Ace Combat 6:Skies of Liberation for XBOX360!

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Ehh, I rarely see the Su-47's "stop". My current main issue seems to be "armored" F-22's. Multiple hits, yet they still have 3/4 life... And they seem stealthier than F-117's----they can not even move, yet avoid missiles...

My fave moments are still taking out the ENTIRE other team (3 on 3, and all 6 of my XMA's hit) and gunning down CFA's. (I used one for the first time online tonight--not worth it. You get so few points for killing people with it, and they get so many for taking you down it's harder to win with)

I also have issues with the armored 22's, as well as the QAAM spammers that fly them. Me personally, I hate using that missle, takes too long to track and you can only volley off 2 at a time. XMAA is my weapon of choice in a brawl.

[mikeszekely]

XMAA is my weapon of choice in a brawl.

That's my choice of weapon period. Even on air-to-ground missions, they give you enough regular missiles to take your time and peck away at ground targets with them... it's just easier to pick off enemy planes, which are always in even the most groundy air-to-ground missions from a distance with the XMAAs. Planes in general seem harder to hit with regular missiles (no more picking off enemies coming in from head on), and the QMAAs aren't nearly as godly as they were in AC4.

All right, I need people to play the Co-Op missions with.

I'm in, my hand's a lot better. But I can't usually get on until after 10:30 Eastern.

[Alpha OTS]

I'm in, my hand's a lot better. But I can't usually get on until after 10:30 Eastern.

I'm somewhat of an Ace Combat noob, but I'd like to join in too. Edit: My gamer tag's Qaztab.

I picked this up over the weekend, and I just finished the air fortress stage. I tried some multiplayer yesterday and had a heck of a time just connecting to a host. I don't know what the problem was, it just told me it was unable to connect despite trying a number of available games.

I'm still *very* new with what the weapon names are. In the match I played, most of the other players were using this weapon that seemed to instantly shoot across the battlefield. I haven't finished the game yet, so I haven't seen a weapon that's this....instant. It looked like some kind of air wave or something when it hit me. What is it? And does everyone always use that online? Seems kind of cheap.

Edited November 13, 2007 by Alpha OTS

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

I'm somewhat of an Ace Combat noob, but I'd like to join in too. Edit: My gamer tag's Qaztab.

I picked this up over the weekend, and I just finished the air fortress stage. I tried some multiplayer yesterday and had a heck of a time just connecting to a host. I don't know what the problem was, it just told me it was unable to connect despite trying a number of available games.

I'm still *very* new with what the weapon names are. In the match I played, most of the other players were using this weapon that seemed to instantly shoot across the battlefield. I haven't finished the game yet, so I haven't seen a weapon that's this....instant. It looked like some kind of air wave or something when it hit me. What is it? And does everyone always use that online? Seems kind of cheap.

Either the EML, XLAA or XMAA. From my experience, its easiest to dodge the EML and XLAA, the XMAA is harder to dodge. If you hear a distinct firing sound, it might be an EML, but you'd only be able to tell if one of the players is using the CFA-44. which is the only plane that can use it.

Anyone try the Tornado GR4 w/BDSP? Nothing like taking out tank formations and retaking airfields with that weapon. Replays with that are awesome. I wish we had the ADV in this game. Sure its lacking compared to other aircraft, outclassed by many of the fighters in the game, but what it lacks in mobility it could be made up for with a weapon such as the QAAM. I think the F.3's are cleared for ASRAAM's anyways.

[David Hingtgen]

The EML is so cheap many people don't use the CFA-44 on purpose, as a lot of people will "leave the room" if anyone selects it. Also, it's not worth it---you get very few points for shooting people down with it, and people get almost double points for shooting you down if you use it. And the CFA-44 has a weak hull, it goes down easy. The CFA-44 is ungodly in the campaign, but cheap and not that good in online fighting.

