mikeszekely

Alright, if anyone gets any stick besides the one that comes with it to work, let me know. While you're at it, let me know if they work on AC4 and AFDS, too. Finally, after the huge setback of having to start the entire game over after finishing 26 missions, I beat the game! And I gotta say... *SPOILERS* ...the final mission was almost anti-climactic. Flying though the tunnel was easier than flying through Geofront in Ace Combat 3, and with just one target to shoot, it didn't seem as bad as taking down Megalith in AC4... although things did get a little hairy when the shutters started closing. And then, shooting down the SOLG was like taking on the Arkbird, except this time, it wasn't shooting back. Ofnir and Grabacr's reapperance helped a little, except that I was flying the F/A-22... two salvos from the XLAAM's, and I'd taken out all but two before they'd finished their first pass. It was fun to be Blaze and a member of Razgriz/Wardog, and I'd grown fond of my wingmen... but it still doesn't compare to being Mr. "More effective than an entire fighter squadron" Mobius-01.

When the game came out here in STL lots of places had special sales on it ($39.99 and $44.99 rather than $49.99) but the sale price only applied to the non DVD standard version for some reason. I myself was not interested in that game but I clearly remember seeing the small print in a few ads (Circuit City and Comp USA come to mind) stating only the non-DVD edition was on sale (plus the only one pictured in the ad) and I remember some of the people in my office griping about how only the standard release was on sale. That is what I was referring to for the most part. Come to think of it, I was in Comp USA on Saturday getting a HDMI cable for my TV and I browsed their games section and the Sims2 DVD editions were falling off the shelves but the standard release was almost sold out. Seems to me that Sims2 is the only double media release game I have seen in stores other than Unreal Tournament so this practice is not exactly "widespread" yet. Ah, see, I have no idea what kinds of promos other stores do, but where I work at Gamestop, both editions are $50. No sales. And while we've sold more CD-Rom copies than DVD-Rom, that's mostly due to the fact that customers figure they must have a CD-Rom, if that's what Sims 1 played on, but are uncertain as to whether they actually have a DVD-Rom. Neverwinter Nights Platinum was released in both CD and DVD forms. I was half tempted to pick up the DVD version, but I already have NWN Gold and HotU, and I couldn't justify buying the same game again. EverQuest II, World of WarCraft, City of Heroes, and Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault will all see DVD releases this year. Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 are also likely canidates for DVD releases, although the DVD release for Doom will probably be in March to coincide with the release of the expansion.

Begin by selecting for yourself either the Su-27 or the F-15C, depending on which path you took on the coin flip, and any fighters for Grimm and Chopper with strong air-to-air capablities. When the mission starts, align yourself so that the green bars meet (should be to the WNW), and then kick in the afterburners. Unless you have a good shot, ignore the enemy fighters. When the green bars start to move apart, adjust your position with your yaw controls. If Chopper says, "Did you just see someone down there?" tell him, "No." When Chopper asks if you should split up and search, again, tell him, "no." Eventually, you'll start to get jammed. Take out the enemy E-767, ignore all other fighters, then focus on pointing your plane back into a position where the green bars are touching again. Grimm will say something like, "the signal is getting stronger, she must be around here!" Sea Goblin will eventually ask, "Did you locate her?" Answer yes, and the mission will change. You should now have two friendlies on the radar... one is Edge on the ground, ethe other is Sea Goblin. Leave Edge, and fy out to Sea Goblin. Take out any SAMs or AA guns on the ground, then order your wingmen to Disperse and activate special weapons. Shoot down any enemy fighters that get close to Sea Goblin. Once Sea Goblin picks up Nagase, the mission is over.

