David Hingtgen

Found something: The original MiG-35(modified MiG-29M) proposal had canards:

In detail, it doesn't match anything. Heck, it's missing several small distinguishing features of the MiG-29 itself, much less the Fulcrum-A, C, M, etc. IMHO, it's closest to a Fulcrum-A. Knight--C's have the bulged dorsal hump. That's the main thing for the C.

I'd need some good pics. Particularly side views. I'm not good with MiG-29's, I need a perfect profile shot or thereabouts. Directly above might work, but side view much preferred. If you want to discuss Shin's F-14 on the other hand...

Take out the Su-37 and give us the 30MKI. Anyways, my want list: Multiple weapons per plane, like AC4. If the planes are to "evolve", have it happen a LOT faster. I personally would like planes to simply "appear" like in AC4, but have the WEAPONS evolve. Think about it--the F-15C would start with AIM-9J and AIM-7E, but would eventually have AIM-9X and AIM-120C (for a QAAM/XMAA combo), and would be top of the line--just like today! And the Hornet could start with like Harpoons and Walleyes, and move up to the JSOW and SLAM-ER. The military upgrades weapons a lot more often than planes. And most plane upgrades don't upgrade the PLANE, but the weapons it can carry. The F-14B is a rare example of a plane that performs significantly better than the predecessor, and only because the original was never supposed to have that engine permanently in the first place. The F-16's engine growth is constantly countered by its weight growth, which is only used to carry new weapons. Nowadays, high-tech avionics are equal to, if not more important, than speed/agility. A passively-tracked target targeted at long range by an AMRAAM, will counter most anything else. You don't NEED a EF-2000, you just need a fancy radar and AMRAAM's--the latest upgraded F-4F's have that, and are considered to be about as good as it gets for long-range fights. That'd be AWESOME in AC6----you start out with an F-4F, and over the course of the game continually upgrade it, until it can hold it's own with an F-22 (so long as you don't get in close). Also, I would like more "restrictions" on planes. AC5 had a LITTLE bit, as in Flanker OR F-15 on the first run, but AC4 did it better IMHO---simply by PRICE. In real life, you can't pick from all the world's planes on every mission. I did like in AC5 how you (usually) had to pick a Naval plane for missions from the carrier. AC6 should have more expensive planes, so that you can't buy 4 of every new plane that shows up. Either make new planes fairly expensive, or limit to a certain nation's planes or military branch, or something. That'd greatly enhance replay value---one run, only US planes, one run only Russian planes, and another run only European planes. By the 4th run, you've unlocked like 95% of the planes and can use most anything you want, which then unlocks the all-purpose JSF.

I have no problems in turning this into a "What do you want in AC6?" thread. Anyways--a high-vis F-14A VF-1 Wolfpack would require a lot of different parts, to be accurate. VF-1 and VF-2 first planes were Block 70 and Block 75, quite different externally from your "standard" F-14A's of Block 90 to 115. Different nose, gun vents, v.stabs, rear fuselage, drop tanks, wheels, cockpit. I spent like an hour last night in the "hangar" really looking at the planes. Things I found: 1. F-15C is more like an F-15J with a USAF left v.stab. It's ONE piece away from a J. 2. ECM antennas (glove, intake, and nosegear ones) on all the F-14's are messed up. So are the gunvents--they seem to be non-existent. 3. F-14D has A/B seats. Strange that they got the new HUD right, but missed the much more obvious seat change. 4. Flankers are surprisingly accurate, ECM antenna variations, v.stabs, ventral fins, IRST's, etc. Even tail-stings seem to vary. 5. F-16C is still the "impossible" mix of F-16 parts that AC4 used. It's like a Block 25 tail on a late Block 30 body with Block 50 details all with a Block 15 cockpit. ::grumble grumble:: (I am a big F-16 fan, it just never comes up here on MW)

Yeah, a PSP makes 1000x more sense. I doubt I'll buy a DS, but a PSP is a defintely possibility, ESPECIALLY if there's an AC game.

Hey, anybody take a look at Nintendo's GBA SP release list? Copied this from Gamespy: February: Ace Combat (Namco) Hmmmm. More Mobius 1? Blaze? Of course, it PROBABLY WON'T BE A REALISTIC SIM, since there's only 4 buttons.

That diorama's not mine, I just linked to it. I *wish* I was 1/10 that good. And I still plan on a guide for Shin's someday, I think I'll take a poll on whether it'd be acceptable to merely write on how to do it with a few pics, and not actually make one myself. (As it's too cold to model now, so any modelling might have to wait until Spring)

My "mini spiral hand drill" is basically a small pin-vise with a "roller" that spirals around a slotted shaft. The spiral refers to the actual main part of the drill itself, not the bit. If you made a Twizzler™ out of brass, that's what the main part is. You can drill MUCH faster and easier than with a pure pin-vise, but it's still far slower and more accurate than the slowest power tool. ::looks around:: I think there's a fair chance many people consider what I have a pin-vise, and aren't aware a "true" pin-vise is even simpler. Here is the exact one I have: http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?M...roduct&ID=60348 In the photo, the roller is being gripped by the thumb and middle finger. That moves up and down the shaft, causing the drill to rotate. The uppermost part of the drill is on a bearing, allowing you to hold it in place with your pointer finger (as in the pic) while the drill spins below it. There's many variations you can figure out on how to hold it, and how to rotate it---it's kinda fun to "play" with and see how all the bits interact.

