Friday 2010-09-17 Dev. update and Discussions

[Oleg Maddox]

First of all I would like to show beta interface... better to say just small part - quick mission builder. However it isn't final, there are some misses in selections (like advantage disadvantage, etc). Fonts are also not final, some of them will be way smaller... name of the screen also not final (working)... there is shown at the moment selected mission type.

You may seat in any aircraft of selection, change them... not just in one group that was in Il-2.... Amount of aircfat groups - this will deepending of the mission type that you select on the left side. Currently unlimited... but we wiill need to limit for the release that to do not receive the "bug report" why my PC can't handle for example 2,000 tanks on the ground in one place... On the right side the picture will be absent (or instead... on the left, that to do not repeat) - on the left is a briefing of the mission you select.
Simply in this menu we try to put all the best that was in Il-2 and to give way more features of customisation.... also you may add new one mission(type also) or more, created in Full Mission Builder youself. Thats all that I would like tell for today about interface.

[Oleg Maddox]

Still would like to remind - that all is around WIP.

[zapatista]

nice !!

the ground vehicles look very good, great level of detail !!

[Viking]

Spasiba!

Viking

[Spi]

Thanks for the update Oleg! I love the Spitfire shot

[Baron]

Dam it, planeselection doesnt work, i keep clicking and clicking on the Tiger Moth but nothing happens, wtf??....oh wait.


Best pic of the spit so far. :)

[blades96]

Gentlemen, start your moaning.

[furbs]

not much to moan about this week as far as i can see...great update...things looking much better :)

[Daniël]

Amazing!!! :shock: I have no words to describe that. It's just so different and much better than Il2.
A few questions:

1.Will droptanks explode violently if they are hit?

2.Will there be jamming stations in SoW, so the radiocantact can falter?

3.If planes are very much used in a campagne and the engine is almost broken and almost al the paint is gone, can the engine be changed and can the plane get a new coat of paint? Or will you get a new plane?

[yogy]

The ground textures begin to look really good now. THUMBS UP!

[NSU]

i love it :-)

[mr71mb0]

Oh MY. I think I just had a trouser accident over that Spitfire shot. Amazing work Oleg (and Team).

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

Ooh, I like that interface a lot!

[Viking]

And what is that last car in the line? Armoured buss?

Viking

[Sutts]

Some great pictures there Oleg, thanks.:grin:

Everything coming together very nicely indeed.

[tagTaken2]

Good to see interface, helps me picture game as more than Il-2 5.0

[leggit]

And what is that last car in the line? Armoured buss?

Viking

with the loss of 95% of its heavy equipment in France the British army converted a lot of civilian vehicles into armoured cars... 1 lorry even had a concrete bunker built on it.

[Tree_UK]

On picture 3 there is 'banding' that we see in IL2 is that a driver issue?

[kendo65]

Looking very good. Terrain seems to be very nearly there. Love the grass/vegetation detail in the convoy shot.

Is that another type of 'smoke' in the bombed factory pic? Looks like dust and dirt thrown up by the explosion rather than the 'burning' smoke we've seen before.

Also like the way it is drifting.

Fingers crossed for Christmas. :)

[Schallmoser]

Did I read there "beta"?
hooorayyyyyyy!!!!!!! :grin:

Thank you very much this is getting brilliant!!!!!
Congrats to everybody in your team Oleg, looking forward to this truly outstanding piece of work!

cheers,
Schallmoser

[Flanker35M]

S!

Thanks for the update :)

[Robert]

Interesting to see the building's damage model. I'm loving the Stuka. ("Yeah, though I walk through the valley of death, I shall fear no Stuka." Who am I kidding? Get me outta hear!!!!!!) Nice shot of the Ju87's shadow over the armoured vehicles. The Spit? SWEEET! Flames look nice to me. The ground detail as the trucks drive by is amazing.

I like the mission editor's interface. Maybe I'm used to my video editing application, but I find the darker interface colours of the interface to be pleasing.

My only kvetch? In the first series of pics, I'm not liking the ground detail as the Me109 approaches the coastline. We can see trees, but no city/landmarks? WIP I know. (Looking at how great other features have been implemented and improved upon, I'm not worried.)

Thanks again for the updates, Sir. Much appreciated.

[Daniël]

Wow, even wiper tracks are visible! Will the wipers move when it's raining?

[kalimba]

Congratulations Oleg...

It seems to me that you ought to be proud of your work at this stage of WIP...

These screenshots are at a new level now...These are "artistic" and presented like if you took those pictures yourself...From real life...Like an artist would do...
The " shadow" one is exceptionnal in its 'poetic" quality...:rolleyes:

Bravo!
:-)

[Feuerfalke]

On picture 3 there is 'banding' that we see in IL2 is that a driver issue?

Color Banding - it's due to monitor limitations and image compression.


A tft-monitor is only able to display 16 Million colors and has no blurring, a conventional TV or monitor displays 32 Million colors + blurring.

As a result, you can see color banding on most non-professional TFT-monitors. False colors are a big issue in monitor calibration, btw. You need a good monitor to find one, that is able to compensate.

In my personal experience nVidia-graphic cards tend to increase the effect. ATI/AMD has slightly better image quality, especially in displaying colors, lighting and contrast.


@ Topic:
Fantastic shots. The vehicles with the StuKa-Shadow is just great! :)

Very modern interface - I like it!

[Feuerfalke]

Thank you very much for update, Oleg!!
Please give us an information about release date or answer some questions we have, its hard to take, that we have to wait till next friday update.
Anyway, i think you are doing good word.

