It doesn't seem to run as good as it's brother Sky Aces Cold War.
But I still like it.

minimizes for me during training once at artilery part. im running windows 7 x64.

Hi to the gamers!
I found that the joystick works very well with some of the games.
This one for exemple...And we are not advised for that.
So, you must not forget to try it!
Thanks a lot to you, GOTD.
eDUARDO

I really was entertained by this game. TNX.

I do get the memory access violation error as well so it isn't that playable after a while.

I have a standard machine WinXP Home SP4.

Joystick support would be nice as well. Cheers Dave Creek

Experimental is right for the network game. Here's as far as I got:

Caveat: I have not tried this with the Sky Aces launcher .exe (the original "Sky Aces WW2.exe") - I have only tried this with the game.dat file renamed to game.exe.

1) on both computers, in SkyAces_WWII\art\menu folder, copy mm_alert.jpg to mm_ftoface.jpg (developers forgot the appropriate artwork for the menu option for face to face games)

2) on the server computer, go to command prompt and start Sky Aces with the command line option "server" as in:
C:\Games\SkyAces_WWII> game.exe server

3) on the client computer, go to command prompt and start Sky Aces with the command line option "client " as in:
C:\Games\SkyAces_WWII> game.exe client 192.168.0.2

If your firewalls allow the various connections, then you should get the Sky Aces main screen with the top option being "Quick Game" (and a blank under that where quick game used to be).

Unfortunately, that's as far as I got - when I selected the game, scenario, and plane on both computers, it loaded all the graphics objects, then immediately gave me the infamous access violation error on both computers (the standalone version runs fine on both computers). Sigh.

Guess that's enough hacking for one day. Hope someone else gets farther than I did!

It worked fine for Windows XP, although I almost wish it didn't.
While played the game took for ever to load, the graphics were that of a game from the '90s and the controls were horrid. Each time there was a mission to select, a plane to choose, or even a game over there was a long loading screen you'd expect from a 64 bit system.
A big waste of time. Two thumbs way down.

Tried out training and it kept minimizing itself after firing the minigun.

on Windows xp

........................Moderator Comment...........................

Others were reporting that the game minimized when using the space bar to fire the mini gun. If you also used the space bar try using the Left Mouse nutton instead.

As John mentioned @74, I suspected resolution was an issue so I tried several different ones on each computer, with no effect on the minimizing. Oh, well. It's a fun, not very realistic free game...

Suggest full scandisk on reboot and defrag if hard drive cluttered. As the program seems rather memory hungry, reboot before running it and stop all unnecessary processes via task manager. Should prevent/ cure most problems!

It keeps getting minimized in the training mission!

For those of you (like me) who haven't played any form of flight sim, I didn't think that this was a bad intro. I also found problems with the gunsights and being unable to hit a target, but by experimenting with the keyboard, i.e. the 'C' key, I found a variety of different views. The cockpit view was especially helpful with target practice.

Also had problems with the screen minimising at times, but hey guys, this game is free so that can't be too much to complain about.

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/3014
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2216
2 topic about A Memory Access Violation
the game is tring to access memory it isnt supposed to or is not allowed for some reason like a driver problem.
I see some with win 7 are running this game ok so I guess it works on win 7 !
one other article suggested the monitor resolution could cause this type of error message as well.

7 $ for a Game with this Task description "TODO: "....
Realy funny! I waste 10 min of my life!

also people should read a little bit?... for those with win 7:
Windows 98/ME/XP/Vista....win 7 isnt listed
for desktop icon always look where it is installed or change to a folder you just made for it prior to install.
as someone else said this game could be installed to external Hard drive.

I installed this and activated with no problems.
sent Sky Aces WW2.exe file to desktop.
I ran 2 training missions with no problems.
I wonder if all the minimize problems are due to screen resolution?
I use 1024x 768 so if you are using higher resolutions it might cause a problem? I know some apps are designed to only run at certain resolutions.
I do have dx 9 or 10 and I run xp sp2 or 3
my question is can I change the controls?
I dont like the weapon selection being the mouse wheel as it also controls movement of plane, so when i select weapon it can alter your flying movement at same time.
I dont know that it is easy to fly, but will give it a try.
I just want to fly around and shoot stuff not fly a real plane, so I thought this would be easy and it is easier than most.


........................Moderator Comment.............................

As I mentioned in my review at #1 one of the down sides of this game is you cannot redefine the keys.

