, fail at this most of the time because of the low numbers. I only can see full darbars when flying very late at night/early morning, and even during that US primetime there is often only one of the three fronts having significant action.
During Euro prime with player numbers below 40(!), getting any full darbar anywhere is extremely rare as you need about a quarter of the total arena population in planes in the same sector as hostiles at the same time.
Yeah, unfortunately in your time zone, there is little hope for that to happen for you again.
Then again, even in the games prime in Euro primetime, I'd wager the majority of the players were in the US, just playing at off hours.
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I like the water maps actually but Buzzsaw makes me log instantly.
(i do like the design of the map and i see what the creator went for. So props for that. But it plays meh.)
I agree although no map makes me log instantly I just may not be on as long as normal. Buzzsaw gets a few good full battles sometimes. The strats being so intermixed is part of what makes it a bit much among other things.
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During Euro prime with player numbers below 40(!),
I'm on CET like you Lusche but am presently unable to play in the evening. I've been monitoring MA numbers this week. 8-12 with a rare spike of 16 during one check.
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I'm on CET like you Lusche but am presently unable to play in the evening. I've been monitoring MA numbers this week. 8-12 with a rare spike of 16 during one check.
Nothing like dividing 8 players across 3 countries. :cool:
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Nothing like dividing 8 players across 3 countries. :cool:
It's usually something like 2 people at 33k bombing radar or ack for later in the day, someone levelling a town unchecked in a tank, one of the now small squads clustered on unopposed base take after another, a couple of people asleep on their keyboard writing a Shakespearian odyssey with their face while their T34 hides under a bush and one dingleberry ACM-head looking unsuccessfully for a dogfight.
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It's usually something like 2 people at 33k bombing radar or ack for later in the day, someone levelling a town unchecked in a tank, one of the now small squads clustered on unopposed base take after another, a couple of people asleep on their keyboard writing a Shakespearian odyssey with their face while their T34 hides under a bush and one dingleberry ACM-head looking unsuccessfully for a dogfight.
All for only $15 every month. ;)
You Euro time zone guys ought to ban together and run some 4v4 mini battles in the AVA. Maybe they can setup a small map there with close bases and two sides.
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It's usually something like 2 people at 33k bombing radar or ack for later in the day, someone levelling a town unchecked in a tank, one of the now small squads clustered on unopposed base take after another, a couple of people asleep on their keyboard writing a Shakespearian odyssey with their face while their T34 hides under a bush and one dingleberry ACM-head looking unsuccessfully for a dogfight.
The sole reason I was overall tour winner last tour for the second time only in my entire AH career : At one point I was the ONLY active player in the arena for over an hour. After some time I started deacking bases and eventually capturing them, and only that gave my score such a boost to get to the top. :banana:
By the way, around 2008 the lowest numbers in the MA during off-hours were around 100 players. That's peak primetime numbers during the week now :uhoh
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Please
Bring back Trinity
That a fun map. We had epic battles at 134.
Huge fur balls as well.
:salute
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RELEASE THE MAPS!
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Please
Bring back Trinity
That a fun map. We had epic battles at 134.
Huge fur balls as well.
:salute
Are the players to feed the furballs somehow magically included?
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The thing with the smaller maps is that they build bigger fights earlier in the afternoon making it more actionable for players who log in. A map like bowlma or CraterMA in the morning has a couple of tiny little dars in multiple sectors and generally doesn't look like there is much to do. Players also stay on later in the night when the fights are more active on the smaller maps. I think there should be more reason to bring the fighters back to the game rather than have them log because there is no action.
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You Euro time zone guys ought to ban together and run some 4v4 mini battles in the AVA. Maybe they can setup a small map there with close bases and two sides.
Well we used to have the furball lake which did it for me but HiTech replaced that with his idea of an improvement.
By the way, around 2008 the lowest numbers in the MA during off-hours were around 100 players. That's peak primetime numbers during the week now :uhoh
Yeah it's over for me. I see it clearly now. I'm going to see if I can find some special sauce in DCS. Smoke me a kipper :salute
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Well we used to have the furball lake which did it for me but HiTech replaced that with his idea of an improvement.
Yeah it's over for me. I see it clearly now. I'm going to see if I can find some special sauce in DCS. Smoke me a kipper :salute
I’m not a furballer so I don’t mind any of that. This game is pretty subjective which should also be heralded as one of its strengths for appealing to many.
I feel comparing 2008 gaming with todays is like comparing apples and potatoes. The way technology exponentially evolves year over year is mind boggling. There is an actual formula someone worked out for this I forget what it is. In 2008, the number comparable options or options in general in relation to today’s choices is unimaginable.