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showpost.php?p=181751&postcount=1

[chiefrr73]

Sorry about the releasedate question, i understand know.

[krz9000]

will SOW have a DOF post-effect?
this could improve the look of far away stuff alot and can hide spare detail very well.

[Friendly_flyer]

Stunning Oleg! I really like the selection screen, looking forward to play with this!

One thing:

The British squadron codes on BoB era fighters was grey rather than white. The font looks spot on though, and the planes and ground objects are gorgeous!

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a37/Friendly_flyer/Skinning/Comparison-2.jpg

[pupaxx]

Stunning Oleg! I really like the selection screen, looking forward to play with this!

One thing:

The British squadron codes on BoB era fighters was grey rather than white. The font looks spot on though, and the planes and ground objects are gorgeous!

http://www.spitfiresite.com/photos/historic/uploaded_images/Standing-infront-of-his-Spitfire-Mk.-IIa,-Squadron-Leader-Donald-Finlay-718791.jpg


+1 ...and Spitfire was not so glossy, but great work although;)

[F19_lacrits]

Thanks Oleg!
Looking very very good. :)

[Foo'bar]

It took me several months to build all that factory buildings... and you destroy them with one single Stuka bomb ;)

[Daniël]

"One small step for Oleg Maddox, one giant leap for the flightsim world."

[maclean525]

Fan-bloody-tastic!!!

[jocko417]

Do I see a multi-crew icon on the Blenheim IV selection? That's nice, I thought the Tiger Moth was the only kite you could 'share'...


Request: How about some shots of the Defiant please? :)

[luthier]

My only kvetch? In the first series of pics, I'm not liking the ground detail as the Me109 approaches the coastline. We can see trees, but no city/landmarks? WIP I know. (Looking at how great other features have been implemented and improved upon, I'm not worried.)

It's not "approaching" the coastline.

You're looking at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=dover+uk&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Dover,+United+Kingdom&ll=51.129967,1.281062&spn=0.179689,0.528374&t=f&z=12&ecpose=50.86055693,1.28740415,19542.57,-0.846,56.91,0

The British squadron codes on BoB era fighters was grey rather than white.

Based on our research, and with bigger plans in mind, we support white and medium sea grey and sky grey and sky and other colors for markings. We should probably change the default from white though.

[Hecke]

Very good update, thx.

But ;) i don't like the trees in the second part. Maybe it's the colour, idk.

[=XIII=Shea]

Gentlemen, start your moaning.

lol good one:)

[jocko417]

Based on our research, and with bigger plans in mind, we support white and medium sea grey and sky grey and sky and other colors for markings. We should probably change the default from white though.



Exxxxxxcellennnnnnt......

/Mr Burns OFF

[Friendly_flyer]

Based on our research, and with bigger plans in mind, we support white and medium sea grey and sky grey and sky and other colors for markings. We should probably change the default from white though.

Smashing news! I have a list of Spitfire and Hurricane squadron code colours for the BoB fighter squadrons. If it is of interest, let me know and I will forward it to you.

[jocko417]

It's not "approaching" the coastline.

You're looking at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=dover+uk&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Dover,+United+Kingdom&ll=51.129967,1.281062&spn=0.179689,0.528374&t=f&z=12&ecpose=50.86055693,1.28740415,19542.57,-0.846,56.91,0


Yes, it looks like we are only seeing the coastline as it appears NE of Dover to Ramsgate. Where the chalk cliffs end near the center of the pic should be the town of Deal.

[rakinroll]

Excellent details, thank you. I can not imagine Tuckie, Jafa and MP's videos with those greatest graphics and details.

[Bloblast]

Thanks for the update!

[proton45]

I really like this weeks up-date...thanks!!!

I'm getting excited again...lol

[Sturm_Williger]

It took me several months to build all that factory buildings... and you destroy them with one single Stuka bomb ;)

Well, it looks like the Stuka still has its large bomb, so that implies your factory was knocked out by 4 x 50kg bombs. Which is also good news that we can select which ones to drop :)

Superb pics though

[C_G]

Very nice update!

I'm really digging the QMB interface... it looks like the in-house mission builders have already begun populating it with many pre-built missions (I note that the four missions that are displayed are located 4/5ths of the way down from the position of the scroll thingy).

The smoke from the plane going down (in the Spit picture) is very nice: white coolant from near one engine close to the plane and also two different smokes. Notice that the 2 smokes are from different sources and consequently are depicted as separating in the turn... all that set against extremely realistic water flecked with white caps ---> SWEET!

Annnd (I just noticed) it would appear that the pilot is pulling some postive G in his turn as he is being push back in his seat! AMAZING!

Sorry folks, but I can't help myself from lapsing into fanboyism! That one single shot has so many "little details"... I'll have to look at the others with as much care in order to fully appreciate them...

Thank you Oleg! Beautiful work!

[holdenbj]

Just Brilliant -thanks Oleg and team :grin:

[Jaws2002]

Everything comes out just amazing. I love the progress we see from week to week.:grin:

Take your time guys, don't rush it. Do it right and make sure you implement some copy protection that guaraties you get paid for every copy.

[C_G]

Do it right and make sure you implement some copy protection that guaraties you get paid for every copy.

Are you casting the line or are you really that naïve?

[Hecke]

They will be paid for every copy. But not for all copycopys and that is also impossible, so please don't plague us with stupid DRM sh*t

[Sutts]

I've just noticed the different types and densities of smoke in the Spit shot. I'm a happy guy.:grin:

[C_G]

PLEASE LORD, do NOT let this devolve into a DRM thread!
I beseech you! Ee're only on page 6, it's too early to burden us with such a topic!

you faithful and humble servant,
C_G

Sutts! Gorgeous smoke ain't it?

