AI???

[Jim Harrison]

Man the AI is UNBELIEVABLE in this game no matter what the situation the AI draws or has all right cards for the right time, while the player draws garbage most if the time??

[Guest Mike]

it's just you - it has a special subroutine for playing anyone called Jim Harrison

[Jim Harrison]

LOL it sure feels that way. Of course the way I see it in this game the deck of cards is stacked twice once for the AI and once for the Player, the difference is the first is for and the second is against and it happens over and over I played about 4 campains now and it happens every time

[ June 08, 2006, 10:39 AM: Message edited by: Jim Harrison ]

[SamF7]

Man, there are days it sure feels that way. It was probably over 20-30 games before one of my campaign pilots FINALLY used his "draw card" ability to ACTUALLY DRAW A YELLOW (usable) CARD! On SEVERAL occasions I've watched the AI, with 0 cards remaining, draw ONE free card, to magically pull that ACE card, to cancel MY ACE card, and save his bacon.

However, I've also noticed that sometimes the AI seems to have no luck, also. Last night I popped the AI's leader, with my wingie (4 cards), first turn, with the "You're Dead" card (burst 2: Plane destroyed or something like that). AI had 8 cards, drew an EXTRA card....and he still went down in flames. Har har. What goes around, comes around bucko.....eventually.

SamF7

[Jim Harrison]

Heheh ok maybe there is hope, I think I may not have all the kinks worked out yet. I am still learning. BTW I have never even seen a You're dead card LOL. I have seen some 2 hit destroyed

[SamF7]

Yeah yeah yeah: A "You're Dead Card" = "2 hits: Destroyed". Heh. I was on the receiving end of THREE of those last night (it was not a good night for my pilots)......

I was like you, Jim, early in my DiF experience => I just didn't see much "skill" in the game. I was winning about 40-50% of my games against evently matched planes.

But then I started to REALLY watch how the AI was playing - I REALLY started to analyze why the AI always seemed to have 5-6 cards, while my pilots only seemed to have 2-3 at any given time. "Strategy", in the game, really comes down to just a couple, simple concepts (IMHO), most of them based on always having more cards than the enemy. Examples:

1) Learning when NOT to play a card. If the AI is plinking you with a simple 1 hit burst, don't plop down your ACE or vertical roll to cancel it. Take those tinks, and save your "avoidance" cards for when it matters (to save your bacon from being "flipped" to damaged or dead).

ACE cards and Vertical Roll (VR) cards are the ONLY cards that can stop those hideous "Out of the Sun cards" - hoard them like gold.

Note the devestation to be had with a "Target Destroyed" card AND an ACE card in your hand. The ONLY thing that can save the AI is another ACE card. Don't be so quick to plop down that ACE card to avoid an enemy move/shot, especially if it gives the AI just a modest advantage.

Have a scissors card? Let him burn cards to get in a maneuver. USE your cards to prevent him from TAILING you. On your turn you go from being advantagED to HAVING the advantage. 1 successful scissors = 2 maneuvers.

Likewise, those half loop cards are GOLD. The computer can burn a LOT of cards to get on your tail and get some shots off. If you have effective "dodge" cards, one loop card on your turn puts everthing back to normal.

I guess what I'm saying is watch for situations where you have a hand where the enemy has to plunk down 2 or more cards that can be countered by just one of your cards.

2) Know the intricacies of the cards:

* Scissors trumps Tight Turn, but only TT's can dodge shots.

* Ace trumps everything

* Barrel rolls are the most common card and counter each other.

* Maneuver, Half Loop, Bursts => Attack Cards

* TT, BR, ACE, VR => Defense Cards

* VR, ACE => VERY special cards. ACE trumps everything. VR can dodge, but also be used during your turn to change elevation.

Let me give an example: the computer pops you HARD (3+ hits). You have a BR, TT, Scissors. Do you play the BR or TT? Both BR and TT will "dodge" the shot, but BR is easily countered (very common card), while a TT, even if the AI matches your TT, you can always trump it with SC. Essentially, the computer has to have BOTH a TT and SC to stop your TT. It's the better play.

3) Strategy : I don't claim to be an expert here, but there really are some interesting situations that can occur that can be capitalized on.

Hand full of DEFENSE only cards, no maneuver or burst cards? Then LET the AI get on your tail and blaze away. DON'T counter his maneuvers, but let him just flail away with valuable burst afer valuable burst. This is when I have my Wingie go for his wingie and just let his Leader waste cards on my leader, who can't attack ANYWAY! I've had a hand of 2 ACE's, 2 Vertical rolls, and all the rest of Barrel Rolls and tight turns. Defense time. Time to target his wingie with your wingie and just let your leader bear the heat.....he's got the cards for it and he can't attack ANYWAY.

