aces-high

Page 6

Damage Model

Aces High uses a three-dimensional damage model, with up to 64 different components individually modeled in each aircraft. These various items can be damaged or in some cases shot clean off an aircraft. COMBATSIM.COM's editor shot the horizontal stabilizer off an enemy Spitfire during his first on-line mission, and while the pilot was wallowing around trying to maintain some semblance of control, the wings ripped off his Spit and they flew past our editor's cockpit. The roundels on the wings were clearly visible as they went by.

Three different surfaces are modeled. Soft, hard, and armored surfaces make up the structure of most of the aircraft and ground structures. The lethality of each individual type of cannon or gun round has a different impact on each of these surfaces. A .303 may do nothing to an armored surface, while a 30mm may do catastrophic damage. Range is also a factor here due to the ballistics modeling, and the closer you get to your target, the more rounds you will hit with, and they will have greater power due to the fact that the energy stored in the rounds is greater the closer to the muzzle they are.

There is an ongoing debate in the Aces High forums regarding the power and range of certain guns and cannon, and it seems that everyone has an opinion on how accurate or inaccurate the damage modeling is. One thing is for certain: Gunnery skills are paramount considering how in depth the damage and ballistics models are.

Damaged engines will also smoke to varying degrees, and fuel leaks are similarly modeled, spewing a light gray mist behind your aircraft.

Environment

The only type of weather currently observed in AH is the clouds. The clouds are nicely done, and they will obscure your aircraft as well as your ID marker if you are skillful enough to hide in them. Wind effects are in the works, and HTC will be modeling the wind in layers. This will prove to be an interesting feature, as the wind direction and speed will vary according to altitude, and players will be able to take advantage of this by being able to fly faster when they position themselves so the wind is at their back.

The arena is constantly undergoing changes, and for the moment there is no ocean or lakes present. We mentioned the terrain before, and currently three spokes of mountains and canyons separate the three teams that are duking it out in the on-line arena.

Sound

The stock sounds in AH are nice, with new and interesting sounds for received gun hits (pings), gear, flaps, engine, and guns. As good as these sounds are, there are some custom sounds available on HTC's site curtsey of AKWabbit. Updating the sound files is a simple process, since all you have to do is download the file and run the installation executable. You don't have to put the sounds into each aircrafts individual folder. The new custom sounds are great, and we highly recommend you install them; the new engine sounds have a definite snarl we like.

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