[leggit]

PLEASE LORD, do NOT let this devolve into a DRM thread!


agreed

[GBrutus]

Great update! I really like the shots of the vehicles passing through the village and can't wait to cross the Channel on my first 'rhubarb'. The second shot of the Spitfire is my favourite, hats off the the modeller for getting the shape pretty damn spot on.

[Feuerfalke]

Well, it looks like the Stuka still has its large bomb, so that implies your factory was knocked out by 4 x 50kg bombs. Which is also good news that we can select which ones to drop :)

Superb pics though

What about unlimited ammo?

Or a wingman?

Of course, the most wanted solution always comes first ;)

[kristorf]

Some real 'meat' coming on these updates now, well done gents

[speculum jockey]

Are craters going to be 3D or just a texture?

If I drop a large bomb in the path of a ground vehicle, will it have to drive around the crater, or will it just go over top of it, like it wasn't even there?

[ATAG_Dutch]

Still would like to remind - that all is around WIP.

On the third ground shot, the windows of the second house look a little blurred.
Is that heat haze from the vehicle engine?
I know this is a flight sim but this shot really had me drooling.
It looks like the lane where me ma lives!:grin:

[zauii]

Brilliant, would love to see videos soon , pretty please ? :)

[The Kraken]

On the third ground shot, the windows of the second house look a little blurred.
Is that heat haze from the vehicle engine?
I know this is a flight sim but this shot really had me drooling.
It looks like the lane where me ma lives!:grin:

That's simply the absence of more advanced texture filtering (like trilinear or anisotropic). You can see the border to the next lower LOD on the first building already. Enabling this will also provide a major improvement to medium-distance building textures like with last week's London shot.

Agreed though that it's looking great :)

Thanks for the update Oleg!

[ATAG_Dutch]

That's simply the absence of more advanced texture filtering (like trilinear or anisotropic). You can see the border to the next lower LOD on the first building already. Enabling this will also provide a major improvement to medium-distance building textures like with last week's London shot.

Agreed though that it's looking great :)

Thanks for the update Oleg!

I see your point. The windows of the houses further down on the right have quite distinct framing though, do you know why this would be?
I'm not very good with the techy side!:)

[David603]

Are craters going to be 3D or just a texture?

If I drop a large bomb in the path of a ground vehicle, will it have to drive around the crater, or will it just go over top of it, like it wasn't even there?
What Oleg said before is craters will be 2D, but with an effect to make them look 3D, and vehicles and aircraft will interact with craters correctly.

[Hunden]

Great update love the second set of pics. How long before we get a video update?:grin:

[leggit]

Are craters going to be 3D or just a texture?

If I drop a large bomb in the path of a ground vehicle, will it have to drive around the crater, or will it just go over top of it, like it wasn't even there?

taking an educated guess i think they will use a displacement or bump map which effectively models them.

[philip.ed]

What a fantastic update! Everything looks soooo awesome. The grass and everything like that looks great, and to think this is WIP?! The ground vehicles lok smashing, and I never thought I'd find myself saying that a shadow looks out-of-this-world! :)

The only think that doesn't look up to current standards is the terrain from high altitude, but of course this is WIP, as Oleg stated. I can imagine that there is every possibility that even if it doesn't look as good as, say, WoP on release, this could soon change so it isn't something to worry about IMO.
I can't praise how this looks enough.

Oleg, will the smoke look smoother as it spreads? I only ask as there is a dinstinct difference between the thicker smoke and the same smoke after it has dissipated (if this is the right word to use). But it's only a minor thing on a really impressive update.

Photorealistic? We're almost there :D

[PeterPanPan]

Thanks so much for this update. Without doubt, the best set of screens ever - and I said that last week! Everything is looking stunning. Can't wait.

The pilot in the Spit (first set of images, 2nd thumbnail) looks like he's pinned into his seat by G forces - awesome.

PPanPan

[engadin]

Ooh, I like that interface a lot!

+1 here

Engadin

[Skoshi Tiger]

All I can say s that I've got screen shot 2 as my desktop picture.

Thanks for the update.

[Jimko]

Great Spitfire picture and update overall.

Thanks!

[Feuerfalke]

I wonder why nobody notes the 3 different smokes/leaks in the background of the Spitfire-Shot. Considering how many times this has been asked before...


Any hint about the pilot-figures in the QMB?

[Zorin]

I wonder why nobody notes the 3 different smokes/leaks in the background of the Spitfire-Shot. Considering how many times this has been asked before...


Any hint about the pilot-figures in the QMB?

1. there were several posts acknowledging that
2. Flyable and NonFlyable, perhaps?

[philip.ed]

I wonder why nobody notes the 3 different smokes/leaks in the background of the Spitfire-Shot. Considering how many times this has been asked before...


Any hint about the pilot-figures in the QMB?


I did notice it; hence me saying that the smoke looked awesome. But I didn't go into so much detail so I can see why you posted this ;)
The smoke really is looking a lot better. Does anyone have any pictures of fuel leaks? it's clear to see in the shot Oleg posted, but I wasn't aware the leaks had such a fine trail.

Regarding pilots, it must be a complicated process. The pilot models are quite complex, and to give a good representation a lot of kit would need to be modelled for both sides. Having said that, it would be extremely cool to be able to choose different outfits for the pilot. Oleg has a wealth of knowledge on the RAF side of this, so I can imagine that it is perfectly possible; whether in the release or post-release.

