Inigo Montoya

It's gonna be so satisfying when you start over and get past that middle hump!

Sam, That was outstanding! It nailed it entirely. One thing I'd like to add is skill selection. The reason so many people get into trouble in the "middle" game (where the planes and pilots really start to get good) is that the AI will punish you for earlier errors. If you've made bad choices about skills, it will come back to haunt you now. I really admire people who pick Aggressive or Stay With Him! instead of Evasive or Shake Him Off! The first two skills are going to be difficult to survive with in the middle game, but the later two are crucial, IMHO. If you look at Sixxkiller's skill set, you have to admire how he has got his pilots to such high levels with such offensive-minded skills. In order to get to the high levels like that, Sixx rode a very narrow and much more dangerous line than I did with my defensive skills. If you look at Black Mamba's medals, she's flown a ton of unscathed missions where she never took a point of damage. That's because of my (The Bride's) skill selection. Offensive skills are great for killing, but they make you more vulnerable to getting shot down. On the other hand, Sixx will tell you the best defense is killing the other guy! Consider the *order* you purchase your skills too. I plan out the 10 skills I want to eventually have, then purchase them in decreasing order of cost. This is due to the fact the skills get exponentially more expensive. If you ever want to have my favorite skill, Quick Reflexes, you really must bite the bullet and save for it to be one of the first three skills you buy because it gets outrageously expensive. Delay that gratification! Another angle is mission selection and parameters. Black Mamba flew probably 75% dogfight missions where it was 1v1. Flying escorts or 2v2's just puts that much more risk into the system. For this reason, I very much admire Stalin's O for his ability to consitently fly escort missions and kill all 4 opposing enemies over and over. Again - risky, but revealing how skilled the guys who can do it and get away with it. It's not a game of luck! There's so much depth to it. Man, I am so addicted! [ June 09, 2006, 07:06 PM: Message edited by: Inigo Montoya ]

My condolences to Sitzkrieg on the loss of Rex after 320 kills. Only Sixx can truly understand what you're feeling, my friend.

Rats! I see Sixx already answered your question!

Greetings! This is a fantastic game! "Can I install it on more than one computer?" Yes! You don't need the disc to play. "When a plane changes altitude and an advantaged enemy follows, do they gain/lose cards due to the altitude change?" Yes, you would gain cards based on altitude changes, but there are skills which can adjust the number of cards you draw. Let's say you are tailing an enemy pilot tailing you and he tries to change altitude. If he dives and you have power dive, you draw 2 instead of 1. If he has Shake Him Off! then you draw one less, but if you have Stay With Him! then you draw one more. Skill selection therefore has a dramatic effect on your playstyle. Pick skills that complement the way you like to fly.

Ray, It's time to put the ring of power on this girl's finger, my friend! She sounds like a winner.

I know, Mist! I need to do some serious sucking up to her. I'm a very, very lucky guy!

I really think we will need this "resetting" skill. Perhaps it could be called "Return to Flight School." You pay 10,000 exp or something outrageous, but your skills are then reset just like when a leader dies and the wingman is promoted. Otherwise all this investment of time in our "original" version pilots feels wasted.

Yeah, glad to join. I used to have a life, but DiF ruined all that...

I'm wondering whether we will be able to use our pilots from the basic game after the expansion comes out. Will we be able to "cash in" our original skills and purchase some of the new skills? - OR - Will we have to start from scratch with new pilots when the expansion is released? - OR - Will we be able to use our old pilots, but any new expanion skills purchased will just be extremely costly due to all our prior skill purchases? I like the first option best and the last option least.

No thanks, Sitz! I don't want *all* the glory, my friend! Sorry about your terrible, unbelievable luck last month! Inigo, a.k.a. The Bride

1-30 Apr 06: Black Mamba 801 Kills 801 Damages 467 Missions 31566 Experience 115 Medals Inigo, a.k.a. The Bride [ May 01, 2006, 10:00 PM: Message edited by: Inigo Montoya ]

Incredible work! Congratulations, Ray!!!

I'm really hoping Dan or Brian respond to this. To summarize: Pilots with way more skills and experience may have a lower score in the "Game Player Status" window. This makes no sense at all! How is score determined?

Dan, I'd be happy to review the manual and make edits/suggestions. Please email it to me. Inigo, a.k.a. The Bride

We have a new All-Time Ace! Sixxkiller's Sadahara Oni displaced CSS's Falkenhorst II last night with 732 kills. Great work, Sixxkiller! Inigo Montoya, a.k.a. The Bride [ April 14, 2006, 11:09 AM: Message edited by: Inigo Montoya ]