Friday 2010-03-26 Screenshots and Discussion Thread

[Oleg Maddox]

Today I hadn't time to compile the next working version(still in compilation from yesterday on my PC) that to show something definitely new. Anyway here is some screenshots that maybe interesting for you all. Remind you - its a WIP.

[Skarphol]

Thanks for the update Oleg!

The lights and shadows are fantastic! Trees looking very good!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Skarphol

[NSU]

nice tree detail

[lbuchele]

3D engine/In Game/NO new grass/Trees are NOT final/DX 10/Please don´t whine:)
I´m very curious about next week update with the latest build.i like those DX 10 screenshots BTW even if not finished.

[Oleg Maddox]

3D engine/In Game/NO new grass/Trees are NOT final/DX 10/Please don´t whine:)

Sure, something for this purpose.

[Flyby]

Thanks for the update Oleg!

The lights and shadows are fantastic! Trees looking very good!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Skarphol
+1

[Robert]

Nice shadowing on the trees. Even the bark detail is a nice effect. Those cottages look real enough that if they were in the U.S. I could smell the apple pies sitting on the window sill.

My interest in the Blenheim just increased. Very unique looking pit.

Thanks Oleg. Appreciate the update.

Have a good weekend all.

[Darkbluesky]

Very nice lighting and terrain relief modelling. With the grass, final trees and AA it will look really nice. Thank you.

[Qpassa]

It looks great

[Feuerfalke]

Very nice!

Again, it's especially the things behind the screenshots, that are most interesting. Looks great, even though it's WIP! VERY promising!

[Tte. Costa]

There are so much detail on the trees that I´m starting to think that they gonna have its own DM, burning leaves and broken branches and trunks.
Great work Oleg and team.

[indy]

This is really great pictures.... Great work... But I'm going mad if I starting to think what kind of the hardware will the future users need to run this stuff. OMG!!!! Oleg can you please just say what kind of workstations your team uses for testing?

[Wolf_Rider]

kudos for the great lighting...

[76.IAP-Blackbird]

You can see on a specific landdetail level in il2 the trees waving in the wind ;)

a nice never before seen feature

[Dano]

Can feel my hayfever kicking in already :( :D

[David603]

You can see on a specific landdetail level in il2 the trees waving in the wind ;)

a nice never before seen feature
Il2: Birds of Prey has trees waving in the wind too.

Still the trees here are better detailed and more realistic looking, and with the proper grass (like we have seen in some of the earlier screenshots) this will look absolutely amazing.

[76.IAP-Blackbird]

I dont want SOW anymore!!!!! Cause I have to buy a complete new rig for this ... damn :-P

[proton45]

Wow, looks great...I'm impressed!

[ChrisDNT]

As a comparison about the trees, second post, second image on this page :

http://www.checksix-forums.com/showthread.php?t=157741&page=22

Most important thing for the trees is that they look real at the distances at which a pilot flying in an aircraft usually see them.

The implantation of the trees, each group to each other, is also very important for the general feeling of "being there".


P.S. I presume the colors palette for the British landscape is still WIP too ?

[=XIII=Shea]

The sim is comming on a treat,great work guys,Il2 has to be the best game EVER in my opinion,cant wait for the release,can you give us a clue Oleg?:grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin:

[335th_GRSwaty]

Thanks for the update!!
Excellent pics!!!

[virre89]

Give us october now plix. Looking great oleg, any estimate of when we'll see more videos?

[jeanba]

That's interesting, but I am looking forward to seeing the new ground textures and model from the plane cockpit, as those one are not very promising

[Flanker35M]

S!

Nice shots, once again.

[MikkOwl]

The graphical level seems similar to ArmA (Armed Assault) from 2006 or so (imagine there being grass rendered as it should). That game engine was tweaked to be seen from grass level, not from the air.

Think about how crappy things always look in flight sims as soon as you lose some altitude. A lot of this detail will not be visible for the most part when we fly in SoW - but for once(!) the ground detail will be retained or even get better as we fly lower. If your computer can handle it ;)

If anything will make me buy a new graphics card, this will be it.

[secretone]

Hi Oleg,

From an immersion standpoint I am very curious about the farmers, villagers etc. that live in these dwellings. Will SOW introduce civilians, if so how, and how will the game address the danger of their being hurt in air raids?

[nearmiss]

My gosh... very excellent

[Alien]

Thanks for update Oleg! Will there be chance to fly dornier on release day?

[jippy13]

As some fans have already written, the game looks really promising!
Oleg, thank you to tell us more about the design surface (graphics on the ground) :
Is BOB DX11 compatible ?
Will there be animations like bike or car on the roads ?
Stronger, will there be mobile pedestrian visible from the cockpit ?
More stronger, will it be possible to watch mobile pedestrian looking in the direction of our warbird _ I mean will there be interaction beetween mobile ground objects like neutral pedestrians and our warcraft ? (who knows :)

Anyway, Thanks for your update Oleg

[major_setback]

The WiP trees are of very high quality, and the level of detail is amazing.

But what are they? Some sort of tropical tree that doesn't look right close up, and makes the landscape look foreign from a distance (to my English eyes it looks like it might be Australia).

I know this is WiP, which makes this the right time and place to say that trees of that quality will have to be good representations of English types. Otherwise the whole landscape will look wrong.
Most people would not recognise more than one or two species, but everyone will notice if the general look of them from afar is wrong.

I hope this area isn't overlooked because it is deemed less relevant in a flight sim...a little effort with getting the right look, and correct species of tress will make all the difference to the overall look of the game.

They are excellent tress though; excellent WiP trees that is :-) and I am very impressed by them. The development updates are certainly something to look forward to these days!

[Sutts]

Thanks for the update Oleg. Love the trees.:grin:

I agree, it would be nice at this early stage if you tried to get them to look like oak, ash and beech.

[13th Hsqn Protos]

Still looks like IL2 to me .....

[choctaw111]

This is some good stuff here.
I have imagined for years that I am flying low over a realistic and believable countryside in a simulator.

[philip.ed]

Still looks like IL2 to me .....


Clearly we're flying two completely different games :rolleyes: Does Il-2 have dynamic shadows? No. Individual leaves on trees? No. This is all WIP. Il-2 is not. ;)

[Foo'bar]

Still looks like IL2 to me .....

That only shows that Il-2 was very good.

[Qpassa]

Still looks like IL2 to me .....

troll :(

[Igo kyu]

Thoughts about the images, particularly the first and the last.

In the first, the building on the left has a roof that to me is too steep, you might get a rare one that steep but they would be very rare in England I think.

In the last image there is a road visible out of the window, does that road have white lines on it? I'm pretty sure that lines on country roads used to be rare, and became more common as I've grown older, and the technology to make them has improved. I think in the old days of WW2 there would have been very few lines on country roads, possibly almost none. Maybe on a second look they are wear and tear markings, that would be very good.

The windows on the buildings look flat, painted on (which they obviously really are, but still), it would be better if they looked as if they were fittings that had been fitted into the walls of the buildings, as real windows are.

[lbuchele]

About this level of graphic detail, do you think SOW will be so CPU linked like Il2 or it will benefit of a pair of VGA ( SLI or crossfire?)
Does we need nvidia, or ATI will do the job too? ( we cannot have perfect mode in Il2 with ATI if I remember)
Can you comment about it , Oleg?
Because upgrade will be a necessity for all of us I think.

[zakkandrachoff]

are so manny and VERY details in the trees :eek:! i love that! but, i think we need 3 cpu i7 whit 2crossfire gtx295, all in crossfire (the 3 CPU) to run that

This is really great pictures.... Great work... But I'm going mad if I starting to think what kind of the hardware will the future users need to run this stuff. OMG!!!! Oleg can you please just say what kind of workstations your team uses for testing?