[Superluminal_8]

Quite a mischievous grin on that stuka. :)

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

I'm pretty sure the QMB two pilot symbol is for aircraft with dual controls, remember how the tigermoth was planned to be used as a trainer, with two players able to switch off the controls during flight? I think in fact the icon may be a pilot and an instructor.

[MD_Titus]

:drools:

superb. all looking fantastic, but i particularly like the "armoured bus" in the last shot.

i've seen an ad hoc tank at bovington that was made after dunkirk, basically a flatbed truck, reinforced with concrete and a bunker type thing on the back.

8 pages so far - much whining yet?
*goes to check*

[C_G]

Hadn't noticed the "smoke/dust drift" effect from the factory, I truly hope (and expect) that that is caused by the ground level wind direction and speed. Cooooooooool!

I am a bit surprised at how extensively the whole factory (and surrounding buildings) are damaged by 4X 50 kg bombs, but perhaps this stuka is part of a larger flight which dropped before it did.

Nice to see that the dev team has begun damage models for the building types...
I'm clearly going to have to start saving for a new rig!

[MD_Titus]

All I can say s that I've got screen shot 2 as my desktop picture.

Thanks for the update.
it may bump the "force-landed in cornfield spit" from mine.
Hadn't noticed the "smoke/dust drift" effect from the factory, I truly hope (and expect) that that is caused by the ground level wind direction and speed. Cooooooooool!

I am a bit surprised at how extensively the whole factory (and surrounding buildings) are damaged by 4X 50 kg bombs, but perhaps this stuka is part of a larger flight which dropped before it did.

Nice to see that the dev team has begun damage models for the building types...
I'm clearly going to have to start saving for a new rig!
sell a family member for spare parts, kidneys go for a good rate i hear.

[Jaguar]

I am enjoying all of the new updates for my future sim collection. Could someone post some screen shots of what it will be like to fight at night? Thank you again for another fine update.

[Hoverbug]

Did anyone notice that the Scammell Pioneer Recovery tractors had different ID plates? Neat detail.

[Rall]

I like the pic of the Stuka flying low over the trucks.

[Feuerfalke]

1. there were several posts acknowledging that
2. Flyable and NonFlyable, perhaps?

1. Well the complains are always louder than the praises.
2. That was my idea as well. AI vs Playable. That would also explain the uniform as a sign for the side the aircraft is normally playable with. Well, that's my interpretation ;)

[albx]

this baby is growing up very well... good work oleg & c.

[Sluggish Controls]

That Spit pilot is either pulling some serious Gs or he's been badly wounded. Am I the only one seeing a couple of hits on canopy side?

Slug

[Jumo211]

Wonderful update :)

Please , are there implemented again some of the aircraft damage smokes
in 2D instead of 3D which was also used in IL-2 ?
In that screenshot behind the Spit it looks like 3D smoke is blending in to
much longer 2D smoke .
Fuel white leak noodle stream looks definitely like 2D , I hope I am wrong .

Thank you so much for new update :grin:

[engadin]

That Spit pilot is either pulling some serious Gs or he's been badly wounded. Am I the only one seeing a couple of hits on canopy side?

Slug

You're right and the holes may be due to a gunner of the plane in flames in that screenshot, that BTW seems to be the engineless Do-17 that's in another one.

[MD_Titus]

spit haad little windows in sides of canopy iirc

[d165w3ll]

Oleg, I grew up in south-east Kent, and the last image looks so good - and what is more - familiar! Very good stuff!

[ECV56_Lancelot]

Well, as always the screenshots look better and better every week and i'm convences about BoB graphic long time ago, so i will talk and give some suggestions about the QMB only, and of course considering that is WIP.

Like:

1- Images of aircrafts, with what i beleive flyable aircraft have the human figures to the right bottom of the small image of the aircraft.

2- Fonts of time, weather and cloud altitude settings, even if they are not final.

3- You can save the quick mission for use later on. I assume the mission saved can also be played on multiplayer.

4- Preview images of the mission type on the left.

Dont like:

1- The overall interface, it looks too techie for a ww2 sim, loosing immersion. Probably if the background look more like a sheet of an old flight manual, or something like that, IMHO would look more immersive.
I'm not a graphic designer, just giving an opinion of something that i know is still WIP.

2- The fonts of the "revers" (i beleive that is the word, got it from a translator) at the bottom. Too modern for a ww2 sim. Again, i know its all WIP. :)

Great update, thanks! :)

[easytarget3]

spasiba,it is looking amazing!!!i cant wait....i will send my family oversea and play and play and play....:-)

[philip.ed]

Nice to see the summer colours coming through into the grass.
However, the base layer-texture-colour for the field textures is still too green, and I don't think it's of a high-enough resolution in comparison to, say, the plane textures. Even if the resolution is the same, I feel that the field-textures look too pixelated.

[Osprey]

A delightful update, much more promising than the last and as somebody already said, it has some real 'meat' to it.

Bf109 #11 approaching Kent from the South East is not going home :D

Guaranteed genuine article buyer here.

[BadAim]

Very nice update, I'm loving that QMB interface, the plane pictures in the selection screen are a fantastic Idea and will be a great help for the new guys (and us older noobs.....what the heck do they call the Avenger? atm?.....no, apb?.....er, oh hell)

The vehicles are definitely pushing FPS quality, and the landscape is getting there. I'm really hoping to be able to hop into an open car and drive around, if nothing else but for the novelty. (that little MG would be fun to bomb around the English towns in)

My first impression of the Stuka's shadow was that it is nearly as detailed as the IL2 Stuka!

