To all,

For those who have made it to the semi finals please do not play your matches until the settings have been randomized. Please wait until after Macademic posts the randomized settings

thank you

Quarter Final Report
 

New tourney
 

This may premature, but what about a squadrpn tournament ?
2 vs 2 or 3 vs 3 ?

No ace flew singlehanded during WW2.
What about exploring the wingman or two option ?

Just a thought.

Conditions SF1
 

Conditions Semifinal 1*

MIRGERVIN vs themeistor

Map: Korsun
Time of Day: Day
Weather: Clear

* Single 30 min match

Conditions SF2
 

Conditions Semifinal 2*

edal86 vs wolfsalt

Map: Korsun
Time of Day: Morning
Weather: Clear

* Single 30 min match

In the interests of opening a tournament right up what about a full, if you like 'battlegroup' to include all types of aircraft not just fighters? The game has 4 online modes after all!

You're reading my thoughts KAV, you're reading my thoughts...

:)

MAC

Hi Gilly,

All ideas welcome. I believe this is where this game / the sequel will eventually progress into. What it needs is structure*. The previous tournaments of Edal and this one were a start. The historical battles will be another step. Building flight sections of leaders and wingmen, getting proficient in formation flying and team tactics another one, which can then lead into a new tournament. Squadrons could be next. And so on.

This platform has so much potential. It is up to all of us to open up and explore.

MAC

P.S.: * Edal last year devised a brilliant tournament - Battle for Europe. It included all classes of airplanes and playing modes. It was fantastic. Unfortunately it didn't get played to the end because of a lack of structure in the community. This is why I think it's best to take it 'Step by Step'.

Congratulations Semifinalists
 

great game edal86!!!
good luck to the four survivors!!!

Ace of Aces Tournament Finals Sunday 27th Feb
 

Finals
 

Semifinal Results
 

Tournament A

http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/.../semifinal.gif

Tournament B

http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/...6/t2stats1.jpg

http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/...1986/t2a-1.jpg

Congratulations to the finalists and best of luck in the final, and to themeistor and wolfsalt in the fight for 3rd place.
You are all great pilots, but I will get you all next time.........

Congrats guys! To every singel one... Great players and great pilots.
The best of wishes for the two upcoming games!

thanks guys , im lookingfor a good game on sunday . i say again thank mac and edal for putting this tournament on you've both done an amazing job man . and may the best pilot win, see you sunday my friends.

Thank you for the update Winny!

If it's possible, could you please also draw up the 'little' final for third place between wolfsalt and themeistor?

MAC

Edit: Thanks Winny!

congrats to all who have taken part.



Mac, got you're message on the PSN, thank you very much for the invite, but unfortunatly i have to decline it, i cant gaurentee when i will be on and its only really the strike games that would be of any real interest for me.


have an awesome night, defo a fitting end to a great event :)


Scotty

Interview with Gaijin President and CEO Anton Yudintsev, 26/02/2011
 

This interview took place today, 25/02/2011, between MACADEMIC and Anton Yudintsev, President and CEO of Gaijin Entertainment, via text chat on the occasion of the upcoming Ace of Aces Mustang Trophy Tournament finals:

MACADEMIC: Hello Anton, thank you very much for following my invitation for an interview.

Anton Yudintsev: Sure, no problem :)

MACADEMIC: Anton, Gaijin is the main sponsor for the Ace of Aces Mustang Trophy tournament - why did you decide to sponsor this event?

Anton Yudintsev: Well, we always wanted to support our community. Ace of Aces tournament gives very good trophy and attract a lot attention from players. Plus, organizers have contacted me and ask for approval and some words to players - so it was at least polite to take participation :)

MACADEMIC: Birds of Prey was released quite a long time, more than one and a half years ago - did you expect the tournament to be a success?

Anton Yudintsev: First of all, "success" for a tournament is quite hard to measure, as it is not MMO game. The game is rather old, true, but it is still the only decent flight simulation game on consoles. And organizers of the tournament seem to do a real good job attracting players, so I think it will raise certain interest.

MACADEMIC: Sorry, what is an MMO game?