PS---it is VERY easy to ban the CFA-44, but I swear I'm the only one who ever sets up sessions to do so. When setting up a session, select "Level 3" for planes. That allows all planes EXCEPT the CFA-44. So the cheap people can't select it, and everyone else is happy. (And if you really need the CFA-44 to play, then you just suck--get something that's not designed to be cheap)

I still think the F-15E w/XMA's is overall best online, but 2 nights ago I was doing horribly with it. Tried both -22 and -33 with QAAM's, did much better with the -33 w/QAAM.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

The EML is so cheap many people don't use the CFA-44 on purpose, as a lot of people will "leave the room" if anyone selects it. Also, it's not worth it---you get very few points for shooting people down with it, and people get almost double points for shooting you down if you use it. And the CFA-44 has a weak hull, it goes down easy. The CFA-44 is ungodly in the campaign, but cheap and not that good in online fighting.

PS---it is VERY easy to ban the CFA-44, but I swear I'm the only one who ever sets up sessions to do so. When setting up a session, select "Level 3" for planes. That allows all planes EXCEPT the CFA-44. So the cheap people can't select it, and everyone else is happy. (And if you really need the CFA-44 to play, then you just suck--get something that's not designed to be cheap)

I still think the F-15E w/XMA's is overall best online, but 2 nights ago I was doing horribly with it. Tried both -22 and -33 with QAAM's, did much better with the -33 w/QAAM.

Whenever I use the 33 I usually use the XMAA, rarely ever use the 22. The planes I use most are the Tomcat, F-16 Scarface, Typhoon, and F-15E. Where do you go to select levels for planes online? I had trouble trying to find that.

I wish online replays could be saved.

[David Hingtgen]

When setting a session, there are two categories for affecting plane selection---there's "Type" which limits to Fighters, Attackers, or Multirole (few people do this), and then the other category which I can never remember---that limits "how good" of a plane is available. Level 1 is F-16 and Mirage only. Level 2 allows up to the Su-33. Level 3 goes up to the F-22.

PS--I'm annoyed at Bandai-Namco, many of their achievements are just stupid, because they didn't think about what they were asking. 100 team battle wins? Fine. I've got probably 50 or 60 now (only 30 credited due to it not saving). But 100 battle royales? You have to be good AND lucky to win just one (Ive got 2, none credited).

But the worst? 100 siege wins. I doubt I'll ever have 10. Siege battles can EASILY last 40 mins EACH. 40 mins x 100 (assuming you never ever lose) is a LONG time. Not to mention the fact that nobody ever plays siege battles. I can only find a few per week. (Siege battles are dependent on number of people--if 8 are playing, it's like 15 mins--but I've only found that once---normally you're lucky to find 4 people, which means it takes 40 mins for both sides to get done) I won't be surprised if a year from now, only like 5 people in the world have 100 siege wins.

They simply chose 10/30/50/100 for EVERY category, not taking into account the time/difficulty in winning the different categories.

[David Hingtgen]

Anyone wanna set a definitive time for Wed/Thurs/Fri night for a co-op?

Also---Ace Combat 5 is being shipped en-masse to Best Buy etc as a greatest hits title (PS2). It's the best in the series, so go get it if you don't have it.

Got my no-damage and attacker-only medals tonight (same playthrough). Multirole and guns-only next.

[mikeszekely]

Anyone wanna set a definitive time for Wed/Thurs/Fri night for a co-op?

Also---Ace Combat 5 is being shipped en-masse to Best Buy etc as a greatest hits title (PS2). It's the best in the series, so go get it if you don't have it.

Got my no-damage and attacker-only medals tonight (same playthrough). Multirole and guns-only next.

I don't want you to wait for me since I can't get on until later, but if I get on tonight/tomorrow/Friday and you happen to be on, I'm in.

[David Hingtgen]

Ok, the main issue is really beating Co-Op 2 before the timer runs out, but I did find in going through my last campaign that rockets really ARE that awesome against Aigaion (I took it down with an A-10), so much so that even just 2 people may be possible, and certainly could be done with 3.

[Apollo Leader]

What time would you guys want to play? Since both of you guys are in Iowa, we're all in the same time zone so that will make things easy.

[David Hingtgen]

I emailed my brother, will see what he says. Could easily depend on if he works late tonight/tomorrow.

