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ace 2
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the instructions! typed in by :
izildur of tic-team for fairlight!!!'



ace 2' airlcraft flight controls
--------------------------------
(1) plane one
    joystick - port 1  
 f = increase engine power 
 s = decrease engine power 
 x = switch to map view
 e = select weapon 
 q = if the aircraft is not threatendned by an enemy missile, this shows the numbers of flares 
and chaff pods available, but if it is being chased by a missile, it fires a flare to decoy a 
eheat-seeking missile, or some chaff, to deflect an incoming radaer guided missile.

(2) plane two
    joystick - port 2
 h = increase engine power
 k = decrease engine power
 v = switch to map view
 u = select weapon
 t = monitor flare and chaff levels or launch flare/chaff

(3) additional controls
 <f3> = quit game and restart
 <f5> = musuc on/off during game 


overview of 'ace 2'
-------------------
air combat emulator two (ace 2) is a head to head flight and combat simlulation for one or two 
players. each fly a different type of fighter. plane one (1) is a carriesr ased aircraft, whilst 
plane stationed at an airbase. in the single player moede, the human controls plane one (1), and 
the computer flies plane two (2), using very advanced artificaial intelligence to execute both 
offensive and defensive manoeuvres. plane two (2) is from a desert country, with a western coast 
line . plane one (1) is based on a foreign aircraft carriesr, which is positioned out of 
territorial waters.

ace 2 'ace 2' is really two gaemes :-

(1) close range dogfight
both aircraft are armed with aerial  cannon, and with close-range heat-seeking missiles. they are 
placed at random map position, but fairly close to each other. the planes must fight each other 
using the available weapons, and if one aircraft is shpot down, the game continues, both pilots 
receiving a fresh plane. the games end when one of the pilots has n0 more aircraft left.

(2) full-scale aerial and ground attack
the country of plane one (1) has positioned a spyship, close to the coast of it's rival, whose 
mission is to monitor an inshore radar station. contrary to all expectations, the inhabitants 
have reacted aggressively to this action, and have sent a single plane, from an airbase to the 
east of the radar station, to destroy any enemy aircraft, and sink the enemy vessel. help is 
summoned, and a single carriesr based fighter is sent, with orders to shoot down the attacker, 
and then to destroy the aforementioned radar station. each aircraft has an aerial cannon, and can 
be further armed with a variety of short and long range air-air missiles, and an air-ground 
missile. the pilots must choose the weapon load; the section 'arming the aircraft' will explain 
this. (coming later)


setting the options for 'ace 2'
-------------------------------
use either joystick to move the arrow up and dowmn, and press fire to change an option.

(1) commence conflict
move the arrow to the top, and press fire when you are satisfied with the options.

(2) combatants
set for one player, or two playuyers.

(3) computer opponetnt skill level
only switchable if playing against the computer. changing this value (1-20) will increase the 
skill and ability of the computer pilot.

(4) combat scenario
change this, to obtain the type of game that you wish to play, either 'close range combat' or 
'full scale conflict'

(5) number of planes each
effectively, this is the number of 'lives' allowed, and is normally set to three (3) but can be 
increased to a max. of 20, to give a really long game!!

(6) crash detection
normally set to 'on',but can be turned to 'off', and when either plane crashes into the sea or 
the ground, the aircraft is not destroyed. recommended to new pilots!

(7) number of missile hits required to kill
this is normally set to three (3), but can be reduced, to give more realistic representations of 
the destructive power of modern weapons!

(8) save these options to disk (disk based game only)
use use this to save the current options to disk, so that when the game is next loaded, they are 
automatically selected


arming the aircraft 
-------------------
(only necesseary during the full-scale conflict game)

when you see the picture of your aircraft , move the arrow down to select 'arm', and the arming 
menu will apperar. move the arrow to a weapon name and press fire to increase the number that 
will be carried. the program will ensure that the weapon load selected is in the carrying 
capacity of the aircraft. :-

cannon - 3000 rounds (fixed)
heat-seeking missiles - max.8 but less if other weapons carried.
radar-guided missiles - max..66 but none may be carried if any air-ground/air-ship weapons are 
carried
air-ground/air-ship missiles - max.2


flying the aircraft in 'ace 2'
------------------------------
this part of 'ace 2' has been designed as a simulation of flying a mach 2 combat aircraft, but 
with many of the complex and difficult aspects of piloting removed. here are some of the things 
about which you don't need to worry :-

undercarriage control
flaps setting
rudder control
engine temperature
decrease in turn rate at very low and very high speed
keeping below maximum safe speed
avoiding maximum g-forces

the following info. applies to flyingeither aircraft :-

(1) engine power
use the two keys specified to increase or decreaese the power of your turbofan jet engine. at 
more than 75% power (that is, when the thrust bar indicator on your instrument panel is more than 
three-quarters full), the afterburners are engaged . this drastically increases thrust, but at 
the price of heavy fuel consumption. afterburners are needed to fly art speeds above mach 1.0 
(750 knots)