Anton Yudintsev: massive multiplayer online game

MACADEMIC: :) thank you

Anton Yudintsev: I mean, there could be no "commercial success" in this tournament. Only increase of habitation of multiplayer sessions. And I am sure, we will see this popularity growth.

MACADEMIC: I see. Does Gaijin see/measure these criteria on a regular basis? if so, have you seen an increase in habitation which could then be called a success?

Anton Yudintsev: Last time we are busy with our new game, and do not measure it.

MACADEMIC: Okay, perhaps I'll share my personal impression with you then. We have quite full rooms now every evening, many regulars and even newcomers.

Anton Yudintsev: This one I have observed :) I mean, we haven't measured it before, so it is hard for me to say how big is the growth.

MACADEMIC: Okay. Anton, myself and other people who are enthusiastic about Birds of Prey have always wondered where your and Gaijin's interest in aviation come from. I mean, it is hard to imagine that people who wouldn't be interested in aviation or the time period would be able to deliver such a detailed game.

Anton Yudintsev: Well, we have a lot of people in the office with interest towards aviation. Our tech director, for example, was working on a training simulations and analyzing flight simulation data in one of Russian military aviation constructor's office. Some other people (like plane art-director) were IL-2 enthusiasts long time ago. He even made one of the most popular campaign/mode for IL-2. And, one of the best Russian game ever was IL-2 Sturmovik. We wanted to show flight simulation appeal and love for the skies to broader audience. Which means a lot of things:

1. make game more up-to-date in terms of graphics and tech (details of graphics, special effects, lighting)

2. add new sound dimension, 5.1 sound FX, good music.

3. Make game more modern in terms of gameplay. I mean, it is cool that you can have some real combat WW2 flight experience, like in IL-2, and we wanted to keep it - that's why we made Single missions. But we wanted to show more intense action, more movie style gameplay - like Battle of Britain the movie or Pearl Harbor - where a lot of actions happens in the same time or one after one. It is a bit unrealistic - but only in terms of probability one will see all these events one-after-one (and survive), not the events itself.

4. Make it for consoles :) Most hardcore audience is playing consoles nowadays, so if you want to appeal to them, you have to make game for modern consoles.

I am not talking of Wii, of course.

MACADEMIC: :D

Anton Yudintsev: And I believe, we have achieved our goals.

MACADEMIC: I'm sure many of us would agree with you. Of course, interest in aviation is not enough. Where did you find the talents that were able to realize the project, who have the programming and art directing capabilities. Is this something you think Russians are especially good at?

Anton Yudintsev: Russian developers are well-known for their war and simulation games. I believe, that's part of mentality.

MACADEMIC: Yes, you are a nation of chess players :)

Anton Yudintsev: And we have very good and experienced team. And good partners. Most of our planes creation artists are real enthusiasts of this business. They take a lot of things into consideration - blueprints, photos, memoirs of pilots, etc.

MACADEMIC: Anton, you are President and CEO of Gaijin. Many people are saying people are not interested in simulators anymore these days. What would you say about that, and have you ever, from a commercial point of view, regretted to focus your company on simulations?

Anton Yudintsev: First of all, not everything could be measured in money. Although money is important, I confess. But we also were able to make a good game, showing people the truth of WW2 and aviation. Unlike most of Hollywood movies, historical part of our game is much more accurate and honest. Less politics and propaganda. So, going back to money. Here is the thing. There are BIG names and BIG publishers. EA, Activision, THQ, etc. They are mostly focused on a BIG genres and BIG franchises. NHL, CoD, Medal of Honor, etc. There is big competition there. And, what is more important, competition is mostly not in production value of the games (which is also very high), but in marketing. Marketing budget for CoD is tens and hundreds of millions. We can't compete there, literally. Of course, there is broader audience in this genres. But there is a decent amount of players who would love to play flight simulations. And there is lack of titles of even good quality there. Blazing Angels 1-2, HAWX 1-2, AceCombat - all of them, Over G Fighters. That is almost it. And only Ace Combat is good enough (my opinion) as a game. Only Over G Fighters is somehow flight simulation. Ah, I forgot Heroes over Europe. So, we could compete there. We understand flight simulation, community needs, as well as we understand modern gaming. Well, at least we think so :) And our audience is hungry for a decent flight sim game. So it would require much less marketing resources to get to them. I still would prefer more of marketing :( But it was something we could manage with our publishing partners. Hope, that's clarifying.

