Ace Combat/Project Wingman Thread

[TwoCalories]

I've noticed a few people on this forum play Ace Combat games (like five lol) and I also noticed that you could make threads about specific games here. Seeing as there is no dedicated Ace Combat thread, I made this for Ace Combat players to talk about... well, Ace Combat and such. How do you do the campaign, what's your go-to fighter and special weapon, etc.

Ace Combat is a series of games that take place in the alternate universe of Strangereal. Strangereal's Earth has different continents and countries, such as the Osean Federation and Kingdom of Erusea. Most games are set after the planetfall of the Ulysses 1994XF04 asteroids, an asteroid that devastated part of the Earth. Anti-asteroid weapons helped negate the damage but the asteroids that did hit would lead to massive instability, setting the ground for most of the franchise's wars. The player's character is a "silent protagonist" and is always a fighter pilot from one of the fictional countries. Common traits of Ace Combat and their campaign-based gameplay involve: a wide spread of aircraft and weapons, enemy ace pilots, and giant superweapons. Not to mention the excellent storytelling (usually), graphics and music.

Also, fun fact: more players play KSP than Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown by monthly average from Steam, but roughly the same number of games have been sold for each. AC7 released five years later than KSP, however.

***

EDIT: From this thread I've been doing a bit more research into Project Wingman and found the two games are pretty similar. I mean, obviously, seeing PW was made by AC players. But the two games are similar enough in gameplay, genre, fanbase, etc. that it probably doesn't negate creating a separate thread.

Project Wingman is an indie game that takes place in an alternate, post-apocalyptic future Earth nearly 600 years in the future. All of Earth's geography and politics have been significantly altered. This was due to a disaster called the Calamity, where the Ring of Fire had massive tectonic disasters, triggering huge eruptions. While this plunged the world into winter for over a century, it also unearthed Cordium, an unstable natural material that can be utilized for energy and fuel, making this resource highly coveted by new superpower nations. Similarly to Ace Combat, the protagonist never speaks and is a fighter pilot (this time for a mercenary company). The game features plenty of aircraft and weapons, and boss battles against airships and enemy ace squadrons. The story is also well written, and the music is superb.

Edited November 6 by TwoCalories

[AstroWolfie]

project wingman.

[BA-Forums]

ace combat 7 on the ps5. i have a HOTAS system for it.

[TwoCalories]

"Trigger's different."

Jokes aside, I dove into the world of AC7 multiplayer without much experience just to see where I am compared to other players. The result? I got pretty annihilated, but not as annihilated as I thought. I got first for the majority of a small round and discovered that all the memes about how getting first for 0.0001 seconds leads to EVERYONE firing at you were 100% accurate. I don't think I've ever had like seven missiles from me at all directions coming at me, which was kind of a funny experience I guess.

I did get second in that round though, so that's kind of nice, I guess.

EDIT: I got MVP in Team Deathmatch a couple times, which was nice.

I only started playing yesterday though, so I'm not sure if it's because I'm actually good, or if I'm being paired with players less than my level, or if my aircraft is just overpowered.

Edited May 4 by TwoCalories

[TwoCalories]

What's your go-to aircraft and special weapon, plus any parts you add, for campaign or multiplayer or both?
Totally not a cheap attempt to revive this thread

[BA-Forums]

On 5/17/2024 at 4:10 PM, TwoCalories said:

What's your go-to aircraft and special weapon, plus any parts you add, for campaign or multiplayer or both?
Totally not a cheap attempt to revive this thread

I would say that my go-to aircraft depends on the mission in campaign. I usually used the regular F/A-18E from the Top Gun Maverick dlc through almost all of the missions, with exceptions for the A-10 on ground attack ones (Long Day, Pipeline Destruction, etc) until i unlocked the F-22. Then I just used that to beat the game at the standard difficulty, which was kinda easy on HOTAS.

For mutliplayer i just use the F-22, and I sneak around trying (and failing, most of the time) to jump people with the 8AAM. when i run out of those i go full throttle and start dodging missiles and then i try to fly into people, cuz why not.

actually i think i remember seeing you in one lobby

[AstroWolfie]

I love the ADFX-01 with the MBPM. Fly into a furball, and open fire. Then either: 1. Run; 2. Get damaged; 3. Die; 4, All of the above, in that order. 

[TwoCalories]

On 5/20/2024 at 8:20 AM, BA-Forums said:

actually i think i remember seeing you in one lobby

Really? I use PC and I didn't think AC7 had crossplay. By the way, what's your AC7 username so I can recognize you if we're in a lobby again?

[KerbolExplorer]

On 5/18/2024 at 12:10 AM, TwoCalories said:

What's your go-to aircraft and special weapon, plus any parts you add, for campaign or multiplayer or both?
Totally not a cheap attempt to revive this thread

When I first started going through the franchise I completed the ps2 games and ac7 with the f18 or some variant of it. For mp I do go with the f22 with the auto gun stuff

[TwoCalories]

My go to is the F/A-18E Super Hornet for both multiplayer and campaign. It carries a good amount of 4AGM for Annihilation missions in campaign and the HCAA absolutely shreds in air combat. The best part is that you get 60 of them, too. It feels a little cheap to go all SP Weapon in multiplayer, though.

I prefer the regular F/A-18E over the F/A-18E | TGM because I prefer the regular F/A-18E for its better spread of weapons and the lower maneuverability makes gameplay a little more challenging.

