Energy Airforce: aimStrike! let'sPlay! chaffFlare!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Energy Airforce: aimStrike! let'sPlay! chaffFlare!

«‹›4 »

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

What
Energy Airforce: aimStrike! is a 2003 PS2 combat flight sim released only in Japan and Europe, yet featuring purely American flyables. It's the middle offspring in the Energy Airforce trilogy, wedged between the original 2002 Energy Airforce (PS2, no US release), and Over G Fighters released worldwide for the Xbox 360 in 2006.

The Trilogy
We're not going to play the original Energy Airforce, for a number of reasons I'll talk about when there's nothing better to do. But here's a starter:

It's more that just the cover art.

I've never had any MS console, so I've got nothing on Over G Fighters, but the Internet claims that a lot of voice work from aimStrike! was recycled in the third game.

Sadly, its cover has lost the gargoyle mascot.

Stuff
Emulation saves the day for this LP because I can render and record the sim at a higher resolution than normal. The aircraft and cockpit models are surprisingly neat and detailed for a PS2 title and are worth showing off.

The game does encourage real-life plane chat as the only unlockables besides flyable fighters are numerous clips of aircraft and weapons. So, this is going to be sort of a simplified sequel to the archived Strike Fighters 2 LP, which ended with us flying an F-16A in the early '80s. Aim Strike! starts you off in an F-16C and stops at the F-35B.

On the realism scale Energy Airforce is not too far from SF2, but the control scheme is obviously simpler. It beats SF2 in some areas, such as having a replay recorder, or the ground controller being helpful without prodding.

The Main Run

video 13.3

The Leftovers

video 26.2

SelenicMartian fucked around with this message at 08:54 on Jul 2, 2015

# ? Apr 7, 2015 23:24

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 19, 2024 13:42

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Egads, an update!

video 2.1

video 2.2

video 2.3

# ? Apr 7, 2015 23:25

Kitfox88: Aug 21, 2007; Anybody lose their glasses?

Holy poo poo, they're actually trying to do a legit sim on a PS2. The balls on these guys. :psyduck:

# ? Apr 8, 2015 00:21

Suspect Bucket: Jan 15, 2012; SHRIMPDOR WAS A MAN
I mean, HE WAS A SHRIMP MAN
er, maybe also A DRAGON
or possibly
A MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM
BUT HE WAS STILL
SHRIMPDOR

Lt. Dan Goon! You got brand new legs!
:goku:

This looks SUPER good for a PS2 game. It's crazy. Pity there's little crossover between simmers and consolers.

I also dig the replay music.

Suspect Bucket fucked around with this message at 03:20 on Apr 8, 2015

# ? Apr 8, 2015 03:03

Galaga Galaxian: Apr 23, 2009; What a childish tactic!
Don't you think you should put more thought into your battleplan?!

I've missed you commenting on jets. :allears:

And yes, I agree, this looks surprisingly competent for a PS2 game.

# ? Apr 8, 2015 04:14

Makrond: Aug 8, 2009; Now that I have all the animes, I can finally
become Emperor of Japan!

Dang, this game actually does a decent job of those cockpits. For the record your approach is way too steep, that crossed + with the notches on it when you put your gear down is the ILS approach indicator. You're supposed to fly so that the intersection of them is centered in the TVV (the circle that shows your total velocity vector), but you're not really doing an instrument approach anyway so the best method is to put those two little lines between the 0� marker and the 5� marker on the threshold of the runway, then just stick the TVV between those two markers for a perfect 3� glideslope all the way down every time.

Otherwise I have nothing to add so far, except maybe that "deep air support" is better known as air interdiction [of ground forces], and the mission you just flew is better known as an 'intercept'. Not sure why this game confuses those terms but oh well. I'm excited to see what new carrier-based toy we get, though since we're restricted to US aircraft maybe I should say I'm excited to see which Hornet we get.

# ? Apr 8, 2015 06:03

Galaga Galaxian: Apr 23, 2009; What a childish tactic!
Don't you think you should put more thought into your battleplan?!

