u/Blackberry-thesecond

It is called "Ibirsh" and is located offshore from the Sotoan Mainland. Could it be a floating city like Megafloat?

My personal theory is that Sotoa has a vast wealth inequality issue. Many people live like the woman in the trailer with the small village house, while the military and government are propped up by a network of wealthy elites. Perhaps Ibirsh is like a floating Dubai, and the country is facing the desertification crisis in part due to overconsumption from their lavish, tourist-drawing infrastructure.

In that case I could see it making sense that the elite would move their capital literally away from where the problems are. I can see there being some visual theming between the war-torn cities and towns of the FCU and the upscale skyscrapers in Sotoa.

Maybe he just loves numbers idk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNFObAVfkR4

It's been a couple months since this was posted, but IMO this feels like a massive bombshell for the series. We've seen AC3 on their website timeline, but this is an official post directed towards newcomers and speaking in relation to Ace Combat 8. They went out of their way to mention AC3 here.

I might be jumping the gun here, but considering the context I'm going to take this as official confirmation that Ace Combat 3, or some version of it, is fully canon. Not only is it canon, but the story Ace Combat 8 will confirm it without any doubts.

Kono did state in a recent interview that they will be testing the waters with the more sci-fi elements of the series with the fans to decide how to proceed. If all goes well, I think we very well might get a remake/reimagining of AC3 on our hands.

Much of the story of AC8 is being hidden from us (and that's a good thing), but I believe that they are doing this to hide how they're going to set up Electrosphere.

Minor Spoilers from the Summer Games Fest demo below:

The guy in the suit is named D.D. and he works for the Enso Order company, who are very obviously the shady secret bad guys of this game, like Grunder. However, General Resource's logo is there in the briefings as well, but as far as I know they haven't been mentioned beyond their general support of the FCU during this war. GR is the first megacorp to take politcal power in Usea, so I expect them to rule from the shadows in AC8 and win the war alongside us in the FCU.

Placing my bets on Enso being the villains alongside or after Sotoa, and our victory over them will come at the cost of blank checks to General Resource pump out planes and supplies. New fans will celebrate the ending, but longtime fans will know what it means for the future.

2040 is closer than we think. The Electrosphere is coming.

The problem for me right now is that I want the pixelation to look better and make colors pop more.

Guys I called the Aldmeri Dominion and they aren't responding. Are they busy? 4E 98 really off to a great start, huh?

Spoilers below (info from promotional material)

As we all know Ace Combat 8 is returning to Usea, like it or not. Hopefully they take this opportunity to show us some locations that haven't been seen since the PS1 days, particularly cities that haven't been seen beyond their AC3 iterations.

From the demo footage and released material we know that some returning locations include Newfield Island, Faith Park, White Valley Base, Snider's Top, Comona Island, and Fort Grays Island.

I've been looking over the map they use to show Sotoan occupied territory from missions 4, 9, and 11 that progressively show which areas were liberated first in the early game. From the footage it looks like we will be liberating cities primarily from the North, starting on the Endurance and then the Snider's Top base, before we destroy the Land battleship in Theve.

The image above is from mission 11, indicating that after 11 missions, the Southern front has still not moved since at least mission 4. Without any islands appearing to be liberated by then (except for Newfield in mission 4) will definitely be spending a lot of time in Northern Usea from the Early to mid game. This makes me hopeful that we will see St. Ark and Port Edwards, since we have many missions to get the chance to fly there.

My guess is that mission 11 is the cutoff before approaching Eastern and South Usea, including places like Comberth, Expo City, and of Course Comona Island. After that the campaign hopefully takes us to the Sotoan mainland around mission 18. I'm assuming 23-26 missions in total right now.

The images I provided are: St Ark, Expo City, Port Edwards, Geofront, Rocky Island, Los Canas (never visited), Megafloat, and North Point. Also including the map from mission 11.

CORRECTION: It's just "D.D." and the article got his name wrong.

Minor Spoilers for AC8 below.

This is a PCGamer article from June that mentions some very interesting plot points:

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/ace-combat-director-says-ive-been-doing-this-for-30-years-so-i-know-exactly-how-hard-were-going-and-after-playing-it-i-can-confirm-ace-combat-8-goes-extremely-hard/

Be warned that this article is a little more spoilery than most and talks about cutscenes we haven't seen and at least one mission we have don't have footage of yet. I myself just started skipping some of it.

One particular bit that that I did read mentions that his name is DD (though I believe this name was mentioned in the last trailer) and stated that he "represents a high tech arms company that's propping up our nation's beleaguered military."

They didn't say specifically what company, but given what we know he's almost certainly a General Resource PR man. This fits well into fan speculation about how GR will be using the Wings of Theve to gain popularity among all of Usea, facilitating their corporate takeover of the Usean continent as a setup for Ace Combat 3.