Okay, a couple of things got me thinking. First off, while the APHOS is mostly a blend of mechanical and organic technology, ultimately, it's a tool. A kind of mecha, almost, with Sara as the pilot. When it was questioning Sara, it seemed to be a way of determining what mode to start in... creation mode (the mode it was used to genetically engineer humankind) or destruction mode (the mode that was used in M0). APHOS does not evaluate the trutfullness of the answers... technically, Sara's answer to the first question was wrong. Mankind had NOT developed the technology behind interstellar travel (a huge difference between interstellar travel and simple space flight). During the timeline when Macross Zero takes place, the ONLY fold-capable ship that humankind had was the Macross, which wasn't built by man, and those fold boosters probably hadn't been used since the moments leading up to the crash. After startup, Sara was the pilot. The fact that Sara broke off the attack DOES NOT mean that humankind passed or failed some kind of ultimate test definatively. Yes, the Protoculture probably wanted to keep humankind from taking wars into space. And yes, the Nome family are probably direct decendants of the Protoculture who brought APHOS to earth in the first place, and the Nome family was probably entrusted with the responsibilyt to judge humanity and use APHOS accordingly. But ultimately, it was Sara who decided to use the Song of Destruction (apparently, the Protoculture where very musical and very in touch with the power of music, and not just for whacking Protodeviln), and ultimately, it was Sara who decided to change her mind. The fact that the APHOS initiated a fold after getting hit with four reaction weapons could be an automated failsafe, though, and I'm very curious to know where it went. Now, another thing... humans are supposedly a sub-protoculture race evolved from earth's native life, apparently simian. (The fish-man thing seems more of a myth analogous to something else than a direct comment on mankind's origins). Now, I don't think that it was a random event... otherwise, earth would be more special and not forgotten in the conflict between the Stellar Rebublic and the Supervision Army. In all likeliness, earth was one of a number of seeded planets, and Zola is apparently another example, with the native life having been marsupials instead of simians. So, are there more APHOS out there? Is there another perhaps one on Zola? If I recall correctly, the timeline in the Compendium doesn't say that Protoculture are extinct... just nearly extinct. The Zentraedi are still looking for remnants of the Supervision Army. They must have found some remnants within recent history, or else they probably would have quit looking (although, with that being their only real driving purpose, they might have continued for millenia just for lack of anything else to do). I think the original Macross even hints that there are still some in the episode where they go to take the factory satellite and find a ship, but the ship is gone when they look for it later. Plus, the Zentraedi were only "programmed" to go after the Supervision Army. The remnants of the Stellar Republic might have retreated to one core planet, and might be there today, still technologicaly advanced, but afraid to leave their local area. Suppose that Sara's APHOS retreated to there? Or that the Megaroad-01 found it, and hence the lack of communication since (the Protoculture don't really want to be found)? Now, look at all of that in light of the fact that humankind did not develop interstellar travel on its own, but rather by reverse engineering technology gleended from the wreck of a Protoculture ship that crashed on earth by chance, and further developed after mixing technology with the Zentraedi. Also consider that, now armed with fold technology and setting off to colonize other worlds, that humankind hasn't really left war behind. The Megaroads and the the Macross City ships were part of larger fleets that contained numerous warships. Macross Zero and the canon story in Macross VF-X2 show that humans are still very inclined to fight amongst themselves, and although the aliens in SDF Macross and Macross 7 were the aggressors, how long before the UN starts hostilely invading planets it wants to colonize? How will Protoculture remnants or other APHOS react to humankind sending warships throughout the galaxy? As the UN colonizes space, will they make the same mistakes the Protoculture did when they were creating their Stellar Republic? (Remember, the Zentraedi weren't created to be frontline grunts in the war between the Stellar Republic and the Supervision Army... they were created to be shock troops when a planet resisted colonization by the Stellar Republic). All-in-all, there's a lot of ground left to be covered in the Macross franchise.

Too true. And when they do happen to develop a real fighter, they can't afford to even use it in their own country.

It works with AC04. Tried it and it works...haven't tried it with AFDS but I recall the NCS stated that the import Flightstick worked with the import AFDS... Works with PCs, too. Check out the forums at AceCombat.net for links to the drivers.

The Sims 2 Special DVD edition is the same price as the CD-Rom edition. They only put the "Special DVD edition" in big letters so that the customers (in theory) know that they need a DVD-Rom drive, not just a CD-Rom drive. In practice, though it makes for a lot of people who think they're supposed to put it in their DVD player... I definately agree with you on the DVD movies, though. I mean, it's rare that you see a movie come out on the release day that doesn't say "Special Collector's Edition." I mean, at least with the special edition games, you know what sets it apart from the regular edition. With DVDs, the "Special Collector's Edition" is the regular edition. And then later, almost ever movie, including Spider-Man, Hellboy, the Bourne Identity, and Resident Evil, get re-released on still more super extra special editions. To which I mostly say, who cares? Do I really need bonus content where they explain to me how they did the special effects... in every DVD that I buy? I almost never watch the extra content on DVDs.