I take it you didn't watch his Strike Fighters LP? That's just the way he lands. :v:

# ? Apr 8, 2015 06:05

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Best carrier landing yet!

video 3.1

video 3.2

And there's this :stare:

video 3.3

# ? Apr 11, 2015 04:32

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Hah! A minor adjustment made a gif possible

And here's a reduced size version

# ? Apr 11, 2015 21:29

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Oh nice, a new SelenicMartian LP that covers a flight sim and it's one that I actually own. :neckbeard:

Kitfox88 posted:

Holy poo poo, they're actually trying to do a legit sim on a PS2. The balls on these guys.

And they did a surprisingly good job at it too. aimStrike! was a surprise when I got it way back when on my PS2.

Edit:
one note about the HUD and the TOS/ETA is that there are indicators that show the waypoint intended altitude and the speed needed to have the ETA coincide with the TOS. For the most part the cockpits are all well-modelled with the exception of the way the RWR works.

radintorov fucked around with this message at 08:42 on Apr 12, 2015

# ? Apr 12, 2015 00:59

Suspect Bucket: Jan 15, 2012; SHRIMPDOR WAS A MAN
I mean, HE WAS A SHRIMP MAN
er, maybe also A DRAGON
or possibly
A MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM
BUT HE WAS STILL
SHRIMPDOR

Those save file icons are adorable.

# ? Apr 12, 2015 13:35

Soup Inspector: Jun 5, 2013

SelenicMartian posted:

Hah! A minor adjustment made a gif possible

And here's a reduced size version

Wave your canopy in the air like you just don't care! :v:

But on a more serious note, is there any specific reason why you keep getting seemingly spurious Master Caution warnings whilst flying to and from the actual mission area?

# ? Apr 12, 2015 17:46

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Soup Inspector posted:

But on a more serious note, is there any specific reason why you keep getting seemingly spurious Master Caution warnings whilst flying to and from the actual mission area?

Gamepad sticks aren't very precise and every time ~~you~~ I pull too hard the beep comes up.

Supposedly EA has a limited support for simple sim joysticks, but I haven't tried it out.

# ? Apr 12, 2015 18:31

Galaga Galaxian: Apr 23, 2009; What a childish tactic!
Don't you think you should put more thought into your battleplan?!

Clearly you need to get your hands on one of these! :v:

It came with the super delux version of Ace Combat 5 and is a cheaply made, cut-down version of the Saitek X42 as far as I can tell.

# ? Apr 12, 2015 18:34

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

A flawless mission

video 4.1

video 4.2

No chutes.

Anyway here's Vote #1

Mission 2A - Intercept.

Mission 2B - CAP. I suspect, the briefing map is not telling the whole truth.

Where to?

SelenicMartian fucked around with this message at 06:52 on Apr 14, 2015

# ? Apr 14, 2015 05:24

Davin Valkri: Apr 8, 2011; Maybe you're weighing the moral pros and cons but let me assure you that OH MY GOD
SHOOT ME IN THE GODDAMNED FACE
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

This looks like a fun little "alternative" to Strike Fighters 2. Kinda weird how the developers of this game managed to put in more user-friendly stuff like landing lights and better modeled cockpits despite the PS2 presumably being less capable than the average PC.

Is there any reason why you always take off with an asymmetrical loadout? Will they not let you take 4 AIM-120Bs?

# ? Apr 14, 2015 06:19

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Davin Valkri posted:

Is there any reason why you always take off with an asymmetrical loadout? Will they not let you take 4 AIM-120Bs?

It didn't happen in the recordings but I've seen all or most of my AIM-120s miss in missions.

# ? Apr 14, 2015 06:32

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Voting for the 2A intercept mission.
And the F-16 (and the other planes that don't have a digital number readout) actually has HUD indicators for the suggested speed and altitude: the small < > arrows on the speed and altitude ladders are the ones. :eng101:

# ? Apr 14, 2015 13:26

Soup Inspector: Jun 5, 2013

I'm throwing in my lot with Mission 2A Intercept.

radintorov posted:

And the F-16 (and the other planes that don't have a digital number readout) actually has HUD indicators for the suggested speed and altitude: the small < > arrows on the speed and altitude ladders are the ones.