(2) using the joystick
moving the joysticlk up or down will change the pitch angle of the aircraft. if the plane is 
flying upside down, pulling the joystick back will cause the aircraft to dive ; when the plane is 
not upside down, the aircraft will climb. observe your pitch indicator. in order to turn the 
plane, it must be put in a bank. moving the joystick left or right will do this. to turn quickly, 
put th plane into a steep bank, and pull back on the joystick. note that when the aircraft is in 
a steep bank, moving the joystick up or down will have little or no effect on the pitch of the 
plane.

(3) stalling and ceiling
stalling occours when the speed of the aircraft is not sufficent to keep the aircraft in flight. 
in a real aircraft the stall speed varies according to it's sitution, but in 'ace 2' it has been 
fixed at 140 knots. the ceiling (max. altitude of the aircraft) is 60000 feet.

(4) hands on throttle and stick concept (hotast)
real aircraft, such as the f-18 hornet and the f-15 eagle, use the hotas concept in the design if 
their flight controls. the most important controls that are needed by the pilot during aerial 
combat are placed on either the throttle (the lever to control the engine's power), or the 
joystick. the pilot's left hand is usually on the throttle, his right hand on the stick. the 
flight controls to 'ace 2' have been designed in a similiar way; all the controls for plane one 
(1) are at the left of the keyborard, and those for plane two (2) at the right. we recommended 
that each player sits to the appropriate side of the computer, with his right hand on the stick, 
and the fingers of his left hand on, or near the thrust, weapons selection and dedefence keys. 
you may wish to vary this arrangement to suit your own needs.


aircraft instrumentation
------------------------
plane one (1)
the instrument panel of plane one (1) represents the information latest type, with info being 
presented on the cathode ray tubes (crt's). the bottom of the left 'crt' shows the name of the 
current weapon selected, and how many units of the weapons you have :-

cannon - aerial cannon
heat aa - heat-seeking air-air missile
radar aa - radar ground air-air missile
air-grnd - air-ground missile

at the centre 'crt' is the radar scanner the dot in the middle is your aircraft, and radar 
contacts (missiles, enemy planes etc.) to the front of your plane are shown above this dot. the 
radar automatically adjusts its display, when the target is at close range, and you will notice 
that the scale lines on the side of the display, will change. to the right of the radar is the 
pitch display. this is a representation of the apparent movement of the horizion, as the pictch 
of the aircraft is changed. thus, when the aircraft is flying with the nose at the pitch zero, 
the pitch bar which represents the ground, occupies the bottom half of the display. ars you 
increase your pitch, you will see the ground appear to move down, and the pitch bar moves in 
similiar fashion. at the right of the centre 'vdu', is the aircraft roll indicatior, which 
indicates the banking angle of your plane.


plane two (2)
the instrument planel of plane two (2) represents an older design, and features "crt's" as well 
as conventional instruments. at the extreme left, the weapons selector switch shows the current 
weapon selected:-

c - cannon
h - heat-seeking air-air missile
r - radar guided missile
s - anti-ship missile

the operation and the meaning of the pitch bar, compass, radar, digital readouts, power and fuel 
bars, is the same as that of plane one (1)


using the map
-------------
the map can be displayed on either player's screen. the black dot is plane one (1), and the white 
dot is plane two (2). the map also shows missiles,the spyship, and the radar station. the 
aircraft carrier and airbase are not on the map; they are situated to the west and east of it.


using the aircraft weapons systems
----------------------------------
both the aircraft are armed with similiar weapons, and similiar capabilities. they have an 
'aerial cannon' for very close range wokek. heat-seeking arir-air missiles for close range. 
radar-guided air-air weapons for long range shots and 'air-ground' (plane one(1)) or air-ship 
(plane two (2)) missiles.

(1) aerial cannon
mounted in the port wing root of eatch aircraft, this fires cannon shells in a line of the 
direction of flight of the plane. use the cannon against the enemy aircraft, when it is less than 
one (1) mile away. to aim the gun, move the aircraft so that the centre of the gunsight is over 
the desired target. several cannon hits wuill be needed to destroy the plane.

