posted 12-20- 11:09 AM               

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I just gave the release version of FA2 a spin.. first impressions are
pretty favourable, I really like the damage modelling. I had a fuel leak in
one wing and I could see the fuel spraying out the wing. Then i got shot
again and my right wing caught fire. The engine spun down and I was left to
glide back to base, plopping it down too hard and collapsing my gear. The
graphics still need some work but the gameplay is there. The padlock view
is a little jittery. Make sure to change the resolution up from the default
640 x 480

If you're looking for realistic games check out the "private games"
section, I was able to find a "no tags" game going. Speaking of the private
games are awesome.. you can host your own game and have total control over
all the settings.. pages and pages of settings. Other players can come and
go as the game is in progress and the map shows how much territory each
country holds.

Settings include:

- terrain
- how smart the ai is,
- how far away bombers and fighters are visible
- tag information if you want squadron tags, rank tags, distance tags,name
tags, rank tags
- overspeeding damage
- show friends or enemies or none on map
- how high you can go without oxygene
- what countries are allied with each other
- blackout, redout
- padlock range
- tag range
- how long it takes to repair plane on landing
- antiaircraft and bomber gunner skill
- tournament settings number of lives, seconds before guns go live,
players can watch game as ghosts after they are dead
- selectively pick what planes are available to what countries for
historic battles

flight model

- moment from hits
- asymmetrical payloads
- wind
- torque
- recoil
- external load aerodynamics
- compressibility
- stall/spin
- flap speed limits, landing speed limits
- taxi speed limits, engine overspeed damage
- gear damage from movement or movement and stress
- extent of damage to airframe from G force and overspeeding

That's not a feature list, these are all options you can choose in your
game setup ! I'm not sure if the ground war is active in the private games..
I think so because US and GB just had a sliver of the map left when I
joined.

I still like SDOE better but games only run from 8pm to 11pm most nights
(although last night it was more like 8pm to 5am hehe)

TS

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Ok it's 5am I have to work in 4 hours. I spent the whole night just GROUND
POUNDING if you can believe that. The trains are great and affect the supply
model. The territorial combat in FA is just cool beyond belief. I haven't
been this hooked since playing SDOE online.

Tank factories, trains carrying supplies, moving fronts, it's totally
****ing awesome. One time I entered the game and my airfield was under
attack.. BY TANKS ! There were panzers rolling down the runway firing
shells past my plane at the enemy tanks. The tanks making sqeaking clanking
sounds and pausing to line up their shots. I threw it in high gear, shells
exploding to either side of my plane. Gaining some altitude, I turn back and
see the tanks totally hammering the crap out of each other, smoke rising of
their treads.

I dropped a few bombs on the enemy tank formation but too many of them..
the base was overrun and the enemy tanks took up positions in a circle
around the airfield. I bombed some more tanks and the remaining tanks
repositioned themselves to fill in the gaps (!)

Landing at a nearby airbase for fuel, I was dismayed to discover I could
only get 1/5 of a tank ! The enemy had shut down our rail transport and
fuel was in short supply. Loading up my JU88 with a fresh stack of bombs I
set course for the enemy tank factory with half a dozen others .. revenge on
our minds.

posted 12-20- 07:18 PM               

It all sounds great except the graphics and they you have to pay to play after the beta is done.

I hope MH sees the level of comp out there now and is going to incoperate all this stuff in the next ww2 flight sim they do.

posted 12-21- 04:16 AM               

There's not enough time in a day!

OK... a couple hours later and I have it and flew it offline for starters (not online yet cause it's late/early!). I like it a lot! Much more than I thought. Yes though, the graphics are a bit weak/cheasy on the planes, but the terrain is sweet! And all the hills/mountains, the buildings, etc are all really cool. It's a darn fast engine too (course all those WAY low poly models don't hurt )

I'll continue to be an SDOE/OpenPlane affectionado, but this game is really cool and worth mentioning/downloading/flying.

Thanks for the advice!