I think AC4 had more "memorable" music, with more clearly defined melodies. AC5 is more "ambience". Think of a movie--sometimes the music is "obvious" and closely tied to the action onscreen---that's AC4. Sometimes, it's just "background noise" while characters are talking--that's AC5. However, the best of AC5 beats the best of AC4's music, and AC5's good music still beats AC4's "good" music. Heck, I think a lot of it is that both have the same number of good/great songs, but AC5 has a dozen more missions, those dozen songs are "meh". It's like Namco can only come up with a dozen good songs for a game, which means that's enough for most AC4 missions to be good, while AC5 is filled out with some blander stuff. All in all, it's definitely along the same idea, but you'll probably have a distinct preference for one. It's like comparing Star Wars and Indiana Jones music. Very close in some aspects (for obvious reasons) but you'll rarely confuse the two.

Rant warning. I've never liked the really "limited" "one thing and one thing only" X-planes. WTF is the point of such an utterly useless plane that can do something? There really should be some sort of "usefullness" clause attached to most records. At least the X-prize etc require a certain amount of payload/passengers. The X-29 was *this* close to being an operational fighter. Heck, the X-1 was just as close. The F-8 is a great example of setting USEFUL records---many of its records were not "absolute", but were more impressive--it was not the FASTEST plane, but it was the fastest one for a 100km trip, 1,000km, and coast-to-coast. I am not at all impressed by the recent 10-second-long Mach 6+ runs by planes that get a 50,000ft head-start from a B-52. Let's see Mach 4, starting from the ground, for an hour. THEN I'll consider it more impressive than the SR-71. Next thing you know, they'll be firing winged needles at the ground from orbit, and claiming "fastest plane ever" 1 sec before it smashes into the ground at Mach 30...

Yeah, I thought for a while everybody had red accents too. Wasn't until recently I noticed it was ONLY Blaze. Scinfaxi--yup, I've said for a while now nothing beats the Tornado's bomblet dispenser. Actually, still haven't tried a Hornet-C for it, the Tornado's just SO good at it. Only got SS on Arcade route 3. Last 2 missions took longer than usual. Mobius--that's not his name, nor even his callsign. It's simply Mobius squadron, plane #1. We don't know ANYTHING about the pilot. It's the same as if instead of Blaze/Kid, you only ever got called "Wardog 4", which is what you go by in the beginning of mission 1. Wardog 2 is Edge, 3 is Chopper. It's like if a Jolly Rogers pilot calls in as "Victory 106"---that's the plane, not him.

YA-10B: Dark blue with white lightning crackling all over. PS--the Razgriz color change for Blaze doesn't show up until you're actually in the mission. So take a good look in the hangar/selection screen, then look at it in the mission (assuming you have Blaze flying it). And like for the YF-23, the normal scheme is PURE black if Grimm flies it etc, while Blaze will have the red tips on the stabs.

I'm currently alternating between Ace mode and Arcade mode. Has SSS ranking in Arcade for Route 1 and 2, still can't use anything but F-22. YA-10B rocks. SP scheme is the best of them all, and the FAE has a HUGE blast radius. Doesn't do much damage though. I'm sure it can take out tanks, but nothing more--don't expect the Hrimfaxi to go down or anything. Can't take out the bunkers in Mission 9. Have 950,000 credits, think I'll buy a full squadron of YF-23's. Anyone else notice that there's actually 2 Razgriz schemes? If YOU pilot the plane, the accent color (usually white) changes to red. Very noticeable on the Su-47 especially. So there's the "normal" Razgriz scheme, and the slightly more colorful scheme just for Blaze. PS--Su-37 Yellow is Yellow 13.

You don't really need any missiles. Average mission for an F-15C in Desert Storm: Fly CAP for 4 hours, circling around the border. Bug AWACS occasionally. Come home, repeat. 99.99% of the time in real life, nothing happens. If something happens, there's a fair chance of dying. Even a Jane's-level sim will have a lot more "stuff happen" than really does in a typical life/career/mission/campaign. Then we can have "real" bombing missions with B-2's!!! Take off from Missouri, fly to Iraq, bomb from 50,000ft up, turn around, land. 20 hours of autopilot (minus refuelings), woo-hoo. ::edit:: Darn, Keith already made a Halo 2 realism comment.