@WR: sorry, i should have said it lead to a sponsored link on the GOTD site (?)...some ads, etc., are blocked, & i can't see everything exactly as written...

also, google search:
http://www.google.com/search?q=warlike+flyboys+ww3&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t

a Warlike Flyboys/Software Informer link?...

this was just a strange day for me...lol...

Unfortunately, I'm another one that can't get past the memory access violations. Spent quite a bit of time on it. Updated to the latest nVidia drivers, which was good for me. It allowed me to finally play one game giveaway I couldn't get to work - Trickball - and get another one - Crystal Cave Classic - to speed up to a normal rate, making it playable. That was because both ran on OpenGL, which I had not downloaded, but my new drivers featured OpenGL support. Proves what Whiterabbit said about the need to have up to date drivers. Couldn't get SkyAces to run, though. Tried all the compatibility modes. Windows Vista Home Premium. nVidia GEForce 6150LE. Not exactly a new card.

Still, I think many of you folks are being too hard on this giveaway. Many of these posts are about Win7. Well, it doesn't claim to provide Win7 support. It makes sense that you tested, but it isn't fair to expect something to provide a service it doesn't promise to provide. I know 7 is the future, but it's been out in a final version for only half a year. The first service pack hasn't even appeared, yet.

Many developers haven't even embraced .net framework, yet. Net itself isn't the issue, but it's part of a new design paradigm that handles instructions virtually. The old system is for some of the programs to run certain instructions direct from the CPU, through the driver, bypassing Windows entirely. According to Mark Russinovich, the creator of the highly acclaimed SysInternals suite of debugging tools that was so good it was swallowed up by Microsoft (and so was he), this direct applying of certain instructions to the CPU is the source of ALL memory violations. Developers are often reluctant to throw away old code that works and learn new stuff, which is unfortunate, but not that uncommon. Looking at the release notes for this newest generation of nVidia driver, it has issues with such big company games as WOW and Tiger Woods PGA 2007. And they probably do most of their coding using .net. So, betting that all software from all companies will work on all hardware just isn't playing the percentages. For me, this is the first GOTD game that failed - and I may still get it to work down the road - so whining about it would be pretty juvenile. For me, anyway.

Still, there's enough people who've had problems with this giveaway that the developer should seriously consider a significant code rewrite. I'm sure since this is a redesign - as, fortunately, Whiterabbit reported (as always, thanks Stephen) - of a successful WWI version, the developer didn't realize that their code was getting a little long in the tooth. Hopefully, GOTD can strike up an agreement to offer this again in the future. Thanks, anyway.



.........................Moderator Comment............................

As usual some good points made here Watcher.

XPSP2, 32, MCE...

download, extraction/installation, created desktop shortcuts fine...

ran before & after activation fine...

then the weirdness: when final shutdown hits, a small error box "Error! Unable to set graphics mode"...and the larger box behind it had "Warlike Flyboys-WW3" across the top blue stripe...

search results (yahoo):
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=warlike+flyboys+ww3&ei=UTF-8&fr=flo2&type=bWljX2RlZmF1bHQqdmVyXzIuNS42Kmluc191bmtub3duKmN0eF9j

a MyPlayCity game?...and one of the search links leads to a download in the GOTD freeware section?...

...i'll leave it to the experts & conspiracy theorists...lol...

still had "Sky Aces", & it still runs w/o a problem...hope this one can be fixed & come back 'round as a rerun...

thank you Fly Games, GGOTD, & Whiterabbit ---i hope the dance went well today : )


.....................Moderator Comment..........................

Thanks for the information. There is a third version of Sky Aces. Any game that given away on sites like MyPlayCity , Gametop and freegamesspick usually get a name change -- though I realize its not available from the latter 2 yet. The title you give is not the official name of the game. But it looks like the coding thats used for theses games is basically the same. All that's changed is the planes and menus. It's possible that its the coding for that game that's causing the problem, though its odd that I for example can run four versions of the game on my computers, with no running problems on any of them. (I did use the official demo rather than the giveaway setup as that was able to be activated with the activation module; which could be a reason)

I always liked this game on an old computer, and was waiting for it to return. It works in a properly configured WINE, for you Linux users! Once installed via WINE installer, and the license file run, also via WINE installer, choose to "browse drive C" and then right click on the SkyAces exe file and choose to run it with the WINE installer. Then play away! And this from a non-expert (me)!
Cheers!