[Alpha OTS]

Just finished the single player mode for the first time. That was pretty fun. I didn't mind the storyline much because I was expecting far worse from what was mentioned earlier in the thread.

The only thing I didn't like about the game were objects/planes that fly around with impossible physics. There was this one plane I had to kill while reclaiming the Gracemeria capitol in order to finish the mission, but it was moving in such instant circles and spirals behind and around me that I had a hell of a time getting a clear shot. I had the same gripe with those targeting pods on a previous mission.

How is it grading those S scores? I got an A on my initial run through of mission 1, so I figured I'd go through it quick again to get the S, only I got a B, and then surprisingly a C, despite clearing out the board far quicker and more efficient than I did on my first run through.

I still have a lot of medals and achievements to unlock. This will keep my busy for a while.

[David Hingtgen]

In AC6, grading is PURELY on points scored. Kill as much as you can. Each mission/submission has its own requirements---in some, 10,000pts is enough for an S, others want 70,000pts. Other AC games are more dependent on going fast, but "amount of stuff killed" is always the primary thing---and in AC6, it's the only thing. You actually want to go slow---if you kill just the required targets, you won't kill much overall. Kill everything BUT the targets to get a lot of points, then kill off the targets to complete the objectives. Some missions though, just killing the targets may be enough (or nearly so) for an S. Others will require you to take out 95% of what's on the entire map.

If you want S's, use a plane that can wipe out large formations of ground targets at a time. Or something unbeatable in the air to take out many non-target planes. The CFA-44 is well-known as basically being the "S-earner". Might want to wait until you have that. (S's are certainly possible with many planes, but it's much faster and easier with the CFA-44)

[F-ZeroOne]

It seems that any UK-based Ace Combat pilots really are going to be "the Few"; AC6 comes out here on the same day as Mass Effect and seemingly every other triple-A title thats planned for release EVER.

Still - target rich environment, what?

[Apollo Leader]

Hell just froze over...

Idolm@ster Su-33 available in the near future for download.

If this is available for us gamers in the US, I just might blow the MS points for it!

[David Hingtgen]

That Scarface F-18 really sucks IMHO--it still has the Top Hatter's markings on the fuselage. Those are very distinctive. Maybe the re-texturer guy assumed those were inherent to the F-18 or something, and not part of VFA-14's current scheme. (Plus it has the same black and yellow tail) That's the laziest AC6 repaint by far.

(And you KNOW a Jolly Rogers Super Hornet would sell)

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

That Scarface F-18 really sucks IMHO--it still has the Top Hatter's markings on the fuselage. Those are very distinctive. Maybe the re-texturer guy assumed those were inherent to the F-18 or something, and not part of VFA-14's current scheme. (Plus it has the same black and yellow tail) That's the laziest AC6 repaint by far.

(And you KNOW a Jolly Rogers Super Hornet would sell)

Laziest repaint I've seen. Not even worth it, lesser speed for more durability. Blah. What the Super Bug really needs is the XMAA in the game. Historic Windover seems worth it judging by the stat increase for the Falcon(FINALLY). Plus it looks good. Thundershark Hog gives you more than double SP weapons compared to the regular.

I'd love to see a 50th anniversary VFA-102 Diamondbacks F/A-18F with XMAA. THAT would be worth downloading. Also an F-15S/TMD in AC3 blue color scheme with the canards and thrust vectoring nozzles, as well as the ability to shoot 4 regular missles at the same time, like in AC3.

[David Hingtgen]

Give me an F-15E stripped of its conformals, for increased everything.

Also, a Super Hornet with better speed and agility. The thing's not fast, but it sure as heck is agile in real life. It's really gimped in the game, both stats and weapons-wise. I think to make the F-2 look better .(as it is almost an uber-plane in the game--has EVERY advanced weapon of every main type, and I'm pretty sure Japan doesn't have anything equal to the AIM-9X). The real Shornet doesn't have THAT bad speed and acceleration. (Problem is, most AC games treat speed and acceleration the same, when they are often almost opposite in many modern jets)

I'd really like to see a high vs low altitude speed and acceleration effect. The Tornado would out-run ANYTHING at low-level, while an F-14A would have great acceleration up high.