+1!

[lbuchele]

I think Win 7 64 bit will be mandatory since it´s release the memory cap, (and RAM will be REALLY important here)
I read in the internet that future versions of the newest VGA will have 3Gb of GDDR5 ( the dual core versions), but will only be useful in 64 bit OS

[13th Hsqn Protos]

troll :(

Doofus. :(
Now anyone that posts an opinion contrary to yours is a troll .....

[erco]

Beautiful work Oleg and Team- looks to me like you've got the lighting spot on. And the trees- amazing! Can't wait to see it all come together! My computer is begging for mercy already- it knows I'll have to crank up the eyecandy.

[major_setback]

Trees list.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/major-setback/album%202/trees02.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/major-setback/album%202/trees01.jpg

Oak
Beech
Horse Chestnut
Chestnut
Pine
Spruce
Ash
Sycamore
Hawthorn
Poplar
Larch
Elm - also by roads in town
Willow - by water
Weeping willow - by water
Lime
Rowan
Yew
London Plane - in towns

Holly bushes.
Hazel.

Any oriental or foreign trees will work well in parks and gardens.



Others help please...I am not an expert.

We need at least 5 or 6 types of tree as the absolute minimum.

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZRKVXG3DV-I/0.jpg

http://orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/TheLarch.gif

The Lerche:

http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/picturesaa/lerche.jpg

[Chivas]

Nice work Oleg. The trees look very similar to the common Ash, even the leaves in the closeup pic are very similar to the Ash. The tree works for me as long as its dispersed with other varieties of English trees. Stone walls and Hedgerows will also go along way in getting the feel of the English countryside.

[flyingbullseye]

or ATI will do the job too? ( we cannot have perfect mode in Il2 with ATI if I remember)


ATI will run IL2 1946 just fine in perfect mode my HD 3870 has no problem. You just can't use water 3,4 only 2, looks just as good as NV 3,4.

Flyingbullseye

[Dano]

In the last image there is a road visible out of the window, does that road have white lines on it? I'm pretty sure that lines on country roads used to be rare, and became more common as I've grown older, and the technology to make them has improved. I think in the old days of WW2 there would have been very few lines on country roads, possibly almost none. Maybe on a second look they are wear and tear markings, that would be very good.

Tools/Viewer, right there slapped across the image...

[Richie]

I like the leaves up close. I think the movie makers are going to go bananas with this sim. If it sells well I hope we get to see many movies on all fronts.

[Les]

Trees list...

Oleg said recently they've licensed 'Speedtree' and will be using versions of those trees, modified to suit SOW.

Here are the default trees Speedtree offers -

http://www.speedtree.com/trees/

Should be alright.

Les.

[Dano]

For those thinking that the colour palette is off, here's a comparison I just threw together, looks pretty close to the British summer to me:

[major_setback]

Oleg said recently they've licensed 'Speedtree' and will be using versions of those trees, modified to suit SOW.

Here are the default trees Speedtree offers -

http://www.speedtree.com/trees/

Should be alright.

Les.

Can you explain how it will be 'alright'?
Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place, but I can not see more than a couple of native British trees in that listing! Most trees are American and would look totally out of place!!!
:-(

There isn't even an English oak!!

This means lots of development time is needed for them if they haven't already been modelled. I hope Oleg isn't trusting that there will be enough default trees in that program to suit SoW:BoB, because it looks as though there aren't.

[AdMan]

those trees are very similar to an English Oak, quite a bit smaller than a full-grown oak but with some reshaping of the leaves the textures would be spot on

http://www.cirrusimage.com/Trees/english_oak_1.jpg
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/attachment.php?attachmentid=2119&d=1269610317
http://www.mcnees.org/mainpages/misc/trees/img_trees_hobson_english_oak_leaves3_remc.jpg
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/attachment.php?attachmentid=2120&d=1269610324

[BadAim]

Doofus. :(
Now anyone that posts an opinion contrary to yours is a troll .....

No, Protos, I think he was referring to you specifically. Your body of work speaks for itself. Were it anyone else, he may have suggested a visit to the optometrist. Unfortunately there is no cure for inflammation of the ego, at least no external one, so a doctor won't help here.

[BadAim]

At least they actually look like trees. This is definite progress. I should think Oleg's crew will take the observations of Englishmen into account, when landscaping England.

[13th Hsqn Protos]

Unfortunately there is no cure for inflammation of the ego....

So true in your case ..... you have always been a wannabe.

[major_setback]

those trees are very similar to an English Oak, quite a bit smaller than a full-grown oak but with some reshaping of the leaves the textures would be spot on



I don't want to be too negative, because they are WiP's. But I disagree - it is not enough to change the leaves. The oak is instantly recognizable by the shape of the tree, and way the branches spread. They are typical for this tree. It is a very difficult thing to model if the modeller knows nothing about English trees.
I can tell an oak in a field from almost any distance (as most English people can). The same goes for a few other trees (Elm, Beech, Willow, Horse Chestnut). And I'm not an expert, nor particularly interested in trees.

[proton45]

Still looks like IL2 to me .....

You see what you want to see...

[zapatista]

Oleg,

thx for posting the update !

the tree detail looks very good, even individual leaves and great tree truck detail in close up view :) houses look good to !

will after-market modelers be able to edit ships/houses to increase detail level to match the il2-BoB aircraft ? i know you recently mentioned some objects like ships at this time were not modeled in as much detail as the aircraft (as we could see from the screenshots) because this is an aircraft sim after all (fair enough)

some BoB users however will be willing to spend the time to increase the details on those to match the aircraft (like foobar did with trains), will this be "open" in the game and possible to do for us ?

[lbuchele]

ATI will run IL2 1946 just fine in perfect mode my HD 3870 has no problem. You just can't use water 3,4 only 2, looks just as good as NV 3,4.

Flyingbullseye

Understood.
Well, all this years and I never bought a ATI card because I thought they cannot do perfect mode...
I hate to admit but I´m a moron.
So, I will start to look for one of those Radeon 5970 babies.
The drivers are stable too?

[AdMan]

well I don't think this:
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/attachment.php?attachmentid=2118&d=1269610310

is too far off from this:
http://www.localriding.com/image-files/english-oak-tree.jpg

wouldn't be too hard to do a little reshaping to give it more of a classical Oak shape.

These trees actually strike me as Oak trees if you were to prune them and keep them in an Orchard.

[rakinroll]

Good pics, thanks.

[Blakduk]

Nice pics- very interesting amount of detail in the ground objects for a flight sim. I makes me wonder what this new engine will be capable of in future.
I notice in the picture of the gunner position the broken glass in turret- is this a randomly generated break pattern or a pre-rendered texture?
I can't wait to see this damage modelling in action- i've become very used to the one in IL2 through years of being shot down .

[Chivas]

The reason the trees don't look like Oak trees, as they are probably Ash trees, also native to England. Although it could pass for an Oak if your too far away to notice the shape of the leaves. I'm sure there will be more than one type of tree modeled so there is no point throwing a noose over a limb yet. ;)

[fireflyerz]

"And I followed the blighter down to nearly ground level , so there I was chasing the hun all round kent when suddenly from across my port wing I noticed that some of the trees we were flying past - wernt even Oak , they were some fake american import , well i tell you , I broke off the attack , landed my spitty and whent strait down and complained to the council , damn cheeky beggers"

[Insuber]

"throwing a noose over a limb" ... uh???

[Skarphol]

"And I followed the blighter down to nearly ground level , so there I was chasing the hun all round kent when suddenly from across my port wing I noticed that some of the trees we were flying past - wernt even Oak , they were some fake american import , well i tell you , I broke off the attack , landed my spitty and whent strait down and complained to the council , damn cheeky beggers"

Just my thought, but you told in a much funnier way than I would have!!

