Two weeks in, the “Sunday European Campaign” is going well. The SEC, as it’s been shortened to, is an event within the game of Aces High 2 where players from all over the world virtually fly world war 2 aircarft and virtually kill each other. The irony is that this (and many other online games like it) are bringing people together from all over the world. The group of online friends I fly with are mostly German and it’s great to know we’re at peace now when playing a game recreating a war just 60 years ago.
Anyway, when our squad moved to this new game from warbirds a year ago, we missed a regular event on Sunday nights where we flew historically based missions over 2 hours. Different to the “main arena” style of game play, these events would encourage a foundation in history, tactics and planning, and very careful flying, given only 1 life per hour.
After some encourage among the players, I had a list of 80 or so players who were interested in the idea and the support of the game creators. Some players volunteered to run the event (on the server setup side), some for future event design too. The big question was would they actually turn up to play?
I’ve just finished playing the 2nd frame of the first event (3 frames = 3 Sunday nights per event) where 100 players from all over the world joined in! Last week we also had just over 100 players, so it looks like there is a genuine interest for the events to continue.
The picture on this post is what’s left of my Hurricane during the first frame. You’ll notice (ok, you’ll notice because I’m telling you not because you’re looking closely) that it’s missing both ailerons. For those with a love of flying, you’ll know the ailerons are the important bit that lets the plane roll and therefore turn. You might also know of the “secondary effects of control”, where using the rudder will roll the plane. That and a little use of elevator meant I landed safely, just, with a fuel leak and other damage too. The screen shot was taken by Odee, a player from Virginia USA. The game has a recording facility and he replayed from my view point to get the shot. Thanks Odee <S>