[TwoCalories]

On the other hand, what do you consider "canon" aircraft for an AC7 campaign? Some protagonists have an aircraft considered canon since they're featured on cover arts and such. Trigger's canon fighter jet is a bit more ambiguous, however.

For me personally, I think that it goes like this:

• Mission 1-4 (Mage Squadron): F-16C. Your wingman Clown uses it, so it makes sense you would as well.
• Mission 5-10 (Spare Squadron): This is where it gets difficult, because Spare uses mothballed aircraft and everyone in the squadron fly planes from MiG-29s to MIR-2000s to F-16s. I personally go with any aircraft except for Fifth Generation fighters and above (because why would convicts get a Su-57 or F-22 and why would those planes be in a scrapyard?) so for me, the F/A-18E/F is my personal choice. Full Band and all the unnamed "Ally" Spare craft use F/A-18Fs too, so the F/A-18 could just be the default Spare aircraft.
• Mission 11-13 + SP Mission 1-3: F-15C. The LRSSG uses the F-15C as their signature aircraft. And for the DLC missions, Trigger is shown in the cutscenes using an F-15C too.
• Mission 14-20: F-22A. The F-22 was used in the Mission 20 cutscene, so that shows at some point, Trigger decided to upgrade to an F-22 Raptor. I think it happened around Mission 14 because Trigger wanted a higher tier aircraft for the fast-paced battle coming up at Farbanti.

What do you consider canon aircraft for AC7?

[AstroWolfie]

a 10

[TwoCalories]

"Caution! Pull up!"

Edited June 7 by TwoCalories

[TwoCalories]

I replayed Mission 20 with new skills that came with the extra play hours since I last did it. I managed to save Wit and also cleared the tunnel run in 2-3 minutes on Normal difficulty. Here's some screenshots I took that I liked:

Spoiler

"The Three Strikes" x Independent Squadron (OADF, EAF, Strider SQ, Sol SQ)

<<What color is the sky up there?>>

"Stick with Trigger and you'll make it!"

***

And here's proof I saved Wit. This is after the Hugin and Munin bossfight and the ADF-11 fight.

Sol 2 | Wit is in the formation, right in the back.

By the way, do you guys know any ways to get a lot of points fast? I'm trying to unlock the X-02S Strike Wyvern now that I've unlocked all the aircraft required for it. It's exhausted my MRP, and I only have something 100,000 left.

Edited June 12 by TwoCalories

[BA-Forums]

On 6/7/2024 at 12:27 PM, TwoCalories said:

"Caution! Pull up!"

flashbacks intensify

[TwoCalories]

45 minutes ago, BA-Forums said:

flashbacks intensify

"Missile! Missile!" "Missile! Missile!" "Stall warning-"

Edited June 13 by TwoCalories
if you know, you know

[Kimera Industries]

I would play this game but my PC is very stubborn. As in, it stubbornly refuses to be a non-potato PC. It looks very cool and fun, though.

It appears to be on sale for Xbox. Is it worth it on console?

[TwoCalories]

16 hours ago, Kimera Industries said:

I would play this game but my PC is very stubborn. As in, it stubbornly refuses to be a non-potato PC. It looks very cool and fun, though.

It appears to be on sale for Xbox. Is it worth it on console?

I have it on PC, but I have a HOTAS for DCS which makes it more enjoyable. The other way is to play it with the mouse and keyboard, which is finicky. Also, the game doesn't have a cursor because it was designed as a console game first. The main benefit to PC AC7 is the better performance and graphics, but it probably won't work on a potato PC, which overrules the performance and graphics part. So, console is probably the best choice.

[Abel Military Services]

On 5/18/2024 at 7:10 AM, TwoCalories said:

What's your go-to aircraft and special weapon, plus any parts you add, for campaign or multiplayer or both?
Totally not a cheap attempt to revive this thread

CFA-44 with EML. Sometimes I bring emeny remover ADMM because the game is too hard. 

In multiplayer I usually use Darkstar with PLSL

 

 

[BA-Forums]

On 5/24/2024 at 2:19 PM, TwoCalories said:

Really? I use PC and I didn't think AC7 had crossplay. By the way, what's your AC7 username so I can recognize you if we're in a lobby again?

Should be FunnyCartoonDog

I haven’t played in a while since my HOTAS storage is a nightmare

[TwoCalories]

AC Music Appreciation Post 1:

Keep in mind that I don't really know anything about music and I'm just like "if it sounds good I like".

Some of the most underrated songs in AC7 are the LRSSG Briefing songs. LRSSG Briefing I's combination of military horns and drums really sell the feeling of being assigned to the real, elite military once again. LRSSG Briefing II is a large change from the previous briefing. It's simple and quiet, which fits the tone of darkness and confusion after the satellite network goes down. LRSSG Briefing III might be my favorite out of the four briefings, though. After fighting for survival in chaotic times, Osea and Erusea are putting aside their differences to end the war and go on the offensive against the remaining insurgents and the Arsenal Bird. In this briefing, the music is brighter and hopeful to symbolize that the end of the war is in sight.

LRSSG Briefing IV is music of the final briefing of the campaign. Once again, it's quiet, almost somber, but turns more hopeful at the end as the song gets brighter in tone with the letimotif.

Basically, I really like the LRSSG Briefing music because, unlike the other briefing songs, they convey a lot of the moods of the missions that follow them.

[AstroWolfie]

It’s all a banger.

[TwoCalories]

Ace Combat 8 wishlist/predictions?

[AstroWolfie]

I want ace combat 8 x project wingman.

[TwoCalories]

It looks like the 2024 Olympics are being held in "Erusea" this year.