[Alpha OTS]

I figured out how to target those Nimbus drones. When they initiate their missile attack they glow orange on the radar and during that time they're completely stationary and susceptible to attack.

I'm going through now and obtaining all the operation medals for the mission parts I missed. I assume this will get an achievement of some sort. (Will getting an S on all of them get another achievement too?) I'm also playing with some of the air to ground missile varieties that I avoided on my first play through and am having much more fun with the manual aim sort than I did with the homing missiles. A whole lot more destructive too.

Does the AI get better on the harder difficulties or does it just take less missiles/guns for the AI to take me down?

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Does the AI get better on the harder difficulties or does it just take less missiles/guns for the AI to take me down?

Both. A lot harder than normal.

BTW I want downloadable content that is at least a new plane altogether, not just an upgraded version of a plane already in the hangar. Also, I found out the Historic Windhover Falcon is a plane one of the Emmerian pilots uses, and one plane in pack 002 is apparently free. I have a feeling its either the Windhover Falcon or Thundershark A-10. Also the Thundershark apparently has a devastating cannon, moreso than the regular A-10. I say give us the OA-10B, the devastating gun, a ton of FAEBs instead.

Bringing back the A-6 would be cool too.

[David Hingtgen]

Well, we already got 1 free F-16, another would be kinda pointless IMHO.

Anyways---I found that the AI only slightly improves, while "damage" changes a lot as the difficulty changes. Something I noticed though when replaying yet again: Events occur sooner in Expert/Ace. I think it's mission 3 that I confirmed the difference, but on that mission on Normal, Strigon doesn't show up until after you beat the first couple objectives. In the harder ones, they show up immediately and harrass you throughout the entire mission. Also, since damage is up, your allies on the ground die sooner. They WILL die in 5 mins if you don't do anything, and you can get "mission failed" pretty easily if you aren't guarding them constantly against enemy planes/tanks. Whereas on normal, they can pretty much take back Emmeria on their own in a ground campaign.

PS--all-new plane? YF-23 of course. Out-accelerate any plane on the planet. And be super-stealthy while doing it. All while looking cool.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Well, we already got 1 free F-16, another would be kinda pointless IMHO.

Anyways---I found that the AI only slightly improves, while "damage" changes a lot as the difficulty changes. Something I noticed though when replaying yet again: Events occur sooner in Expert/Ace. I think it's mission 3 that I confirmed the difference, but on that mission on Normal, Strigon doesn't show up until after you beat the first couple objectives. In the harder ones, they show up immediately and harrass you throughout the entire mission. Also, since damage is up, your allies on the ground die sooner. They WILL die in 5 mins if you don't do anything, and you can get "mission failed" pretty easily if you aren't guarding them constantly against enemy planes/tanks. Whereas on normal, they can pretty much take back Emmeria on their own in a ground campaign.

PS--all-new plane? YF-23 of course. Out-accelerate any plane on the planet. And be super-stealthy while doing it. All while looking cool.

HELL YES. That is a plane worthy of the points. However this time around, they should give it better stats than the F-22 in some areas(in 5/0 the 22 had better overall stats, however as we know, the 23 had the edge over the 22 in certain key areas).

[mikeszekely]

Well, we already got 1 free F-16, another would be kinda pointless IMHO.

Anyways---I found that the AI only slightly improves, while "damage" changes a lot as the difficulty changes. Something I noticed though when replaying yet again: Events occur sooner in Expert/Ace. I think it's mission 3 that I confirmed the difference, but on that mission on Normal, Strigon doesn't show up until after you beat the first couple objectives. In the harder ones, they show up immediately and harrass you throughout the entire mission. Also, since damage is up, your allies on the ground die sooner. They WILL die in 5 mins if you don't do anything, and you can get "mission failed" pretty easily if you aren't guarding them constantly against enemy planes/tanks. Whereas on normal, they can pretty much take back Emmeria on their own in a ground campaign.

PS--all-new plane? YF-23 of course. Out-accelerate any plane on the planet. And be super-stealthy while doing it. All while looking cool.

