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[nkarafo]

Yeah, i don't remember the last time a game pleased my ears as much. I think it was Portal 2 with it's fun music cues when near various objects or when you hear the music adding more layers as you come closer to solve a room...

After that i don't remember a single game that urged me to crank up the volume and actually make some use of that fancy 5.1 speaker setup i got some decade ago. Ace Combat 7 did just that. The soundtrack is phenomenal and the sound effects very well made. The mixing is also very good as well and all the effects sound clear and distinct. I love the little details like how the speed of sound is taken into consideration (explosions have a sound "lag" the further at the distance they are) or how it becomes more muffled (is that the right word, i don't know) when you pass through the thick clouds. It's so good that i end up watching the replays a few times in a row just for that aural experience, although the visuals and camera work are also pretty great and playing on a PC with locked 60fps also helps. Speaking about PC, i am using a good sound card as well, remember those?

This is my first Ace Combat game as well. Wonder how it ranks compared to older games in the series. Heard some good things about the PS2 entries, might play those as well.

Anyway, i just wanted to get this off my chest as i feel like audio is the lowest priority aspect for developers in modern games.

 

[petran79]

First AC game too. There was also another Ace Combat on Steam from 2013.

I still have those ancient Logitech z2300 speakers but will give the game a try. Bought also a SB G5 usb card. Better than the onboard audio. Also unofficial ultrawide support was added and framerate is capped at 100fps in my rig

 

[JoduanER2]

This game looks like an audio visual treat. It may not win any Goty awards but it certainly is a pleasure to watch and hear.

 

[dirthead]

It's interesting how the same company does a really great job with sound on AC7 and then completely fucks it up with Soul Calibur.

The sound design in the latest SC is shockingly bad.

 

[nkarafo]

I still have those ancient Logitech z2300 speakers

The Z series was Logitech's best work. I have the z5400 THX. I hope they can last another decade.

 

[Alexios]

The Z series was Logitech's best work. I have the z5400 THX. I hope they can last another decade.

I have a cheap Z333 2.1 setup and the right speaker keeps falling asleep and not waking up, I have to unplug/replug the 3.5mm jack on my motherboard a few times for it to finally wake up when it does that, it's super annoying

And there's no software or hardware way to disable this fall asleep feature speakers have these days it seems

It's not a matter of the PC/settings reducing power like on USB ports since it's not such a port and one of the speakers does wake up and they're on the same cable so, yeah

 

[nkarafo]

I have a cheap Z333 2.1 setup and the right speaker keeps falling asleep and not waking up, I have to unplug/replug the 3.5mm jack on my motherboard a few times for it to finally wake up when it does that, it's super annoying

And there's no software or hardware way to disable this fall asleep feature speakers have these days it seems

It's not a matter of the PC/settings reducing power like on USB ports since it's not such a port and one of the speakers does wake up and they're on the same cable so, yeah

Wait, they still name their speakers 'Z"?

I was talking about the old series that was released 10+ years ago...

 

[Alexios]

Wait, they still name their speakers 'Z"?

I was talking about the old series that was released 10+ years ago...

Well mine's pretty old too I guess, no clue when it actually released. It's still on their site and priced too though so I guess it's still somewhat relevant at least.
https://www.logitech.com/en-roeu/product/multimedia-speakers-z333

 

[Hudo]

Man, I wish that Team Ace would do an Ace Combat set in WWII....

 

[Alexios]

Man, I wish that Team Ace would do an Ace Combat set in WWII....

Sky Crawlers feels like alternate WW2 tech... Propeller planes... But it's all anime... And has some of the automatic maneuver focus stuff seen in Assault Horizon... It's alright though.

 

[ookami]

Still waiting for Project Ace/Bandai Namco studio to handle other Thrustmaster HOTAS like my T16000M...

 

[mcz117chief]

I love the little details like how the speed of sound is taken into consideration

It isn't though, or at least it is very inconsistent. I drop bombs from almost the game's ceiling and the lag is barely there if at all, maybe like a 0,5 second lag. In this cutscene, you can clearly hear that there is literally no sound lag at all despite the fact that the camera is kilometers away from the explosions, especially the last one. There definitely is some sound lag in previous Ace Combats though, especially 5.