[SlipBall]

Nice to see the summer colours coming through into the grass.
However, the base layer-texture-colour for the field textures is still too green, and I don't think it's of a high-enough resolution in comparison to, say, the plane textures. Even if the resolution is the same, I feel that the field-textures look too pixelated.


The hell with the grass! its good enough:grin:. I want to see what the beach looks like, since most of the time we will be approaching it from the sea. If it's green, there's gonna be trouble.:-P

Oh, and thanks for the up-date

[jamesdietz]

"Some day my Prince will come....sigh...but when???"

[Sturm_Williger]

What about unlimited ammo?

Or a wingman?

Of course, the most wanted solution always comes first ;)

Doh, unlimited ammo never occurred to me, guess it's been a while since I used that particular option...

[IceFire]

Thumbs up Oleg! Looking good!

[manojor]

OMG! quit teasing Oleg! I just cant wait for this game anymore! :'( :D

[philip.ed]

The hell with the grass! its good enough:grin:. I want to see what the beach looks like, since most of the time we will be approaching it from the sea. If it's green, there's gonna be trouble.:-P

Oh, and thanks for the up-date

Hmm, I think the palate that I was talking about is representative of the field textures. They don't match the current grass colour at the current state. I'm sure this'll be updated though at somepoint (with higher-resolution textures) ;)

[zakkandrachoff]

nice quick mission builder !:-P hope that will be dynamic aleatory mission, like are in ArmA2. Is calling "Spec op" and is amazing.
and too , for the full mission builder, easy script, or autocomplete scripts : (that is missing in ArmA 2)

i still want my map on cockpit:(
http://oregonkayaking.net/rivers/dean/pilot_map.jpg

the spitfire is perfect:cool:

[Romanator21]

Everything is perfect Oleg & Co, thanks so much! :grin:

I'm gonna party tonight!

2 weeks? :-P

[Flutter]

It took me several months to build all that factory buildings... and you destroy them with one single Stuka bomb ;)

Foo Bar:
do the buildings have specular and normal/bump maps as well as diffuse?
I am really waiting for Oleg to release pictures where the buildings look as good as everything else, and I suspect that using more than diffuse map will sort out the issue...

[Tempest123]

I don't usually comment on the updates, but this one looks great, some real progress and all the shots look like it'll be a hell of a sim.

[Mysticpuma]

Saw this:

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk71/Mysticpuma/bf_109.jpg

Cool

[Friendly_flyer]

2- The fonts of the "revers" (i beleive that is the word, got it from a translator) at the bottom. Too modern for a ww2 sim. Again, i know its all WIP. :)


Oleg wrote the font is not final, I am confident he and the team will come up with a more period typeface.

[Bloblast]

Saw this:

Cool

Uuh where ?
It's an E3 so can not be IL-2.

[ECV56_LeChuck]

Uuh where ?
It's an E3 so can not be IL-2.

It seems its BOP. Birds of Postprocessing.

[mazex]

It seems its BOP. Birds of Postprocessing.

You mean "birds of looking like other games released after 2006"? Sorry, but the emperors clothes are really quite thin even though the poly count of his crown is high... Yeah a bit drunk Friday night as it is here in the olde world ;)

[Splitter]

Oleg, thank you for the glimpse into the "bones" of the game. The most important picture posted, IMHO, is the QMB interface. The way it looks makes it apparent that a lot of thought has gone into the structure of the game and not just the graphics. VERY promising.

Of course, the other pics are outstanding too. Can't wait!

Splitter

[gflinch]

Does anyone know if the buildings will have multiple damage models. I remember waaaay back in the early dev screens, there was a screen of a building with 3 different levels of damage w/debris around it as it fell.

This was not an animation but different models. I would want to imagine the CPU power you would need to animate falling buildings.

Greg

[janpitor]

The interface looks too modern...it is not immersive this way. I´d try something like a map background or rof style hangar or even some plain light brown colour.

Else wery nice update

[Blakduk]

Too many brilliant elements in each picture to comment on them all- the smoke details in the 2nd shot are worth a whole thread on their own!
The shadow of the stuka is inspiring, i can easily see the shadow of the crew! The potential of this game engine to create movies is almost overwhelming.
The only thing missing is people (except the pilots)- the shots look a little sterile without them.
Will the vehicles have soldiers/crew in them, or will the restrictions on 'gore' mean it will be too risky for game classification?

[fireflyerz]

AWESOME...Storm of war finally looks like storm of war....thankyou:grin:

Jafa

[Avimimus]

Variable grass - is something much better than expected.

Now all that we need is transparency towards the tips of the trees (for the medium/lower LoDs) and the engine will be pretty much perfect.

Nice surprises.

The interface is also stunning (but will it be able to match 4.10 for functionality? Do we care if it is pretty enough? I'm just happy)

[LukeFF]

Will the vehicles have soldiers/crew in them, or will the restrictions on 'gore' mean it will be too risky for game classification?

Doesn't keep other games like DCS: BS from having crewmen show in vehicles.

[13th Hsqn Protos]

Still would like to remind - that all is around WIP.


Better and better. Your work on color palette is starting to show. Keep with it.

Nice to see a UI shot. Some multiplay info would be good at this point.

[Skoshi Tiger]

One question! In the screen shots showing the water we see many whitecaps on the waves. Is this indicative of wind speed/direction?


I spend more than the time than many ditching and crash landing :) so visual indicators would be of benifit.

Cheers!

[He111]

Absolutely Fantastic!

Cannot wait!

Just think, in the future, games like this will be blended with Movies so we can make and watch our own high quality animated WWII air battle films! .. but by that time none of the younger generation will know what WWII was! .. is that World Warcraft 2 ?????? :(

.