Crashed with this message "Memory access violation"

Not for nuthin... Did anyone notice that when the game is running, the taskbar says WW3? 3???

This runs great on Win7 64 bit and it is an awesome game!

The game runs fine in Win 7 - 64 bit..... Very nice graphics.. Responds well or "good enough" with the mouse.... I'm still playing at the novice level, but having fun... Thanks a lot for the game, GOTD..

Throcky...

Nice game that works well on my laptop with windows 7 32 bit. No issues at all

Hi folks, sorry this is so late but those that can't find it I got it to install itself in Program files but in Details view I found that it is under Dec.14th as the last Date Modified. Just run Search for SkyAces.
As for the game it installed OK and starts out fine but then it keeps minimizing to the tray on my poor laptop. It looked ok. Oh well I kept crashing it anyway.

Tried it on both my XP and Vista machines. On both, on the training mission, repeatedly minimizes and is useless. On regular missions, works okay. Certainly seems like an unfinished product, but when it works, taken for what it is it's an amusing little game.

I had the same issue as Flan with Win 7 64. Game freezes near end of load with 'memory access violation'. I tried XP SP2 compatibility mode with same result.

Hangs in the middle of the game restarted many times. In training mode when the scene of bombing comes, game returns to window mode.My confg Amd Athlon x2 2.5, 2gb Ram with IGP Ati 3200. I will not recomend the game

I too get a memory access violation, running Win XP SP3 with updated drivers and up to date DirectX 9c? Rather puzzled as all other games I've tried run ok! I've 2Gb Ram and a Nvidia Geforce card.

I'll try again after a reboot as I've used some memory intensive apps.

memory access violation
win 7 64 bit mode 8 gigs ram
all the latest drivers
oh well delete delete delete

"plus experimental support for local network games with two players"
dose this mean i can play multiplayer on this game and if so how



...........................Moderator Support......................

I wondered at that as well. There's no sign of any multiplayer option that can see. Maybe they are intending to update the game. If they do I hope they do offer this game again tohugh with the bugs ironed out as someone above recently suggested. :lol:

I hope Fly Games can fix the bugs and offer this one to us again. I'm using Vista SP2 with 4GB ram, quad-core 2.66 ghz, Nvidia 8800GT, current drivers, etc., Avira antivirus, and most other apps closed. In the novice training mission, soon after "armaments" section starts, the game continuously minimizes itself, can't be played or exited without killing process. I get memory access violations after running a while once I skip the training and go straight to Quick Game. While it works it's fun, except for a lot of graphics glitches like instruments (altimeter, etc.) appearing and disappearing and the plane jittering up and down (maybe this is when it stalls?). Flying physics is not bad, I've been able to pull out from several tail spins. None of the views makes it easy to see or hit ground targets, because if a target is in your sights then you're losing altitude. Otherwise the targets area obscured by parts of the plane. Maybe that's how the planes were built! Graphics seem on par with games I bought 5 or 6 years ago but it runs smoothly -- when it runs. I just got up to where 3 planes were attacking me at once when last memory access violation hit. I'd like to see this one fixed! And yes, I tried it with lower graphics resolution, highest/lowest/middle quality, and ran the program from GAOTD as well as the demo mentioned by WR. Thanks, Fly Games, but you should have spent a few more weeks testing and fixing this one.

Ditto on the memory access violation. Windows 7 64 Latest non-beta video drivers, factory installed memory that has worked fine since purchase of computer.

How do you uninstall this from Windows Vista 64 bit I find the game glichy and minimizes to the task bar and freezes . Windows says it won't show up in the uninstall panel unless the game was written for Windows. There is no uninstall program incuded with the game.


……………………Moderator Comment………………..

To uninstall find where its installed to and delete the folder.

works ok.... training mission seems to minimise though

can some one tell me how to get the LAN multiplayer on as it dose say its included???????

Installeed Ok on XP3 but in training it crashed saying it could not generate a 3D scene. Any Advice

........................Moderator Comment....................

Try updating you direct X (availale from Microsoft. :lol: Also go to the options menu and turn the graphics acceleration right down. You sacrifice some of the detail, but it may fix the problem.

