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The Ace Combat Thread (NSF56k)

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Posts

  • ThegreatcowThegreatcow Lord of All Bacons Washington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered User regular
    I know all the plane DLC has been released and the first special mission has been released and the remaining 2 missions to continue after the first should be released on the 23rd of october and the 27th of November. Not sure why they're spreading them out so far for single missions, but it is what it is.

    The first SP mission is pretty good, very intense with having to baby your Jamming planes to give you boosts to your missile performance. And you get slammed with a ton of planes to fight. Story feels kind of awkward as the mission takes place midway through the campaign so it kinda feels awkward with the various voice lines. Otherwise pretty good, just wished they released all missions at once instead of spreading them out so far.

  • ErrorError Registered User regular
  • Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    I know all the plane DLC has been released and the first special mission has been released and the remaining 2 missions to continue after the first should be released on the 23rd of october and the 27th of November. Not sure why they're spreading them out so far for single missions, but it is what it is.

    The first SP mission is pretty good, very intense with having to baby your Jamming planes to give you boosts to your missile performance. And you get slammed with a ton of planes to fight. Story feels kind of awkward as the mission takes place midway through the campaign so it kinda feels awkward with the various voice lines. Otherwise pretty good, just wished they released all missions at once instead of spreading them out so far.

    Ah ok, that makes sense. I thought the DLC was going to be sort of expansion pack like with multiple missions around the sub. But it's going to be 3 missions and their spread out.

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
  • manwiththemachinegunmanwiththemachinegun METAL GEAR?! Registered User regular
    Error wrote: »

    4th gen fighters are going to be retrofitted using drone hardpoints, lasers and hypersonic missiles. So Ace combat 7 is basically a preview at this point.

  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    I'm fine waiting for all three missions coming out. Maybe I'll be less pissed off at the game by then.

  • mastertheheromasterthehero Professional Video Editor & Book Author Registered User regular
    The next mission is available to play today, and I have to say I had A LOT of fun playing it.

    Huge amount of targets to take out and you can increase or decrease the difficulty by taking out high priority targets first. So basically, you can neutralize the air defenses before they come online to make it easier. You can also take out helicopter squadrons and other HVT's in order to reduce or control difficulty.

    Very cool mission, I found the Rafaele with LACM's was the best choice.

    Still got A Rank though :(

    hk52krrtzsf6.gif
  • manwiththemachinegunmanwiththemachinegun METAL GEAR?! Registered User regular
    There's still tons of new stuff and hidden dialogue being found in the original game as well.
    https://www.reddit.com/r/acecombat/comments/b2788g/go_back_to_flight_school_already_444_zapland/

  • ThegreatcowThegreatcow Lord of All Bacons Washington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered User regular
    The next mission is available to play today, and I have to say I had A LOT of fun playing it.

    Huge amount of targets to take out and you can increase or decrease the difficulty by taking out high priority targets first. So basically, you can neutralize the air defenses before they come online to make it easier. You can also take out helicopter squadrons and other HVT's in order to reduce or control difficulty.

    Very cool mission, I found the Rafaele with LACM's was the best choice.

    Still got A Rank though :(

    Yeah I have to admit this mission is balls to the wall insane with how much stuff you have to do. I've been working with the X-02 with the upgraded LASMs so I can pick off entire ships from 7000meters away with one missile and take out the battleships in two of them. I'm slowly figuring out which priority targets I can snag to make things easier. So far I've identified the Ashore Aegis targets to take out the massed AA guns and the container ships with the drone launchers along with the priority targets that recon identifies.

    That said I'm still struggling to balance my loadouts in the latter half of the mission as I'm trying to hold off on switching to my air to air missiles before the twins arrive as more ships start coming in midway through.

    Still a very fun mission though.

