[PS2] Ace Combat Thread (a.k.a. We Do Not Have Air Superiority)

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What is this? Looks like the travesty of an A-6 Intruder. And it has 4 (!) seats?

EDIT: Just found out it's in fact an EA-6B Prowler:



Jam it back in, in the dark.

Oh, in case anyone is interested in the shitload of older screenshots that have been floating around in the old thread, I've archived them here in my pathetic attempt at a forum.

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All "preview" BGM music from acecombat.jp in 128kbps MP3 glory:

- Keiki Kobayashi - BGM 1
- Keiki Kobayashi - BGM 2
- Tetsukazu Nakanishi - BGM 3
- Keiki Kobayashi - BGM 4

Ripped by me. Enjoy.

Also, can somebody post the new clips from Gamespot here, please? Damn, do they look smooth or what!?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I have seen the clips, but I'd like to have them in downloadable HD widescreen THX surround 1080p format. With audio commentary and bonus content.

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Here's an explanation: Ace Combat is like, the favorite game of GFF. Get over it.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I hope the manual take-offs and landings will be a lot harder next time around.

I'd love to see them being mandatory, challenging and plot-relevant. Starting in the midst of a battle, landing safely with a damaged plane, landing on a carrier in bad weather and the like ...

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Can you confirm that the game has a BGM player/sound test mode? If so, I'll be doing an analog recording rip by the time my torrent completes, tomorrow at the latest.

How ya doing, buddy?

I'm currently in the process of doing a 100% digital BGM rip. Things are progressing nicely so far. Expect the first sample in a few minutes ...

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I'm currently experiencing the same issues I had with ripping AC5's soundtrack, namely odd left/right channel offset and tracks being in completely random order within the BGM.PAC file.

I don't know if I'll be able to rip the whole thing since MFAudio is giving me a lot of headaches and I'm not able to track down any other ripping software that works with compressed ADPCM files.

I'll leave it at these three tracks for now and see if I come across really cool stuff to add while continuing the complete rip tomorrow.

But for now, enjoy the music: www.nullpunktseite.de/ac0rip/

I hope you'll all be satisfied with the quality. All files are in 192 kbps CBR as of now. I'll try to encode them in APS once I get started with the complete thing. Consider this to be a rip "preview".

I'm also putting this in the My Stuff forum, so feel free to discuss the rip over there.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Skwerl

Many thanks Rock! Now without stating the obvious, you know how many pairs of underpants you will ruin when you manage to rip out the track from the final mission =)

There you have it:

www.nullpunktseite.de/ac0rip/

04 - finale.mp3

Needless to say, this track is beyond cool.

I've also taken a different approach at ripping and things have gotten a lot easier now. Expect a (semi-)complete soundtrack rip in less than 24 hours if I can refrain from actually playing the game ... ;-)

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Megalith

I was wondering if anyone on Earth knew what the hell the interleave value is for the .PACs in ACZ.

800 bytes for BGM.PAC

I also realized that some of the tracks have their left/right channels displaced, so they need delaying. All in all, this is one hell of a time-consuming task, but I've finally come up with the first tracks of the complete rip:

www.nullpunktseite.de/ac0rip/

Enjoy.

Furthermore, I could need some help with track names, so if you have already played the game and can identify some of the mission titles to be used in file desciptions, be sure to let me know and I'll put them on the rip page.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Is it just me or are the dogfights (especially those against the ace squadrons) considerably harder this time around?

I'm also a bit disappointed about Ace Combat Zero not being able to drag me into the game as well as its predecessors. I had a feeling that you're just flying mission after mission in the beginning without even a glimpse of story involved.

Also, the fact that they seemingly got rid of "YES/NO" interactive cockpit chatter makes me sad.

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Originally Posted by Megalith

In other news, the ACZ soundtrack ain't that good.

Agreed. It's really short and lacks memorable tunes. The new "Megalith" is OK, though. I like the chorus.

VS Mode even uses the same music from AC5's Arcade Mode. I'll get around to ripping this stuff later.

Albeit not a huge one, the game is also quite a disappointment for me so far. I'm still enjoying it, but it's certainly not anywhere near as good as 4 or 5. The missions all seem to be pretty generic.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Can you guys please do me a favor and bump the Soundtrack Rip thread in My Stuff please?

I'm currently ripping the few remaining tracks and still need help with naming!

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Sexninja

There is no track with name 04-Finale,can you point me which track is it on the above mentioned site riplist.

Yeah, as mentioned in the official soundtrack rip thread, I've updated the site with new filenames, so the "finale" is now track #26 - "Zero".

How ya doing, buddy?