Absolutely. While the F-22 is my all-time favorite so I'm not as sorry that the YF-23 lost as you are, the YF-23 was my second favorite, so I was bummed that the Navy couldn't use it.

Also, I know everyone bags on it, but I kinda missed the F-35C from AC5. I used it more than the Rafale.

And you can't really talk about Europe's next generation of fighters and only mention the Rafale and the Eurofighter. Where's the Gripen?

[David Hingtgen]

My brother's been busy at work, so the "scheduled meet-up for Co-Op" won't be until Mon. night probably, maybe Tuesday. If I get a definite time I'll post so anyone who wants to can join in.

PS--encountered a guy from Japan tonight who had the 30 battle royale wins unlocked. Dang.

[mikeszekely]

and one plane in pack 002 is apparently free.

It's the Scarface F/A-18. When you fire up the game, it's advertising that the new content will hit on 11-22, and the F/A-18's free.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

It's the Scarface F/A-18. When you fire up the game, it's advertising that the new content will hit on 11-22, and the F/A-18's free.

Well that sucks. The best freebie would have been the Thundershark A-10.

Free aircraft should be planes like the Hawk, A-4 Skyhawk, F-5E, Draken, F-1, etc. I keep hoping the next packs include aircraft new to the hangar.

[David Hingtgen]

You know, I was going to say I wouldn't get the new F-18 even if it was free. And now that I know it is, I still won't.

Where's my Solo Wing Pixie F-15? Jolly Rogers F-14?

[mikeszekely]

You know, I was going to say I wouldn't get the new F-18 even if it was free. And now that I know it is, I still won't.

Where's my Solo Wing Pixie F-15? Jolly Rogers F-14?

Mobius-1 F-22?

But I'm still going to grab the F/A-18. I rarely turn down free stuff.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Mobius-1 F-22?

But I'm still going to grab the F/A-18. I rarely turn down free stuff.

Ah, as much as I liked AC4, I always thought of Mobius 1 as the most overrated AC character ever. Same reason why I couldn't care less when it was announced that he and Yellow 13's schemes were DLC on the Japanese AC6. I will say this though, Namco never made much different schemes for the F-22 that weren't simple derivatives of each other. A Razgriz Tomcat, Jolly Rogers, or even VF-1 Wolfpack would be great for the Tomcat. Makes me wonder why no one has ever bothered to make that scheme in a game for the Tomcat, its one of the best.

I want some Hiko Kyodotai Eagles. Being that AC6 is popular in japan, its puzzling that they have yet to add a Hiko Kyodotai eagle to DLC. Especially when the main plane is the Strike Eagle.

[David Hingtgen]

Checking MyGamerCard.net, there are a few people with 1000pts. All from Japan. Nobody in the US has over 800, out of 22,000 players ranked.

(Though one guy with 1000pts I think really is from the US, but just displays as Japan) 100 siege battles, 20 mins each... That alone takes way too much time to care.

[Alpha OTS]

I played a lot of online today. Just some random musings....

Is there a definite host advantage? I could swear the host shot me out of the sky quite a few times when according to my radar and missile warning his missiles weren't even close.

I was only in one match where someone used the CFA, and he asked if it was ok before he used it. I was afraid I'd be seeing that plane more often, but that hasn't been the case.

I like the co-op modes, but why are there only two of them? They definitely need to add more. I was expecting to see some tunnel runs here too. Maybe there were too many of us playing, but the Air Fortress seemed much too easy, and it didn't seem required to take out the Strigon fighters. Maybe I couldn't find it, but there didn't seem to be any statistic breakdown for each player, only their individual scores and the team kill statistics.

I really enjoyed the siege battles, but it was really hard to get into a game of one, and there were only four of us playing total. It has a nice mix and match of air to air and air to ground, defense and offense.

I like the team battles, but as has been mentioned, when you get more than 8 players, it's really hard to focus on any sort of team dynamic. Personally I preferred six players over eight. I really like that there are varieties of team battles. The upgrades on Team Battle 2 are pretty neat. Everyone seems to play Team Battle 1 for some reason though. What determines the team bonus? One team would get a 20,000 bonus and we couldn't figure out why.

