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Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve

They've mentioned an Ace Combat game was in development for a while though no real updates. I can expect an announcement soon. My worry is UE5. Project Aces usually does amazing work with optimization, the Ace Combat games looked amazing on PS2 compared to their peers. Ace Combat 7 is one of the smoothest games I've ever played and uses an older build of UE4. I worry a UE5 built will have stuttering and it will be much more notable in a game with constant motion that is fast paced.

Technical aspects aside, I'd like to see an evolution in story telling. Ace Combat 7's story was awful. I don't want a western style story either like the abomination that was Assault Horizon, but I'd like to see something decent. The WWII inspired occupation story of 4 was quite nice and mature for a video game of its time (2001).

I'd also like to see the mission design be more similar to 6, with branching options. Less UFO bosses with lots of hit points, less cloud gimmicks. I'd like to see more detailed enemy unit types, long range SAMs, AWACS or ground radars that vector in enemy fighters until knocked out. Maybe even slightly more detailed weapon types. Whole lot can be done, AC7 was a nice return after Assault Horizon but seemed like a regression in many ways.

I'm mainly interested in the campaign but if they can also make a multiplayer mode with more depth I'd also be interested. Not getting into a free to play game like War Thunder.
 
The next WW2 combat sim I'm looking forward to is Combat Pilot. I think it has the potential to be the best Pacific theater operations sim of all time if they are able to implement everything they aim to do and have it still run smoothly. Slated to run under a heavily modded version of UE5 with a built in computational fluid dynamics engine to determine damage modeling real time for each individual players aircraft/client accordingly. I recommend checking out the Developer Diary #13 if this interests you as it's explained more thoroughly than I can. The sim is still very early in development but it is surely gonna be on my list when released.
 
I want it to be good because I used to love flight sims, but all the AC's I have played (AC 7 and AC AH) have been utterly mediocre.
 
Of course I will be getting this. I really hope they changed the gameplay to make it a bit less arcadey and simplistic, but I doubt they will. Story writing could see a big improvement especially after 6 and 7 but I fear they will continue doing more cringe stuff.

We'll have to see how they handle things in terms of stuttering. AC7 runs perfectly smooth, probably one of the best running UE4 games. AC games always look good given their hardware and generally perform well so I hope they really make UE5 work right. Stuttering stands out far more in a flight game than a slower action RPG and it would be a shame if that ruins AC8.

Blade-Runner said:
I want it to be good because I used to love flight sims, but all the AC's I have played (AC 7 and AC AH) have been utterly mediocre.
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AH was an offshoot to appeal to the CoD/Gears of War crowd, and was quite bad. I enjoyed AC7 but I have to say for its time it is inferior to the PS2 era games and inferior to AC6 in terms of gameplay. The story was quite bad. I'd like them to go back and make a more serious story like AC4, regardless of perspective. The game series is old and I don't feel like the story writing has matured like its audience has over the past 20+ years.
 
Apparently it is confirmed, no VR support. Can't say I am surprised but I am disappointed. The UE VR mod works on all but the final DLC mission, due to a GUI element being hidden. If modders can get it to work almost flawlessly there is no reason Project Aces can't add it officially. Seems like everyone wants VR to have motion controls for some reason, rather than just being VR. I can understand adding motion controls would take a lot of work but no one cares about motion controls. Kind of a shame, I replayed every mission multiple times in VR in Ace Combat 7 and was hoping I would not need a mod for it in AC8. I feel like they're missing a big opporunity here. It wouldn't substationally increase sales but I think it would. This is the perfect type of game for VR. Sitting, shorter sessions (missions are 10-25 minutes typically), and looks amazing from a marketing standpoint.

Hopefully they add better peripheral support day 1 as well. From a technical pespective AC7 was amazing in terms of performance but no ultra wide support and less than straight forward HOTAS/joystick programming was a huge pain for many people. If they're making a flight game, even an arcadey one, they do need to get these things right day 1.

Also confirmed the A-6 will appear again, but no South Korean planes. I assume that means the KF-21 is out. I do hope they add Chinese planes at least. J-10, J-20 & J-36.
 
Coming October 1 on PC. Day 1 PC port. If you pre-order you also get Ace Combat 0 for free. First time this has been officially ported to any other platform; it was a PS2 exclusive. It works fine on emulators but it is nice to get an official port. Waiting for an AC6 port as Xbox 360 emulators were not that good last time I checked.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW6zBuO7sb4
 
Looks good when it comes to gameplay. Not sure I care for the 1st person story sequences, I would have preferred traditional cut scenes. I hope they can write a decent story this time around, AC7 and AC6 had quite bad stories. There is a quote floating around saying this will be 25 hours long which I doubt, but it does seem like it will be longer than most previous games. Probably 15-18 or so hours. I assume the 25 hour figure comes with alternate mission variations.

You can save minor NPCs/units in some missions and they will appear in future missions, but if you fail to save them they will be destroyed and not be available.

Ace Combat 0 port seems to be pre-order only. Licensing seems to prevent paid ports from being sold. A pre-order bonus seems to be a grey area, and it seems like paid official ports are not going to happen as the licensing is likely too much money for what will likely amount to small sales.
 
