Advice to a rookie

[Stencraft01]

I've been flying on AH for about 3 weeks and I'm having a blast so far.  Also tried Warbirds on their trial offer but thought this was superior in all respects.  I just wanted to pose a general question as to how long it will normally take on average for a new players to become proficient at amassing kills while avoiding getting shot down.  I think that my flying is OK but need work on gunnery on tactics.  I have not received any training nor asked for it but  I think this might be the way to go in order to better those skills.  I know its a general question with many possible answers but any feedback will be appreciated.

Thank you.

[Max]

Welcome aboard.

Spend a few days flying the following:
Spit8, Spit9, Spit16, N1k2, HurricaneIIC, F6F, F4U-D. All of them are reasonably easy to handle and get kills in. The first 5 have Hispano 20m cannon options for guns. Pick one and stick to it for a couple of weeks.

No doubt some of the AH Training Corps will offer you replies. You'd be weel advised to spend some time with any of them in the TA.

Find a wingman; fly with him/her. It's tough to fly solo without getting cherry picked in a mob. As you learn the ropes, figure a few months, sooner or later you'll be asked into a squad.

Lotta good info to be found at http://www.netaces.org

Good Luck

[Stencraft01]

Thank you for the feedback Max, I've been flying Spits most the time but not the Mk's you suggest so I'll definitely take your advice on those.  I'm looking forward to playing for a long time although my wife is not,

[Schatzi]

Welcome to Aces High, Starman .


How long it takes you to "hold your own" in a fight very much depends on your experience (in other sims), the time you can dedicate to flying, practicing, reading up. Also depends a bit what you fly and who you fly with. As a general rule i would count weeks, not hours/days.

The next thing is what you measure yourself against. Youll *always* find people that can easily beat you... but after a while youll notice youll be able to do the beating at times.


And having fun is not a matter of skill anyway. Dont hang yourself up on skill, rank, scores whatever. Enjoy yourself.

I look at it this way: If i meet a better pilot (read: if im sent to tower before i realised whats happened) i see it as a learning opportunity, not as a lost fight.




Now for training: IMHO fun is the best teacher. Find a mix of reading, practicing, training sessions, winging/observing, analysing films and just flying that you enjoy. Training Arena/Trainer Corps is *always* a good place to start. To set up a session, contact them at trainers@hitechcreations.com.

Another thing id recommend, is try sticking to one plane for a while. Start getting a feel for it, learn its advantages and limits. Sodas page is a good place to get an overview over a plane, not only the one youre flying, but also the one your *opponent* is flying. Helps knowing his weak spots .

Also, start filming your engagements. In game, press ALT R to start recording (little red R in the upper left corner of your screen). This will dump an film##.ahf file into your HTC/Aces High II/films folder. You can view those films with the AH Film viewer. START > PROGRAMS > Aces High II > Film Viewer, then open the film. (after the first time running its automatically associated with the .ahf file extension and you can simply double click the film to view it).

I usually watch the films in external, with use recorded views, trails and icons checked. That way youll be able to see what your opponent did, and why what you did worked or didnt work. You can also "jump" into your opponents plane by double clicking his name on the right hand side list.



Feel free to call me when you see me online. Ill wing with you anytime, if you like.




Edit: I just saw your post. Advice on your wife.... get her an account! Worked (almost too) perfectly for my boyfriend. Now *I* have to deal with "husband-ack"

[Alky]

Originally posted by Stencraft01
I just wanted to pose a general question as to how long it will normally take on average for a new players to become proficient at amassing kills while avoiding getting shot down.  