Two months ago before the latest trailer, I made a theory post explaining this possible story direction and how the official AC3 timeline includes General Resource owning most forms of media & communications by the time of AC8. Now that we know (at least with a fair amount of certainty), that DD is from GR, we might actually be seeing this come to pass:

https://www.reddit.com/r/acecombat/comments/1t87xbe/ace_combat_8s_story_may_be_setting_up/

The idea is that the Wings of Theve social media angle goes beyond just being a pawn in a piece of FCU propaganda, but becoming an unwilling mascot for Usea's future corporate government. GR seems to be the FCU's main supplier during this war, and unlike Grunder I don't believe that they will be the villians of this story by the end, because they're supposed to win.

If there's going to be a corporation that becomes the villain in AC8, I have a feeling it will instead be the mysterious "Enso" company who's logo somewhat represents the Ouroboros logo from AC3. GR will be the red herring villain, since their dominance and victory in this war is essential for setting up the AC3 timeline.

1. Lahan
2. Dazil
3. Bledavik
4. Nisan
5. Nortune
6. The Thames
7. Shevat
8. Solaris

Hello, based on some comments I decided to put together this shitty new map in Microsoft Paint that depicts where we will likely be visiting in AC8. This is based off of trailers, gameplay videos, and promotional materials.

Since we will by traveling by ship, it makes sense that our campaign will be along a set path from the coast of Easter Usea, which I believe tells us a vague order of missions as well as potential locations for missions that we haven't seen yet.

This map includes three categories:

Confirmed Locations: Places we've seen gameplay of or in promotional material featuring Joker Flight.

Potential Unconfirmed Locations: Places we know are featured in the game but not yet with campaign gameplay.

Speculative Locations: Particular locations from previous games that I believe may make an appearance based on the path of the Endurance.

I'll list them off here in order:

Confirmed Locations

Theve (new)

White Valley (AC2, AC3, AC4, AC5)

Snider's Top (AC2, AC7)

Faith Park (AC4)

Newfield Island (AC4, AC5)

Petrol Coast Waters (New)

Fort Grays Island (AC2 *non canon, AC7)

Comona Island (AC2, AC3, AC4)

Potential Unconfirmed Locations

Zapland/444 Airbase (AC7) (Potentially seen in multiplayer)

Selatapura/International Space Elevator (AC7) (ISEV in trailer, no gameplay)

Speculative Locations

Port Edwards (AC2, AC3)

Saint Arc (AC2)

North Point (AC2, AC3)

Expo City (AC3)

Rocky Island (AC2)

Comberth Harbor (AC2, AC4)

Seals Bridge Ravine (AC2)

Skully Islands (AC1, AC2)

This is made to be a more comprehensive map that goes over everything (I think) we know so far. Some locations listed as from AC2 are from Assault Horizon Legacy, and locations from AC5 are from the Operation Catina arcade mode. One thing we know is that there will be more missions than AC7, so I expect that there will be at least a handful of returning and new locations in Usea that we haven't seen yet, not counting missions outside of Usea later in the game.

Also, I don't believe that Snider's top was seen in an actual mission, but it is the snowfield base we've seen in the trailers.

• Also I crudely drew the front lines from early in the game that depict Sotoan occupied territory (image provided). There are some notable bits from that short clip in the trailer: Port Edwards is surrounded, which is why I believe we will end up visiting there.
• The part of the peninsula where Saint Ark is located appears to be very lightly in the red, which can indicate that it's currently being invaded.
• North Point is neutral once again. I hope we get to actually see the city of North Point but we'll see what happens.
• San Salvacion is completely safe, so no Stonehenge presumably.
• The Axel Bay/Artiglio port area is currently safe.
• Despite being seen in the Trailer, Selatapura is not occupied, which may indicate that the damage/destruction of the ISEV was just a cutscene and may be done by the Terminus fingers.
• The Southern tip of Seals Bridge is safe.
• Every Island East of the Usean Mainland (minus North Point) is occupied or presumed occupied. This includes Fort Grays which is mentioned in mission dialogue.
• Skully Islands are safe.

SPECULATION

So, based on the location of the front lines and the path the Endurance seems to be following over the course of the game, these are some examples of missions I hope we see:

• Defense of Port Edwards from ground units at all sides
• Defense of Saint Arc from a naval invasion
• North Point (context be damned)
• Free the Rocky Island geothermal plant
• Expo City Liberation (PLEASE)
• Comberth Harbor or Payton Channel mission
• Rural missions in locations like Seals Bridge, Chopinburg, Scosfield, Zapland
• Return to Skully Island (first time seeing them since AC1)

Like last time, anything in particular you want to see? Also let me know if I missed anything.