Depends on what the game is, what you get with the special editions, and how much extra the special edition is. For example... Halo 2... I loved the original Halo, and I expect to love Halo 2. Special edition is a mere $5 more, and for that, you get a DVD full of bonus content I'd probably never get around to watching, but a kick-ass metal case. I'd totally get the special edition... except that I waited too long to pre-order it, and I already got a promo metal case for display. Mortal Kombat: Deception. I liked Deadly Alliance, and I enjoyed Deception. But I'd had to have taken the Baraka cover, since that's the one that Gamestop got for Xbox, and that's where I get my discount. So, why pay $10 more for a "limited edition" cover (of which we still have more of than the regular edition) with a character I don't even really like? For the original MK? Since that's my least favorite in the series, screw it. Half-Life 2... well, I'm not really into PC games much. Last one I bought was Neverwinter Nights. Well, supposing I was, HL2 is going to be like $50 for the regular edition, and $80 for the special edition. I'm sorry, I don't care how big a fan you were of Half Life... getting Counterstrike Source and Half-Life Source doesn't justify the price, when for $10 less you could probably buy the regular edition and the Half-Life Platinum collection that has all the stuff like Counterstrike and Blue Shift. One the whole, anyway, I'm not a huge fan of the special editions, since the quality of content to price ratio seems a little off. But, I wouldn't mind if they came out with a special edition of a new Megaman game based in the classic series...

I thought that was the so called MiG-33 Flanker+.

Heres a whole buncha emblems from AC4. Enjoy: *edit* Yeah, thats the biggest I have them. Thanks for the pix, Schmitty! David, I'll grant you that 12A is better than 12B... but not by much. Either path you take, 12's gotta be my least favorite mission. But anyway, once I committed to playing again, I was breezing through... the flip side, though, is that I've hardly played DoA since I got it! Just two extra costumes for Ein, Hayabusa, Ayane, and Leifang, three for Kasumi, and one for Leon. As for the if 1.44 is the plane in the 1.42 project, then I'd guess it's the same plane either way, and I guess now it's officially the MiG-35, and it seems people are calling it Flanker again. It's cool to see a new design from MiG... as powerful as the MiG-31 was, it was butt ugly. The only other MiG that I've liked as far as apperance goes is is the 29. Plus, with the Flankers and the Berkut, it seems like Suhkoi has been getting all the attention as far as Russian planes goes.

Well, I'm back up to 19. This time, I went the A route. David, I hated 12A. I don't know what you were thinking when you played that mission, but I was pretty annoyed whenever I'd race to a target, dodging missiles from guys in the jungle all the while, only to realize that I was approaching the target from the wrong angle. But I told you that 11B was fun! First time in an air combat game where you get to participate in a car chase... Anyway, two quick questions, for anyone still reading this thread: 1 - Anyone know where I can find some pics of the squadron emblems in AC4 and 5? Specifically, the Mobius emblem, and the Razgriz emblem? 2 - Ace Combat 5 allows you to fly the MiG-1.44... what's the differnce between the 1.44 and the 1.42 (aka MiG-35)?

Yeah, well at least you don't have to start from scratch. On the plus side, I found one of those Madcatz Retrocon controllers used for $9.99. Should make replaying the Megaman Anniversary Collection a blast.

Let me just say DAMMIT! I go start up my PS2, and it starts giving me error messages about my loading the data. Basically, my memory card got corrupted, and I had to reformat it. Basically, it means I have to unlock everything in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 again, unlock everything in Macross and Z Gundam again, start over on Megaman X Command Mission when I only had maybe two chapters left, and start over on Ace Combat 5 when I was on the LAST DAMN MISSION. Everthing else that I was on there, no biggie. Hell, I don't even mind MvC, Macross, or Z Gundam that much, since I beat them... but it sucks to lose 20+ hours on an RPG and then have to start from scratch on a game that I was on the verge of beating. Well, I'll get back into Ace Combat, and alternate between in and DoA. If I buckle down, I can finish AC5 before Halo 2... but Megaman X Command Mission is going to have to wait until probably sometime in 2005 before I have time to seriously get back into that.

Did you get all the special parts yet? Getting all the planes besides the Falken (don't know if that's just unlock, or actually own at least one of each) unlocks the X-02 from AC4.

While Ace Combat 5 does indeed look great and really push to demonstrate what the PS2 is really capable of graphically, one need only pop the new Dead or Alive Ultimate (DoA2U, since DoA1U is a straight-up Saturn port) and try the stage with the elephants to see how much more the Xbox is capable of. Still, I like both systems a lot, as each one has specific games I like (although, if a game comes out on both systems, I tend to go Xbox, especially if the Xbox version supports Live). The only system I kind of question why I own is the Gamecube...

David, how about two entirely seperate campaigns? First campaign, you get one set of planes, and you fly one side of the war. Second campaign unlocks after you finish the first. You fly a different set of planes, and you fight on the other side of the same war. Not sure I want too many "vintage" jets. One of my biggest gripes with AFDS is that you play the game with really old planes, and have to work your way up to the F-4 or F-5, let alone modern fighters. Plus, as I love planes like the F/A-22 and the YF-23, I hate to unlock them at the last minute and only get to fly them for a mission or two. I more or less am happy to start with F-4 or F-5, then gradually work my way up to the F/A-22 around early in the second half of the game. Then, include more X-planes and such, like the X-36, the Hi-Mat, the X-44, etc. I just got DoA Ultimate today, so I'm gonna play with that tonight, then seriously try to finish Ace Combat 5 tomorrow.

