SAVE ACES HIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kodiak]

My suggestions are based on enthusiasm for Aces High and I agree with Ink on the quality of the plane set and FM's.  Cliffs of Dover is not turn based, it works just like Aces High where you log in as either Axis or Allies and do what you want when you want where you want, and the sides are always nicely balanced in player numbers. Its pretty much set up just like the MA but based on WW2 maps and opponents. The maps rotate based on damage to ground targets from bombing and strafing and of course stopping those things through dogfights.  But the plane set is limited and with overly complicated engine management and I always think "Man, if only AH would go with WW2 maps and opponents in the MA!"

[PJ_Godzilla]

There's that word again.  Tell us what's so stupid about them.  What would be "smart" icons to you:  4k? 3k? 2k? 1k? none?  Maybe you don't understand that icons substitute for real-world visual acuity, which no monitor in existence can even come close to.  Turn off your own icons and report back how life-like it is. 

Okay, agreed: the term is insufficiently informative to be actionable. Let's try "overly informative". Does real-world visual acuity give you an error-free readout of the aircraft type and range and closure? Does it do identity: friend/foe? If it did, I wouldn't have read about any friendly fire incidents.

I've played sans icon. AvA had it as convention. What I'd like to know: how much information is "lost" at the same distance, RL to monitor. I ask because, once within about 3k, it was usually pretty easy to identify type and direction. I'm certain there is some loss. Perhaps an A:B comparison is in order comparing, perhaps an analog shot to a screen cap, both from the same perspective and distance.

The other substitution I could make: too large and format-challenged... but that's more style than function - but can become a function issue when many icons are in close proximity.

If you must have icons, a progressive one would be a better choice.  For example, if IFF and type don't become apparent until 3k, then have that info light at 3k, etc. As is, I think the icons are depriving us of the fog of war. They should, ideally, only supplement the visual when the visual is lacking. Admittedly, the matter might require some additional study, but to carte blanche state that the icons are sound as is is as uninformed a pronouncment as calling them stupid (mea culpa). Indeed, I'd be interested to hear the rationale for the current icon setup and why it varies b/w MA and SEA (typically).

Those two, with regard to this matter, are kind of like two guys who claim to be Jesus: one of 'em must be wrong. So, forgive the shorthand now that I've given you the underlying substance.

[alpini13]

  you have to be careful with a photo comparison,due to the camera lens involved.when using say a 50mm lens for pics,you are actually making things look farther away.this is done to be able to fit more into the picture.100mm is equal to real life or 1x(1 power)in 35mm cameras. 200mm would be 2x or 2 power on a scope or 35mm camera. most gun cameras are NOT 100mm.most digital or film cameras are not 100mm lens equavilent to 35mm cameras.if using a zoom lens most people are confused and and sucked in by false advertising as to what zoom is and does to actual picture size. for instance you go to the store and buy a camera that has 30x zoom..and i go to the store and buy a camera with 5x zoom. and my zoom is better than yours and you dont know why.the confusion is, in this case, 30x is only half the equation. 30x what?  30 x 2 equals 60..5 x 100 equals 500. in this case 5x is better than 30x as far as how much you can zoom on a long shot. if you want to take a photo at an airshow to compare screen shots in aces high you need to know the distance the aircraft is from you and the camera needs to have the lens set at 100mm at 35mm equivilent.if you have a 30 or 40x zoom find out what the starting size of the lens is in 35mm equivilent. and then calculate what it needs to be at ,to be 100mm(35mm  camera equivilent)of course the easiest would be to get a 35mm type camera that is digital and get a lens that is close to 100mm. 105mm is most common.or take the photos with real film in a 35mm camera with a 100mm lens and transfer to digital to post.35mm camera is not a reference to the lens.it is a reference to the film.just dont take a pic and think its correct.i hope this helps

[danny76]

Does it do identity: friend/foe? If it did, I wouldn't have read about any friendly fire incidents.

Except for M1 crews, A10 drivers and British troops on the receiving end

[SirNuke]

AH could definitely use some ideas from planetside 2

[Kruel]

AH could definitely use some ideas from planetside 2

NO! How dare you make such a suggestion! Any sensible ideas/features/standards from any other games, much less features that are standard on every other game in this genre(except AH) should be completely ignored. If you like those games so much go play them and leave this one alone!

[mthrockmor]

Let me first say that anyone who thinks that the problems in Aces High can be anywhere near addressed by updating the plane set is insane.

Part of the problem with this game is not only the shrinking player base, but the player base that the game is shrinking to. Namely a bunch of crochety old men who still complain about Call of Duty Xbox playing teenagers, despite that these are things that are nearly 15 years old now and the people who grew up on them are in their twenties and thirties.
Also all of the old AH I models should be updated by now because seriously

+1

I recently did two focus groups on a pending website. The parents and older folks worried about content, etc. The younger generation worried about graphics, speed and variety of information, etc. They ultimately wanted something that looked like Windows 8, with tons of little icons to rapidly sort through numerous bits of information. We climbed out on a limb and made the website with the look the young'ns wanted with information the parents want. Now, our webiste is the most visited and copied amongst our peers.