Wide screen support & native support for more HOTAS/sticks at launch. Not sure if that means newer and more niche brands like VKB. But at least more effort is being put into it.
 
Flogger23m said:
Looks good when it comes to gameplay. Not sure I care for the 1st person story sequences, I would have preferred traditional cut scenes. I hope they can write a decent story this time around, AC7 and AC6 had quite bad stories. There is a quote floating around saying this will be 25 hours long which I doubt, but it does seem like it will be longer than most previous games. Probably 15-18 or so hours. I assume the 25 hour figure comes with alternate mission variations.

You can save minor NPCs/units in some missions and they will appear in future missions, but if you fail to save them they will be destroyed and not be available.

Ace Combat 0 port seems to be pre-order only. Licensing seems to prevent paid ports from being sold. A pre-order bonus seems to be a grey area, and it seems like paid official ports are not going to happen as the licensing is likely too much money for what will likely amount to small sales.
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How can there be licensing issues when Namco has developed and published the entire series themselves? Unless we're talking about any real world jets in the game.
 
Armenius said:
How can there be licensing issues when Namco has developed and published the entire series themselves? Unless we're talking about any real world jets in the game.
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Exactly what it is. Unfortunately it sounds like Panavia Aircraft has some legal issues when it comes to licensing that makes it hard to get a hold of the license because it is split 3 ways, or something along those lines. And are other costs they have to pay for other companies. Even if they release it for free, apparently they would need to renew or pay a percentage. A pre-order bonus is apparently a loophole. They could technically repay for most of the planes but they don't seem confident they can sell enough copies to make it worth the cost.

Apparently there will be no KF-21 (or some other Korean plane) because the Korean manufacturers declined outright. Shame, because I really wanted to fly this in a video game:

20260625.134168404.2_1782354978_6a3c9422a2f95.jpg
 
Flogger23m said:
Exactly what it is. Unfortunately it sounds like Panavia Aircraft has some legal issues when it comes to licensing that makes it hard to get a hold of the license because it is split 3 ways, or something along those lines. And are other costs they have to pay for other companies. Even if they release it for free, apparently they would need to renew or pay a percentage. A pre-order bonus is apparently a loophole. They could technically repay for most of the planes but they don't seem confident they can sell enough copies to make it worth the cost.

Apparently there will be no KF-21 (or some other Korean plane) because the Korean manufacturers declined outright. Shame, because I really wanted to fly this in a video game:

View attachment 812294
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“Korea’s F-22 Raptor is best Raptor”
 
Ace Combat 8 will have mandatory ray tracing, will only officially support Windows 11. Seems like a high end system will be required. Personally I think this game would have been better off without it, higher frame rates are more important in a game like this. The recommended specs look concerning, hopefully it scales better but I have a feeling frame rates will be low. For medium settings, 1080 with up-scaling, 60 frame rates on the recommended set up seems quite low.


Minimum System Requirements (1080p Upscaled / 30FPS, low settings)​


  • Processor: Intel Core i7-10700K / AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
  • Memory: 16GB RAM
  • Graphics: Nvidia RTX 2060 (6GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (8GB)

Recommended System Requirements (1080p Upscaled / 60fps, medium settings)​


  • Processor: Intel Core i7-12700K or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
  • Memory: 32GB RAM
  • Graphics: Nvidia RTX 3070 (8GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (16GB)
 
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Multiplayer overview trailer:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYfiKmFMvEY

Don't like the social hub things, season pass, etc. But do like the expanded multiplayer.

Biggest disappointment though is the flight model looks like AC7 which is too arcadey. You can essentially decelerated immediately. AC6 was better.

Speaking of AC6, you can finally play that on PC now as an emulator which can be downloaded here. Finished the entire game without any notable issue.
 
Looks good but the flight model seems to resemble AC7 more, with its much sharper turning and quick deceleration. AC6 was the best in the series for the flight mechanics and I am disappointed they are making it more like AC7.
 
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As of now, seems like there is no support for HOTAS outside of their specific Thrustmaster and Hori. Maybe they will add in support for all other setups later, but quite lame. There are some work around and it seems like the X52 Pro does have support currently, but no way to change assignments in game:

Guns: Trigger
Missile: FIRE
Select Weapon: A
Switch Target: B
Auto Pilot: C
Camera: E
Flares: i*
D-Pad: POV 1
Map: Throttle Hat Down
High-G Turn: Pinkie trigger
Camera: Rotary 1 & 2 (wheels on the throttle)

* Clutch mode must be set to OFF
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With AC7 they added control reassignments later but it was through a .INI file if I remember right. Maybe on the 2nd they will patch in support for more devices, but seems like it will be a repeat of the situation with AC7. Probably wanting to natively support their branded collaborations with TM and Hori up front. No native VR support, which we already knew. These things would not take much effort but would likely help sales on PC a fair bit.
 