Right now there should be 4 confirmed locations that will have missions that we've seen in previous games. There will definitely be more as well, likely along the East cost of Usea. I've stayed clear of a lot of demo footage but I don't believe we have the location of the first mission, but the first few will definitely take place around the Theve area (shore southwest of White Valley). We will likely continue on from there around the East and to the South, reaching the Comona islands and then probably continuing on to Sotoa.

Locations from game footage and promotional material (in order):

1. Newfield Island. This location was the very first mission of AC04, and it seems that the island has been renovated and developed since then, including Anderson Crater.

2. White Valley. This is the location was a level in AC5's Operation Catina mode, and according to AC3 the Airfield there was built by General Resource. The base that we see in the 1st and 2nd trailers is most certainly the General Resource White Valley base, which I think is even more evidence that GR will be playing a big role in the story as our uneasy allies.

3. Faith Park. This is the desert gorge location that was mission 7 of AC04, and it seems like we will be doing the same here in blowing up some enemy solar farms. This location was also where one of the inciting incidents of AC3's inter-corporate war took place.

4. Comona Islands. This was the location of AC04's mission 8, where you protect a rocket that's carrying a recon satellite. The image for this one is a brightened photo of the dev diary that shows the VAB and 2 launch pads that line up perfectly with AC04. I have no idea what we will be doing here this time, maybe preventing a launch from Sotoa or protecting a launch that aims to destroy the Terminus Fingers. (This would make sense if the Space Elevator really was destroyed).

Let me know if I missed anything but I think these are all of the known returning locations for AC8. I'm personally really hoping we get to finally see North Point again and see Expo City before the Electrosphere Era. I would also love to see the underground city Geofront, which we know is near the current city of St. Ark. There's no real timeline for Geofront's construction so that's still up in the air.

What places do you guys want to see in AC8? Returning or not.

I was surprised to see the ISEV in the recent trailer since Project Aces usually never references the previous game and likes to move on to entirely new territory, outside of locations returning several games later like Stonehenge. I felt like it wouldn't be something that would be needed or relevant for a new story after AC7. However after re-watching the Trailer I think the Destruction of the ISEV makes sense given the locations for missions we have seen so far.

The spacecraft in the trailer (Terminus Fingers?) seems to be in a polar orbit passing over a several unnamed Islands in between Usea and Sotoa, and is seen pointing at Khesed Island, Emmeria.

It likely also orbits over eastern Usea as well. This superweapon's location may imply that we end up working with Emmeria or visit one of those several islands. There's also what definitely looks like some Space Shuttle-type spacecraft servicing or releasing a satellite in a slightly different polar orbit. Given the colors I think it's fair to say that the Space Shuttle belongs to the good guys, but I have to wonder if it's relevant to this mission or a separate one.

Sotoa may have destroyed the Space Elevator in order to prevent anyone from reaching their orbital superweapon, and much like Stonehenge in AC7 it will be our job to use old technology to turn the tide of the war. We've seen the Comona Islands rocket base in the dev diary several months ago (the launch pads and VAB do line up with AC04). We may up protecting a spacecraft before it launches just like in AC04, or if they want to change things up, we could be protecting the Space Shuttle as it reenters the atmosphere to return to Comona base, since it can no longer dock with the Space Elevator.

When I first saw that Comona was returning I was confused as to why it would even be needed now that the space elevator exists in Strangereal now, and figured that because it's in AC3 they don't want to get rid of it. Now I think we have our answer.

WINGS OF THEVE: SYMBOL OF HOPE? PROPAGANDA? BOTH?

What we know of the Ace Combat 8 story is that it's inspired by the Ghost of Kyiv from real life, a fictional ace who took down legions of fighters to defend his homeland who was in reality a knowingly fabricated social media trend from videos of different pilots. AC8 takes it a step further, turning the Wings of Theve into a real title to be passed on to whoever is left to fight and keep hope alive, with our player character being the one to carry the torch after the OG Rex dies.

I believe that the social media angle will play a big role in the themes of this story in more ways than one. It can explore how social media alters the truth and impacts how war is fought, and how narratives start and end. The Wings of Theve is a symbol of hope for the citizens of the FCU, but does that not make it propaganda? Who's the one that decides that distinction, how far will that line blur over the course of the story? Rex may go from a symbol of hope to an unwilling mascot for the future leaders of Usea: General Resource LTD.

Project Aces has been open about considering AC3 canon and they have stated that the future of Strangereal still points to AC3 taking place in the 2040's. We're likely only 11-20 years off from AC3, and several of the events that lead to AC3 have supposedly already taken place in lore. For those who don’t know, Ace Combat 3 is about a war between two mega-corporations in Usea: General Resource and Neucom. General Resource is the first company to dominate the Usean continent before Neucom begins expanding. Neucom does seem to exist at least two decades before AC3, but General Resource is believed to be the first megacorp to rise to multinational power.