Some people here amaze me.

Skarphol

[Richie]

It's a WWII Combat Flight Sim not a WWII Tree Sim

[_RAAF_Stupot]

I love your work Oleg! Many thanks from me.....

Continuing our interesting discussion regarding the deciduous vegetation of NW Europe......... I assume that you will have a 'summer' vegetation scheme, considering when the Battle of Britain took place.....

Currently IL-2 has a basic Summer landscape scheme, and for some maps, a Winter scheme......

My question is, have you allowed for more variations of season in the Storm of War game engine? (Allowing for later development) So for example, could there be a difference between early-Spring, and mid-Summer, and late-Autumn......? There could even be differences in the fields reflecting agricultural activity over the year....whether there are the tracks of the harvesters, or haystacks, or crops ready to be sown, or just stubble, etc etc etc....

Another question (and this relates to my ignorance of English vegetation)....from the screenshots, it seems that there is a 'standard' tree height........is there scope for allowing variations in height due to exposure? (trees near a windswept coast tend to be short and bent by the wind), and other location factors. (Trees in a valley might be taller and lusher because of greater access to water, and less exposure, for example).

[HFC_Dolphin]

Hasn't Oleg or Ilya (don't recall) already told us that he's using 3rd party software for the trees?

Nice trees indeed!

By the way, anyone knows how these trees will "behave" in planes flying through them and what will happen to pilots in chutes falling on them?
To be honest I don't think that KIA should always be the result of a pilot falling with his chute on a tree (like it always happens in IL-2).

Can Oleg confirm that a pilot falling on trees won't get an instant KIA?

[Feathered_IV]

Looking forward to the Elder Scrolls V addon for SoW.
Got a Deadra problem??? No worries! We'll Stuka the bastards...

[Freycinet]

Doofus. :(
Now anyone that posts an opinion contrary to yours is a troll .....

Nobody takes you serious in here or ever will again... You asked for it, you got it.

Too bad you have sullied the good name of the 13th Hsqn. I think everybody in here will think of you when they see it mentioned, which is really too bad for the good people that flew honourably in the squadron.

[ChrisDNT]

It's a WWII Combat Flight Sim not a WWII Tree Sim

Yes.

I'ts an aviation sim, no need no model realistically anything except the aircrafts.

Please, no landscape at all (good for fps) :rolleyes::grin:

[kendo65]

Can you explain how it will be 'alright'?
Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place, but I can not see more than a couple of native British trees in that listing! Most trees are American and would look totally out of place!!!
:-(

There isn't even an English oak!!

This means lots of development time is needed for them if they haven't already been modelled. I hope Oleg isn't trusting that there will be enough default trees in that program to suit SoW:BoB, because it looks as though there aren't.

There are more European trees, including an English Oak, in the 4.2 version of Speedtree - their home page lists version 5 by default.

To see them click the 4.2 box top left on http://www.speedtree.com/trees/

Unfortunately, I don't think their English Oak is one of their best!

If Oleg's reading, I'd like to put in a request for some of their Granny Smith apple trees - should be just coming into their best around September :)

-----

OK. Nix the apple trees! Before I get pulled up for incorrect research - apparently they're not native English and they come into season later than September. Got to watch your back when posting on these forums ;)

If only SpeedTree did a nice Cox's Orange Pippin or Laxton's fortune

Damn this game and damn Wikipedia!!! :mad:

[Tree_UK]

I agree that the pics of the 'typical english village' are far from perfect i.e roof angles too sharp etc, but is this amount of detail really relevant, to me the most important detail is what it all looks like from the air, and if the buildings/trees at airfields are in much higher detail then that would be a considerable bonus because obviously you will be seeing a whole lot more of these.

[mark@1C]

The ground environment still need enhance, the impression of artificial work still comes to me immediately, again. It is so impressive that I begin to believe it may well be done in this way intentionally, considering the purpose of optimizing, and we do not spent most of our time on the ground in this game. The engine itself looks like using a cartoon rendering technology while the groundscape open out to me. But the cockpit samples are really fine. I don't know why the staff/or the engine can not carry this FINE into the groundscape.
The first three screenshots look like some place in the fairy-tale, an artificial landscape. It has been said before, looks like a real aeroplane flying over a LEGO city, a Disney theme park. It's hard to tell what's wrong, because they are nice as some people said, in a sense. But the feeling of something wrong does exist, it is not the correct atomsphere fit for the war, it's not a battlefiled, it's a place for afternoon tea...

[kendo65]

Ah, Tree UK - surely the perfect person to put us right on these matters! ... or is your name just an empty boast ;)

Hesitated to say this before as I'm sure those shots are thrown together WIP demos but, for me what was most off was the positioning of the trees and houses. Looked like a random scatter. Needs to be more integrated around roads, fields, etc. (See real photo a few pages back.). Hedgerows will help when they are put in.

Again, maybe a bit OTT to criticize, :oops: . Suspect they are already aware of this.

[imaca]

It's hard to tell what's wrong, because they are nice as some people said, in a sense. But the feeling of something wrong does exist, it is not the correct atomsphere fit for the war, it's not a battlefiled, it's a place for afternoon tea...
Im beginning to suspect this is the reason WOPs overly dark and grungy look is popular with some.
It seems many people can't get their head around the fact that "battlefields" and "afternoon tea" take place in the same time space continuum.

[KOM.Nausicaa]

The impression of "wrong" arises because you look in close up at chunks of generic created landscapes. This can hardly be avoided - after all it's a flight sim.

The problem with trees and other vegetation is, simply said, that they are very hard to be done right in 3D. It's an insane amount of work to do a good looking tree (from afar, but even more so from up close) in 3D, and it becomes very quickly polygon hell. Unacceptable polygon numbers for a game that has to render things in real time. Hence the popularity of optimized libraries like Speedtree or other tree generators. There are lots around for just that purpose. I am quite frankly rather impressed by those trees - they look really convincing for a tree that is obviously heavily simplified in polygon complexity. It should be no problem to put other species onto the map. The question is just how many Oleg is willing to buy for diversity purposes. (and maybe they are already there, you just don't see them on the selected screenshots).

[KOM.Nausicaa]

PS: I forgot to mention that Oleg and team have without doubt to modify the trees after purchase. I am fairly certain they are not usable as they are "out of the box". They just deliver a good template. So it still stays work.

[RedToo]

... it is not the correct atomsphere fit for the war, it's not a battlefiled, it's a place for afternoon tea...

The long hot summer of 1940. England on the ground was for many people a place for afternoon tea. The battle was going on up above. Many RAF pilots commented on this contrast after parachuting out of the battle. Until the Germans switched priorites and began the blitz the Battle of Britain was in the air not on the ground and unless you lived close to an aerodrome you were not directly affected.

RedToo.

[RCAF_FB_Orville]

Hi all. According to the "Royal Horticultural Society Gardeners Encyclopedia of Plants & Flowers" the most common trees in England are;

The Common Oak - Quercus Robur
The Ash - Fraxinus Excelsior
& The Beech - Fagus Sylvatica

All large trees growing well over 20 metre plus.

Alas, I am not a master of all things Arboreal.....but that's what they say. I thought the Sycamore would be there too. I am from the North East of England though, we really need some posh git from the Home Counties to set the record straight :). You should see some of the trees in County Durham, they look like skyscrapers relative to this 'Bonsai' affair lol.

I agree that it is very important to get this right however, as it has to look like England. These are of course all WIP people, so give them a break. :)

I would say the Royal Horticultural Society would be the definitive source on these matters, without doubt.....So check them out! :)

[AndyJWest]

There would be a lot more Elm trees then than there are now - since almost wiped out by Dutch Elm disease.

