Aces High (video game)
| Aces High | |
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Previous logo for Aces High II. Current version lacks the II, reflecting the renaming of the game to Aces High. | |
| Developer(s) | HiTech Creations |
| Distributor(s) | HiTech Creations |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Combat flight simulator |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Aces High (formerly known as Aces High II) is a combat flight simulator and massively multiplayer online game for Microsoft Windows. It was created by HiTech Creations and originally released on May 8, 2000, the game is subscriber based. It features aircraft from both the World War II[1] and World War I[2] eras, as well as smaller numbers of ground vehicles and ships.
While the main focus of Aces High is on World War II aerial combat, there is also a smaller selection of ground vehicles, ships and World War I aircraft. There are over 100 aircraft, vehicles and boats individually modeled in the game.[3]
Gameplay
Aces High is an open-ended combat flight simulator, where players can fly online or offline, and engage other players in air, land or sea-based combat. Strategy is similar to capture the flag, there are three countries at war and the object is to win the war by capturing a percentage of the other two countries fields while retaining a percentage of your own fields. Capturing and defending fields takes cooperation of players of each side. Player built maps are rotated at the end of each war, reset and start over. War lasts anywhere from hours to days depending on the arena and populations present.
World War II
The main (and original) focus of Aces High is World War II aerial combat. This takes place in several online arenas, the focuses of which include 'early', 'middle' and 'late' war aircraft. In addition to this, the World War II arenas also contain ground and naval combat, both of which operate alongside the air war. Although the selection of ground vehicles is a little lacking, it is beginning to be improved with the upcoming addition of the M4A3 and the M4A3(76) (a version armed with a 76mm high velocity gun as opposed to a 75mm low velocity gun, which would give better anti-tank capabilities at the cost of less powerful high-explosive shells.)[1]
World War I
HiTech Creations announced the development of aircraft from World War I in October 2009. Upon its release in 2010, it contained four aircraft: the Fokker Dr.I, Sopwith Camel, Bristol F.2B, and Fokker D.VII.[2]
The World War 1 arena is set up as a dogfighting arena with 3 countries set up and bases in close proximity. As of version 2.25 the Dr.I flight model was reworked resulting in slightly lower lift and top speed.
Special Events
Special Events are events run outside the normal areas of the game in order to have more-realistic battles based upon or themed upon various historical battles or to have some other activity, such as air racing. Special events include Scenarios, Friday Squad Operations (FSO's), Air Racing, This Day in WWII, Snapshots, Sunday European Campaign, King of the Hill, Squad Dueling, and Heavy Metal Sundays, some of which are described below.[4]
Scenarios
Scenarios are special large-scale battles in Aces High that run a 2-3 times per year. Usually, they are based on actual WWII battles, such as the Battle of Britain. Sometimes they are based on hypothetical battles that might have been. A Scenario typically involves about 150 people divided into two sides, each with a dedicated command staff. Each side has particular aircraft, mission objectives, squadron assignments, bases, and resources. A Scenario typically runs over the course of a month, with one battle per week, each battle lasting 3–4 hours. Of the special events in Aces High, Scenarios are generally designed to have the most amount of realism consistent with still having a fun battle. [5]
Friday Squad Operations
Friday Squad Operations (FSO's) are somewhat like Scenarios except that they run three Fridays out of every month, and have participation restricted to members of Aces High Squadrons. Typical participation in FSO's is several hundred players.
This Day in WWII
This Day in WWII runs once per month on the anniversary of a major WWII battle (such as Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, D-Day, Pearl Harbor, etc.). The design is themed upon the battle, but made to be fun to play with no preparation needed by players before they participate.
Snapshots and SEC's
These are battles that run several times per month themed on WWII battles. The designs are made to be fun and to require little or no preparation by players prior to participation.
AHXAR
Air Racing runs each week, where players race on courses that typically include flying under a bridge or through a hangar as part of the course. Placement in each race is noted, and there is a final champion at the end of a series of races.
King of the Hill
In this event, players all fight each other until one person is left, who then chooses the plane type for the next round. The first person to win three rounds is King of the Hill.
Squad Dueling League
One Squad fights another until all members of a Squad are shot down. A scoring system is set up to track results over a 12-month period.
Heavy Metal Sundays
Runs on Sundays. It is fighting or other events involving ground vehicles (often tanks).
Axis vs Allies arena
The Aces High Axis v Allies (AvA) arena pits historic opponents and weapons against each other within the confines of available plane sets and maps.
The arena features 24/7 snapshots of historic or semi-historic WWII battles or campaigns in virtually all theaters of the war.
Ordinarily, setups change each week.
Additional Features
Using editors provided by the developers, players are able to create terrains and aircraft skins, which may be submitted to HiTech Creations for inclusion in the game. As of version 2.25 the number of in game skins to select from has been doubled from 16 to 32 for each aircraft[6]
The game also contains a program called Aces High Film Viewer. This allows players to record their sorties for later viewing through the Film Viewer. Players can slow down or speed up the play back, use recorded views to watch the film as seen by the player in game, there is an option for trails to show the flight paths of aircraft as well as the ability to trim down film and remove text or vox from a saved film.