Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!lll-winken!sun-barr!newstop!sun!amdcad!dgcad!dg-rtp!hunt
From: hunt@dg-rtp.rtp.dg.com (Greg Hunt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.games
Subject: Re: Strike Aces
Keywords: strike aces, simulator, accolade
Message-ID: <1991Jan31.144409.17246@dg-rtp.dg.com>
Date: 31 Jan 91 14:44:09 GMT
References: <1991Jan30.092207@helix.nih.gov>
Sender: usenet@dg-rtp.dg.com (Usenet Administration)
Reply-To: hunt@dg-rtp.rtp.dg.com
Organization: Data General Corp., Research Triangle Park, NC
Lines: 45

In article <1991Jan30.092207@helix.nih.gov>, jmurphy@helix.nih.gov (Joseph A. Murphy) writes:
> Has anbody in net land tried "Strike Aces" by Accolade? Any good?
> 
> I'm concerned about the screen refresh and the realism.
> 

I borrowed it from a friend for a week and played it.  I'm afraid to
say that I was disappointed and quite frustrated.  Some parts of
the game are extremely nice, like the zoom in an around the target
mode that you can use to examine the target area before going on the
mission.  The screen refresh rate seemed fine to me, and you can
lower the complexity of the landscape if it doesn't seem fast enough
for you.  I also really liked the waypoint computer that identifies
targets, distances, and directions.  The replay mechanism was also
quite nice.

The things that really, really bugged me were these:

1.  Air to air combat was virtually impossible to win.  The only times
    I ever won a dog fight was when the enemy appeared almost directly
    in front of me and I was able to get an immediate missile lock and
    launch.  Once the enemy got behind me, I never was able to get
    back behind him for a shot.  It looked like he was defying
    physics (cheating).  Also, even though your radar is good for 25
    miles or so, the enemy planes always popped up quite close.  The
    planes are supposed to be fighter/bombers, but their fighter role
    was useless.  I couldn't even drop my ordanance to increase the
    maneuverability of my plane.  The function just didn't work.

2.  The book says things like "even using unguided dumb bombs in the
    modern bomber is far more accurate because of the sophistated
    bomb sights which even tell the pilot when to release the bombs".
    No such bombsights exist for the dumb bombs in the game.  You get
    a single line on your HUD that ends in the middle of the screen.
    There's no information on how to use it.  I also could not get the
    laser guided bombs to hit anything.

These two things bugged me enough that I decided to not purchase the
game for myself.  If they had spent a little more time ironing out
these things, it would really be a great game.  That's my opinion.

-- 
Greg Hunt                        Internet: hunt@dg-rtp.rtp.dg.com
DG/UX Kernel Development         UUCP:     {world}!mcnc!rti!dg-rtp!hunt
Data General Corporation
Research Triangle Park, NC, USA  These opinions are mine, not DG's.