[Igo kyu]

Hi all. According to the "Royal Horticultural Society Gardeners Encyclopedia of Plants & Flowers" the most common trees in England are;

The Common Oak - Quercus Robur
The Ash - Fraxinus Excelsior
& The Beech - Fagus Sylvatica

All large trees growing well over 20 metre plus.
Before "dutch elm disease", the Elm was a lot more common, and may have been the most common.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_elm_disease


Circa 1967, a new, far more virulent strain arrived in Britain on a shipment of Rock Elm logs from North America, and this strain proved both highly contagious and lethal to European elms; more than 25 million trees have died in the UK alone.

@ AndyJWest: :)

[Tree_UK]

Hesitated to say this before as I'm sure those shots are thrown together WIP demos but, for me what was most off was the positioning of the trees and houses. Looked like a random scatter. Needs to be more integrated around roads, fields, etc. (See real photo a few pages back.). Hedgerows will help when they are put in.

I agree 100%, the house positioning seems random with no gardens/greenhouses/sheds/fences or hedges to speak of, and a garden is the pride and joy of every Englishman.

[Skarphol]

When you look at the diversity of opinions and discussions and information that just a few pictures every friday can ignite on this forum, one can start to wonder what strange bunch of people that are lurking around here..

What other gaming forum would bring forth the "dutch elm disease"?
Now it's just for me to find a way to slip that piece of information into a discussion in real life...

Skarphol

[Tree_UK]

When you look at the diversity of opinions and discussions and information that just a few pictures every friday can ignite on this forum, one can start to wonder what strange bunch of people that are lurking around here..

What other gaming forum would bring forth the "dutch elm disease"?
Now it's just for me to find a way to slip that piece of information into a discussion in real life...

Skarphol

lol, its all in the detail buddy :grin::grin:

[KG26_Alpha]

Hi all. According to the "Royal Horticultural Society Gardeners Encyclopedia of Plants & Flowers" the most common trees in England are;

The Common Oak - Quercus Robur
The Ash - Fraxinus Excelsior
& The Beech - Fagus Sylvatica

All large trees growing well over 20 metre plus.

Alas, I am not a master of all things Arboreal.....but that's what they say. I thought the Sycamore would be there too. I am from the North East of England though, we really need some posh git from the Home Counties to set the record straight :). You should see some of the trees in County Durham, they look like skyscrapers relative to this 'Bonsai' affair lol.

I agree that it is very important to get this right however, as it has to look like England. These are of course all WIP people, so give them a break. :)

I would say the Royal Horticultural Society would be the definitive source on these matters, without doubt.....So check them out! :)

Well don't forget the Poplar/Aspen either, an ancient native tree :)

http://www.british-trees.com/treeguide/poplars/nbnsys0000003851.htm

Mixture of Poplar Oak and hedgerow on country lane in Kent. I know this wont be modelled but it gives an idea to those wondering what it looks like :)

Alot of the country roads 60 years ago were like this due to lack of traffic.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v119/alpha1/Forum%20photos/DSCN3504copy.jpg

[AdMan]

When you look at the diversity of opinions and discussions and information that just a few pictures every friday can ignite on this forum, one can start to wonder what strange bunch of people that are lurking around here..

What other gaming forum would bring forth the "dutch elm disease"?
Now it's just for me to find a way to slip that piece of information into a discussion in real life...

Skarphol

the same type of people who will spend hundreds, if not thousands, in computer hardware and peripherals just for the sake of flying little virtual aircraft in front of their computers.

yeah, flight sims have always been a weirdo magnet imo

that's why I draw the line at strapping infrared beams on my head.

[major_setback]

Let's not forget the plane tree :-)

http://www.strangecosmos.com/images/content/160441.JPG


The plane tree has nature's finest 'cameo'...in my opinion:

http://www.cambridge2000.com/gallery/images/P3125281.jpg

[ElAurens]

Alot of the country roads 60 years ago were like this due to lack of traffic.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v119/alpha1/Forum%20photos/DSCN3504copy.jpg

This photo really makes me want to take my TR-3 back to it's country of origin and drive it down that road.

How lovely.

And hopefully a pub nearby for some fine English bitter, that I miss so much.

[Tree_UK]

This photo really makes me want to take my TR-3 back to it's country of origin and drive it down that road.

How lovely.

And hopefully a pub nearby for some fine English bitter, that I miss so much.

Quickly followed by an English speed trap, £60 fine and 3 points on your license!!

[ElAurens]

Who says I'd be speeding?

I give my 50 year old Triumph a lot of respect for her age.

Unless of course some pesky little MG decides to get frisky with me, then I let the Weber carbs do the talking.

:mrgreen:

[flyingbullseye]

Understood.
Well, all this years and I never bought a ATI card because I thought they cannot do perfect mode...
I hate to admit but I´m a moron.
So, I will start to look for one of those Radeon 5970 babies.
The drivers are stable too?

Not a moron, just didn't know. Nothing against that. I don't know how stable the new cats are as I'm still using 9.3 and have no need to install any newer one. Heard its a mixed bag so far. I'd wait until we get closer to the release date and save yourself some money unless you are without a decent usable card at the moment.

Flyingbullseye

[lbuchele]

I think ATI 5970 will be the best choice for upgrade at the time of the SOW release , because of It´s crossfire configuration.
Fermi is too power hungry and very loud too, and in SLI we will need a in house power plant to juice it.
I´m already planning my next upgrade , but waiting until the last moment to do it...

[proton45]

I agree 100%, the house positioning seems random with no gardens/greenhouses/sheds/fences or hedges to speak of, and a garden is the pride and joy of every Englishman.


God, if we waited for them to fill-in and position all that detail, for the whole map and in every town...we could be waiting forever for this sim to be done... ;0

[proton45]

This is kind of a small observation, but I like how the ground objects are placed in the map "on a plane", and not tilted, at angle, on the hill side (looking very awkward and wrong)...

[Richie]

Didn't he say in the interview that all of the ground objects are done for this arena and the next one too.....I pretty sure he did.

[Richie]

And I say again ..It's not a WWII Tree Sim

[virre89]

Like Richie pointed out, ease on the ground requirements it's a flight sim.

[major_setback]

And I say again ..It's not a WWII Tree Sim

It is a game set in Britain. There will be little point in releasing a Med' sequel if all countries look the same. It should obviously look like England.
It doesn't yet.
And it is a good idea to let Oleg know that; just in case he can't see it. Or should we wait with that until after release?

[AdMan]

but it's not the 1990s, for games to be taken serious these days they need to have robust lifelike graphics. Which I have no doubt this game will and does already have. But when I hear people say, "it doesn't need such and such because it's just a flight sim" it makes me happy they aren't the ones designing the game, seems like they would be happy with this:

https://www.adbusters.org/files/flags/craig@skip-rat.net_horizon.jpg
"But the FM is awesome!!"


wake up people, it's 2010, play any other top-selling game of another genre and realize what SOW has to compete with

[robtek]

As always there is not only black and white but also many shades of grey!

First priority are the aircraft with their fm and dm!

second comes, imo, the targets for those aircraft.

third is the terrain and the sea

forth is buildings, trees, scrubs....

fifth is, also imho, the ai. (incl. ai traffic and map population.)

sixth is the variancy of trees, buildings and so on

everything after 5th is "nice to have, maybe later, third party" stuff

[Igo kyu]

but it's not the 1990s, for games to be taken serious these days they need to have robust lifelike graphics. Which I have no doubt this game will and does already have. But when I hear people say, "it doesn't need such and such because it's just a flight sim" it makes me happy they aren't the ones designing the game, seems like they would be happy with this:

https://www.adbusters.org/files/flags/craig@skip-rat.net_horizon.jpg
"But the FM is awesome!!"


wake up people, it's 2010, play any other top-selling game of another genre and realize what SOW has to compete with
But the FM was awesome. I remember that it was (almost!) the Domark MiG 29, the graphics were pretty atrocious, the trees looked like inverted umbrellas with panels missing, but if you played it from a RAM disk, it was actually fun to fly, and it did sideslips which you wouldn't get in Falcon or Combat Pilot.