MACADEMIC: Yes. I would like to get back to my question about people not being interested in simulations anymore. Have you ever heard the saying 'the love for cars never dies'? I think you could equally say 'the love for aviation never dies'. Perhaps that explains how a game like GT5, which is a racing simulation, has sold 6.5 million copies as I recently read. Can Gaijin reach for the stars and become the GT5 of aviation simulations?

Anton Yudintsev: We aim for it. However, cars are of course more popular than planes. Everyone drives a car. Almost everyone at least once wanted to have a better car or participate in race. And cars driving is 2d experience. Planes, on the other hand, are expensive, scary (for some people), and hard to control. And you can get sick while looking on display with aviation game. However, even smaller, this audience is big enough. And loyal, which is important. I mean big enough for us :) Probably the niche is too tight for EA :)

MACADEMIC: Okay. Let's talk a bit more about the future...you mentioned earlier that you are very busy with a new game?

Anton Yudintsev: Yes, we are :)

MACADEMIC: As you can imagine your loyal audience is very interested to hear more...

Anton Yudintsev: Well, we have given a hint in Wings of Prey launch trailer (unintentionally). As for features, we have summarized community feedback, and also our own ideas. Unfortunately, I can unveil all details until announcement, but we are going to keep flight sim spirit, and make the game more online focused, and more community-friendly.

MACADEMIC: Hm...maybe a few more details? Can we expect the game to remain in the same time period? Will it come to all platforms PS3/XBOX360/PC?

Anton Yudintsev: It will be good old-fashion propeller planes. I can't announce platforms. We are working for consoles, but I won't give you exact list. Although you can guess :)

MACADEMIC: The Wii!? ;-)

Anton Yudintsev: Yeah! I love to control my Mustang with this fancy toon-style graphics :) And wiimote of course. And dancing minigames in the briefings.

MACADEMIC: Control and Mustang? - I got to get this game! Now that's something really new. We have a nickname for our Mustangs: STALLions.

Anton Yudintsev: Nice :)

MACADEMIC: Yes, but some strange people love our STALLions that way - like me for example...

Anton Yudintsev: Damned, I wish we could have Mario there :(

MACADEMIC: Put Mario in the cockpit and all will be fine!
;-)

Anton Yudintsev: We can't. Mario would have too close visual appearance to Hitler, if in WW2 era. And it is against law in many countries.

MACADEMIC: :D Oh man, that's funny!

Anton Yudintsev: Plus, legal issues.. Nintendo love it's Mario too much. :)

MACADEMIC: I thought he looks more like Stalin...
But enough of the lookalikes...

Anton Yudintsev: Yes, let's go back to serious questions.

MACADEMIC: All my questions are serious. My next one is to please give the host of a game more options. Such as: which planes, who can play, who not, cockpit view only, full sensitivity only,...

Anton Yudintsev: Not all my answers are. We actually not like Mario all that much.

MACADEMIC: :) That will get you in trouble with your Wii customers!

Anton Yudintsev: We will unveil more details soon.

MACADEMIC: Great, I know I'm misusing the opportunity here... ;-)

Anton Yudintsev: But we are taking our community feedback into consideration. For instance, custom difficulty match shown to be real good. What do you mean by "who can play, who not?"

MACADEMIC: Yes I know this from Wings of Prey, this was a great innovation.

Anton Yudintsev: And so we will keep it in a new game.

MACADEMIC: Well, you have the 'Kick' option in Wings of Prey. Sometimes you have players make a bit of trouble...Plus Full Sensitivity option, please...

Anton Yudintsev: What do you mean by full sensitivity exactly? Dead zone control?

MACADEMIC: No, but you can reduce the sensitivity of the planes in Options so that it is impossible to stall a plane, which is not realistic.

Anton Yudintsev: We are thinking about voting (and so kicking). No promises yet.