Also get the memory access violation error as game tries to start a
mission. Win 7 Ulit x32. First one of that kind. Lately most of the games have run ok. Oh well no loss after reading the other issues by those who did get it to go such as game play weak.
Think I did play earlier release from GOTD and found it so so.
Just used default game settings. Compat modes no help.
Oh didn't bother trying it in safe mode as last resort. My guess is
bad programmming. Used to see that kind of error back in old DOS and
Win days before XP. Upper registers not being handled properly by
pointers is usually it, esp when game is based on earlier versions.
Doesn't have any Uninstall methods so hope doesn't leave any crud.

I also cannot get activate to work on one of my machines (XP). Very weird. Says failed to connect, please try again later. Turned off firewall and anti-virus too, not working.

@48: It's still possible to find free versions of Xpadder. I think I got one from download.com. It works well with my Xbox (original) controller.

installed and works great on my Vista Home...no problems at all..Thanks GOTD..love these type of games

"JoyToKey" seems to be a good freeware alternative to "Xpadder".

Unfortunately I also encountered memory access violations when running under Windows XP SP3 with Comodo Firewall until I used Comodo's training mode for its Defense+ feature with the game.

Afterwards, firing the guns(pressing spacebar)in-game resulted in the window minimization issue reported by other players.

Installs into C:\Games. Runs on Windows 7 64 bit notebook. Does have some problems, but it plays ok if you like flight sims.

Sorry I nipped out into the ******* snow and missed moderator comment.
Yes, we may not have the 4 foot drifts some areas of the US have, but 12 inches of snow not shifting for days is bad enough.
However. Thanks to the moderator for your appreciated help, and I've copied your input and will try it later (I'm off out into the snow again, this time for boozing with mates !)
Once again, thanks for the help, mod

Not a good game, unfortunately. Running XP with recent Nvidia drivers for a graphics card that could easily run this on highest detail.

I found that
- the guns are inaccurate and you really have no ability to tell where they're firing very well.
- The screen "burps" in and out on occasion and seems to automatically minimize to the desktop (still running) every 5 minutes or so.
- There's a lot of misplaced artifacts in the game, like explosion flames that are positioned well above the impact points, and debris that only appears when you turn away and turn back.
- Even the sound is sporadic and uneven, with guns firing silently half the time for me.

It's clunky and unfortunately not fun. This may very well be because my own rig's setup is somehow wrecking a lot of the game's overall experience but it just seems too uneven for me to enjoy.

Thanks GGOTD and, as always for the excellent review, Stephen, but it's thumbs down this time around from me. :(

Lowering settings to fast seemed to fix it :D

This is a great game. Installed and ran without any problems on my Vista 64 bit machine. My last update with nvidia drivers was probably around November 2009.

It ran a tiny bit choppy, but not enough to distract the fun. I found the play difficulty at Novice to be pretty difficult and after crashing my plane into a blimp, I restarted, but could not find any enemy planes. However just flying around was very cool. I started pressing random keys, like L to turn on the lights, O gave an elegant overview of the plane... The graphics are beautiful and engaging. I found the arrow keys provided more dramatic control of the flight than the mouse... I'll play with the sensativity options to adjust.

Very impressive and indepth game, yet providing quick game play as well. Nicely done. Thanks for providing the introduction to Fly Games, I'll check out their site. Great giveaway today.



...................Moderator Comment..................

Thanks for the positive comment. It's always good to hear from a satisified community member. Sadly the majority of the 1000 plus who get this game to work never bother to comment so skewing the overal results from the comments section. that is, it's mainly those that do get a problem that will post a comment thus giving the impression that the game is duff. As far as I can see four installations out of 4 for me says its a great game. Though I appreciate that some system conflicts will spoil the game for some.

Got a memory access violation and crash to desktop just as mission launches or training. Vista 64. All drivers are updated fully.

A fun arcade flying game, only problem is that when I finished a mission, I also got the "Memory violation" as some other people did. My graphics card and DirectX are both updated. A shame since this game would otherwise have stayed on my laptop. 5/10 for me (cannot look past the crash).

works fine on vista, but there is small problem it is unplayable... srry guys.



....................Moderator comment..................

You say it works fine then say its unplayable. How is it unplayable????

re Mod's Comment, #29: I'm sorta confused. You're always saying that games can be put on a CD or USB stick (making it portable), though I can't, even though the method is right there. Combined, both comments (yours and mine) practically equal my original comment.


...................Moderators comment.................

You are partially right and recently I've forced myself to stop giving such advice as it is contrary to the giveaway rules. however I don't and never have told anyone how to edit a file to create a standalone game. It's a shame to have to edit your comments as they are always of use, but I have to stand by the rules.