[Letum]

Thanks Oleg.

[AdMan]

I just can't wait to see an actual landscape. So far what we have is individually modeled objects, it will depend on how those objects are arranged to create a convincing landscape.

[Tree_UK]

God, if we waited for them to fill-in and position all that detail, for the whole map and in every town...we could be waiting forever for this sim to be done... ;0

I wasn't being serious about having these features included.

[AKA_Tenn]

there's only one WW2 flight sim out there that has any competition with SoW, and that's IL2... all others at the moment have the same or worse graphics than IL2, and/or crappier flight models, and/or no real multiplayer, and/or are too buggy to even play...

just seeing the WiP screenshots should be enough evidence to say there's never been anything even close to what SoW will be.

the fact is that the majority of people like super easy button bashing games that are super fast paced and don't require any practice or technical skill, so this game falls under a niche category, therefore it HAS to be the best, so that there's no real competition, just to make it worth making...

also SoW game will uses specifically directX, unlike IL2 wich only uses openGL (directX mode is still openGL, just with a wrapper) so it won't suffer from the problems ATI cards have with memory leaks with openGL

[rollnloop]

For those thinking that the colour palette is off, here's a comparison I just threw together, looks pretty close to the British summer to me:

Those two pics look very different to me:

Oleg's sky is a desaturated winter sky.

Oleg's tree color is much darker.

Oleg's grass is much brighter, so are houses.

All in all, despite the high detail quality, screenshot is much unbalanced in terms of saturation/brightness compared to RL pic. Since it's WIP, no distress, but i think it must still be mentioned. IL2's terrain had great qualities for its time, but suffered of the same saturation/brightness unbalance ("tractor green" grass, purple high altitude sky anyone ?), this should be worked NOW, not years after release by modders.

[RCAF_FB_Orville]

There would be a lot more Elm trees then than there are now - since almost wiped out by Dutch Elm disease.

Great spot Andy, you Tree Geek! :grin::grin: Well before my time, (child of 1976 lol) I don't think I have ever seen an Elm in my life. Was it mass Elm Tree Genocide? Those bloody Yanks, its all their fault :grin:.

There again, I might have walked past one yesterday....its not like I pay much attention, lol. *Note to self, must pay heed to all the wondrous Flora and Fauna of this Green and Pleasant Land *TM* :grin:

10/10 Inspector Clouseu!! Bring back the Elm!! 1c games could be the Resurrection, and the Life..... :grin:

[AndyJWest]

Actually, I'm not much of a tree geek, Orville, but the list of British species reminded me of the loss. If you want to know more, Wikipedia, as always, is a good place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elm

Personally, I'm not to bothered about getting the precise tree species right, I think it is more important in a CG landscape to get variation in fauna than worry about minor details.

I suspect Oleg may be tearing his hair out at the details we are nit-picking over, and possibly considering setting the next SoW in antartica - penguins have no internet access. ;)

[Ernst]

Ohhh! How much misunderstanding for and about a "tree"? :o Hehe... Nice effects anyway, i would aprecciate it.

[philip.ed]

there's only one WW2 flight sim out there that has any competition with SoW, and that's IL2... all others at the moment have the same or worse graphics than IL2, and/or crappier flight models, and/or no real multiplayer, and/or are too buggy to even play...

just seeing the WiP screenshots should be enough evidence to say there's never been anything even close to what SoW will be.

the fact is that the majority of people like super easy button bashing games that are super fast paced and don't require any practice or technical skill, so this game falls under a niche category, therefore it HAS to be the best, so that there's no real competition, just to make it worth making...

also SoW game will uses specifically directX, unlike IL2 wich only uses openGL (directX mode is still openGL, just with a wrapper) so it won't suffer from the problems ATI cards have with memory leaks with openGL

Rise of flight has better graphics than Il-2. ;) That's the benchmark, IMO, that SoW needs to aim for.

[major_setback]

I suspect Oleg may be tearing his hair out at the details we are nit-picking over, and possibly considering setting the next SoW in antartica - penguins have no internet access. ;)

Just in case:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/SnowflakesWilsonBentley.jpg/220px-SnowflakesWilsonBentley.jpg

:-)

[Insuber]

ROTFL! I had a good laugh mate, thank you !

Just in case:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/SnowflakesWilsonBentley.jpg/220px-SnowflakesWilsonBentley.jpg

:-)

[Cobra8472]

I wouldn't worry about the trees looking awesome.

SpeedTree is an amazing tool, and provides procedural generation for different treetypes. I doubt any one tree is going to look like the other.

It also has support for hedges, bushes and plants.
I have a great deal of faith :)

[RCAF_FB_Orville]

Yeah Cobra, I have just realised that Empire:Total War uses SpeedTree and they do the grass too? Hope Oleg and Co use the wind swept grass, or some adaptation. It looks fantastic in game, and I have little worries too. :)

@Major....LMAO :grin:

[Oleg Maddox]

For those thinking that the colour palette is off, here's a comparison I just threw together, looks pretty close to the British summer to me:

Right, however anyway we will tune a bit colors for more precise.

[engarde]

Thankyou for the frequent updates.

I'm sure that the finished product will hold many surprises not seen in these glimpses of the work in progress.

Thanks again.

[Oleg Maddox]

1. Currently we are not making ground sim. So we will have minimal amount of trees types in the release. This minimal amount will be based on Speed Tree samples, reworked for our needs. And trust me it is isn't a small work. We simply decided to use speed tree just because of possible future developments in other directions with the controlable ground units. Thats all. In terms of speed and required power our own trees technology was oriented only for flight sims.

2. We will use some stones and some bushes. But with the sight how to do not owerload the grphics in terms of rendering speed. As more types - more overloading due to render on a great surface (same for trees types as well)

3. Before these screen shots posted, nobody even noticed about any of the last fligth sims speaking about types of trees there :) Even if it is there totally incorrect. :)

[Oleg Maddox]

Just in case:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/SnowflakesWilsonBentley.jpg/220px-SnowflakesWilsonBentley.jpg

:-)

Nice humor :)

[Oleg Maddox]

Rise of flight has better graphics than Il-2. ;) That's the benchmark, IMO, that SoW needs to aim for.

I would say better some of graphics features, but not better the photographics look in most cases.
There is always a term of the right use for some of modern technologies. Should not be overdone, or shouldn't be in use totally, because it is wrong in terms of perception comparing to real things.

[SlipBall]

I would say better some of graphics features, but not better the photographics look in most cases.
There is always a term of the right use for some of modern technologies. Should not be overdone, or shouldn't be in use totally, because it is wrong in terms of perception comparing to real things.


+1
IL2 is still the benchmark in flight sim graphic's

[RCAF_FB_Orville]

Hi Oleg. Ok, that is fair enough and understood, we are only trying to help :) So long as the most common trees mentioned in my previous post are present I will be happy. The English are a little defensive of our beloved Land, and we don't want to be flying past American/Foreign Trees! (Jk) :grin:

I'm sure you will do a great job though. One question, will the Speedtree grass tech be used, or some form of it? If you take a look at something like 'Napoleon:Total War' it looks marvellous. Maybe you are doing your own thing and can do even better, if so....Great! Of course the Frame rate balance must be made, understood.

Regarding Rise of Flight, yes certain things like bloom and HDR are very much overdone.....The community is trying to get them to rethink. Very talented bunch of people though, and it is much better than initial release at present. Still problems, especially online and there are damage model/Collision quirks too. I think they are on a very steep "learning curve" but they will get there.

