Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Had a long dogfight today in the skies over the Zatar Wetlands. I flew the F-35 (official website of the F-35) and my opponent, DirtyToe8, flew the MiG-29. We must've fought for 10 minutes, 8 of which were spent with DirtyToe8 on my tail the whole time. It was nuts! Neither of us could kill the other, although he had my fighter's health down to 30%. I managed to use MisterD's thrust vectoring tactic, which worked great and forced the MiG to overshoot me. The game ended with me on his tail. I sank a few Vulcan bullets into his wings but nothing too damaging ;(
I'm under the impression that the F-35 is slightly less agile than the MiG-29, in terms of turn rate. But that it's thrust vectoring engines make the F-35 the best jet to force pursuers to overshoot.

DirtyToe8, I salute you.

Dogfights can last way too long in BF2, especially if both combatants have basic flight combat skills. Missiles are too inaccurate, guns are too weak, and most importantly, there's no energy model in the game. This allows players to perform wild maneuvers without making any sacrifices.

In real life and in dedicated flight sim games, planes use up "energy" (think potential/kinetic) as they perform maneuvers. Make a sharp evasive turn at 500 knots, and your speed will drop considerably. Do too many turns and you're going to be going very slow, making it harder and eventually impossible to fight effectively. But in BF2, the energy model doesn't exist, and you rarely "bleed" speed off like you would in other games. Thus, dogfights can last forever, as your plane's energy is infinite.

In other news.. Indigo Prophecy is a great game. It's like an interactive movie, with a fun mix of all sorts of movie genres. You got your police/detective drama, some romance, mystery, and sci-fi elements. The controls are incredibly simple but fun, you just press buttons in sequence. No maneuvering around things, having to aim at things, or whatever.

I highly recommend this game to anyone who's looking for a unique new game. The music is great, too. Composed by Angelo Badalementi, who usually does film scores (such as the one for Mulholland Drive).
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Continuing the Christmas theme of High Score is Michael Giacchino's "Arnhem Knights" from Medal of Honor: Frontline. It's got a choir. And umm... stringed instruments. It sounds real good. (How did I ever pass Music Appreciation class in college?) By the way, if this song gets you into the Christmas spirit of giving gifts to complete strangers over the Internet, please purchase the following games for me: Warcraft 3 + expansion and Star Wars Battlefront 2... and umm, maybe Star Wars Galaxies, too. :-D


(Amazon doesn't sell the Frontline soundtrack apparently. But here's the game.)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Charlie Six! I just wanted to tell you that YOU ROCK!! I cant wait to try Indigo Prophecy just because you recommended it. You're the only one I have ever heard of that is sooo good at video games, he rents his services for charity! That's just sooo cool. Anyone else pales in comparison. I wish I could learn from you. I LOVE YOU!!

TinyBori!! said...

Hi Charlie Six! I just wanted to say YOU ROCK!! I can't wait to try Indigo Prophecy just because YOU recommended it! You're the only one I have evern heard of that is sooo good and the games you play that you rent out your services for charity. That is SUPER COOL! Anyone else is just copying the OG.. original gamer! You! Well keep on rocking! I LOVE YOU!!!

BlueRoseLeaf said...

*takes a deep breath and says sarcasticly* Oh! Ur the greatest! *waves arms in the air* U rawk.. Ur the coooooolest...


^.^ U know I really mean it! ;)Ehehe!

Rommel <3 said...

:D Hiya!.. Just wanted to stop by nd give u the thumbs up on ur page!