Suggestions for the Future of Air Command

[Gabriel]

Hey Joe. Great to hear from you. It's great that you guys are listening to your consumers. If I could take a little of your time, I was wondering if you could give us a hint as to when a new Version will be out (are you working on it yet?) and what it might include? Also, are you considering this Version to be a free update, or will it be a "Air Command 2" that we would have to purchase? Thanks again for making a fun game.

[KennyV17]

Drunkard....In regards to your inquiry about ATC Simulator by Aerosoft, my friend has it and I got a chance to play. It is almost an exact replica of a real control tower. The voice recognition option is cute. To tell you the truth, it was little to real for me. I could understand why real controllers would take up chain smoking! Very nerve racking. I much prefer Air Command (AC3 RULEZ!), but if your into realism, I don't think you would be disappointed.

[Drunkard]

Thank you. I was waiting for someone to say that. I suspected it was ultra-realistic and un-fun, but I had to be sure. And I am sorry about squeezing it into the forum, but where else could I ask?

[Drunkard]

If it's not already integrated into the game (I'm waiting for my copy - to Gabe: I've got both the beer and pretzles for the authentic AC3 experience ), add the ability to change the in-game music. While some may enjoy the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack (cough*me*cough), others may not. Or they might just not be in the mood. Actually, I take this back. And the only reason I am continuing through with this post is because of this "solution". Disable sound in AC3, and run Winamp or whatever in the background while you play for tunes. I forgot about this. :\ Wait, I don't take it back. Being able to change the default music with a "sound editor" would be slick. Go forth and conquer, Joe.

Just don't bother Joe if it crashes with Winamp open (multi-tasking is bad). But if someone *manages* to get it to crash, then we can harp on Joe for this feature. And that is always fun. :Þ

[This message has been edited by Drunkard (edited 11 May 2001).]

[Drunkard]

I just got AC3 in the mail today. And to my horror there was no jewel case. Just a less-than-spectacular paper sleeve. This is a personal thing, but I hate paper sleeves. They're cheap, and they scratch CD's. I swear they do. Anyone who makes up for their lack of life with games knows this. And this has some merit with "normal" people too, because, I have never heard anyone "normal" complain about a less-than-spectacular jewel case.

The "boss" feature dunna work unless ye start a new game. I wish it to work. I dunna know if it has been mentioned. What if I get stuck with the program open and can't pull the mouse over to new game quick enough? (As ridiculous as this sounds. Hey, it's coming from me though.)

[This message has been edited by Drunkard (edited 17 May 2001).]

[Gabriel]

Another thing I just thought of...let's put some restrictions on the pause key. Either have it so that you can't issue commands on pause (which you can do now if things get too hectic), or even better yet, have an option that you will lose points for every command you issue while the game is on pause. This will allow people who don't want the extra challenge to play as it is right now, with no penalties, but allow those who do want the challenge to engage this option. Or another idea, is to have the option to "turn off" the ability to issue commands under PAUSE, and get some bonus points.

[Drunkard]

Also, there should be an option to adjust the sound levels. In other words I want to lower the volume level of the pilots and pump up the music - I swear I wasn't being SARCASTIC in my other post.

Again, I fail to remember is this has been mentioned. If it has, then I second.

P.S. I read the manual - but I'm lazy. I've been too used to being babied by other games that have sliders for sound levels. Also of note: in the manual under the FAQ section you have the question: "How do I change the sound volume of the music or pilot voices?" In the answer to the question it mentions the "SYNTHESIZER" slider. And in all CAPITALS at that. Well, my computer does not have one. It must be specific to a certain type of sound card and driver combination. I have two computers at home. Both lack the "SYNTHESIZER" spoken of. However, I assume it's just the MIDI slider. I know better. But some people will not. And I just mention it to possibly relieve some confusion for others and so you can update the manual accordingly - if you so desire.

P.S.S. By the way Joe, the manual FAQ is excellent (ignoring the nitpick above). It even raises questions I wouldn't have thought to ask - and then answers them.

[This message has been edited by Drunkard (edited 17 May 2001).]

[Drunkard]

I was at work when it hit me (yes, I actually think of AC3 at work). Themes. What AC3 needs is themes. Sort of like the Desktop Themes for Windows but for AC3. That way everything is unified. All the suggestions for sound editors, etc. It could be integrated using themes. And it would fit with Joe's minimalist attitude towards interface design. There could be a simple option to load theme files and AC3 could take care of the rest. This could work. That way we could create pilot voices, music, and backgrounds (I want this ability...I'm specifically talking about pasting images behind the radar circle...like, maybe a ATC tower picture or something) and load them on the fly. If this ever gets put in, I will create an honorary DISNEY theme just for Joe. *Smootchie*Smootchie*

[This message has been edited by Drunkard (edited 31 May 2001).]

[Drunkard]

HOT DAMN I'M ON A ROLL TODAY! Multiplayer. Bear with me on this one...AC3 multiplayer. I don't know all the details, maybe the forum members - *cough*, gabe, *cough*, strider - could help me out on this one. Have it set up where we could play through GameSpy Arcade. Or something cool like that. It could work by having the players each ATCing in adjacent regions (or far away regions, who cares). That way ATC's (players) could handoff planes to each other in different areas. A plane could take off from one airport on X player's screen and fly to, and then land at player Y's airport in that person's screen. I can't speak for anyone else, but this sounds super. There could also be a "scorematch" where players compete for the highest score - my *** is a bit sore now and I am getting tired of pulling ideas out of it. And I can't think of anything else right now. Maybe I'll go get drunk and come back...

[Trantor]

More airports: Atlantic City (casino traffic), Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Portland Maine, Washington, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, and Baffalo.