(2) air-air missiles

(2.1) heat s-seeking air-air missiles.
these are short range weapons (range less than 8 miles) 
this is fire and forget weapon, which means that once the missile has been fired, the pilot does 
not need to guide it to its target; he can forget the missile.
point the nose of your aircraft towards the target plane. you should see a sights box, indicating 
the position of the target, which should apperar as only a dot at extreme range. the message 
panel will print the target's range and alt. and will tell you when sensors in the missile have 
locked on to the heat source (the enemy plane). the message 'target locked' means it is ok to 
fire. once you fire, you have no control or influence over the missile. if the target is close 
try some cannon shots

(2.2) radar guided air-air missiles
these are long range weapons (range less than 25 miles)
this is a semi-active radar guided missile, which means that the missile must be guided to the 
target by the radar from your aircraft. as with heat- seeking missiles, the sights box will 
indicate the target, the panel will say 'target locked' and you may fire. this is where the use 
of the missiles differs. 
having firesd the radar-guided missile, you must keep the target aircraft within the sights box, 
for the whole of the missile's flight (about 30 seconds if the target is 25 miles away) should 
the target 'move' away from the sights box for a few seconds, the radar will be unable to 
relocate it, and the missile will be lost. note that the sights box moves around, so you do not 
need to point the plane directly at the target.

(3) air-ground / air-ship missile
the operation of this device is the same, for both plane one (1) and plane two (2), although the 
actual missiles are different . approach the target at below 2000 feet, and at a speed of 500 
knots or less. point your aircraft so that the target is within the sights box,and when the panel 
says 'target locked' fire the missile. 
you must maintain your aim on the target, whilst the missile flies towards it. as with radar-
guided missiles, if the target should 'move' from the sights box for more than a few seconds, the 
missile will be lost.


scoring
-------
cannon hit on target aircraft    20 p
missile hit on target aircraft   50 p
enemy aircraft destroyed        200 p
enemy ground target destroyed  2000 p


defending your aircraft
-----------------------
if an enemy missile is fired at you, launch flares or chaff (the game selects the correct one) to 
decoy the missile. you have 6 flares and 6 chaff pods. flares and chaff are most effective when 
the missile is about 1 mile away; the instrument panel will tell you the range. either climb or 
dive to change your altitude by several thousands feet, to avoid the missile. if an enemy 
aircraft is behind you, and quite close, either turn sharply or pull up quickly, to move away 
from it. if the range is less than a mile and you cannot get away from it, keep banking, pulling 
back, then rolling to a different angle, abd pushing forward, to avoid them.

if you are hit, your controls will not respond for a few seconds, during which, you are vuneralbe 
to another missile, or cannon fire. so, if you are being chased by a missile, fly away from the 
enemy, as you take evasive action.


returning to base
-----------------
if your fuel is low or weapons are low, or your plane has been hit several times, return to your 
base, to be repaired, re-armed and re-fuelded. plane one (1) must fly off the west side of the 
map, at less than 1000 feet to return to the carrier. plane two (2) must fly off the east side of 
the map, at less than 1000 feet, to return to it's air-base.


flying a combat mission
-----------------------
new pilots are recommended to fly against the computer, at level one, to gain combat experience. 
your aircraft is primarily and air superirority fighter, designed to shoot down the other plane, 
but also has a secondary air-ground role, emplyedin the full-scale conflict game. when fighting 
an aircraft, try to gain height, so that your machine will be faster, and more agile, in the less 
dense air. select the weapon that you wish to use, and close to the correct range.

you will find yourself distractedand momentarily confused if you look at the other player's 
intstrument planel. 
dont'd do that!!

flares and chaff are only partially effective against incoming missiles, so it's best to take 
evasive action as well enemy missiles cannot be shot dowmn!!!!!!

remember that your plane can fly faster at higher altitude (30000 feet or more) high speed will 
be needed to reach a distant target, or to escape from the conflict zone and return to base. if 
you are trying to flee, and the enemy is constantly close behind you try slowing down, then 
pulling back on your stick until you face him, then firing a heat-seeking missile (it is best to 
save one for an escape), which should cause the enemy to take evasive action, and 'buy' you some 
distance.

try to attack the enemy plane at from approximately the same altitiude (to within 10000 feet) you 
can collide with the enemy plane so take care.