Enjoying playing it while waiting for SOW though, the new QMB is good....It is great fun flying the Camel and I love the FM :)

[Oleg Maddox]

Hi Oleg. Ok, that is fair enough and understood, we are only trying to help :) So long as the most common trees mentioned in my previous post are present I will be happy. The English are a little defensive of our beloved Land, and we don't want to be flying past American/Foreign Trees! (Jk) :grin:

I'm sure you will do a great job though. One question, will the Speedtree grass tech be used, or some form of it? If you take a look at something like 'Napoleon:Total War' it looks marvellous. Maybe you are doing your own thing and can do even better, if so....Great! Of course the Frame rate balance must be made, understood.

Regarding Rise of Flight, yes certain things like bloom and HDR are very much overdone.....The community is trying to get them to rethink. Very talented bunch of people though, and it is much better than initial release at present. Still problems, especially online and there are damage model/Collision quirks too. I think they are on a very steep "learning curve" but they will get there.

Enjoying playing it while waiting for SOW though, the new QMB is good....It is great fun flying the Camel and I love the FM :)

Grass is our own and is animated. It is done in terms of good look from the landed ariraft (or at take off).

[RCAF_FB_Orville]

Thanks for info Oleg, look forward to seeing it! :)

EDIT: Just found out about the attack in Moscow from this forum, very sorry to hear this and I did not mean to be flippant or disrespectful in any way, I did not know. Computer games do not mean anything in comparison, hope you they find those responsible and that you are all well.

Deepest Sympathy.

[dflion]

Good to see your replies Oleg. The trees look great and it is WIP. Keep the previews coming - we are looking forward to the final release and I am sure the community will continue to help you make BOB/SOW the best flight sim on the market.
Very sad to hear of the Terrorist attack in the Moscow Metro. I hope none of your staff were involved?
DFLion

[Oleg Maddox]

Good to see your replies Oleg. The trees look great and it is WIP. Keep the previews coming - we are looking forward to the final release and I am sure the community will continue to help you make BOB/SOW the best flight sim on the market.
Very sad to hear of the Terrorist attack in the Moscow Metro. I hope none of your staff were involved?
DFLion

All members of our team are Ok. Thank you.

[rollnloop]

All members of our team are Ok. Thank you.

Glad to read it, take care.

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

It is a game set in Britain. There will be little point in releasing a Med' sequel if all countries look the same. It should obviously look like England.
It doesn't yet.
And it is a good idea to let Oleg know that; just in case he can't see it. Or should we wait with that until after release?

Oleg is a photographer, a good one too, I'm pretty sure he can see it. Oh, not to mention the fact that these shots were very clearly labeled WORK IN PROGRESS....

[Chivas]

It all a balancing act, getting all the graphics, fm, dm, ai, and moving weather pattern detail working with useable frame rates.

Oleg how are your frame rates issues at the moment? I would imagine you have alot of fine tuning to do to see what details can be kept and what details have to be delayed for future releases.

[Insuber]

Hi Oleg,

Good job! Apart from goodies like pleasant trees and grass (the more the better of course :)), please pay great attention to the invisible yet fundamental parts, like DM and weapon modeling.

The Il2 history shows us that unfortunately the original flaws and mistakes of machine guns modeling or certain planes' damage model made their way until nowadays, probably with copy-paste from patch to patch.

You can always add later a tree or a spring flower ...

Respectfully,
Insuber

[proton45]

Maybe my impression is "off" here...but some of these comments seem a little petty. Is the reality that a lot of people have just run out of things to comment about, or do people really think that Oleg is incapable of improving on the fantastic sim that he has created?

Every new update Oleg makes now lead to the most surreal of tangents...

First people mock the animated grass...now people claim the game is ruined if the trees are wrong (lol)...

People are tired of waiting for the sim, but at the same time they voice a concern in regards to unimpressive scenery...

The more I think about it the more I think that people have just run out of things to say (lol).

OK, now "my" pointless comments are over... ;)

[major_setback]

Maybe my impression is "off" here...but some of these comments seem a little petty. Is the reality that a lot of people have just run out of things to comment about, or do people really think that Oleg is incapable of improving on the fantastic sim that he has created?

Every new update Oleg makes now lead to the most surreal of tangents...

First people mock the animated grass...now people claim the game is ruined if the trees are wrong (lol)...

People are tired of waiting for the sim, but at the same time they voice a concern in regards to unimpressive scenery...

The more I think about it the more I think that people have just run out of things to say (lol).

OK, now "my" pointless comments are over... ;)

We all want this game to be as realistic as possible. If we give advice, help, or even criticism, then it is in order to reach that goal.
It is not my aim or anyone else's, I believe, to offend.

[proton45]

We all want this game to be as realistic as possible. If we give advice, help, or even criticism, then it is in order to reach that goal.
It is not my aim or anyone else's, I believe, to offend.

Eh, wasn't really "offended"...more (maybe) disappointed. Cheers anyway...

[RCAF_FB_Orville]

Maybe my impression is "off" here...but some of these comments seem a little petty. Is the reality that a lot of people have just run out of things to comment about, or do people really think that Oleg is incapable of improving on the fantastic sim that he has created?

Every new update Oleg makes now lead to the most surreal of tangents...

First people mock the animated grass...now people claim the game is ruined if the trees are wrong (lol)

Bit of an exaggeration Proton, no? :) If it is a crime wanting England to look as much like England as possible, then I am guilty as charged (lol). Of course, others may think that in what is "not a ground sim", details like opening tank doors and possibly fully animated truck gear sticks are infinitely more important than Err....England looking like England. :grin:

I will draw the line at wanting to see the disembodied Spirit of Wordsworth's 'Lucy' roaming O'er hill and dale in her frilly Nighty at dusk........But will be demanding it in the first patch :grin:

Its a crazy world we live in mate, and it would be a boring world if we were all the same *ClichesRUs* :)

[AdMan]

WoP has the best terrain I've seen in a flight simulator

Graphics sells games

just sayin

[themink]

I look forward to my friday updates eagerly. But comment very rarely because the schwarm normally covers everythign I want to say.

I think you missed something this time.

While "in" the tree, the leaves are well differentiated
While next to it, the leaves are individual.
While close to it, the leaves blur together and the we gradually lose definition.
As the trees get further away we lose teh differences in shapes and the variation in internal colour.
The trees near the horizon are greenish blurs.

The same can be said for the houses - you can see a village in the distance in one of the shots and the details is much less pronounced than the close houses.

A lovely example of the graphics engine working. It also leads to realistic assessment of hieght by "looking out of the window"

Currently in IL2 - the ranges at which details appear are highly distinct. Flying towards a bunch of ground targets having then "appear" at relevant ranges and then later pring into more detail, breaks immersion - this finer gradation of detail loss is going to overcome that without putting an unneccessarily large load on our graphics cards

Given that they have paid this much attention to the ancillary ground details, I am eagerly looking forward to how this will work with planes and "important" targets (ie stuff we try and kill)

Very impressed team
- Glad you weren't badly affected by the Metro event

[Il2Pongo]

When game devs do not provide this kind of progress report. Don't ask why, just read this pathetic thread.
What a shame.

[lbuchele]

In regarding of animated grass I think it will be great to see the propwash effect in it during take-off .
Already expecting the news Oleg said we will see in the next update.

[IceFire]

When game devs do not provide this kind of progress report. Don't ask why, just read this pathetic thread.
What a shame.