 

[ROMhack]

The Shenmue Remaster reminded me, mostly because the audio sounds like it's gone through a blender.

Sky Crawlers

I didn't know that game existed. The movie is really good.

 

[JohannCK]

Ace Combat 7 did just that. The soundtrack is phenomenal and (...) Wonder how it ranks compared to older games in the series. Heard some good things about the PS2 entries, might play those as well.

Don't do this if you do plan on playing the PS2 games, but if you're not sure and don't mind getting spoiled on the tracks from the final missions, look up
Megalith - Agnus Dei (Ace Combat 4)
The Unsung War (Ace Combat 5)
ZERO (Ace Combat 0)

The PS2 games have aged pretty well and play mostly the same as 7; It's not like going back to, say, some 3D PS1 game and finding that aiming up/down uses L2 and R2. 5 and 0 have some fantastic stuff that I'd go as far as to say surpasses 7 in some ways. I seriously doubt that they'll ever manage to top 0's final boss.

 

[Alexios]

Still waiting for Project Ace/Bandai Namco studio to handle other Thrustmaster HOTAS like my T16000M...

They still haven't patched that? Damn. I hope they do by the time I get to it. Or has anyone made an app that can make a joystick get recognized as an Xbox pad perhaps, so you can assign inputs in the app and then have it work in game like the Thrustmaster T.Flight officially supported one?

I have a 16000M too. The first green edition, it's pretty much identical to the orange FCS model.

The Shenmue Remaster reminded me, mostly because the audio sounds like it's gone through a blender.



I didn't know that game existed. The movie is really good.

It was clearly a lower budget production but it got some attention back then as it's by the Ace Combat devs.

 

[ookami]

They still haven't patched that? Damn. I hope they do by the time I get to it. Or has anyone made an app that can make a joystick get recognized as an Xbox pad perhaps, so you can assign inputs in the app and then have it work in game like the Thrustmaster T.Flight officially supported one?

I have a 16000M too. The first green edition, it's pretty much identical to the orange FCS model.

My bad, I have the T16000. Not the M. I found a few things here and there but didn't have the time to try in order to recommend it.

 

[Hudo]

Sky Crawlers feels like alternate WW2 tech... Propeller planes... But it's all anime... And has some of the automatic maneuver focus stuff seen in Assault Horizon... It's alright though.

Never heard of this game! Will look into it! Thanks, my dude!

 

[Shifty]

I feel similarly, though my focus was on the radio chatter. It feels so well paced, which goes a long way to making each mission feel like there's never a dull moment.

 

[nkarafo]

It isn't though, or at least it is very inconsistent. I drop bombs from almost the game's ceiling and the lag is barely there if at all, maybe like a 0,5 second lag. In this cutscene, you can clearly hear that there is literally no sound lag at all despite the fact that the camera is kilometers away from the explosions, especially the last one. There definitely is some sound lag in previous Ace Combats though, especially 5.

I'm still on mission 2 so i haven't got to the part where i can drop bombs.

I wouldn't count cutscenes for this kind of effect though. But oh well.

 

[mcz117chief]

I'm still on mission 2 so i haven't got to the part where i can drop bombs.

I wouldn't count cutscenes for this kind of effect though. But oh well.

They did have that effect in previous games' cutscenes where it was very pronounced. It is also the most obvious example since the camera is static and you can easily gauge the distance and see that there is absolutely no lag at all.

 

[nkarafo]

They did have that effect in previous games' cutscenes where it was very pronounced.

Well, maybe this time they wanted the cinematics to be more about storytelling and exposition and less about realism or the feeling of "being there", who knows. Doesn't bother me personally, cut scenes and cinematics is the last thing i look in games.

 

[mcz117chief]

Well, maybe this time they wanted the cinematics to be more about storytelling and exposition and less about realism or the feeling of "being there", who knows. Doesn't bother me personally, cut scenes and cinematics is the last thing i look in games.

That is a bad excuse. I think the sound lag is just not in the game.

 

[Pagusas]

I agree. I just finished the game, and man it reminds me why I love games. Going back to RDR2 after playing Ace Combat is like going from Disney World to the dentist. All the fun and joy of gaming, just sucked away. Ace combat is just true pure fun.

