mikeszekely

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?

There's a lot of stuff in Ace Combat 5 that reminds me of 2, but no, you can never ever get rid of the wingmen. They're main characters... in that sense, AC5 is more like AFDS.

Hmm, I'm at 16b. B path again. I wonder if, once you start an A or B, you're stuck with it for the whole game?

David - Yeah, I missed 12a, but I was just thinking that you missed 11b! Because that was my favorite mission so far! I'm not crying over the F-15C. When I was a kid, I always liked the F-14 better. As an adult, I respect the combat capabilites of the F-15 family, just as I respect the F-16 family, but I'm not a huge fan of either. I tend to like fighters based on appearance, reguardless of performance. And in the long run, it doesn't matter, because it looks like you get the F/A-22 reguardless (althought the YF-23 comes after a story branch... you either get it or the F-35, which is why I suggested you'd be better off if you could get the B paths).

Wingmen kills are definately supposed to count, but the wingmen suck. Trust me. After 13 sorties, this is how my team stands: Name - Total kills (air/ground) Blaze - 327 (169/158) Nagase - 10 (9/1) Chopper - 7 (6/1) Grimm - 5 (5/0) And considering how long it took me to fill up the F-5E's bar, I think your wingmen could get maybe one or two kills and it'd look like the killbar for their plane didn't go up at all, simply because it's such a small fraction of the bar. To that end, I'm not going to really focus on building up killbars now. Better planes unlock reguardless (I got the Su-27 after 12b; I would have got the F-15C if I'd gotten the A route on the coin toss). Then, after I beat the game, I can go back and focus on specific planes until I unlock them all.

You do recall correctly. It was ridiculously short on RAM, yet state of the art (at the time) in other respects. One developer said that the PS2 was like driving a Ferrari with bald tires in the rain... a few limitations make it difficult to really push the system. Combine that with the fact that the PS2 is a bitch to program for, and many developers complained loudly... even as they jumped on the PS2 bandwagon.

To each there own. To me there is nothing more boring than a Short RPG (or now a days any RPG in general) or A FPS. And games with better Gameplay than Graphics are always a plus in My book. I'll go for gameplay over graphics, too (I still like to play the classic NES Megaman games for just that reason)... but the gameplay in GTA3 got boring to me fast, hence my lack of interest in San Andreas. I'm not a huge fan of FPS, but I do think Halo had solid gameplay. As for RPGs, KOTOR and the Baldur's Gate games rocked, but the Japanese stuff (ESPECIALLY Final Fantasy) seems to be less about being good games and more about being stories that make you say "What the hell?!"

Yeah, I went after priority targets too, but my wingmen are losers. After 9 missions, Edge was the only one with more than three kills. I order them to attack, they fly around. I order them to disperse, they fly around. I order them to cover me, and they fly around... while following me. Wingmen kills do boost your kill points for whatever plane you're flying. Later, say you're flying the F-14, and you give F-16s to all your wingmen, you build points for your F-16 and your F-14. I got to the first branching story path... the coin toss seems random. Mission 11b kicks ass, by the way. Anyway, my current hanger is 4 F-5E, 1 F-16C, 1 F/A-18C, 1 F-14A, and one A-10A. I have enough points (finally) to buy some F-20As, I just haven't had a mission where I get to play in the hanger again yet.

You don't have to confirm everything yes/no. You have the option to ignore them. Depending on the situation, an reply of silence could mean you're busy, you don't know, you thought the answer was obvious, you really meant "no," but you didn't want to say anything that would lower morale, or you're just flat out ignoring them. Anyway, 9 missions down, and I STILL don't have enough points to unlock the F-20! All I've flown was the F-5E... now I'd kinda like to start using the Tomcat... but I've put so much effort into unlocking the F-20, and I think one more mission ought to do the trick... Oh, and I got three medals so far. One thing that really stand out when I play AC5 is that, in AC4, you had your time limit, your primary targets, and then other stuff to blow up (or the occasional get xxxx points in the time limit). I knew where everything was right away, and I knew that I could take out all but one primary target, kill other stuff until I had enough points for an S rank (and more money to buy planes), then take out the last target right before time was up. In Ace Combat 5, things just seem more confusing and hectic (and, therefore, more realistic). There are enemies flying/sitting/driving/floating everywhere, new ones are constantly popping in, and it's not often that you have specific mission-required targets. You just kill what you can find, then look for more.