Fighter Ace Update

The New Planes

American Chance-Vought F4U-4C Corsair
No longer will the Doras and Tempests be the only heavily armed fighters in the air. This version of the Corsair comes with 4 20mm cannons.

American North American B-25D Mitchell
Not quite as powerful as the existing B-25J, this early war plane provides the Americans with a decent medium bomber with reduced gun armament. This puts it in a class with planes like the Ju-88s and Pe-2s.

British Hawker Hurricane Mk.IID
Supposedly the "most accurate anti-tank plane in the Royal Air Force during the war," the Hurricane Mk.IID also fills in the vacancy the British currently suffer in the 37mm to 40mm department.

British North American B-25D Mitchell
The lend-lease version of the American bomber.

German Bf-109E-1
Can it be that the Germans have been waging this whole war without the benefit of a fighter that has cannons? Apparently so. That's all changing with the addition of the Bf-109E-1 and its 4 7.9mm cannons.

German Focke-Wolf 190F-8
Another 190? While there are plenty of these already, the addition of this ground attack model means Germany finally has a decent platform for rockets. There's a bit more armor on this one (to emphasize its role). Similarly the armor levels of other 190s has been scaled back a bit.

German Messerschmitt Bf-110C-4/B
This is the one I wanted and it seems like the Fighter Ace guys were listening. Fast with good harmony of control, this early war plane gives the Germans a real edge on the attack.

Japanese Mitsubishi A6M7 Zero
This was among the last of the Zeros to see service in the war and finally allows the Japanese to launch a plane that carries more than two rockets.

Japanese Nakajima G5N Shinzan
While I like the Bettys, the Japanese have been in need of a serious upgrade to their heavy bomber force. Thankfully, the Shinzan is capable of dropping 8000lbs of punishment on enemy installations.

Soviet Yakolev Yak-9UT-37
Billed as the new "uber plane" for the Soviet Union, this version of the Yak-9 comes with a 37mm cannon that fires through the airscrew as well as two cowl-mounted 20mm cannon. Truly a force to be reckoned with.

If they have enough time, the team would also like to add the heavily-armed Bf-110G-2/R3.

The New Maps

To go along with the new planes, the team has also added a few new maps. The first one, called Mountains, is an interesting solution that fixes a few problems. First, there are "elevated rear bases to allow bomber pilots a chance to get to altitude before they join the fight. Since the map features several large ravines and canyons, it will be easier to find advancing tanks packed together. Further, the team hopes that "by allowing planes to be clustered in valleys around the map, we'll see a little bit less lag."

Another of the new maps, Volcano, is a large island "which has wide outer areas with factories and airfields and villages" with "winding canyons that lead to a lake in the middle." A few changes have been made to the game's North Africa maps both to ease the rather large map downloads and to decrease your time-to-target.

The Gameplay

On the rules side of things, the team will be including an updated damage system that simulates the damage a plane does when it collides with an object in the environment. Since this figure is variable, it allows the developers to open up Kamikaze tactics for specific planes under specific circumstances.

On the supply front, the team is improving the supply display seen when you move your mouse over a particular location on the map. Gauging the supply levels of your airfields will be much easier now with this new feature. Additionally, points will now be awarded to players who drop off cargo to these locations during territorial conquest games. The team explains that "this way, us Bus Drivers get some points, too."

There are also some significant (if not entirely obvious) changes to the flight modeling. Rudder sensitivity will now be on a slider which should make the turn and burn crowd happy. Many plane-specific tweaks have been made as well. The Spitfires get decreased stall speeds and they and the Ki-100 now have a better turning radius. The Junkers 87s and 88s climb better

Beyond the changes to the flight system, the weapon modeling has been tweaked as well. Many of the guns now come with higher rates of fire (although a few have been scaled back) and several brand new guns have been added. Additionally, rifle caliber bullets will decelerate a bit slower while cannon rounds will decelerate more. This makes those .30s even more useful at long-range. Nose-mounted weapons will have less dispersion that those mounted on the wings.

There's a virtual laundry-list of changes made to the flight engine as well as the weapon and damage modeling. Naturally the percentages only go so far. The real proof is in the playing. We'll be sure to bring you an update once the new features are rolled out.
Until then, check six.