MACADEMIC: We have a Club - the organizing Club of the tournament - who plays by leaving the sensitivity full at all times, making it more realistic to fly the planes every plane can stall when you pull back on the stick too hard, we want to maintain that. but of course it is voluntary and not possible to be verified. Therefore we would love this option, because then it is assured that everyone flies under the same conditions.

Anton Yudintsev: I see. Yeah, we have discussion about that. Let me explain something. Each additional option divides multiplayer audience. So, if we have 16 options, each one of them is binary, and should be verified, then you can have 65536 players online, each one playing his own session with unique combination of options. So we are very cautious in adding new options. We already have added two.

MACADEMIC: You are good at math. :)

Anton Yudintsev: I have programmer's background. I know powers of two till 2^20 by heart. I know that is anticipated option by some audience.

MACADEMIC: Impressive. But if you sell a million copies and you have 655360 players online at the same time, you have 65536 rooms with 10 players each which will be fine...

Anton Yudintsev: Unlikely :(

MACADEMIC: average, of course

Anton Yudintsev: half of players (tops) are not playing multiplayer. So, 500ks. And they are spread in world. Different time zones.

MACADEMIC: Okay, so let's say you sell 2000000 copies.

Anton Yudintsev: I doubt that is achievable. AceCombat is about 1.6 mil for PSP. I believe, the total audience of flight sim games is about 1 mil players. So, 500k tops playing online. Each one playing each third day. Also, there is sales tail, so peak online players is 100k.
divide it by two consoles. 50-100k then divide it to time zones.

MACADEMIC: Still not bad.

Anton Yudintsev: then divide by each third day
gives us 2k players in one session (realistically).

MACADEMIC: But I doubt the options would divide mathematically as you say. The mainstream will still go for the pre made option, as in Wings of Prey.

Anton Yudintsev: We have custom difficulty match now. But yes, I believe you right. You know how many percent of players earns achievement for ending simulation training in WoP? less than 10%.

MACADEMIC: But you make the specialists very happy, who are perhaps the most loyal players...Okay, but this training is not as good as the real training by an experienced pilot...

Anton Yudintsev: That's why we are adding two new options and custom difficulty match :) We really love our flight-simmers community.

MACADEMIC: :)

Anton Yudintsev: I am just saying we have to deal with that they are not the only audience of the game. And it is much less than a million of simmers.

MACADEMIC: Yes I know and I believe it is correct to treat all communities with the same amount of care and support.

Anton Yudintsev: As you can imagine it is very easy to add any option. But we have to think about it carefully.

MACADEMIC: I understand, like I said I was misusing the opportunity to make lobbying on behalf of our Club ;-) Speaking of other communities, I know there are quite strong Arcade and Realistic communities and I know they are interested in having their own tournaments. We have some experience with tournaments now and would be happy to support them - could these communities also count on Gaijin's support and perhaps sponsoring?

Anton Yudintsev: Well, if they will have good organization - I am sure they can rely we will support them as well.

MACADEMIC: Great, I'm sure that's great news for our friends there. Also on the XBOX360, there is interest there as well. But let's go back to our own tournament. The finals are going to be played on Sunday. The two remaining players in the tournament are presently the strongest and best players of the game: MIRGERVIN and Edal86.

Anything you would like to say to them, and to the community?

Anton Yudintsev: First of all, I would like to thank them for playing our game. And for their interest in aviation. And we will keep working on satisfying their needs, like no one else does.

Good luck! Keep your heart hot, your head cool, and your eyes clear!
And let the strongest win.

MACADEMIC: Thank you very much Anton for your time, thank you for bringing us such good news and amazing games! And also, thank you very much for sponsoring our event.

Anton Yudintsev: You are always welcome!

Proposed Rule Change - Filming of Finals
 

Edal86 and MIRGERVIN:

To enable filming of the finals, the following rule changes are proposed. They will only come into effect upon acceptance by the finalists. If any finalist does not agree to these changes, the finals will be played as a normal 30 minute elimination match.

Game modus: Strike
Number of matches: best of three/player who first has won two matches is winner
Duration: 20 minutes each
Settings: Day, Clear
Maps: Britain, Sicily

Teams and Sequence by randomizing the following in two draws:

MIRGERVIN
Edal86
A
B
Britain
Sicily

First and second match determined by first draw. For first match, first name pairs with first of A or B and first location. Second match sides change (A/B), match played on other map. Third match determined through second draw in the same way as for first match, but cameraplane goes with player with better Kill/Death ratio in the first two.