  • manwiththemachinegunmanwiththemachinegun METAL GEAR?! Registered User regular
    edited November 2019
    manwiththemachinegun on
  • manwiththemachinegunmanwiththemachinegun METAL GEAR?! Registered User regular
    edited November 2019
  • manwiththemachinegunmanwiththemachinegun METAL GEAR?! Registered User regular
    Ten Million Relief Plan is out for all your Strangereal Red October needs:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VfJUS59fnc

  • mastertheheromasterthehero Professional Video Editor & Book Author Registered User regular
    edited November 2019
    Wow, this mission is DIFFICULT!
    Okay, so I decided to kind of follow the rules of realism and used a carrier based aircraft for this mission. In this case, I used the F-18. I equipped it with QAAM which helped me shoot down the drones in the initial stages of the mission and to defend against air threats.

    Unfortunately, the difficulty significantly ramped up to the point where the F-18 was a huge mistake. Specifically, the lack of air to ground weapons.

    So as a pro-tip, I'm just going to tell you that the amount of damage you do to the alicorn will carry over into the final stages of the mission. Since I was using the F-18, I wasn't able to destroy all the railguns, VCS, or CWIS, weapons emplacements. As a result, when the Alicorn surfaced for the final part of the mission, it was fully decked out as if I hadn't touched it. Even on normal difficulty, the final phases of the mission took me several tries to complete.

    Once I completed the mission, I decided to try it again with the Falken using Fuel Air bombs. This was how I confirmed that the damage I had done to the submarine carried over into the last phase. Unfortunately, the Fuel Air bombs don't do enough damage to the Alicorn. I must have dropped 4 or 5 Fuel Air Bombs before one of the weapon emplacements was finally destroyed. Although I wanted to play it again with a different aircraft, the mission was too long and challenging for me to go round 3. On both attempts I got C rank, which literally dropped my jaw. I had gotten C rank when I first got the game and was learning the mechanics. I didn't expect to get a C rank during the Alicorn mission, especially after using the Falken. So getting a high score on this mission is going to be intensely challenging.

    Overall, I wish there had been more missions like this in the vanilla game. All of these SP missions showed a return to form in a way that evokes memories of Ace Combat Five. Instead of being just an arcade shooter like Wings of Liberation, these missions actually make use of different gameplay mechanics and systems which fit perfectly in this universe. If anyone remembers Ace Combat 5, this mission is similar to the one where you have to track Edge's rescue beacon. However, unlike 5, there are multiple stages to this mission and you can't afterburner your way to the target.

    I think these SP missions were truly excellent and much more creative than the standard missions we got in 6. Very fun, and I'm definitely going to at least try to get A rank.

    This mission is EXTREMELY difficult, so make sure to improve the homing capability of your standard missiles, you're going to need it. If you bring a special weapon like QAAM or 4AAM, you're going to handicap yourself in the final mission. F-22, Rafaele, F-35, would be good choices for this mission. I'm not sure about using the PLS because there are a lot of targets on the sub and it tends to submerge after throwing everything it has on you.

    Be ready for a fight!

    masterthehero on
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  • Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    Is this the final DLC part? or is there one more to go?

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular

    That entire first video inspired reactions like that Vince McMahon gif.

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  • manwiththemachinegunmanwiththemachinegun METAL GEAR?! Registered User regular
    edited November 2019
    Trajan45 wrote: »
    Is this the final DLC part? or is there one more to go?

    Its the last one, but what a note to go out on. 7 sold very well however, I doubt we'll see the last of Ace Combat anytime soon.
    There's also a fiction article on the Japanese website about how Eursea got the Alicorn, and also more lore links to Ace Combat 3.

    manwiththemachinegun on
  • LD50LD50 Registered User regular
    I did a thing and I bought the game again on PC. Man does this game look good at 1440p@120fps with 150% scaling. Unf. Also, I never played the DLC, so I got the version with the season pass in it, so I'll have that to look forward to. I'm going to go down the russian side of the plane tree this time, and enjoy myself some of that SU goodness.