[Hunden]

spasiba,it is looking amazing!!!i cant wait....i will send my family oversea and play and play and play....:-)

LMAO:grin:

[reggiane]

Impressive, a mayor improvement on good old IL2.
Im sure people who are playing old IL2 will be very impressed.
However I can only give real opinion when the game is on my harddrive ready to be played.
Now the pics show great improvent not jawdropping (ground)graphics like farcry2 or crysis2 or whatever but for a flightsim very good.
Can't wait for the games released after BOB , i'm sure Oleg won't settle down and retire after finishing BOB.
I know this can become much much better in future game releases.
but please no console only games, pc rules always.

[Friendly_flyer]

Oleg, thank you for the glimpse into the "bones" of the game. The most important picture posted, IMHO, is the QMB interface.


The shot gives us the first glimpse of SoW the game, not just SoW the pretty pictures! I am very exited, this is going to be a blast!

[Rodolphe]

...



And what is that last car in the line? Armoured buss?

Viking


with the loss of 95% of its heavy equipment in France the British army converted a lot of civilian vehicles into armoured cars... 1 lorry even had a concrete bunker built on it.


It's one of those 'Iron Building' :grin: on an AEC London bus Chassis (LPTB)

http://users.teledisnet.be/web/mfe39146/Iron2.jpg
http://users.teledisnet.be/web/mfe39146/Iron.jpg



...

[Strelok16]

I usually don't comment on the weekly updates, (or anything else really, as evidenced by my postcount...) because by the time I usually get to the threads, everything I was thinking has been posted already.

But this time I felt I had to, because this has to be one of the best updates yet, if not the best. The planes and vehicles look insanely nice as usual, but this time the colors look really squared away as well. The graphics would get no complaints from me if the game was released with the graphics as they are in this update.

Seeing the menu shot was really encouraging as well, even with all those newfangled fonts :-P I fully trust you guys to come up with something more period appropriate by release time :grin:

[mcmatt]

Beautiful. I'm just afraid what CPU & graphic would be necessary to run it...

[BG-09]

Strange - the falling Ju-88 has lost his right engine - but the falling engine have NO propeler blades at all!!!

Some tiny features, which will give more imersion - what about AI flies flying in to the cockpit, and perching on to the front glass? ...Or some buterflys flyng over the flight field, some flowers around too.

An AI fly is easy - it have the same intelect of Il2 AI drone. Just copy and paste it.
Oleg, show us some bomb models, and explosion models...
And...may be it is not too late for third buch of photos!!! Something as "Saturday update". :)

~Cheers!

[LukeFF]

Some tiny features, which will give more imersion - what about AI flies flying in to the cockpit, and perching on to the front glass? ...Or some buterflys flyng over the flight field, some flowers around too.

Feature Creep.

[McHilt]

The interface looks too modern...it is not immersive this way. I´d try something like a map background or rof style hangar or even some plain light brown colour.

Else wery nice update

Interface looks fine to me, love it...
A computerscreen itself is also not immersive the way it looks...
The way the interface looks now is no nonsense; just love it!
Maybe they could make it customizable as for the plain color but if it comes
with black only I'm a happy guy... ;)

THX Oleg and crew for the update

[janpitor]

The possibility for customization like in win 7 is a good point. I somehow need to feel the history from the sim.

[Richie]

Stunning Oleg! I really like the selection screen, looking forward to play with this!

One thing:

The British squadron codes on BoB era fighters was grey rather than white. The font looks spot on though, and the planes and ground objects are gorgeous!

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a37/Friendly_flyer/Skinning/Comparison-2.jpg

Found a nice colour pic


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/RedToo/Spit-Colour.jpg

[pupaxx]

I'm very curious on how immersive would be an high altitude combat in SOW.
In Il2 series I found it very poor rendered; mostly due to wide FOW and the out scale maps (not 1:1) that rendered a too much aberrated horizon line.
Flight models it selves IMAHO are irrealistic, impossible to conduct an high speed combats with no altitude loss.
Many sources I read clearly show that during BoB interception and subsequents engagements were conducted at 20000ft 30000ft or above.
Many operational reports say things like: blue section detached from top cover formation to attack a two-ship formation of Ju88 2000ft below, after the attack was conducted they rapidly rejoined the main formation.
In Il2 when you loose your altitude, you are definitely isolated from your original package. At High altitude in Il2 seems to float in a too much instable atmosphere. In real WWII combat seems quite easy to perform a full-throttle climb and gain 2000 or 3000 ft.
I hope SOW would reproduce honestly this situations.
....Sorry for The worst english I' m capable to write ;)
Cheers

[philip.ed]

Strange - the falling Ju-88 has lost his right engine - but the falling engine have NO propeler blades at all!!!

Some tiny features, which will give more imersion - what about AI flies flying in to the cockpit, and perching on to the front glass? ...Or some buterflys flyng over the flight field, some flowers around too.

An AI fly is easy - it have the same intelect of Il2 AI drone. Just copy and paste it.
Oleg, show us some bomb models, and explosion models...
And...may be it is not too late for third buch of photos!!! Something as "Saturday update". :)

~Cheers!


I think you'll find it's a dornier...

[tourmaline]

Though not as much protection that would ruin the gameplay!!!

Excellent updates this week.
Great work Oleg and team!


Everything comes out just amazing. I love the progress we see from week to week.:grin:

Take your time guys, don't rush it. Do it right and make sure you implement some copy protection that guaraties you get paid for every copy.

[kendo65]

Reading some comments about the QMB interface (ie not immersive enough, etc, no period fonts) I think some people may be mistakenly viewing it as the main intro to missions.

