Skull Leader

Murphy, if you've at all played FFXI, the travel system is similar to that in many respects (in that you can travel from one area to another), I haven't gotten to a point yet where I move from one large area to another, so I don't know about that yet.

I'm already a couple of hours in and I'm loving just about everything about the game.

It operates a lot like Final Fantasy XI (only without annoying and impatient players that sometimes don't even speak your language), taking a lot from the graphics/gameplay engine. The new battle system is pretty cool, it takes a little of the rampant button-pushing out of it (basically, your players will continue to do what you tell them to do until you tell them to do something different). Seeing all the enemies on the map already (another thing they pulled from FFXI) is also cool.

I can kind of see the "license" method providing the means for a lot of replay value, since you can basically tailor all of your characters in different ways (IE, all balanced in every field, or specialists in combat, magic, etc). That's just an initial observation though... hopefully after playing through the game it will continue to hold true though.

The graphics and music have been excellent too. The environments are completely flushed out with detail, and the amount of people running around towns gives you a serious MMORPG feel. The cutscenes are pretty much on par with "Advent Children" (ok, MAYBE a notch down, but still really good). The music fits the mood, nothing has seemed out of character so far!

All of my initial impressions have been really good. It could be that this is the game that revives the Final Fantasy series amongst hardcore RPGers (instead of being just incredibly good eye-candy with weak or non-existent story and game play)... the potential is certainly there, at least. I'm cautiously optimistic, as I haven't fully enjoyed a Final Fantasy game since FFVI (others since had their good points, but lacked a great deal in some or many areas). Here's to hoping I continue to be impressed as the game wears on!

I know some of you have probably jumped all over the Japanese release (seeing as how they got it way back in march), but for many of us, the US release is the first we really see or hear of it. Did anyone else gear up for the midnight release? "Project Phoenix" and I stood outside in the freezing wind while the costumed "freaks, geeks, and weirdos" got to go in a full 20 minutes before us... we both got what we were after though, since we pre-ordered (mine was fully paid already, I just had to pick it up) Both of us got the Special Edition of the game, He also got the special edition of the strategy guide with the art book in it, I settled for the regular strategy guide... almost second guessing that one though!

I tell you, there was nothing like being underway getting up at dawn and watching those beauties launch off the bowcats from vulture's row.

Watching the traps at night from above and below at the jet shop and fantail, Sweeet!!!!!!

The air shows the pilots put on at sea are even more breathtaking, NO RESTRICTIONS, NO SPEED LIMITS!!! " BOOM!!!"

... and no one to tell them that they couldn't "fertilize" the deck when they vent fuel in the overhead break, lol. A good friend of mine that served in "crash" on the USS Independence and later the Kitty Hawk said many a deck crew would look to the sky and tell the overhead Tomcats that "they were number one" as the Tomcats would break into the landing pattern while dumping fuel over the carrier deck...

In all fairness, evidently the Hornet community did it some too, but the Tomcats did it much more often... or so I am told.

I really disliked it at first, but since I helped put together a decal sheet with the squadrons new jets (through Hobbydecal), they've really started to grow on me.

The Super Hornet as a whole is starting to grow on me. It's certainly no Tomcat, and the argument is very much up in the air to if it's "Mr. Right", but it is without question "Mr. Right Now", so we might as well make the best of it!

It's been hard (as a fan) to come to grips with the fact that there are no longer any flying Tomcats in the US (I stop at the word "flyable", because the plane I care for in the museum is very much complete and could be flown with about a weeks worth of hardcore maintenance). Wanna see flying Tomcats now, you'll need to move to Tehran... and to be fair, Iran's F-14As wear a pretty kick-ass blue cammo scheme that isn't too far removed from something you'd see on a flanker.

Won't be at Edwards, but I WILL be at Nellis in a few weeks....

Great photos, Richard... Did the VFA-122 F/A-18E do the demo? Usually they use an F model for the actual flying!

Would've figured SOMEONE would've had something to say about the stuff we posted... I guess no one is interested.

With all the hype about the monster tits, I'm starting to get a little excited about this release too. Hell, maybe if every character in robotech had huge tits, it'd be a massive success.

... at the risk of asking an overly obvious question...

... even Rick Hunter? LOL

Just a heads-up Skull, there's a ban on animated avatars. I don't think there's any chance that this movie will not be released now that another company has a vested interest in it other than HG.

This thread seems to indicate a policy change on animated avatars... unless I mis-read somehow?

I went and read the spoiler/plot thread...

I get the distinct impression from the article that with the original Robotech series they kinda painted themselves into a corner and now they're trying to hop their way back out (and stumbling unsuccessfully)

and delays continue? I have no doubt that SOMETHING now exists in film format, but to my logic the project will continue to be vaporware until it hits store shelves. I stick by my logic that it will continue to be pushed back until it is lost in project oblivion.

...the most wicked of sick. I demand more.

I pre-ordered that book a long while back. They released a special edition limited print (one print for each tomcat ever made), so I got the one that had the BuNo of the Tomcat I take care of (161598)... painfully expensive, but it IS a good book.

(it was also, in Battletech at least, made of awesome).

You're kidding, right? The Thunderbolt was a slow-as-hell heat trap that could only soak up damage, not really deal it out. All throughout my paper and pencil days of Battletech (Battletech/Citytech/Battleforce/Mechwarrior, etc.. I played them all... still would if I knew people who played) any time someone in one of MY generated units rolled a Thunderbolt for his mech, I promptly replaced it! Same with the shadowhawk... looked like a nice, balanced mech on paper, but did nothing but blow up pretty from ammunition explosions every time it got hit...

