re: Is Jester a coward for diving below the hard deck during that first dogfight?

Technically, from what I've read, diving below the hard deck is the equivalent of slamming your plane into the ground.

Someone did a good write-up on it. Intentionally going below the hard deck is considered an automatic loss, but you get warnings if you get close and a lot of times they just reset the dogfight if it's unintentional.

Basically Maverick chasing him to the hard deck was a race to see who could slam into the ground the fastest.



That being said, they used the hard deck incorrectly - they state that "there will be no engagement below the hard deck", implying it's a safe zone. I guess that's technically true, as your opponent just kamikazed himself to avoid you getting the kill.