As mentioned by someone else in this thread, being generally good at games helps a lot.  Myself, I pretty much suck at everything I've tried. I flew Air Warrior way back when it was a DOS online game and very expensive, I sucked then and I still suck, but I've always had FUN  at it
The points that others have made here are very good and a fast track to learning this addiction, your wife will probably hate it.  The only thing I look at in the score section is my K/D ratio and that of others. That shows how many times you've been killed compared to how many kills you've made.  It's a way to see if you're improving.  Always remember, you're doing this for
FUN  

[Mustaine]

Originally posted by Stencraft01
I just wanted to pose a general question as to how long it will normally take on average for a new players to become proficient at amassing kills while avoiding getting shot down.

there are people in AH that have been flying WWII combat sims for over 10 years.

they still get shot down multiple times every night.


welcome to the closest thing to legal crack in the world.

[Max]

Originally posted by Stencraft01
I'm looking forward to playing for a long time although my wife is not,

Wife ack is your deadliest weapon

[Simaril]

I'm not a natural at all, and looking back my great regret is that I wasnt more aggressive at regularly getting some training sessions. I could have cut months off my learning curve if I didnt insist on inventing the wheel myself! Book learning can only take you so far in this game, and intangibles like the ease with which your brain picks up 3D time-and-motion concepts plays a big role.

For example, my 14 year old son exceeded my personal record for most kills landed within 2 months of his starting -- and with only occasional maneuvering tactic tips from the old man. His gunnery is good enought that he was over 12% his first month, and I watched him get 14 kills without rearm vulching in a Mosquito..... but I have learned to cope with this assault on my self image!  Que sera, sera. Remember to have fun, and if something stops being fun then do something else.

For example, after finding I was getting to intense, I spent a tour doing nothing but trying to get some kills in every plane in the set, no matter how many deaths it took.

Welcome to Aces Crack!

[Lye-El]

Originally posted by Stencraft01
I'm looking forward to playing for a long time although my wife is not,

Mine likes me flying, she then has control of the remote.

[Stencraft01]

thank you all for your feedback, I am certainly having fun already but it would be more enjoyable if I stayed in the air for more than a few minutes at a time.  I have already started doing homework on the strengths and weakneses of the aircraft (thank you Schatzi for the Sodas page tip) and hopefully with some further training I can avoid hearing those dreaded pinging sounds of hits on my plane

[Murdr]

Originally posted by Simaril
I could have cut months off my learning curve if I didnt insist on inventing the wheel myself!

So true.  I did the same more or less when starting in AW a decade ago.

[Silat]

Originally posted by Max
Wife ack is your deadliest weapon

Quit whining or no whitefish salad for you..

[Vudak]

Hey good to see another Connecticut Flyer in here

Like other people said, hook up with a trainer as soon as you can.  I flew probably about two years in AW3 and another year and half - two years in AH2 before I even considered that idea, but let me tell you, any one of the trainers can enlighten you much better than some time in the MA.  Just a few sessions with TC improved my game very much.  A trainer can really open your eyes to things you haven't thought of, hop in your plane and walk you through a manuever, and point out your mistakes.  It helps like no other.

If you can't meet up with a proper trainer, you can get a good deal of knowledge from any fellow in the MA who regularly shoots you down.  They may or may not have all the experience of a regular trainer, but if they're knocking you down consistently, they can probably point out anything you're really doing wrong and at least get you pointed in the right direction.  Just private message them and ask if they will go with you to the DA or TA when they have some time.  I think that you'll find that 9/10 people will be more than willing to help.

Finally, there's only one thing in this game that can really hamper your improvement, and that's an ego.  If you're humble and willing to take advice and learn from mistakes, you won't have a problem.

Welcome to the best game on earth and if you have any more questions, feel free to fire away.  You've found the forums - you're already a step ahead of many.

S!

[Stencraft01]

thank you all again for your positive feedback.  I entered the TA last night and received some turn pointers from Murdr (thanks again) which will come in handy.  Thanks again as everyone here seems very nice.

[Schatzi]

Originally posted by Stencraft01
as everyone here seems very nice.

No worries, well reveal our real nature in a few weeks, when we got you properly addicted and you cant leave ......




Kiddding. Besides the odd bad apple, this is a great Community. Again: Welcome .