  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    LD50 wrote: »
    I did a thing and I bought the game again on PC. Man does this game look good at 1440p@120fps with 150% scaling. Unf. Also, I never played the DLC, so I got the version with the season pass in it, so I'll have that to look forward to. I'm going to go down the russian side of the plane tree this time, and enjoy myself some of that SU goodness.

    You don't capitalize the 'U'. It's Sukhoi, not SUkhoi. [/pedantic]

  • LD50LD50 Registered User regular
    Synthesis wrote: »
    LD50 wrote: »
    I did a thing and I bought the game again on PC. Man does this game look good at 1440p@120fps with 150% scaling. Unf. Also, I never played the DLC, so I got the version with the season pass in it, so I'll have that to look forward to. I'm going to go down the russian side of the plane tree this time, and enjoy myself some of that SU goodness.

    You don't capitalize the 'U'. It's Sukhoi, not SUkhoi. [/pedantic]

    But what if it's SUKHOI?

  • DrovekDrovek Registered User regular
    Finally got around to playing the DLC missions. Holy shit, did I love them!

    That last mission was a bit of a pain in the ass. I first did it with the Raptor + XSDB, but that never managed to do enough damage. Did a few tries but I never managed to kill fast enough.

    Then I retried but with the YF-23 + UGB and that dished out the pain. It was like night and day vs the Raptor as far as A2G capabilities.

    Shit, now I want more Ace Combat.

    steam_sig.png( < . . .
  • ThegreatcowThegreatcow Lord of All Bacons Washington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered User regular
    Drovek wrote: »
    Finally got around to playing the DLC missions. Holy shit, did I love them!

    That last mission was a bit of a pain in the ass. I first did it with the Raptor + XSDB, but that never managed to do enough damage. Did a few tries but I never managed to kill fast enough.

    Then I retried but with the YF-23 + UGB and that dished out the pain. It was like night and day vs the Raptor as far as A2G capabilities.

    Shit, now I want more Ace Combat.

    Damn I was about to try that combination when I got home tonight. I've always loved the XSDB for standard spread out ground targets but I guess these hardpoints on the sub are beefier than the bombs it seems. I need to see if I can try with the X-02 and the LASMs and see how they'd perform. They were great on the previous mission. Being able to one shot everything up to a battleship was freaking awesome.

  • ThegreatcowThegreatcow Lord of All Bacons Washington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered User regular
    Good lord this last mission is freaking hard! Even on normal. Those UAVs and alicorn-launched planes are the most maneuverable enemies I've faced outside of the two final boss drones at the end of the campaign. The worst is that you pretty much have to pick a hyper maneuverable plane with upgraded homing standard missiles, and some kind of beefy anti ground weapon to repeatedly hit the hardpoints of the alicorn. Worse, the alicorn seems to have regenerating SAM, CWIS and Railguns so repeatedly dropping FAEBs or large bombs seems to do nothing to making the mission easier. First attempt on the mission I ended up with a C rank.

  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited December 2019
    LD50 wrote: »
    Synthesis wrote: »
    LD50 wrote: »
    I did a thing and I bought the game again on PC. Man does this game look good at 1440p@120fps with 150% scaling. Unf. Also, I never played the DLC, so I got the version with the season pass in it, so I'll have that to look forward to. I'm going to go down the russian side of the plane tree this time, and enjoy myself some of that SU goodness.

    You don't capitalize the 'U'. It's Sukhoi, not SUkhoi. [/pedantic]

    But what if it's SUKHOI?

    tHEN YOU BETTER HAVE A KEYBOARD WITH A CAPITAL NUMBERS FUNCTIONALITY, SMART GUY.

    (Less jokingly; capital S and U stand for two separate words--самоходная установка, "Self Propelled", whereas the Су in Сухой is part of a actual proper name, and thus, only the first letter is capitalized, "Su." Like how "MiG" is actually two names combined in honor of their partnership. So a SU-85 is a self-propelled gun, and an Su-27 is an Sukhoi aircraft. The more you know(tm).)