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I’m not a furballer so I don’t mind any of that. This game is pretty subjective which should also be heralded as one of its strengths for appealing to many.
I feel comparing 2008 gaming with todays is like comparing apples and potatoes. The way technology exponentially evolves year over year is mind boggling. There is an actual formula someone worked out for this I forget what it is. In 2008, the number comparable options or options in general in relation to today’s choices is unimaginable.
Not sure what you were referring to, but in hardware that is known as Moore's Law.
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Which was that MA map I haven't seen since AH2, it also had a tank town on an asymmetrical, large island with a lot of vehicle bases and gave rise to good fights around the coast?
I think you are referring to Fester. I loved that map! Very idiosyncratic!
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Updated MA terrain thumbnails with ETOMA:
(http://i.imgur.com/Z8FpkSI.jpg) (https://imgur.com/Z8FpkSI)
Did I hear you have a new map to add to this picture? Also it’s a super cool pic you should pin it somewhere for others? Is it in the order of the rotation?
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yea, new map up......
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The new map was a blast tonight. Thank you Kenai77 (and HTC for upping it)! :salute
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We have 15 in the rotation now, this image shows thumbnails for all but the latest one, ETOMA:
(https://i.imgur.com/bh6WLSF.jpg)
CURRENT AH MAP ROTATION
0, 'sfma2016' 8, 'smpizza'
1, 'riftval' 9, 'buzzsaw'
2, 'fjordma' 10, 'craterma'
3, 'grinder' 11, 'oceania'
4, 'baltic' 13, 'ndisles'
5, 'montis' 14, 'northco'
6, 'mindnao' 15, 'etoma'
7, 'bowlma'
Oboe if you ever get some free time and update this map rotation grid? Maybe even make it a new sticky for posterity?
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Oboe if you ever get some free time and update this map rotation grid? Maybe even make it a new sticky for posterity?
I don't know how to make it sticky, but here it is as a Windows Sticky Note :lol. This might be another bit of useful information to be on the AH home page...
(https://i.imgur.com/ZEvXhvX.jpg)
:salute
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Thank you Oboe :cheers:
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I don't know how to make it sticky, but here it is as a Windows Sticky Note :lol. This might be another bit of useful information to be on the AH home page...
(https://i.imgur.com/ZEvXhvX.jpg)
:salute
Thanks! What is #12?
Maybe if you omit Buzzsaw it will magically disappear!
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Thanks! What is #12?
Maybe if you omit Buzzsaw it will magically disappear!
Buzzsaw is farrr from the worst map
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Buzzsaw is farrr from the worst map
That’s certainly subjective to the user. I’m guessing if we had a poll, buzz would rank last.
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There is no map for slot #12. I can't recall Hitech's explanation for the gap - but its not without precedent - I understand many tall buildings omit floor #13.
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Mindnao is my fav and what I think is a great land mass size for the current numbers. It always produces bigger battles. It tends to condense the players.
ETOMA is the style I prefer.
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The new version of NDISLES should be up after Oceania. We made some minor changes and upgrades. :devil
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Mindnao is my fav and what I think is a great land mass size for the current numbers. It always produces bigger battles. It tends to condense the players.
ETOMA is the style I prefer.
ND and Baltic’s are always my faves. I still feel Baltic has the best parity of any map. My pennies anyway
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Buzzsaw is farrr from the worst map
I was having great fights on Buzzsaw last night.
Possibly it helps to be a mercenary...?
- oldman
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I was having great fights on Buzzsaw last night.
Possibly it helps to be a mercenary...?
- oldman
When I was on there was only one fight going on (10-1030 PM eastern), all three countries were in the air over the west/center of the map, and it wasn't fun at all. Bish were out numbered there and all it was, was a pick fest by the other countries. Well all countries. If you weren't over 20K you were under the pickers. Got into a fight with an AK in a 38, avoided 4 HO pases and he ran away to regain his alt. By then I had 2 yaks and 3 LAs coming in. Great fun. Logged after that.
Buzzsaw is the worst map unless you want to pick, or grab easy points flattening strats in a GV.
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When I was on there was only one fight going on (10-1030 PM eastern), all three countries were in the air over the west/center of the map, and it wasn't fun at all. Bish were out numbered there and all it was, was a pick fest by the other countries. Well all countries. If you weren't over 20K you were under the pickers. Got into a fight with an AK in a 38, avoided 4 HO pases and he ran away to regain his alt. By then I had 2 yaks and 3 LAs coming in. Great fun. Logged after that.