Camera plane: an I-16 will film the action from its cockpit, without HUD. The camera plane always sides with side A in the first two matches, and with player with better Kill/Death ratio in the third match. Camera plane has to stay behind the P-51 of his teammate, until the P-51s engage. This way it will always be clear which dot on the map is the camera plane and which is the P-51. If the camera's teammate crashes or gets shot down, the camera plane's pilot has to bail out so he respawns together with his teammate. If the other team gets killed, the camera plane has to follow the retreat rule as well.

The camera plane should try his best to get good footage, but shall not interfere in the fighting between the two finalists.

Referees:Two referees with LA-7s shall be present in each game, one per team. The LA-7s shall climb high and withdraw to a corner of the map. They shall register any crash of a finalist and convey via text chat. This will ensure that crashes of the cameraplane or of a referee does not change the result.

Following randomizing, the matches would be played under the following settings (see attachments):

Match 1:

Map: Sicily
Time of day: Day
Weather: Clear
Team A: MIRGERVIN, Tagemandbagem (Camera plane), MACADEMIC (LA-7 Referee)
Team B: Edal86, McQ59 (LA-7 Referee)
Duration: 20 minutes, Strike mode

Match 2:

Map: Britain
Time of Day: Day
Weather: Clear
Team A: Edal86, Tagemandbagem (Camera plane), MACADEMIC (LA-7 Referee)
Team B: MIRGERVIN, McQ59 (LA-7 Referee)

Match 3 (will only be played if after match 1 and 2 the winner has not be determined):

Map: Britain
Time of Day: Day
Weather: Clear
Team A: MIRGERVIN, MACADEMIC (LA-7 Referee)
Team B: Edal86, McQ59 (LA-7 Referee)

Tagemandbagem (Cameraplane) will side with player with better Kill/Death ratio.

MIRGERVIN and Edal, please state if you accept the changes.

I dont agree.

1. Only planes that I want to see in the sky are mirgervin's and the cameraplane, spectators/refs can report crashes from land far away from the action, I dont mind having the cameraplane and 3 other spectators in a match (total of 4 extra planes)

2. If I am to play 2 matches then I want them to accumulate deaths, example, 1st match I win 4-2 2nd match I loose 1-5, this will make the score 5-7, no need for third match unless the score ends up in a draw. This will also allow the camera man to most likely be only one time in both player's side.

* In my opinion, the purpose of having 2 matches in the final would be only to allow more spectators a chance to "watch" a little of the action

Hi Edal,

You wouldn't see the referees, they would only be there to count the deaths correctly and to relay to the outsiders in text chat. They would stay well away.

And the reason for two matches, and the whole rule change proposal is only to have the opportunity for filming. Since the filming would result in a slight disadvantage for the player who doesn't have the cameraplane on his side, it would be better to have the two matches, plus the third in case of both winning one 'set' each. As in tennis, best of three.

But anyway, I already said if any of you doesn't agree we'll do it in the way the rules stipulate and not change them.

I will shortly randomize the conditions for the final.

MAC

yes i agree with edal.

Hi Mirgervin,

No problem.

MAC

Conditions for Finals
 

Hi all,

I will randomize the conditions for the finals at precisely 0100 UTC on February 27th. Excluded are homemaps of Edal Sicily Coast and MIRGERVIN's Berlin.

MAC

Finals and Conditions
 

Interview with Edal86 before the final
 

Interview with MIRGERVIN before the final
 

Conditions for Match for 3rd place
 

Hi all,

I am going to randomize the match for 3rd place between wolfsalt and themeistor at 0315 UTC. Excluded is their homemap Britain.

MAC

Match for 3rd place
 

Is anyone going to be awake to for the super brawl?