That being said, no matter the changes, marketing matters.

[PJ_Godzilla]

Except for M1 crews, A10 drivers and British troops on the receiving end

I remember this incident well.

Also, thanks to Alpini for his informed discussion on the lens consideration you'd have to take to do an informed A:B comparison.

[danny76]

I remember this incident well.

Also, thanks to Alpini for his informed discussion on the lens consideration you'd have to take to do an informed A:B comparison.

The guy that instructed me on my medics course served in Desert Storm, he said the casualties from the Maverick strikes on them 2 Warriors were collected in 3 bodybags.

18 men 

[Bizman]

Yep, my son is 33 and --- goes through games like eating a bag of potato chips

Game reviews share the same, the argument being how many hours of entertainment a single game will give.

My wife's godson once said that he used to be in the top ten or so in Runescape, at which point he got tired of being superior and quit. Then he tried AH for some time in his mid-teens, learned some and quit, came back after a year or two for a couple of months and quit again. He was on a totally different level in any game than I could ever reach, even when he was between five and ten and I was in my mid-thirties. As I looked him and the other kids play I noticed that they did not think logically like I would have done, instead they simply read the pixels to react on the right spot, learning the games by heart. Had they used the same intensity at school they'd all be professors!

[Bizman]

It is projected next year tablet sales will exceed combined desktop PCs and laptops sales .

I've been reading the same news. There's a couple of things that average people can't usually see:

In ads there's a bunch of tablets and only a couple of PC's. Some years ago my customers asked if they have to upgrade their desktop to a laptop because according ads desktops no more seemed to exist. Not long ago I was asked the same question, this time about tablets and laptops.

Another thing is that most people have a decent PC or laptop for their needs for the next few years, but they don't have a tablet. What will they buy? Yupp, something they don't have yet...

[Triton28]

Search YouTube for Aces High.  All kinds of trash comes up.  Most of what's relevant isn't very new.  Not many gameplay videos being put out, which is our fault as a community.  That said, I'm shocked at how many folks who enjoy milsim games that know nothing about AH.  That is HTC's fault.  Combine the low visibility with a steepish learning curve and a restrictive free trial and you have a lack of fresh blood.

[BnZs]

PJ, I remember flying with my Dad when I was younger and seeing another Cessna crossing right to left in front of us. It was over one nautical mile away. To me, it looked so big and near I was afraid we were going to crash into it, and I yelled. Also one is easily able to distinguish sedans from pickup trucks on the highway 5,000 feet below.

The difficulty in spotting things in the air more lies with the fact that the sky is enormous, and our field of vision can only cover a small part of it at a time. Nothing on a computer screen can simulate both the vastness and the ability of good human eyesight to see and identify distant things in clear air. All in all for gameplay purposes, IMO it is better to err on the side of seeing the bandit too easily than on the side of legally blind pilots. Know an "ace" trick for no-icons? Turning your resolution down so dot contacts pop out more.   No thank you.

Edit: More on having icons vs. none
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,254180.msg3135888.html#msg3135888

[Schen]

I have an older computer hooked up to my 60 inch tv, I have to run lower graphics to maintain 60fps, that being said I can long range a contact ( f4iend or foe unknown) at just one pixal, ussully 8-12 kms out, I know if there high or low and can start planning my position weather to be offencive or defencive till I know more, but thats just how it is,

Being from the consol generation, played through gen 3 to 8 (current), was a semi pro competitive player in Canada (prairies) and the northern states for call of duty ( retired at 24,) currently 26 and found this game a year ago, I liked it for the competitive Nature,  those that fight me ( not catch me being a dweeb from time to time lol) know this.

For my generation achievements, graphics matter ( look at the early ps4 xbox 1 war when the box couldn't get 1080p native) I feel this graphic update is a step in the right direction, even thou I will most likely be running low graphics.  But growing up a history nut in school, I also have what the old guard has in wanting to know more and understand the ins and outs of this game,  most people dont like taking time to get good at a game, but soon the cod gen will realize as I have 7-10 years playing the game made you good. There will be playors to play this game and marketing will fix that, and marketing after a graphics update makes sense. Only time will tell what the future brings, and I hope this game stays and I wish I found it in my teens back in the 04-05 era...... my 2x cents

[BnZs]

,  most people dont like taking time to get good at a game,

This gets repeated over and over as an excuse for why AH isn't doing well. Meanwhile, millions of teenagers are spending hours practicing their complex combos, at least as difficult as guitar chords, for playing their fighting games against online competition. I've given a couple of console fighting games a whirl. You don't get to the top level of those in a week, a month, or a year.