Since I am exactly the sort of bore who finds this stuff interesting ( :spergin:

), how does the aircraft know this? I'm presuming it's preloaded into the avionics prior to flight.

# ? Apr 15, 2015 13:47

Suspect Bucket: Jan 15, 2012; SHRIMPDOR WAS A MAN
I mean, HE WAS A SHRIMP MAN
er, maybe also A DRAGON
or possibly
A MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM
BUT HE WAS STILL
SHRIMPDOR

Mission 2B or not 2B. That is the CAPstion

# ? Apr 15, 2015 14:16

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Soup Inspector posted:

Since I am exactly the sort of bore who finds this stuff interesting (), how does the aircraft know this? I'm presuming it's preloaded into the avionics prior to flight.

Well, with my post I was commenting on how the game handles this, not real life itself, but from what I recall from when I used to fly BMS and DCS: A-10 the waypoint information is loaded into the flight computer using an external data cartridge, and the pilot can also add and remove steerpoints at will; the altitude can also be set manually or use the loaded map data to set it at ground level (which is useful with ground attack missions, obviously) and the flight computer can tell the pilot the estimated time of arrival on the HUD.
I don't recall it giving you the airspeed you want to get there on time if you set a ToT, though.

Hopefully SelenicMartian or someone else more knowledgeable can answer this better than I can. :shobon:

# ? Apr 15, 2015 14:59

Galaga Galaxian: Apr 23, 2009; What a childish tactic!
Don't you think you should put more thought into your battleplan?!

Mission 2B because I suspect you'll end up with your first SAM encounter.

# ? Apr 15, 2015 21:05

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Right, the thread is sitting on the fence so I'll vote for 2A and get on with recording. Fulcrums!

# ? Apr 16, 2015 05:34

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Worship the ball.

video 5.1

video 5.2

video 5.3

# ? Apr 18, 2015 04:53

Suspect Bucket: Jan 15, 2012; SHRIMPDOR WAS A MAN
I mean, HE WAS A SHRIMP MAN
er, maybe also A DRAGON
or possibly
A MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM
BUT HE WAS STILL
SHRIMPDOR

SelenicMartian posted:

Worship the ball.

video 5.1
video 5.2
video 5.3

Call your ball sometime, she misses and worries about you. Wish her a happy Ballentine's Day.

# ? Apr 18, 2015 05:04

Kibayasu: Mar 28, 2010

Having just caught up, I can say this is certainly an interesting game. It reminds me of a demo of a helicopter game I played on the PS3 a while ago. You could play it as an arcade shooter similar to the Apache levels of Ace Combat Assault Horizon or you could turn on the "sim" settings and actually have to deal with all the control peculiarities that come with flying a helicopter, and much less health. The weird thing was that it was published by Activision who was probably the least likely option for publishing a(n optional) simulation on a console. I don't know if it was as detailed (relatively, that is) as aimStrike though it had many more things to shoot than a single flight or small group of tanks.

I'm at least impressed by aimStrike's dedication to being as much a sim as possible on a console, even if the long flights in and out would probably lose me if I was the one playing.

Edit: And then you update :v:

Guess I'll keep watching!

Double Edit: Found it, Apache Air Assaulthttp://apache-game.com/en/game/info/18/

And if the Amazon prices are any indication the console version is a bit of rarity: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=apache+air+assault

Kibayasu fucked around with this message at 05:34 on Apr 18, 2015

# ? Apr 18, 2015 05:20

EasilyConfused: Nov 21, 2009; one strong toad

Just finished your SF2 LP, great stuff.

This game is impressive for a console flight sim, although the terrible camera angles and bad music in the replays dates the game pretty well.

# ? Apr 18, 2015 16:04

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

This was a bad idea.

video 6.1

video 6.2

# ? Apr 21, 2015 06:54

EasilyConfused: Nov 21, 2009; one strong toad

I didn't expect the radio chatter to be worse than SF2...