Why is it a shame? Yes it's a shame when someone is insulting or starts a flame or something like that. It is not a shame when someone like Oleg, who is clearly from his work also a perfectionist, puts his work out to the public and reads the comments on what looks great and what can be done better. The flight simulator crowd are a bit of a fickle bunch yes... but many are extremely well meaning and bring their various expertise and knowledge to the table. Examples: the London Tower Bridge and Italian Medals discussions or the Re.2000 request for help. The info isn't always out there but people are happy to provide that added layer...

When you are an artist... and being a game developer is as much a science as it is an art... a significant part of that process is the critique. It isn't always pretty... sometimes it's not always nice (although it should be measured) but that back and forth CAN be a positive event. I think most here are being very positive.

Criticism does not necessarily equal dislike.

[imaca]

Well don't forget the Poplar/Aspen either, an ancient native tree :)

http://www.british-trees.com/treeguide/poplars/nbnsys0000003851.htm

Mixture of Poplar Oak and hedgerow on country lane in Kent. I know this wont be modelled but it gives an idea to those wondering what it looks like :)

Alot of the country roads 60 years ago were like this due to lack of traffic.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v119/alpha1/Forum%20photos/DSCN3504copy.jpg
Its striking in this photo how varied the shades of green are depending on shadows, angle to light, transparency etc.
Personally I would think it impossible to accurately model this, and talk of saturation etc. is pretty much meaningless - the best that can be hoped for is an approximation, which will never keep everyone happy, because they don't seem to recognize how much more complex reality is.
Also I have seen mention of speed grass blowing in the wind - as I understand from looking at their web site the amount of grass modeled in this way is limited to a small area around the view point, so it would seem unsuited to a flight sim.
God, if we waited for them to fill-in and position all that detail, for the whole map and in every town...we could be waiting forever for this sim to be done... ;0

Yep, but I would say adding fences/hedges would add much greater immersion than attempting to model every tree type in Britain

[Skoshi Tiger]

Also I have seen mention of speed grass blowing in the wind - as I understand from looking at their web site the amount of grass modeled in this way is limited to a small area around the view point, so it would seem unsuited to a flight sim.


A someone who tends to land in fields rather than at the appropriate airport, wind blown grass would be one of those things that give us wind direction which would be nice.


Yep, but I would say adding fences/hedges would add much greater immersion than attempting to model every tree type in Britain

It will be interesting to see what damage will occur to us as we pass through the stone walls and hedges during our forced landings (and to the hedges and walls!). Depending on speed and fuel/weapons load and other factors, I hope we don't have an imediate explosion like when you hit trees in IL2. I'ld prefer a variety of crumpled messes (with and without fire) ranging up to the explosion.

cheers!

[fireflyerz]

I would like to see as much detail as is physically possible added everywhere in the new sim , blasting around at 25 plus is ok but when you find yourself down low , say coming into land or chasing somone and you look out of the cockpit at a very unrealistic landscape such as what il2 looks like in this day and age , thats a real killer , I do hope that we get the enviroment to match the level of detail we have already been shown in vehicals , weapons ect.

[AdMan]

I would like to see as much detail as is physically possible added everywhere in the new sim , blasting around at 25 plus is ok but when you find yourself down low , say coming into land or chasing somone and you look out of the cockpit at a very unrealistic landscape such as what il2 looks like in this day and age , thats a real killer , I do hope that we get the enviroment to match the level of detail we have already been shown in vehicals , weapons ect.

agree, if you think about it practically where does 90% of the action actually take place in multiplayer? Within 3000km and less - and that's being generous, its more like 1000km and lower.

[kendo65]

There is an interesting video showing trees getting mangled, smashed and broken on the SpeedTree website:

http://www.speedtree.com/showcase/

-click on the "Physics - Breaking Trees" link on the left hand side

I'll put a disclaimer in here - it mentions Beta features, I have NO IDEA if SOW will be like this!! But interesting to see what is possible now - (this may be old news to those of you with experience of modern games, but to an old il2 diehard like myself it's pretty amazing)

Apologies to those who have had their fill of the tree debate:


Every new update Oleg makes now lead to the most surreal of tangents...


and

When game devs do not provide this kind of progress report. Don't ask why, just read this pathetic thread.
What a shame.

I'd put it more charitably and quote Forrest Gump :

"My momma always said, 'SOW updates are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get next.' "

[lbuchele]

Good post Kendo65.
I had no idea what Speedtree software was capable to do.
It´s Physx accelerated, good reason to buy Nvidia card in my planned upgrade for SOW.

[fireflyerz]

From above post

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeWWC1ecbtw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhwZ7Sb0PHA&feature=channel&fmt=22

If this is what we can expect to see , im very happy.

[lbuchele]

+1.
Preparing to be a Stuka pilot in SOW.:cool:

[kendo65]

It´s Physx accelerated, good reason to buy Nvidia card in my planned upgrade for SOW.

Actually, I'm not sure that this will be the case in SOW. :(

There are a few variants of SpeedTree as far as I can see - I think that video showcases the just-released version 5.1

If Oleg and Co have been working with the SpeedTree software for some time it'll likely be an older version and I have no idea how the physics modelling will compare to that video or whether PhysX will be supported.

I expect it'll still be impressive though. :)

---
Edit: SpeedTree 5 does support Physx, so maybe...? I'd wait to hear it from Oleg though before making plans.

[lbuchele]

It´s Ok.
I´m waiting for release to do the best new system I can with lesser expense.
I´m considering the ATI 5970 but if SOW series will be Nvidia optimized, the GTX 480 probably is the way to go.

[Flanker35M]

S!

Well I hope no more nVidia bandwagon as ATI and nVidia can BOTH do DirectX 11 just fine at the moment. PhysX is bound only to nVidia which I dislike strongly, because it hampers players that do not have this brand nor want to get one.

[major_setback]

This looks very nice, showing just what is possible with Speedtree (maybe; I'm unsure). NOT that we can expect anything like this!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjZc9ayGlaM&feature=related


...but in ten years time maybe :-)

[leggit]

This looks very nice, showing just what is possible with speedtree (NOT that we can expect anything like this)


...but in ten years time maybe :-)

maybe in 10 years.. but how do u expect to appreciate it traveling at 200-300 mph;)

[major_setback]

maybe in 10 years.. but how do u expect to appreciate it traveling at 200-300 mph;)

I land!
:-)

[Modding_Monkey]

I land!
:-)

He he he.
I just do a nice crash beside it. :D
They say any landing you can walk away from is a good one... right?

[baronWastelan]

Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X

(guess who just bought a new Nvidia gfx card?)

[proton45]

From above post

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeWWC1ecbtw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhwZ7Sb0PHA&feature=channel&fmt=22

If this is what we can expect to see , im very happy.


Their may be some people who question the verity of the tree's and the "look" of the European theater...

BUT, I'm feeling very hopeful about the future of the sim/game. If their was ever a weakness with the feel and look of the Pacific theater (in the past), it now looks as if Korea, China, the Solomon islands, ect, should be dripping with authentic atmosphere...

I'm feeling excited about all those low-down (low altitude), twisting and turning China theater missions...Ya I know, I have an even longer wait for this dream to come true then we do waiting for "SoW BoB"...LOL

[Flyby]

Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X Phys - X

(guess who just bought a new Nvidia gfx card?)
So? Do you want us to guess what card you bought? Or will you be a good sort and just tell us? ;) Is it a GT250? :D
Flyby out

[baronWastelan]

So? Do you want us to guess what card you bought? Or will you be a good sort and just tell us? ;) Is it a GT250? :D
Flyby out

I spent almost my whole tax refund on a BFG GTX 285 OC. :oops:

Link to eBay auction for GTX 285 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170462945790&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.com%3A80%2Fi.html%3F_nkw %3D170462945790%26_in_kw%3D1%26_ex_kw%3D%26_sacat% 3DSee-All-Categories%26_okw%3D170462945790%26_oexkw%3D%26_ud lo%3D%26_udhi%3D%26_ftrt%3D901%26_ftrv%3D1%26_sabd lo%3D%26_sabdhi%3D%26_samilow%3D%26_samihi%3D%26_s adis%3D200%26_fpos%3DZip%2Bcode%26_fsct%3D%26LH_SA LE_CURRENCY%3D0%26_sop%3D12%26_dmd%3D1%26_ipg%3D50 %26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1)

[AKA_Tenn]

I'd be interested to see a in-game screenshot of the model of an engine like... the BF109 without its cover on or something like that... now that the graphics are starting to get so much higher quality.

maybe there's already a screenshot like that, but there's just so many screenshots to sift through.... and alot of them aren't labled...

is there a thread somewhere maybe on another forum that has all the WiP screens sorted/labled?