    Synthesis on
  • valhalla130valhalla130 13 Dark Shield Perceives the GodsRegistered User regular
    Does the Ace Combat stories make any more sense in Japanese than they do in English. I feel like I get the gist, but it seems slightly off.

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  • manwiththemachinegunmanwiththemachinegun METAL GEAR?! Registered User regular
    There's a lot of melodramatic animisms in AC. Like, watch Gundam and you're watching Ace Combat.

  • Stabbity StyleStabbity Style He/Him | Warning: Mothership Reporting Kennewick, WARegistered User regular
    Man, I should do a replay of AC7. I remember really enjoying it last year when it came out and I still have the DLC to play. Might try going for Aces this time. I don't think I met the conditions for a single Ace last time.

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  • BetsuniBetsuni UM-R60L Talisker IVRegistered User regular
    Man, I should do a replay of AC7. I remember really enjoying it last year when it came out and I still have the DLC to play. Might try going for Aces this time. I don't think I met the conditions for a single Ace last time.

    Funny that you post this because I just jumped back in to try and finish it. My first mission back in was easy, blow up ships, structures and other random things. Nice and easy. Then it drops me into a mission to defend a cannon to shoot down one of the Arsenal Birds. That sucked since I couldn't figure out that I had to blow up both ground and air units... Then take out drones and then the propellers??? Yeah, easy peasy... Not. Took me a long time to figure all of that out and finish the mission with my terrible flying and shooting skills. I really wish I could figure out how to tell my wingmen to go take care of stuff on their own. Oh wait, do they still have those commands in the game?

    No idea how much further I have to go, but not looking forward to it. I used to suck at these games and man it is showing that the AI is getting better or my flying is getting worse with age.

    oosik_betsuni.png
    Steam: betsuni7
  • manwiththemachinegunmanwiththemachinegun METAL GEAR?! Registered User regular
    edited January 2020
    In AC7 it's a bit weird in regards to what your wingmen can do.

    In AC4, friendly planes can and do shoot enemies, but they don't fire very fast or maneuver well.
    AC5 and Zero use the same system for wingmen, who are hyper competent and can use special weapons.
    AC6 had the Allied Strike button which allowed for huge alpha strikes from friendly, basically clearing a battle zone.
    AC7 is a return to AC4. I'd call it AC4+. Your wingmen, especially your named wingmen, can shoot down enemies and hit ground targets. But they're not under your command. It's also harder to see since replays don't give you the option to see what your allies do while you're off doing your thing. HOWEVER, in some missions allied damage is disabled, meaning you have to do all the work yourself. This is most easily seen in the game's second mission, where even when your friends are hitting targets like drones, they don't die. In other missions, they do.

    manwiththemachinegun on
  • BetsuniBetsuni UM-R60L Talisker IVRegistered User regular
    In AC7 it's a bit weird in regards to what your wingmen can do.

    In AC4, friendly planes can and do shoot enemies, but they don't fire very fast or maneuver well.
    AC5 and Zero use the same system for wingmen, who are hyper competent and can use special weapons.
    AC6 had the Allied Strike button which allowed for huge alpha strikes from friendly, basically clearing a battle zone.
    AC7 is a return to AC4. I'd call it AC4+. Your wingmen, especially your named wingmen, can shoot down enemies and hit ground targets. But they're not under your command. It's also harder to see since replays don't give you the option to see what your allies do while you're off doing your thing. HOWEVER, in some missions allied damage is disabled, meaning you have to do all the work yourself. This is most easily seen in the game's second mission, where even when your friends are hitting targets like drones, they don't die. In other missions, they do.

    Ah ok, thanks for the intel. No wonder there are missions where it feels like I'm the only one shooting things.

    oosik_betsuni.png
    Steam: betsuni7
  • LD50LD50 Registered User regular
    In general, you don't want your allies shooting anything, because stuff they kill does not count to your points total. Them killing stuff can make it harder to get enough points for an s rank.