Flogger23m said:
As of now, seems like there is no support for HOTAS outside of their specific Thrustmaster and Hori.
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it could be, it was designed for consoles and they are very limited...
but whats making you say that? i dont get what the centre text is supposed to show.
 
pendragon1 said:
it could be, it was designed for consoles and they are very limited...
but whats making you say that? i dont get what the centre text is supposed to show.
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If you have an X52Pro those are the assignments, even though it is not supported it works apparently. Might be some other major brands that work but are not "supported". I would think the more recent higher end brands are not supported at all though currently.

I wouldn't say it is a console game as it is a day one PC game to. They just did not do much PC specific features which is typical for Japanese developers. Though some like Capcom have been good with PC support in recent years so I was hoping this would get similar treatment. I'll be using a controller anyway.
 
i get that yours is working but what is telling you "its not supported"? is it a popup in the game?
"designed for consoles" not "its a console game" as in its designed for game pads
 
pendragon1 said:
it could be, it was designed for consoles and they are very limited...
but whats making you say that? i dont get what the centre text is supposed to show.
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Action mapping is done in console games, same as PC. Even if you can't identify the specific device, they can still see and read the inputs. They're hard coding things in the game, instead.
 
pendragon1 said:
this chick seriously needs to come up with some new moves. ive watched her on and off for 10+ years, its always the same...
but heres a music vid for the game music:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DrxMxk-5Bk
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The ergonomics of Violins always had me wondered as a kid. You got this cushion that your chin is suppose to rest on but this chick has a big rubber band holding it up.
 
Comixbooks said:
The ergonomics of Violins always had me wondered as a kid. You got this cushion that your chin is suppose to rest on but this chick has a big rubber band holding it up.
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Pretty sure she's using an electric violin there which doesn't function like a real violin. Functions more like an electric guitar really. The body is more or less just there to imitate the shape of a violin, and could be made into any shape or material.

Also, I think she's strapped up like that so she can be freed up to do her performance/dance. I'd be surprised if that violin weighed more than 1.5 lbs/0.5 kilo. Extremely light.
 
Explaination for Ace Combat Zero not being a seprate game in Steam.

About ACE COMBAT ZERO: THE BELKAN WAR
Aces,
We’ve received questions about how the pre-order bonus, ACE COMBAT ZERO, is currently distributed, and we’d like to provide some clarification.
We’ve received questions regarding how the pre-order bonus, ACE COMBAT ZERO, is being distributed, and we would like to provide some clarification.
ACE COMBAT ZERO is offered as a pre-order bonus. Due to licensing restrictions and platform-related considerations, it cannot currently be released on Steam as a standalone application. As a result, we have chosen to make ACE COMBAT ZERO available through ACE COMBAT™ 8: WINGS OF THEVE.
We apologize for any confusion or frustration caused by our failure to clearly communicate this distribution method in advance.
We have carefully reviewed player feedback regarding this issue and understand the concerns that have been raised. We are currently evaluating possible options, including discussions with our platform partners.
At this time, we cannot guarantee that any changes will be made. However, we are actively exploring potential solutions and will continue working with relevant partners to address player concerns where possible.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and greatly appreciate your patience, feedback, and understanding.
The ACE COMBAT Team
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Not really a big deal, but some people are upset that you need Ace Combat 8 installed (150GB) to play Ace Combat Zero (3GB install). Initially it was advertised that way, but it will instead launch from Ace Combat 8. Seems like the console versions do not have that restriction for whatever reason, not sure what would make the PC platform different in terms of licensing.

I think there are some unofficial work around solutions.

If you want Ace Combat Zero officially, you'd need to purchase within the hour as it goes away once the game goes live. Otherwise you can use PCSX2 emulator which does work well.


Flight Stick Support Update

Regarding broader HOTAS support:

We have received feedback from players regarding flight stick support in ACE COMBAT 8, and we know this is an important topic for some of our aces.

At this time, some of the configuration options available for certain devices in ACE COMBAT 7 are not available in ACE COMBAT 8. We understand this can be frustrating for those who prefer flying with a HOTAS or flight stick setup, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

The team is carefully reviewing the situation and working on improvements to make the experience more comfortable for flight stick users. While these changes may take time, we are exploring solutions and improvements to bring the flight stick experience closer to ACE COMBAT 7.

We truly appreciate the passion and support of the flight stick community and will share further updates as soon as we have more information to share.

The ACE COMBAT Team
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Not really a direct answer, but seems like they will consider adding proper assignment mapping for all HOTAS types. Or at least recognize some other ones.
 
Tried this a bit. There does not seem to be DLSS frame generation supported. I tried the basic training mission for online which was not heavily populated with large amount of enemies. But it ran recently, no real stuttering. Had to use DLSS Quality and got from 90-110 frame rates. I assume in some missions it will drop down to 80 or so. DLSS frame generation would be a good addition. Max settings.

Minor texture pop in when selecting aircraft and skins, I assume also when switching between scenes it will pop up as well. Graphics seem to have some blur even with motion blur disabled. It does look better than AC7, but AC7 looked more clean, IMO. Some of the blur in game just hides the otherwise nice graphics.
 
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