It isn't - it's the rough and ready 'throw a quickie together and don't worry about the fine-tuning' building tool for missions.

For comparison see below the (4.10 updated) version from il2:

From Oleg's first post some good improvements over (original) il2:

- ability to import new QMB missions from the FMB
- increased number of flights available (il2 was limited to 4 each side)

[kristorf]

Stunning Oleg! I really like the selection screen, looking forward to play with this!

One thing:

The British squadron codes on BoB era fighters was grey rather than white. The font looks spot on though, and the planes and ground objects are gorgeous!

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a37/Friendly_flyer/Skinning/Comparison-2.jpg

Or sky

[philip.ed]

Oleg, I have been reseaching the flight-kit again, and I have been speeking with people who have had the pleasure of getting into the spitfire'c cokpit in flying gear, and each has said that it is is impossible for the pilot to wear an Irvin flying jacket. The cramped cockpit would make it impossible for the pilot to get the right-head movement which would be needed in combat.
I hope that this is useful information for you to use. A Hurricane pilot had the luxury of being able to wear an Irvin in the pit, but I would imagine this unlikely during the hot summer.
;) (also, if the pilot is fitting in the spit perfectly with the Irvin on, does this mean the pilot model is off? This isn't intended for another discussion on pilot size, but more a follow up question on whether layer clothing is modelled. We can see from one video that the parachute is a seperate model)

:cool:

[Richie]

Trying to see if I figured out how in the heck how to use this attachment thing. If it's a thumbnail click and you'll see nice gray letters on that Spitfire. How do you keep the pic full size? I never have been able to figure this thing out. Just stupid I guess :(

[major_setback]

Trying to see if I figured out how in the heck how to use this attachment thing. If it's a thumbnail click and you'll see nice gray letters on that Spitfire. How do you keep the pic full size? I never have been able to figure this thing out. Just stupid I guess :(

To do that you write:

pictures adress

[major_setback]

For comparisson/reference.
Dover and France looking South:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3644/3311516478_df3d148c0e_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3525/3310685987_8ed52e086c_o.jpg

Unsure of location here:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2606/3687356619_9a77426d43.jpg?v=0

Larger:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2606/3687356619_85a79fba6d_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3588/3688160788_b6b1cbd57c_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2650/3687356191_219b37b110_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2037/2503409263_8f12e92cdf.jpg?v=0

[Ploughman]

Like the quick-fly GUI, fresh and punchy, but not particularily of the era but who knows if the campaign interface is a more tailored experience? Would be good to have crew for the ground vehicles, (after all the aircraft have crew).

That Spit's my desktop for the week, looks like Biggles copped a packet.

I'm looking forward to seeing some more of the pyrotechnics, explosions, that sort of thing, how or if smoke columns interact with the environment, wind at differrent levels etc.

Smashing update, keep 'em coming.

[GBrutus]

Oleg, I have been reseaching the flight-kit again, and I have been speeking with people who have had the pleasure of getting into the spitfire'c cokpit in flying gear, and each has said that it is is impossible for the pilot to wear an Irvin flying jacket. The cramped cockpit would make it impossible for the pilot to get the right-head movement which would be needed in combat.
I hope that this is useful information for you to use. A Hurricane pilot had the luxury of being able to wear an Irvin in the pit, but I would imagine this unlikely during the hot summer.
;) (also, if the pilot is fitting in the spit perfectly with the Irvin on, does this mean the pilot model is off? This isn't intended for another discussion on pilot size, but more a follow up question on whether layer clothing is modelled. We can see from one video that the parachute is a seperate model)

:cool:

It would have been a tight fit but it was more likely down to individual pilots and how comfortable they were wearing it. It certainly wasn't impossible and there are plenty of photos of Spitfire pilots wearing Irvin jackets. I've read a few pilot accounts of how cold they were at 30,000ft even with the jacket on (unless I imagined them). Anyway, I don't think it's correct to say impossible, rather it was just difficult.

[Skoshi Tiger]

I hope that this is useful information for you to use. A Hurricane pilot had the luxury of being able to wear an Irvin in the pit, but I would imagine this unlikely during the hot summer.


The average enviromental lapse rate is about 2 Degrees C per 1000 feet. A nice summers day of lets say 30C at ground level turns into -10C at 20,000 feet.

I think I'ld want a Irvin jacket if I was on Patrol.

Cheers!

[philip.ed]

It would have been a tight fit but it was more likely down to individual pilots and how comfortable they were wearing it. It certainly wasn't impossible and there are plenty of photos of Spitfire pilots wearing Irvin jackets. I've read a few pilot accounts of how cold they were at 30,000ft even with the jacket on (unless I imagined them). Anyway, I don't think it's correct to say impossible, rather it was just difficult.


Aye, but in a combat situation it was a tough job. As you though, size can make a difference, but it is unlikely on most pilots. The colar of the Irvin is so large that it makes head movement really quite difficult. Having said that, I have seen a few pictures as you say of pilots wearing them in spits, but these may be staged...

[philip.ed]

The average enviromental lapse rate is about 2 Degrees C per 1000 feet. A nice summers day of lets say 30C at ground level turns into -10C at 20,000 feet.

I think I'ld want a Irvin jacket if I was on Patrol.

Cheers!

:D I know, hence the reason many favoured the frock (or in terms of the BoB film, a sweater) It would have been bloody hot in getting into the spit in an Irvin during the battle, and even though it would get bloody cold upstairs many still didn't wear the Irvin. It really restricted movment; wear one and this is clear. It's uncomfortable in a seating position, and the collar is a bitch.
It's a great winter jacket, and great if worn in a bomber, but for a fighter pilot it's an annoyance.
Winter was a period when many RAF pilots wore them, but even then they preferred to layer up...