I'll say it again--if you didn't know that this was an ARCADE-STYLE game set in THE FUTURE with FICTIONAL NATIONS at war with FICTIONAL SQUADRONS, it's your own fault. Ace Combat is well-known and well-liked with nearly a half-dozen games now. This is not some obscure series nobody knows what it's like. Anybody could have told you what it's like, or any magazine, or a demo, or the previous games. PS---the really big tip-off that it's not going to be a realistic sim is the fact that a PS2 only has like 12 buttons. Not a keyboard+throttle+joystick and 500-page manual. Has there EVER been an even half-assed realistic sim-style game on any console ever? Why expect one now? Not until we get an 85-button controller.

Stamen--how thick is Mr Cement? Over the years I've found the thickness of glue to the most important thing---too thin is unusable IMHO, and too thick is always stringy.

Well, I just finished mission 6 on Ace, so I'm on my way. Anyone who doesn't like the laser for anti-air just has bad aim. Can usually get 2, sometimes 3 or even 4 planes down per shot. It's most useful against B-2's and other "much harder to hit than they should be" planes that also take lots of missiles or like 200 bullets to take down. I actually ran out of enemies, spent the last minute or two just circling around waiting for the mission to end. Still, the X-02 looks a lot more like a plane. ADF-01 (I'll call it that forever) looks too much like it should be in KOTOR. PS--big question. Can I do a NORMAL "New Game" (not SP New Game) and yet still keep all my planes for "the future"? As in, if I load my game like always, then start a new game--do I permanently lose my planes, or are they just "disabled" for that one campaign? Because I would like to have a "fresh start" game again, it's always fun to earn stuff. But I don't want to have to get another 275 kills (that's what it took) for the A-10, etc... If not, I'll just copy my save to another card, and start totally over again. Man, I wish KOTOR 2 would come out next week, not next month. (Metroid Prime 2 I expect will take only like 2 or 3 days to beat, maybe 4).

Didn't get a good look this time either--I took 88% damage from its AA guns when I tried! Think I'll set it to "very easy" and use the Falken, then I can probably get a good look. Update: Now I have all planes, and most schemes. X-02 SP scheme is black/yellow Tiger, very similar to the famous Tiger Meet Belgian F-16. Despite owning the Falken and winning Expert, I didn't get the Falken's 3rd scheme. I haven't FLOWN the Falken, but I've gotten several SP schemes of planes I've never flown. PS--unlike every other 3rd scheme, the X-02's will unlock WITHOUT you owning it. The moment the X-02 was available, the 3rd scheme was there because I had won on Hard already. I didn't have to go win on Hard again. PPS---S-32 3rd scheme is really cool. Also has full Belkan markings, not Wardog. Black/white/yellow, looks like a snake. Got Yellow Su-37, haven't used it yet.

Me too, I've only seen it twice. I'm guessing it's a re-use of the Tanager from AC4, and thus Iowa-class. Playing that mission again today for the Ace, will try to get a better look.

Rafale is 16A I think. YF-23, don't know. Anyways---if you go through and beat every mission, and then shoot down whatever you don't own, it will become available. Simply going through the "other" mission doesn't seem to work. I.E., if you go through campaign with all "A", then go to Free Mission to do the "B" missions, it won't unlock them. Nor will going through in campaign. You have to also shoot them down AFTER they would have unlocked had you gone through that mission the first time. I didn't have the YF-23 until Mission 23 on my 2nd play-through, because Mission 22 is the first time I shot down a YF-23 after having played all the B missions.

Gotta ask--in *Expert* difficulty? I swear, Mission 24 is the only one that really gets harder as you up the difficulty. Happened on Hard, now on Expert. I am SO going to use the X-02 or ADF-01 for Ace mode when I get to it. Finally beat it after a dozen attempts with a new strategy--QAAM's. XMAA/XLAA will lock on to ANY target they find, which just wastes them. You need the ENGINES dead, FAST. Almost beat it with YF-23, eventually won with Su-37. (Those two have the highest number of QAAM's in the game). SAAM's I think would do more damage, but holding still for even a few secs is fairly lethal on Expert for the second part. ::edit:: Whoops, That NOS Guy was talking about 23, I'm currently talking about 24. I have to go through 23 again anyways to find an Ace to bag, will try that method.

I've noticed that they have PW engines and old-style gun vents on their F-14B's...

Umm, that's on about 99% of all F-14's, and every kit I've ever bought. And that is the F-14D-specific chinpod I mentioned. There are several, all slightly different. Check here: http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-detail-chinpods.htm The dual TCS/IRST is on all F-14D's, and only F-14D's. And Shin's. Shin has basically (though not exactly) an F-14B, but also has the very distinctive chinpod of the F-14D.

You know, I don't think that scheme existed. (As in, that exact scheme--there were many variations of VF-84 high-vis, but that's not one of them) Specifically---small insignia on the nose below and behind the nose stripe, with white undersides. Small nose insignia came about with grey undersides. Once grey undersides appeared, they never went back, even when large nose insignia (covering the nose stripe) reappeared. Nose insignia and underside color are the 2 main things about VF-84 high-vis variations. Everything else was minor (like modex font and solid vs hollow squadron numbers).