Damn, the game certainly does get better with every mission (just finished mission 10).

Excalibur was a lot of fun to take out, as well. I really enjoyed that one and the intense Round Table fighting. Entertaining stuff.

I'm still missing more plot involvement, though. It looks like Namco just concentrated on the epic scale of the war and aces story - which is good but doesn't come close to the sheer excitement that was The Unsung War.

I still love the interview footage. It's really interesting to know more about your opponents than just the type of plane they're flying.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Shampoo Suicide

So, if one didn't care for AC5's style of narration would they enjoy AC Zero more?

That could very well be the case, yes.

AC Zero is a lot more straightforward with the campaign, which makes it seem shorter, though.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I didn't notice any differences, but I can confirm that the unnamed track 17 from my rip is actually

Spoiler:

the ambient/noise that plays in mission 12 "Waldreich Mountains" right after the Belkans set off their nukes. It's a pretty scary moment in the game with the radio jammed, HUD going crazy and all. Very intense.

I wish I had already completed the game to verify this with the BGM player option.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Nosferatu

Of course, ACZ themes like Zero and Glacial Skies are truly exciting, but they're not memorably, and it's sad but true

It's not true if you've actually played the game. I know the soundtrack got considerably better for me when I finally got around to play the game after being busy to produce a high-quality rip.

In other news, is it just me or is Ace Combat Zero shorter than its predecessors?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Guys, I fucked up royally. Why isn't there an option to buy new planes and weapons prior to the final mission? I sold all my planes so I could afford a better one and now I'm stuck with the standard planes. I'm not feeling like flying a MiG-21 into Avalon.

Am I forced to start from scratch (this is my only savegame) or is there an option to go back to previous missions?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I tried again with the Su-37 and failed miserably, mainly because I'm stuck with ordinary missiles and XLAAs. Taking out the control locks in the Avalon trench is a pain without unguided bombs and 7 minutes isn't exactly plenty of time.

I was speaking idiomatically.

After finally completing the game, I've updated the soundtrack rip with two new files, including the missing track for Mission 12A - Waldreich Mountains and the music that plays during the end credits, which is damn awesome. Get the new stuff here.

Also, I've noticed that Pixy looks exactly like me and I'm not even kidding. This struck me while watching the final interview clip. Really creepy. Now I need to find out who this actor is. Any clues on that?

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I have to strongly disagree with some points of the review as well:

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With so many titles under the same label, certain issues invariably pop up. Non-fans, for instance, can't tell the difference between Ace Combat 4 and Ace Combat 5. From a visual standpoint, even fans may have a hard time distinguishing between the two.

No difference between 4 and 5? OK, I consider myself a "fan", but come on. Especially if you're a fan, you will notice the visual difference.

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This addition comes as a blessing and a curse. On the upside, it's downright exciting squaring off against a band of killers. These aces show up when you least expect it, and usually it makes you damn nervous. Which brings up the negative. Since they're so hard to defeat, it really sucks blasting through a lengthy, complicated mission only to die at the hand of an ace. Sure, there's nothing wrong with a little challenge, but when you're forced to replay a 30-minute mission a few times, you'll crave a checkpoint system or some other kind of assistance. Oh, and as improved as AI is in Zero, both on the allied and enemy fronts, your teammates just don't cut it against aces. In most circumstances they wind up feeling useless.

Anybody who has to replay a mission a few times because they get shot down in the end should seriously consider playing on easy difficulty or actually acquire some skill. I have never had much trouble with this in the AC series besides the final missions. And there has to be some challenge. If you choose your plane and weaponry wisely, taking down an ace squad is a matter of minutes.

The statement about the lacking AI is also ridiculous. AC Zero had, for the first time ever in the series, an excellent AI system with top-notch adversaries and a wingman that would actually make a difference. Hell, I've seen Pixy take down an ace or two. He was far from being useless.

Since this is one of the aspects that made AC Zero truely unique among its predecessors, I don't understand how they can criticize it so much. It's extra hilarous because they specifically praise the AI in their closing statement:

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Plus, the addition of a rewarding multiplayer mode, not to mention improvements in AI and mission variety, make it a worthy successor.

I don't think mission variety has improved much, since it was always pretty diverse in the AC games.

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Originally Posted by Cel

btw, does anyone play like I do?... hold down the triangle button when you dogfight? maybe it's just me..

I usually don't tend to do that. It confuses the hell out of me. I rather use the right analog stick to look around occasionally. Most of the time I just follow the radar indicator arrows, though. Quite cheap, actually.

How ya doing, buddy?

Just a technical question here: Are savegames from the Japanese original compatible with the recently released US version of the game?

How ya doing, buddy?