THE RISE OF GENERAL RESOURCE: 2040 IS CLOSER THAN WE THINK

According to the lore of AC3, In-sa-net Telegraph and Telephone Communication, the Usea communications agency, was privatized in 2023 and subsequently bought out by General Resource LTD soon after, giving them complete authority over Usea communications (reminder that this was written in 1999, so social media didn't exist IRL but it's safe to assume that the comms agency includes social media these days). Since General Resource bought out what was effectively Usea's FCC, they likely had power over the clearly weak FCU government for what programs are favored and how online communications are regulated. By 2035 GR also made their own streaming service/massively popular TV channel.

General Resource also created Data Swallow, the Operating System that became the standard OS for the entire world. In AC7 there is a billboard Data Swallow advertising a new version of the software.

During the events of Ace Combat 7 the worldwide communications network is shut down, leaving a big empty vacuum for GR to fill in with their own forms of communication. Given that things have changed IRL since 1999, including our predictions for the future (Zoom calls were considered futuristic in AC3, so expect retcons on what the Electrosphere and associated technology is), I expect GR's buyout of the major media corporations to be equivalent to social media and internet providers today, and Project Aces may be intending this to be the case.

So, Wings of Theve goes from a propaganda piece for the FCU to one for GR, because who's supplying the FCU military? Also General Resource.

Multiple Ace Combat games have a corporate sponsor that you can see during briefings. Ustio has Axe & Hammer, Emmeria has Macmillan Heavy Industries, and of course Osea has Grunder. We've known since the first trailer that General Resource appears to be supplying the FCU during this war as they did the Estovakians in AC6, so I expect them to show up with increasing frequency as AC8 progresses. It's a hard pill to swallow, but the FCU probably wouldn't be alive if not for General Resource saving their ass, and I bet the citizens of the FCU will be thankful too after Rex shows them how cool and awesome GR military tech is through their own social media. 

So here’s the timeline as we know it:

2010: GR mercenaries created to protect the company’s vessels.

2012: GR releases their own Smartphone

2015: GR sells weapons to Estovakia

Before 2019: GR creates Data Swallow

2024: GR purchases the lead Usean communications company

2026: GR destroys terrorist forces in Usea (Ace Combat Advance)

2029: Wings of Theve

Note: Some of these were done by subsidiaries of General Resource, but that’s not really important as they all belong under the same company.

So according to the timeline for AC3, in 2029 General Resource owns the largest broadcasting agency in Usea as well as the world’s premier operating system, and has amassed an army of their own with a history of defending Usea in the past. Everything is shaping up for AC3 and Wings of Theve may bring us there. 

So was the ending of AC7 and the destruction of satellite communications a brilliant move to set up GR as the manipulative internet providers of Usea? No. We all know the AC7 story was rushed and is a bit of a mess. Is it the perfect opportunity? Absolutely and I hope they take it.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR AC8 & ITS ENDING

I believe the mysterious man in the suit in the AC8 trailer is a GR salesperson, or more appropriately your social media manager. He's the one making sure that Wings of Theve and his crew are always trending on the company's own platforms, selling to the masses that freedom is within grasp thanks to the work of Rex (and his GR plane of course). He does appear to be looking at his phone in the most recent dev diary. We still don't know how GR takes over Usea before the events of AC3, but we may get our answer after this game. Imagine that it's not some aggressive sudden takeover, but a carefully coordinated soft coup with popular approval after the FCU government has clearly failed its citizens over and over again.

I'm sure none of you guys would want to be living under a bladerunner-style megacorp government, but imagine for a second if you lived in Usea. You've seen like, four continental wars already by the age of 35 and you probably knew many people who died, but suddenly there's a new force in town that wrecks the invader's asses and wants to guarantee our security as long as they get to continue making money. I don’t know… I think I'd want to take that deal.

Of course, I'd be convinced after seeing the footage of the Wings of Theve^(TM) (brought to you by General Resource LTD).

So, this is what's been going on in my head over the last few months regarding AC8 and how it can connect to the world of AC3. I would like to mention that some retcons are required, such as the actual existence of social media (already done), and that the whole world isn't ruled by megacorps, just Usea (This makes more sense and may already be the plan).

Just imagine: You see the whole tech tree like in AC7 with the F-22 at the end, but at some point without you realizing, it's been replaced by the GR F-22 II from AC3. GR's dominance continues to spread as your dependence on them increases, to the point where they are inescapable.

You can find a lot of the info I just presented on this wiki page and associated pages:
https://acecombat.fandom.com/wiki/General_Resource_Limited
https://acecombat.fandom.com/wiki/In-sa-net_Telegraph_and_Telephone_Communication
https://acecombat.fandom.com/wiki/General_Resource_Defense_Force

What do you guys think? Do you think I'm cooking with this or am I going to be dead wrong?