[AdMan]

There is an interesting video showing trees getting mangled, smashed and broken on the SpeedTree website:

http://www.speedtree.com/showcase/

-click on the "Physics - Breaking Trees" link on the left hand side


well that answers my thoughts on the best way to handle forest crashes.

[major_setback]

I'd be interested to see a in-game screenshot of the model of an engine like... the BF109 without its cover on or something like that... now that the graphics are starting to get so much higher quality.

maybe there's already a screenshot like that, but there's just so many screenshots to sift through.... and alot of them aren't labled...

is there a thread somewhere maybe on another forum that has all the WiP screens sorted/labled?


Try these:

Foobar's:
On the right of the screen you can navigate to earlier updates (or click on 'previous' at bottom of the screen):

http://fooblog.mexxoft.com/category/computerspiele/storm-of-war-computerspiele/page/2/

Here are ones I collected. I lost a few when I changed computers a while ago:

http://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g260/restranger/?start=all

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g260/restranger/ScreenShot007.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g260/restranger/ScreenShots_002.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g260/restranger/ScreenShots_001.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g260/restranger/Bf-109E-3_01-1.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g260/restranger/Hurry_dam3.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g260/restranger/Bf-110C-4_05.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g260/restranger/Bf-110C-4_09.jpg

[Flyby]

I spent almost my whole tax refund on a BFG GTX 285 OC. :oops:

Link to eBay auction for GTX 285 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170462945790&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.com%3A80%2Fi.html%3F_nkw %3D170462945790%26_in_kw%3D1%26_ex_kw%3D%26_sacat% 3DSee-All-Categories%26_okw%3D170462945790%26_oexkw%3D%26_ud lo%3D%26_udhi%3D%26_ftrt%3D901%26_ftrv%3D1%26_sabd lo%3D%26_sabdhi%3D%26_samilow%3D%26_samihi%3D%26_s adis%3D200%26_fpos%3DZip%2Bcode%26_fsct%3D%26LH_SA LE_CURRENCY%3D0%26_sop%3D12%26_dmd%3D1%26_ipg%3D50 %26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1)
that card is still awesome. nice buy! :D
Flyby out
PS guys, about that Spitfire screen shot: those holes look huge! I wonder if those are from 20mm explosive shells?

[SlipBall]

[QUOTE=major_setback;152492]Try these:

Seeing the tires stowed away nicely, makes me wonder if the tire's are subject to damage such as getting a flat :confused:...Oleg?

[AKA_Tenn]

Try these:

Foobar's:
On the right of the screen you can navigate to earlier updates (or click on 'previous' at bottom of the screen):

http://fooblog.mexxoft.com/category/computerspiele/storm-of-war-computerspiele/page/2/

Here are ones I collected. I lost a few when I changed computers a while ago:

http://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g260/restranger/?start=all



thanks, really cool, exactly what i was asking about, awesome :D

[tomaz]

Gimme a break. Most people wouldn't know an Elm from an Oak from a Maple and most simply wouldn't care. They would care about the graphical representation sure but the SPECIES of tree............:rolleyes:
The amount of time and work going into this sim and I can't believe people are worried about what type of trees there are! Hopefully I missed a post and this is an April Fool's joke.
Yes, the quality standards are high (and should be given Oleg's fantastic track record with IL2) but again I bet a pound to a penny that 99.9% of the sim pilots playing this game wouldn't give a damn what type of tree species is represented short of palm trees showing up around Duxford, LOL.
;)

[Skoshi Tiger]

Gimme a break. Most people wouldn't know an Elm from an Oak from a Maple and most simply wouldn't care. They would care about the graphical representation sure but the SPECIES of tree............:rolleyes:
The amount of time and work going into this sim and I can't believe people are worried about what type of trees there are! Hopefully I missed a post and this is an April Fool's joke.
Yes, the quality standards are high (and should be given Oleg's fantastic track record with IL2) but again I bet a pound to a penny that 99.9% of the sim pilots playing this game wouldn't give a damn what type of tree species is represented short of palm trees showing up around Duxford, LOL.
;)

Of course at the palm house in Kew gardens they would have to be a must!

Cheers!

[major_setback]

thanks, really cool, exactly what i was asking about, awesome :D

I updated the screenshots in the Photobucket account, most of the aircraft WiP's should be there now.
Note: these are the full sized images, some of the ones on Foobar's site are reduced in size!

http://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g260/restranger/?start=all

[jippy13]

Hi,

Just a little question.

Will BoB use dx11 technologies ?

Thx

[Insuber]

Jippy,

Il suffit de faire une recherche du mot "DX11" dans ce forum, t'aurais obtenu par example:

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showpost.php?p=150582&postcount=5

:D

Slt,
Insuber



Hi,

Just a little question.

Will BoB use dx11 technologies ?

Thx

[nearmiss]

Jippy,

Il suffit de faire une recherche du mot "DX11" dans ce forum, t'aurais obtenu par example:

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showpost.php?p=150582&postcount=5

:D

Slt,
Insuber

Just do a search for "DX11" in this forum, you would have got for example:

Insuber... this is English forums

[RomBinDaHouse]

When?
http://img.leprosorium.com/840604

[Nils]

Thanks for the update Oleg!

The lights and shadows are fantastic! Trees looking very good!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Skarphol

Heisan :) Takk for sist!!

[C6_Krasno]

English forum, huh ? :)

[RomBinDaHouse]

English forum, huh ? :)

fixed =)

[Insuber]

Just do a search for "DX11" in this forum, you would have got for example:

Insuber... this is English forums

Hey calm down mate, I've seen that he is from France ... slept well tonight btw ? :D

[Shaderhacker]

there's only one WW2 flight sim out there that has any competition with SoW, and that's IL2...

I disagree.

The graphics in WOP are indeed superior to SoW (from what I've seen). Now if you want to count every other aspect about SoW over WoP, then that's another discussion. IMO, WOP is the best graphical flight sim released to date. Period.

[robtek]

Yep, Shaderhacker, you've brought it to the point!

...the best GRAPHICAL flight sim...

nothing to add.

[Jg2001_Rasputin]

I just came over a some photographs. Might be interesting for all these "the gras here in England is greener" typ of guys

http://www.modelforum.cz/download/file.php?id=318788&mode=view

http://www.modelforum.cz/download/file.php?id=318790&mode=view

Seems pretty dry gras for me

[TheGrunch]

I just came over a some photographs. Might be interesting for all these "the gras here in England is greener" typ of guys
Seems pretty dry gras for me
I think you've got the wrong end of the stick. At the moment everything is TOO green. :) England is a drab, dreary place full of steel mills and suet puddings. ;)

[lnewlf]

Today I hadn't time to compile the next working version(still in compilation from yesterday on my PC) that to show something definitely new. Anyway here is some screenshots that maybe interesting for you all. Remind you - its a WIP.

For a WIP, great Stuff. I hope to take this wonderful game home real soon :rolleyes:
until then i fly a little ;) by myself.

Cheers

Chris