Introduction to the Training Arena (TA)
by Murdr

The TA is configured specifically to provide an environment for training to take place in. As such there are a number of features and settings that can be found in the TA that will not be found in the other arenas on the HTC servers.

Features

Lethality is turned off, so that ordinance and guns will not damage other planes or objects.
"Air spawns" are enabled at select fields to save flight time to certain areas
The predicted point of impact site is enabled for bombs and rockets. This will display a green + that indicates where your ordinance would impact if you release them at that instant. It will automatically appear when you select ordinance for firing.
The Lead Computing Gun Site is enabled. This will display where you need to aim your gun site in order to hit the selected target plane. To select an enemy target plane, simply look at the target plane and press the tab key. A box will appear around the selected plane, along with the green + to show the correct lead. If there are multiple targets in view, and the wrong target was selected initially, simply continue to press the tab key to cycle through all the targets within view. To select a friendly (green icon) plane as the target, first you must enable "friendly lock" by pressing Ctl-tab, then follow the same steps as for selecting an enemy target.
The arena clock is frozen. This is both for technical reasons, and to avoid periods of sun glare near the horizon or poor visibility from low light levels.

Where to start

In the center of the map, sector 10,10, you will find Bishops Airfield A1. This is the airfield that the trainers can generally be found at when they are not giving a private session. As such this is also the main hangout for experienced and new players alike. While you are welcome to fly for any country you wish in the TA, if you are looking for help, bishops A1 is the place to go. Even if a trainer is not there at the time, there are often people at A1 who are willing to offer help or answer questions.

If you find yourself as a Knight, or Rook, you can switch countries by selecting "O'Club" on the clipboard menu from the tower or hangar. Once in the O'Club, you will have a "Change Countries" option on the menu where you can make the switch.

To navigate through the Aces High Map from the tower you can double-click on another friendly (green) field to move there instantly. As an alternative, there are also Dot Commands to do this and many other functions in the game.

Rules of Engagement

Since the TA is a structured arena, there are a few rules set up to maintain a training environment. They are in place to keep other peoples training from being disrupted. The ROE should be displayed with your clipboard when you log in to the TA, and you can view them anytime by clicking "Arena Message". The ROE are as follows:

Get others permission to engage before shooting at them
Do not strafe planes on the ground
Bomb empty fields only
Do not attack A1 airfield in any manner
Observe instructions and warnings from Trainers

Please note that the trainers have the administrative tools in the TA to enforce these rules. If a simple friendly reminder is not enough to solve the problem, it is best to bring problems or disruptions to their attention and let them deal with the situation.

For "Get others permission to engage before shooting at them" a little time saving short cut has developed over the years. Aces High has a single keystroke "Check 6" function which is designed to alert friendly planes that they are about to be attacked, and that they need to look to their 6 o'clock position for an enemy. In the TA, we use the "Check 6" to ask and give permission to engage friendly planes. To do this you use the " key in the same way that the tab key is used for the lock function mentioned above. Simply look at the person you want to "Check 6" and press the quote key. If the wrong person is selected, you have 1 second to press the quote key again to cycle through the other planes in view before the "Check 6" is sent. If they reply back with a "Check 6", that means they give you permission to engage. Obviously if you "Check 6" someone in error, it is a good idea to let them know you did not wish to engage them.

The Bombing Zone

The Bombing Zone is designed to provide you with both level and dive bombing practice on typical enemy targets without having to spend too much time in transit to the target.

We have 4 Bishop owned fields in the bombing zone, with field altitudes from 5,000 to 20,000 feet in 5,000 foot increments. To save flight time these fields are equipped with "air spawns" that will spawn you over the enemy target areas at the altitude of the field you launched from.

To the north is the dive bombing area. To make use of the air spawns to that area, simply go to one of those 4 fields, select a fighter from the hangar, and press the NW button under the "Start Flight" area of the clipboard. You will instantly be spawned at altitude 2 sectors north of the field. You will start out at zero airspeed initially, so be prepared to nose down and retract gear (g key) quickly so you can gain enough airspeed for controlled flight.

To the south is the level bombing area. To air spawn to that area, you must have a bomber selected from the hangar, and select the S button from "Start Flight". Again, you will spawn at 0 mph so be prepared to gain controlled flight quickly.

Air spawns can be difficult for newer players to get control of, especially in bombers. If you are not comfortable with using the air spawns, you may select any runway other than the two mentioned above to spawn normally on the runway. When launching normally from the runway, you may still save transit time since the fields are at altitude, and you do not have to spend time climbing.

Other Zones