Buzzsaw is the worst map unless you want to pick, or grab easy points flattening strats in a GV.
Well, I was on about the same time, and on the west side of the map. It's true that there were alt monkeys, but it's fairly easy to avoid them. HO passes are the mark of newbs (and some vets) (you know who you are) (*glare*), but also relatively easy to avoid. I think it pays to fly a mid-war plane, doing so attracts opponents who otherwise might run away.
So...what sort of plane were you flying...?
- oldman
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When I was on there was only one fight going on (10-1030 PM eastern), all three countries were in the air over the west/center of the map, and it wasn't fun at all. Bish were out numbered there and all it was, was a pick fest by the other countries. Well all countries. If you weren't over 20K you were under the pickers. Got into a fight with an AK in a 38, avoided 4 HO pases and he ran away to regain his alt. By then I had 2 yaks and 3 LAs coming in. Great fun. Logged after that.
Buzzsaw is the worst map unless you want to pick, or grab easy points flattening strats in a GV.
It was opposite prior to your time. Bish had 50 pilots, other two were in the 30s. There have been alt monkeys, why I fly at 15k and drag em to deck.
I think buzzsaw is bad because it makes the sim/game look arcade-ish.
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Well, I was on about the same time, and on the west side of the map. It's true that there were alt monkeys, but it's fairly easy to avoid them. HO passes are the mark of newbs (and some vets) (you know who you are) (*glare*), but also relatively easy to avoid. I think it pays to fly a mid-war plane, doing so attracts opponents who otherwise might run away.
So...what sort of plane were you flying...?
- oldman
I was flying a pony at about 12-13k which at that location gave me about 8-9k above ground. Took the pony because I knew I was going to be out numbered.
The point was that it wasnt fun. Fighting Yaks and LAs, getting ganged by both sides both sides using a bunch of alt to pick and run. Sure its easy to avoid HOs, and picks for the most part, but where is the fun in that? Check my stats. I have one sortie, for 17 minutes. 5 minutes to get to the "fight" and 12 minutes of dodging lame play.
At least on the "old" maps you can find other fights going on and look for something else. Buzzsaw is all concentrated in the center and at alt. Rarely is it fun. When our squad gets togather we can go off and start something, but its pretty tuff to do alone.
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There was a map up several months ago that I really liked, but I only saw it the one time. It had a bunch of hills all over the map. Anyone remember that one?
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There was a map up several months ago that I really liked, but I only saw it the one time. It had a bunch of hills all over the map. Anyone remember that one?
Badlands?
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No, I don't think that was it. There were a bunch of rounded hills all over the place. These hills were about 2-3 thousand feet tall.
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That sounds like you're describing Badlands.
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I took a closer look, and no, it wasn't Badlands. Bandlands is a cool map, but not the one I was thinking of. This one was mostly flat with a bunch of these small hills all over the place. Think of a golf ball, except with random bumps instead of divots.
Oh, well. Thanks for trying.
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All the MA maps have titles on the Clip Board map, in most cases its in the upper/lower right corner.
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My mistake - this is the one I was picturing in my mind, but its called Atoll, not Badlands...
(https://i.imgur.com/LdPpVcZ.jpg)
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Yes! That's the one I was thinking of.
(Sorry for late reply. Been busy.)
Thanks.
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OK, so now that I know Atoll was the map I was looking for, why isn't Atoll in the rotation? I think it is a pretty good map.
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(https://i.imgur.com/ZEvXhvX.jpg)
Atoll IS in the rotation, at number 17.
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It is interesting to note, the following maps were carried over from AH2:
sfma2016, grinder, baltic, montis, mindnao, smpizza, craterma, ndisles.
ndisles has been recently updated. :rock
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It is interesting to note, the following maps were carried over from AH2:
sfma2016, grinder, baltic, montis, mindnao, smpizza, craterma, ndisles.
ndisles has been recently updated. :rock
Is Baltic updated?
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Is Baltic updated?
Not yet, I had it almost done, but somehow I corrupted the file and lost everything except the clipboard map. Like an idiot I was not backing files up, like I am now. :bhead
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Not yet, I had it almost done, but somehow I corrupted the file and lost everything except the clipboard map. Like an idiot I was not backing files up, like I am now. :bhead
Bummer good luck retrying.
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Atoll IS in the rotation, at number 17.
OK, Thanks. It wasn't on the earlier lists in this thread. Thanks for the help.
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bump