Update
 

Hey Guys

Just wanted to thank everyone for all the great games that ive had during this tournament and of course to Mac and edal for making the whole thing possible youve done a great job guys and ive been really glad to be apart of all of it! And thanks to gaijin for this beautiful game and for putting up the prizes! Cant wait for the sequal!!!
I played themeistor today in the playoff for third place and man what a game it was he is one top Ace and not to mention a top bloke too great game buddy thanks.
Finally i just want to say bad luck to edal tho i expect that nice trophy you'll be getting will make up for it and congratulations to my old mate Mergervin the Godfather and Ace of Aces of IL2! i knew you'd do it man! Ill be after you all again in the next one tho! ;)

wolf

Hey,

i'm trying to get back at 8pm GMT. If anyone sees Master Mirgervin i'd like to take our B tourny matches then.

CONGRATULATIONS TO FINAL FOUR right guys survived.

http://www.cebudanderson.com/images/os03.jpg

Mage

Congrats Mirgervin! :grin:

Third place battle sounded like a very tense affair, well done Wolfsalt!

The router that works with my PS3 must be trying to keep sabbath, because it won't let me connect. :-x I'll keep trying.

Hey man

Thanks alot mate. It would be nice if you could get on havnt flow with you for ages Mr Tagem!! hopefully see you soon

wolf

Congratulations guys.

B Finals
 

Hello all,

Just a small note that MIRGERVIN and I played the little final in the B tournament in the evening, which I luckily won (but not much deserved).

Draux was with us to film the whole thing, many thanks for that. He will publish later.

MAC

End of Superbrawl Day and Tournament
 

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/attachm...5&d=1298856143



Hi my friends,

Just a quick hello and a few words at the end of Superbrawl day, the Finals and the Ace of Aces tournament.

It was a very long day, and a long tournament, so this will be short. Thank you all for making this tournament the experience and success that it was. We couldn't have done it without your help and support.

My special thanks go to my co organiser Edal86, without you all this wouldn't have been possible. You did an outstanding job my friend, and our cooperation was just always impressively smooth and professional. I don't want to think of it now since we both need a break after the hard work, but if there's anyone I'd like to work together on such a project again it would be you.

My other big thanks go to Gaijin Entertainment and its CEO and President Anton Yudintsev for generously sponsoring our event and giving us such a remarkable interview. If there was any need to prove that Gaijin is 100% behind its products and its community, then this was it. I'd even say they're like no other in this business.

I want to close with congratulating the winners, and thereby us all. In a community that sticks together so closely and has so much fun together over such a long period of time, everybody is a winner.

If any of you wish to comment on the tournament, leave a critique or personal impression, you're very much welcome to do so on the following pages.

I see you all up there!

:)

MACADEMIC

Here's video of the final match between Macademic and Mirgervin from tournament B. Not much happens at the beginning cept for me looping into the ground. First kills happens around 7:50. They asked me to stay with Mirgervin as much as possible and bail if he went down so I could stay with him. Youtube broke it up in to three parts, but it can be seen here uncut.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLw-3oUZWBg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcL_fPalRe4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1pd97Vd1Vs

Thanks
 

Mac, edal and everyone else who has made this a blast, THANKS.

Draux,

Thanks a lot for doing and posting these videos. I love the i16 from the cockpit as your camera platform, hope we can do more in the future!

MAC

Respect honor and thanks for teacher mac edal!!!
Thanks to gaijin and all the guys!!!

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/z...AoAbancopy.jpg
http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/z...e/AoAFinal.jpg

Big thanks to all involved, couldn't be there yesterday as I had a 4 yr old with tonsilitis to look after.

Big hand to all involved in this tournament! I'm impressed by the resources this foum provides; The skills that reaches far beyond mastering the beautyfull planes provided by the developers, the absolute attitude to respect and allways finding the way to have great fun dancing the skies and kill each other night after night. Congratulaitons to you all!
One of the best descicions I ever made was to go for the title. It made me a better player in the most exciting and fun way possible online. Thank you guys :-)

High-ho!

millions thanks !!!




http://nsm05.casimages.com/img/2011/...2717746659.png

Hey Winny,

thank you for the great posters you did and also the leaderboard, I love it. And I hope your 4 year old is getting better.

Cheers,

MAC

Thank you for this great poster Olife, and all your other contributions to the tournament and our community!

MAC

Thank you for your beautiful statement my friend McQ.

MAC

u too!!!
pleasure is mine!!!