I'm on mission 27... man it's hard to fly down a tube with a bogey on your six. I got tagged just before the core, so I didn't finish it, and now I gotta get ready for work. I'll try to have the game finished by tomorrow morning. With the shutters and the tube switching, it actually reminds me of the tunnes that go down into the Geofront in Ace Combat 3.

Are you sure the other mission was 19+ and not 18+? 18 is the one where you hit the fortress, then the plus should be the run like hell part, and then 19 is the mission where you fly the Hawk. Anyway, for 18, I'd given my wingmen some decent air-to-ground stuff. But, while I do give credit to Namco for actually making decent special weapons and actually making the air-to-air and the air-to-ground planes stand out a bit, I'd just unlocked the F/A-22, and wanted to fly it. So, for the running part, I wound up crusing past them, then I had to turn around or risk flying out of the combat area, because the actual running part hadn't started yet. When it did, I hit the E-767 and three fighters on one pass with the F/A-22's XMAA missiles, jetted past them, turned around, hit four more fighters, and made a beeline for the safe zone as fast as the figther would go.

Ah, see, I personally never liked the Tornado. I wasn't real big on the F-15, because I just think it's too blocky... but the Tornado is worse! So, I assigned it to my wingmen a couple of times, but avoided using it myself. As far as the YF-23 vs F/A-22 remarks, yeah, I was going by game stats. I'm not going to get into any discussions as far as which was really better. They both had their ups and downs. The brass decided to go with the F/A-22, while other people wish they'd have gone with the YF-23. I happen to like both designs a lot, and either choice seems to be more than a match for any other fighter out there, so I'm generally content. In a way, though, it's a shame both planes couldn't have gone into service. *Edit* Oh yeah, ECCMP is kinda like an EMP, but instead of frying all electrical systems, it seems to only affect enemy radar. They're basically jammers.

Nah, use the F/A-18C again for the sub attack. Arm the LASM, shoot it once, and it dives. When it surfaces, get off two, maybe three shots with the LASM, and it has to permanently surface. Shoot it with two more, then climb. Once the burst clears, peg it twice more and you're done. David - I got the YF-23. Seems the QAAM isn't as good as it was in AC4. Naturally, the YF-23 kicks ass... but the F/A-22 is a little bit better, and the Su-47 is more or less even with the F/A-22. Using the tree was a kinda cool idea, but in practice, it seems to have been poorly executed. Why fly a plane like the F-14 for the whole damn game to try and get the F-14D, when they give you the F/A-22 and the Su-47 after mission 17? Well, after I beat it, I'll try to go back and work on the tree... but for now, I'm pretty happy with the YF-23, F/A-22, and the Su-47 in my hanger. Oh, and David... there are four more prototype plane parts. I'll let you figure out where they are yourself, but that's basically how you unlock the Falken. Oh, and did you play the final mission, or the final final mission? Seems there's a mission 27, then a mission 27A. Is it even possible to miss the final final mission?

Yeah, the crappy radar mission is 12b, Four Horseman. But it's so worth it... I still love 11b.

In other words, David is more positive than me!

Best picture EVER!

I HATED that stage! Basically, you have to get up enough to the target that you can see it, but not too close... if you pass over it, it will detect you. It took me SEVERAL tries to get that mission down... but here's a few things I picked up... When Edge starts counting, you want to be able to see it. When Edge says there's 10 seconds left, you want to be about 7000ft away from the radar. If you're further than that, kick in the afterburners. If you you're more than 12,000ft away, you're just screwed. The radars need to be destroyed simultaneously. That is, no shot at simulatneously, but hit. You actually want to fire when the count hits 3 (maybe 2 if you're close). Because the radar rings are closer together as you move inward, the counts are shorter. For the first two, you have some time to get into position, but after you hit the second one, you really have to haul ass to get to the next two in time. After the the radar rings, you have a bunch of targets and lots of time to shoot them. But, some of the targets are actually inside of some buildings. I forget which plane I was flying, but it was probably still that damn F-5E. I assigned my wingmen some good air-to-ground planes like the A-10A, but as I've previoulsy mentioned, they're useless. I eventually decided I had to get the targets myself... I took them out by flying very high, then flying straight at the ground toward them, firing off two shots, then pulling up at the last minute. It was the only way I could get a good angle on them. *Edit* Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. You can fly any plane you own in Arcade mode, but I think you have to finish either the campaign or the Arcade mode first.

You want to start a super thread? You, the Scourge of Threads? The Destroyer of Topics?