Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26372030-20151206001252/@comment-26372030-20151210131233

the are many reasons a space elevator might not show up in ac3, domestic or international treaty's or laws might render it off limits, the location of a orbital objective or required fight path might make a independent launch more appropriate, or the payload needed to be delivered exceeds the elevators ability (it did look mighty thin.)

also even if most of AC3 is in a sim, the mega structures sown in the game suggest that they have the tech and resources at that point to create orbital elevators. get the feeling that the 'Lighthouse' system much like 'Stonehenge' would only be effective with multiple towers involved, it may be that the one we are seeing is the first or prototype, hence its importance to the story. that might also explain why i get the impression the figure shown leaping from it might be a researcher or VIP over a pilot, her emblem on her suit clearly shows what i assume is the 'Lighthouse' projects logo over any known organization or country soon so far in the series, and when we see her its clear she could of only reached that platform from climbing the inside of the tower.

so that leaves us having to explain a lack of the coffin systems on the aircraft and for me that seems easy if you consider that the coffin systems shown in AC3 are only just starting to become the norm used on production aircraft. Indeed the whole game is meant to be a simulated test off these systems :S earlier aircraft already in deployment would probably lack the resources and trained pilots to all be retrofitted for use with the coffin systems, indeed apart form a few high end experimental fighters. its not shown on any modals aircraft in the series created before 2020. the setting for AC3 is around 2040 and by this point we see aircraft like the typhoon and F-22 have indeed been retrofitted for its use.

this leads me to conclude that the game is likely set in the 2030's and the aircraft shown simply haven't been fitted with a coffin setup yet. the fact the game features VR support means that we the players will get to experience a 'early' form of the coffin set up too.

i cant wait :D