  • manwiththemachinegunmanwiththemachinegun METAL GEAR?! Registered User regular
    edited January 2020
    I usually don't play for points. So it's pretty cool when an allied missile sets off half an oil field, or a few missiles streak in from no where to cap a few drones during the Arsenal Bird fight.

    During the Oil Rig/Base attack mission, you can actually see Wiseman destroy a platform if you listen to him talk about hitting the cores. Of course, the radio message changes if you do it first.

    Also in AC5, you do get partial points for Pixy or PJ shooting down planes, I think the same applies for AC5. It's not the full amount, but it does count.

    manwiththemachinegun on
  • DrovekDrovek Registered User regular
    I'm around Mission 13 or so in my replay through on harder difficulty (don't remember the name) and getting all named Aces. There's only been a couple of groan worthy ones (mostly the one where you're Lasing for the bombers), but so far it's been really fun.

    And yeah, the DLC missions are damned awesome.

    steam_sig.png( < . . .
  • Stabbity StyleStabbity Style He/Him | Warning: Mothership Reporting Kennewick, WARegistered User regular
    edited January 2020
    Started my replay and it's still really good! Like, god damn :D I dunno where I'd rank the story after sitting on it. In my mind, nothing comes close to what they did with 4. Then I'd probably do 0 then 5 and then probably 7? I honestly don't really remember anything about 6's story, so idk where I'd rank it. 3 was potentially cool with all the branches and whatnot, but I only really did one playthrough and called it good. It seemed fine I guess? And then 1 and 2 might as well not even have a story. I'll have to see where 7 holds up after my replay. I remember the starting stuff being really solid and interesting, going from Mage squad to Spare squad and then working up to Strider squad. But I think all the political stuff just kinda fell flat for me. That's probably where most of the stories fall flat for me in this series, thinking about it. Probably why 4's the best, because it sticks that in mission briefings and lets the cutscenes tell a personal story. All the personal stuff with the Junk Queen at the start landed for me too for much the same reason, I think. You got a personal, human story of someone caught up in this maelstrom of war happening around her. I don't remember how that stuff shakes out towards the end but there's lots of stuff with the enemy ace and his family and the drone project and stuff and it's all way less interesting.

    Edit: Also, going for the Aces has been a lot of fun, too. Adds some spice that would be missing in just a regular replay.

    Stabbity Style on
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  • Stabbity StyleStabbity Style He/Him | Warning: Mothership Reporting Kennewick, WARegistered User regular
    Mission 11 is still the best. I absolutely adore missions where you blow up all the things. It's got naval ships and platforms that are both great to destroy. I think there are 1 or 2 more missions like that later in the game but I can't remember.

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  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    I haven't tried the DLC--in honesty, I haven't played the game since the bullshit while unlocking ace skins (not even the final one). I probably should at some point, perhaps after I leave my current job and have more free time.

  • Stabbity StyleStabbity Style He/Him | Warning: Mothership Reporting Kennewick, WARegistered User regular
    Synthesis wrote: »
    I haven't tried the DLC--in honesty, I haven't played the game since the bullshit while unlocking ace skins (not even the final one). I probably should at some point, perhaps after I leave my current job and have more free time.

    Do they get harder? I've done them for the first 11 levels and they were all pretty manageable. Had to do a couple restarts, but not enough to be properly frustrated.

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  • BetsuniBetsuni UM-R60L Talisker IVRegistered User regular
    So question for those of you who have gone after the Aces. I play this game on the easiest level just to have fun (and since I suck at dog fighting) but at that level usually it is one lucky hit with a missile and the Ace leaves the zone/level ends. Is it that way for the harder levels as well? As in you never actually shoot down the Ace, or are there no Aces on easier levels and I assumed the main target is the Ace? I seriously forgot how AC treats Aces in previous games.

    oosik_betsuni.png
    Steam: betsuni7
  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited January 2020
    Synthesis wrote: »
    I haven't tried the DLC--in honesty, I haven't played the game since the bullshit while unlocking ace skins (not even the final one). I probably should at some point, perhaps after I leave my current job and have more free time.