Got a hand of "Target Destroyed", ACE, Half Loop? Yah, you can pop the enemy leader with this hand, but if his leader has a bunch of cards (lets say 5+), then why not use these three cards to target his wingie with his MUCH smaller hand? The ONLY thing that can save his wingie is another ACE card. Especially deadly against Japanese planes at high altitude (1 def card)! It's most likely a free kill.

Advantaged? Tailed? Change altitude. A lot. Climbing forces him to lose a card. If you have a worthless card, this is a no-brainer. Diving MIGHT give you a card to save your bacon (a SC when you are advantaged, ACE, VR, HL any other time). Realize that the following plane ALWAYS loses an "extra" card when you are only advantaged. The evil VR forces him to lose an ADDITIONAL card. Climbing, yet another!

Note that you should NEVER discard cards UNLESS it will get you more cards. Example; planes with -1 for damage find 1:1 cards worthless. I was ALWAYS discarding them at the end of my turn, even if the discard DIDN'T free up a draw! It took me a few games to realize that 1:1's are PERFECT cards to discard when climbing or following a baddie, even if my dinky guns carried the -1 penalty!

In short, it's always good to have the AI burn more cards than you!

Sam_F7

[Inigo Montoya]

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 ]

[SamF7]

*Sigh*

Inigo......THAT part of the game I'm currently learning the hard way.

I didn't plan my skills....

I just bought them as the points became available.....

"Experimenting" I told myself.....

I'm currently paying for that sillyness. I think it also explains why I've suddenly "hit a wall" with my pilots against the AI. My chosen skills just aren't complementing each other.

I lost 5 consecutive missions last night. Both my pilots were gunned down in EVERY mission, once by the end of turn 2 (ouch). The AI "cleared the skies" of all four of us (2:2) in two of those five. Embarrassing.

I'll choose my skills MUCH more carefully this time.....and I have a plan.....

SamF7

[Inigo Montoya]

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

[Jim Harrison]

Tnx for the info guys, here is another question after the battle I have exp points to buy skills with, are those skills perminate or do I have to keep buying them over and over??

[Guest Mike]

Some of them are permanent, some have to be bought over and over.

Any card you buy is only for hte one game and is lost when it is played or at the end of hte game.

"take the lead", "Draw another card" and "Redraw" are used when played them but are kept after the game.

All other skills are permanent.

[Guest Mike]

Sam's post is very good - I'd add a few points.

This is a game about resource management - the resources are cards, and managing them is what you're trying to get good at - maximising the number of things you can do with your hand, minimising the things your opponent can do with his.

1/ Discarding - only ever discard enough cards so that you get your full draw. Eg if you have 6 performance and 2 horsepower and 5 cards in your hand, then only discard 1 max so that yuo can draw 2 cards.

Of course if you have 5 GOOD cards then by all means do not discard any!

2/ Which cards to discard? Some choices are easy - AS Sam saif if you have a 1:1 with an a/c with a -1 modifier then that's a no-brainer.

But what if you have several 1:1's, a 1:2, a couple of 2:2, and a 2:3?

Well you probably want to discard some and are hoping for some defensive cards for starters!!

I discard cards with equal bursts/damage before those that have a damage bonus - eg I'd get rid of the 1:1's and the 2:2's - that shouldn't be any surprise.

I'd probably get rid of the 2:2's first, because 2 x 1:1's require more defence cards from the rarget than 1 x 2:2 does.

For manouvre and defence cards - I get rid of cards that duplicate an effect, and keep those that have more than 1 function - eg if I have a half loop I'll happily get rid of manouvre cards as they do the same thing.

If I have a hand of tight turns I'll get rid of barrel rolls because TT's do 2 things - they protect against being shot, and they counter manouvres - barrel rolls only do 1 thing.

I'll ditch Scissors if I have a few of them and no tight turns and I have the advantage - but I'll keep 1 or 2 as a counter to TT's being played against my shooting.

If I'm shootign at someone and I have a choice of OTS or IMS cards I will usually play whichever I can counter the defence agaisnt if the enemy has a decent sized hand - eg I won't play an OS card unless I have a Vert Roll or an Ace - and even then I wouldn't play the Ace to hit him unless it was goign to smoke or shoot him down.....and sometimes not even to smoke him.

I ALWAYS buy an Ace card first.

Redraws are cheap and oft overlooked - get a couple.

Draw an extra card are useful, but get expensive if you buy a lot.

Skills that give you cards or take them away from the other guy are always better than skills that do not.