# ? Apr 21, 2015 13:00

Cooked Auto: Aug 4, 2007; If you will not serve in combat, you will serve on the firing line!

Throw in a good soundtrack in the background I'm sure it'd be indistinguishable from an Ace Combat game. At least it doesn't have the same voice actors doing the voices for multiple flights just with really bad accents. I'm looking at you HAWX.

# ? Apr 21, 2015 15:06

SIGSEGV: Nov 4, 2010

It hasn't got giant superweapons you need to blow up.

Also, your A-10 cockpit extinguisher label reads "fire extingdish".

# ? Apr 21, 2015 17:20

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

SIGSEGV posted:

Also, your A-10 cockpit extinguisher label reads "fire extingdish".

Subtitles spell "Operater" and I think in the first F-16 cockpit one of the RWR warning lights reads LANCH.

# ? Apr 21, 2015 17:25

Soup Inspector: Jun 5, 2013

I can't actually think of a good use for the up button on the d-pad, not least because what I can come up with seems entirely superfluous. Flaps? Aircraft lighting? Fire extin~~disher~~guisher? "Help help send some cover my way so that my flight of A-10s doesn't get shot to pieces by a bunch of Fishbeds that miraculously materialised out of the aether"? :v:

It's tricky.

# ? Apr 21, 2015 21:39

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

At least, I'm not flying a Mustang this time.

video 6.3

# ? Apr 22, 2015 15:18

Makrond: Aug 8, 2009; Now that I have all the animes, I can finally
become Emperor of Japan!

It's really weird to me that the game doesn't let you carry GBU-31s but does let you guide Paveways. The game predates the 2005 A-10C modernisation program which added support for INS-guided munitions, but which also added the ability to carry the LITENING pod, an integrated FLIR and laser designator. Prior to that the A-10 only had the Pave Penny laser receiver, which was only capable of tracking a laser from another aircraft or ground forces, not emitting its own. Also for what it's worth INS-guided munitions don't require a radar for targeting, but prior to the A-10C the wing pylons couldn't transfer data from the onboard INS/GPS to the munitions, so they were required to have their own autonomous guidance systems like the Maverick or Paveway instead of relying on the aircraft's avionics to set an initial state like WCMDs or JDAMs.

Also "Fire Ext Disch" is the correct label for that particular switch. It discharges the fire extinguisher bottles. :v:

edit: watch videos first yo

Makrond fucked around with this message at 18:03 on Apr 22, 2015

# ? Apr 22, 2015 17:59

SIGSEGV: Nov 4, 2010

Makrond posted:

Also "Fire Ext Disch" is the correct label for that particular switch. It discharges the fire extinguisher bottles.

Well I'll die less stupid.

... Did those harpoons have blue stripes? No surprise those Kirovs didn't suffer that much.

# ? Apr 22, 2015 18:18

EasilyConfused: Nov 21, 2009; one strong toad

Can you shoot yourself down with a Harpoon in the game? Or real life for that matter?

# ? Apr 22, 2015 23:04

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

EasilyConfused posted:

Can you shoot yourself down with a Harpoon in the game? Or real life for that matter?

Never tried that in the game. Yet.

Welcome to the worst base

video 7.1

video 7.2

And here's a different take on the unlocked clips.

video 7.3

So, what do we fly next?

# ? Apr 25, 2015 03:14

Davin Valkri: Apr 8, 2011; Maybe you're weighing the moral pros and cons but let me assure you that OH MY GOD
SHOOT ME IN THE GODDAMNED FACE
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

I don't think the F-16UD has had enough time in the sun yet. Falcon away!

# ? Apr 25, 2015 04:53

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 19, 2024 13:42

Cooked Auto: Aug 4, 2007; If you will not serve in combat, you will serve on the firing line!

Not a pound for air to ground.

# ? Apr 25, 2015 11:59

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Energy Airforce: aimStrike! let'sPlay! chaffFlare!

«‹›4 »