    Do they get harder? I've done them for the first 11 levels and they were all pretty manageable. Had to do a couple restarts, but not enough to be properly frustrated.

    I didn't particularly enjoy them, but they were "manageable" up until MANTIS. Which I would've completed, if Namco didn't decide to retain the subtle "fuck you" game mechanic of making it possible to fail a mission after it says "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" on the screen. On top of making the spawning criteria for him unreliable at best. After 3 to 4 hours of trying, I realized how stupid the whole affair was and haven't played the game since then.

    Some research suggests that MANTIS might the most unreliable (and by extension, difficult) ace spawn in the game. Is there a point requirement? Some people say there is. Some people say there is a speed requirement. Everyone agrees there's probably an altitude requirement. Maybe. Great. On the other hand, others are also unreliable enough that you might get fucked over there (and I was just lucky enough not to up to that point). It's entirely possible trying to get the ace skins, on the whole, was a mistake--if anyone asked me if they should after completing the game, I'd say "Absolutely not. Most of them suck anyway, and the ones that don't probably aren't worth it."

    Synthesis on
  • Stabbity StyleStabbity Style He/Him | Warning: Mothership Reporting Kennewick, WARegistered User regular
    Betsuni wrote: »
    So question for those of you who have gone after the Aces. I play this game on the easiest level just to have fun (and since I suck at dog fighting) but at that level usually it is one lucky hit with a missile and the Ace leaves the zone/level ends. Is it that way for the harder levels as well? As in you never actually shoot down the Ace, or are there no Aces on easier levels and I assumed the main target is the Ace? I seriously forgot how AC treats Aces in previous games.

    I don't remember how it is in earlier games, but in AC7, Aces are optional bonus things that show up if you meet very specific conditions in a level (on normal or hard difficulty). They either fly around or try to flee the map after spawning. They're distinguishable by having their callsign under their plane type when targeted. None of them have been hard to actually shoot down so far. The real challenge is usually meeting the condition to get them to appear.

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  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    Betsuni wrote: »
    So question for those of you who have gone after the Aces. I play this game on the easiest level just to have fun (and since I suck at dog fighting) but at that level usually it is one lucky hit with a missile and the Ace leaves the zone/level ends. Is it that way for the harder levels as well? As in you never actually shoot down the Ace, or are there no Aces on easier levels and I assumed the main target is the Ace? I seriously forgot how AC treats Aces in previous games.

    You have to have cleared the mission at least once (i.e. gone through your first playthrough) to spawn any "ACE" as far as I know. This is distinct from the actual campaign storyline named ace combatants (though I think the first time you down "Mister X" for the last time, you do get an unlockable of some kind), or other named planes. They are, however, "constrained" by the same weird circumstances of the level (like poor visibility or messed-up IFFs), which is really just another inconvenience for the player more than anything. Also, you need to play on normal, as noted above. At least half of the aces are actively fleeing upon spawning, or will randomly flee, despite rather spurious suggestions on Reddit that some are "Aggressive" and will actively hunt you down (this would actually make your job a lot easier, since they're basically a nonexistent threat if you actually mastered the skills necessary to get them to appear).

    Also, reportedly, if you teammate somehow manages to shoot one down (as unlikely as that seems), you will not get credit. And more problematically, a teammate completing the criteria for getting an ace to spawn ("destroy these bombers") is also thought to keep an ace from spawning. You have to do it.

  • BetsuniBetsuni UM-R60L Talisker IVRegistered User regular
    edited January 2020
    Yikes. Ok, yeah that sounds painful and think I'll pass on them.

    I think the previous versions had Aces, but they were already flying and you just had to go hunt them down. At least that's how I remembered it....

    Thanks for answering my curiosity.

    Betsuni on
    oosik_betsuni.png
    Steam: betsuni7
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