 

[Nelsin]

Best audio immersive gameplay is BoTW even tho I have only played it on handheld.

 

[BlackTron]

Wait, this is a PC flight game that only works with a few specific flight sticks?

Every time there is a game that looks utterly incredible, they somehow manage to make it a big joke

 

[Alexios]

Wait, this is a PC flight game that only works with a few specific flight sticks?

Every time there is a game that looks utterly incredible, they somehow manage to make it a big joke

I think it basically just supports the Xbox gamepad so controllers that are basically a giant hotas shaped Xbox gamepad work, like the T.Flight Hotas One (which is an Xbox/PC stick). People say it supports 4 sticks like that but I've not seen an actual list of which...

Either that, or they somehow figured out a different even sadder way to block all but those 4 hotas/stick models from working. It's pretty damn dumb and on the level of the original Dark Souls port developers not knowing how to change the game's resolution...

Maybe there's a way to get it to work by using Steam controller mapping or other software to fake the joystick inputs as being the corresponding 360 pad inputs but that's probably too fiddly for me to even try doing it. It's why I still use DS4Windows too, haha...

I want proper support anyway, so that I don't have to remap stuff while trying to consider which Xbox input does what function, to then map that as what I want it to be on the joystick and/or keyboard (if it can even support multiple devices, like it should have)...

 

[Justin9mm]

A bit off topic but I would love a AAA Top Gun game made to the Top Gun soundtrack. AC made me hyped for Top Gun 2. I know it probably won't live up to the original but that movie was ahead of it's time, to this day there is no other movie like it!

 

[BlackTron]

I think it basically just supports the Xbox gamepad so controllers that are basically a giant hotas shaped Xbox gamepad work, like the T.Flight Hotas One (which is an Xbox/PC stick). People say it supports 4 sticks like that but I've not seen an actual list of which...

Either that, or they somehow figured out a different even sadder way to block all but those 4 hotas/stick models from working. It's pretty damn dumb and on the level of the original Dark Souls port developers not knowing how to change the game's resolution...

Maybe there's a way to get it to work by using Steam controller mapping or other software to fake the joystick inputs as being the corresponding 360 pad inputs but that's probably too fiddly for me to even try doing it. It's why I still use DS4Windows too, haha...

I want proper support anyway so that I don't have to remap stuff while trying to consider which 360 pad input does what function to then map that as what I want it to be on the joystick and/or keyboard (if it can even support multiple devices like it should have).

Over on Steam there is a discussion about this where one guy complains that this is some agreement between Namco and Thrustmaster, so I believed only Thrustmaster sticks were supported and that this was some sort of perverse exclusivity agreement.

But, turns out, two of the four supported sticks are made by Hori. So, phew! Turns out, it's merely laziness or gross incompetence.

At least there's hope to fix that, or figure it out yourself.

 

[Pagusas]

Wait, this is a PC flight game that only works with a few specific flight sticks?

Every time there is a game that looks utterly incredible, they somehow manage to make it a big joke

Just suck it up and play it with the controller or 4 flight sticks it supports. The game is wayyyy too much fun to miss for any reason.

 

[Shifty]

As far as the flight stick stuff goes, Unreal 4 doesn't have good support for DirectInput. Epic provides a plugin for it, but it requires that you pre-specify USB IDs, making supporting a wide range of hardware a massive pain in the ass (if not technically impossible given that new sticks are released over time). Not to mention that last time I tried to use it, button inputs were broken and didn't properly report press/hold/release states.

So with some development effort to improve or replace the plugin you could definitely do it, but Project Aces / Namco opted not to. Budget, lazy console port, etc, etc.

Myself I just wrote a mapping script in Thrustmaster TARGET to merge my stick and throttle into one device (unnecessary if you have an all-in-one HOTAS, can use UCR if you don't have thrustmaster), then ran that through Steam's input mapper to get the bindings, deadzones and stick response curve sorted.

The yaw is digital rather than analog, but it's still very playable and I don't even know if even the official flight stick support can get around that since mapping it to the analog triggers on an xbox pad results in the same behaviour.

Don't skip out on the game if you can jerry-rig a solution. It's worth it.