Ahh, that was back from the days when X-men was still worth reading and collecting (my XM/UXM collection runs from about Ish 90-350 or so... when they started doing the whole "artist of the week" thing as they tried to find their new way, it really upset me. All through the 1980s and into the early 1990s (when they started up a new (just) "X-men" line) Those were the days worth reading! The Artwork was consistent from one issue to the next, everything just gelled really well I thought.

After the ceremony, a few jets began departing. First up was 4 or 5 Super Hornets from VFA-41. I guess most of them were ex-tomcat drivers that were on hand for the final flight and were heading back to NAS Lemoore:

After VFA-41 (and a solitary VFA-15 "Valions" Legacy hornet) "left the building", about 5 VFA-106 "Gladiators" Legacy hornets were departing for some training sorties. Some were single-seaters, but there was also a pair of family-models:

After everyone departed, I took the opportunity to shoot photos of all the Super Hornets that were on static-display for the ceremony (all of the super hornets present were past-tomcat squadrons that sent one of their show-jets for the ceremony)

"Bullet 100" (VFA-2 Bounty Hunters)

"Gypsy 275" (VFA-32 Gypsy Swordsmen) (I *HATE* the new "my little pony" design...)

"Ripper 111" (VFA-11 Red Rippers) (both show-jets were out on training missions, so a line jet had to do)

"Fast Eagle 100" (VFA-41 Black Aces) (you can see the tail of "Camelot 200" of the VFA-14 Tophatters behind it):

"Vampire 100" (VX-9 Vampires)

"Lion 200" (VFA-213 Black Lions) (this jet is hot off the assembly line)

and last but certainly not least:

"Victory 200" (VFA-103 Jolly Rogers) (I've seen this jet probably 4 times now... I never tire of looking at it)

and now, if your bandwidth has been raped enough, back to your regularly scheduled programming

It has been requested that I post some photos from my trip to the Tomcat Sunset ceremony... I've selected a very tiny sample of photos (all of them pertaining to the jets, I didn't re-size any from any of the parties I attended) I hope you enjoy!

Here's "Bandwagon 103", the high-visability ceremonial jet. I thought the scheme looked better on the low-vis bird, but everyone seemed to be after this one:

"Bandwagon 102", the ceremonical "taxi jet". This is the jet everyone believed would be flying the final flight.:

The ground crew lines up for the send-off:

Taxiing down to the arming area (pretty much out of sight of the public). The jet shut down there and another jet (already spooled up) took it's place:

"Bandwagon 107" made the ceremonial flight. VF-31 was bound and determined to have "Felix" on the ceremonial "last flight" jet (any astute observer without a camera would've noticed that this jet had drop-tanks and pylons on it...):

We then got a single weak-ass flyby at low speed and at high altitude... the crowd was very upset at this:

The reason behind this was later made clear. The day before (friday) the two "last cat" schemed jets nearly traded paint on a section take off (read: taking off together). Once the admiral of NAVAIR got wind of this, the order came down: "You get ONE JET, ONE PASS, with as little margin for error or mishap as possible!" Any "high-balling fighter spirit antics" would earn the respective pilot a one-way trip to the "dishonorable discharge" line and that would be the end of it. Hard to argue with the "safety" philosophy, but you can tell everyone was dissapointed.

However, we weren't rushed immediately off the flight line. In fact, things got pretty interesting! A number of hornets from the VFA-83 Rampagers began coming in (notice the assymetrical loadouts):

There were about 4 or 5 of those guys (probably spent half a memory card on those guys alone), then a pair of VFA-11 Super Hornets came in. My camera's focus was fighting me about that time, so I got NO good shots of the 'Rippers jets. This one came out "ok" I guess:

(to be continued)

*sighs at yet another lame-ass movie idea*

... I'm really starting to hate this world...

Richard, lemme make some of the photos a little more "browser friendly" and host them and I'll post 'em up

This has been going on too long, but I've got to say it,

Commercial aircraft/airliners = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............

But I guess when in Rome, do as the Romans do, so whenever I get the pictures I took at the air show at Lincoln a few weeks ago I did get some pictures of commercial airliners landing on the adjacent runway.

I agree with the cornhusker... I understand a few of you are real afficionados when it comes to Boeing 7-whatevers, Airbus, etc... can we get back to fast-movers though?

And Richard, it's "When in Rome, do as many Romans as possible"

Still, I would say my statement has been vindicated

I want my PS3.

That's a pretty good summary. If it was 100% G1 toy colors, it'd please G1-color fans. If it was 100% real F-15 colors, it'd please real F-15 fans.

By being neither, it pleases neither.

Not necessarily so. I'm a diehard G1 Toy fan and growing as an F-15 fan every day, I do not at all mind the new color. I'm rather pleased with this iteration of Starscream and even if they don't change the color when the US release comes out, I'll be all over it. I rather like the fact that it fits in more as a "real" jet with the paintscheme than the original scheme does (what I always thought the intended purpose should be),

This is the 2004 Fighter Fling Video. They did one of these every year from about 1988 until 2004 (after which there were not enough Tomcat squadrons left to really do a full video). 2003 and 2004 are about the only videos truly worth watching out of the entire set (I picked up the DVDs a while back... damn near impossible to find these days except on Ebay, and be prepared to PAY)

Cruise videos for each squadron are cool to watch too (I've got DVDs of both VF-103's and VF-32's last Tomcat cruises).

FAIL.

LOL, the MSEX-065 Series "Sack II"

I'm gonna go cry myself to sleep now... my adolescenthood has been raped...

The "This Is Animation Special" books have sheet music (mostly just the vocals and a few chords) for a few of the original series tunes, and someone has already posted the sheetmusic from DYRL out of the TIAS DYRL book...

Valkyrie, if he doesn't buy that book off of you, I'd definately be interested in making a purchase (being a performing musician, I'm ALWAYS looking for new stuff to put on my shelf)