It really irritated me when someone would ask for help, but they wouldn't tell me what their handle was so I could go over and help. Them: "Help me!", me: "Ok, I'll assist, what's your handle?", them: "Help me! Hurry!". Sorry, dude, I'm not psychic.

My main planes were the SU-33 and the Typhoon. I couldn't do crap with the F-22a, felt like I was always stalling out. I play with the Su-47 a lot in the single player game, but online I felt like I was fighting with it more than flying it. On a whim, I picked the Mirage2000-5 for one battle, and got my ass promptly kicked. Considering, the handicap, I think I got a decent number of points, but the plane couldn't evade anything when going against any of the aforementioned.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Once won a match with the F-16 AC2 type. Either Battle Royale or Team Battle. Forgot which. That plane looks awesome.

Some of the guys playing the CFA-44 aren't that great. You'll also run into those who spam their EML and crash intentionally if you fire at them.

[David Hingtgen]

Yup. A lot of CFA-44 users suck. Even decent ones---point changes aren't worth it. Last night, one guy was using it (the one time I allowed it) and he shot down me and another guy like 2 times each. My entire team only had 2 kills---me shooting down the CFA-44 twice. And we won, due to how many pts that was worth, and how little all his EML spamming got him.

As for host advantage---not IMHO. I'm almost always the host (last night I was like the ONLY host for a while) and I see plenty of "weird" effects too--as in a guy just vaporizing me when he's nowhere near me, or multiple missile hits that do little/no damage, etc. One guy consistently had the ability to be flying completely 90 degrees off from me, yet fire XMAA's that always got me well before he got inside my XMAA range. I personally have yet to be able to fire XMAA's at someone directly to my side, at XLAA ranges...

Anyways, 2 more medals down, 1 to go. "Guns only" isn't hard, just boring. Plus Strigon's just so "hyper jumpy" that even when they "just sit there" you still can't kill them. I think 99% of Strigon kills came from ally/Shamrock.

Only thing left is time attack, and I need to cut off 35 mins. Going to go hunt around and see if there's some recommended operations---some are much quicker than others.

36 hours to Mass Effect, and want to get my "last 3 I ever expect to get" AC6 achievements by them.

[mikeszekely]

Ah, as much as I liked AC4, I always thought of Mobius 1 as the most overrated AC character ever. Same reason why I couldn't care less when it was announced that he and Yellow 13's schemes were DLC on the Japanese AC6. I will say this though, Namco never made much different schemes for the F-22 that weren't simple derivatives of each other. A Razgriz Tomcat, Jolly Rogers, or even VF-1 Wolfpack would be great for the Tomcat. Makes me wonder why no one has ever bothered to make that scheme in a game for the Tomcat, its one of the best.

I want some Hiko Kyodotai Eagles. Being that AC6 is popular in japan, its puzzling that they have yet to add a Hiko Kyodotai eagle to DLC. Especially when the main plane is the Strike Eagle.

See, I don't think of Mobius-1, Blaze, Talisman, Cipher, or Gryphus-1 as characters in the same sense that I do Shamrock, Chopper, Edge, Archer, or Pixy. The wingmen are characters with personalities, but the main character is me. As Gryphus-1, I felt nondescript. As Cipher, I felt like a good pilot, but mercenary. As Talisman, I felt like a good pilot who was paving the path for the ground forces to win the war. As Blaze, I felt like a great pilot who led of team of good pilots that were instrumental in winning the war. But as Mobius-1, I felt like a god. I flew entirely without wingmen because no one was worthy. Yellow-13 was an Ace on par with Blaze or the others, and he was like nothing to me. Was Ace Combat 4 the best of the series? As good as it was, no, I thought it was a little short and the missions felt a little repetitive after the variety that Ace Combat 3 offered (my main gripe with 6, also). But I had the most fun being Mobius-1.

It doesn't hurt that Mobius-1 is associated with the F-22. Yeah, the paints for the F-22's have mostly been mottled blues and shades of gray, but it's still my favorite.