[Avionsdeguerre]

Je veux jouer !
miam QMB : ) C'est pour Octobre ?
ps : Excellent travail !

[MD_Titus]

The possibility for customization like in win 7 is a good point. I somehow need to feel the history from the sim.
and you won't get them from tearing around the skies in a 1940 plane?
:D I know, hence the reason many favoured the frock (or in terms of the BoB film, a sweater) It would have been bloody hot in getting into the spit in an Irvin during the battle, and even though it would get bloody cold upstairs many still didn't wear the Irvin. It really restricted movment; wear one and this is clear. It's uncomfortable in a seating position, and the collar is a bitch.
It's a great winter jacket, and great if worn in a bomber, but for a fighter pilot it's an annoyance.
Winter was a period when many RAF pilots wore them, but even then they preferred to layer up...

did all irvins have the same collars?

[Blackdog_kt]

I'm very curious on how immersive would be an high altitude combat in SOW.
In Il2 series I found it very poor rendered; mostly due to wide FOW and the out scale maps (not 1:1) that rendered a too much aberrated horizon line.
Flight models it selves IMAHO are irrealistic, impossible to conduct an high speed combats with no altitude loss.
Many sources I read clearly show that during BoB interception and subsequents engagements were conducted at 20000ft 30000ft or above.
Many operational reports say things like: blue section detached from top cover formation to attack a two-ship formation of Ju88 2000ft below, after the attack was conducted they rapidly rejoined the main formation.
In Il2 when you loose your altitude, you are definitely isolated from your original package. At High altitude in Il2 seems to float in a too much instable atmosphere. In real WWII combat seems quite easy to perform a full-throttle climb and gain 2000 or 3000 ft.
I hope SOW would reproduce honestly this situations.
....Sorry for The worst english I' m capable to write ;)
Cheers

I think it's because the real pilots did just what you say....dive, attack and climb back up. In the example you provide, they probably didn't stick around maneuvering and shooting until the 88s were in flames, but maybe executed a single boom and zoom attack on them. If you fly that way, it's easy in IL2 to regain lost altitude as well because you don't burn your energy in a series of maneuvers. I think gaining altitude at high altitudes is hard in real life too. The thin air doesn't only affect the wing's capacity to create lift, it also affects the engine's capability to produce full horsepower. This is modelled in IL2 as well, the higher you climb you can watch your manifold pressure drop for the same throttle setting.

As for the update itself, i can't comment on much that hasn't been already said. We are at a point where i think to myself "this is the best update thus far" and every subsequent Friday i think "after all, this week's update is even better than last week's". The pace of progress is not only evident, it seems to me like it has built up enough steam to come at a steady and fast pace. Friday after Friday, i get the idea we're getting closer to release. My guess is that unless something extraordinary happens, we'll be flying in SoW sometime until Christmas.

Keep up the good work dev team. You've got a buyer here and i'm going to use SoW to drag some of my buddies into flight-sims as well and help sell more copies, thanks to the dual-control Tiger Moth. I can't wait to "train" these guys, letting them fly the Moth and getting us into trouble that i will have to get us out of, a whole new kind of challenge :grin:

[choctaw111]

Looking better than I could have imagined and I've imagined quite a bit :)

[philip.ed]

did all irvins have the same collars?

it's a difficult question to answer. Generally speaking, the size was relatively the same but I know for certain that the Irvin-Air-Chute version had a squared collar and the Wareings one, for example, a rounded collar. Generally though the difference is minor, and the relative size is exactly the same.

In Piece of Cake, Robinson talks of the pilots cutting off their Irvin's collars. I do not know if this was official practice or not, but it's an interesting theory.
It was a cumbersome Jacket, and I would not have enjoyed wearing it in a confined space.
However, I have never expereinced the cold at altitude so I am not the best to judge. I can say though that a layer or thermals, pyjamas, Shirt, Frock, Service Dress and Mae West would have helped to combat the cold, although an Irvin would have done a better job. Another issue is that depending on the size of Mae West, it can be a tight fit fitting it over the Irvin. I also fail to mention that Prestige Suit or a Sidcot Suit would have done an OK job when worn over the aforementioned too, but a lot of pilots didn't favour the latter suit, with the former being more the choice of pilots from Auxillary/University Air Squadrons.

At the end of the day it's all down to personal choice and comfort with the ultimate deciding factor being how well a pilot will operate in a combat situation. Alas, the latter reason proved to be many pilots downfall in the Battle when they refused to wear gauntlets or anything similar. Alternatively, I can imagine it can work the other way, with a chafed neck being the difference sometimes between life and death; hence a silk scarf.

[Fergal69]

the aircraft in the selection panel - are those flyable aircraft or al?

[smink1701]

Looks great. The Spit pilot looks like he might be dead or wounded.

[meplay]

At the end of the day it's all down to personal choice

You can probably take it off the the pilot skin area maybe:)

[philip.ed]

You can probably take it off the the pilot skin area maybe:)

It would be a cool feature. Maybe, instead of having multiple skins, we could have the ability to add items/layers of flight-clothing. Something similar to what you can do in Rainbow-6.
On the other-hand, it's a flight-sim so this is quite a small aspect of it... ;)

Anyway, post-release all this stuff could be possible :cool:

[Friendly_flyer]

Found a nice colour pic


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/RedToo/Spit-Colour.jpg

Ooooo, nice! Thanks!

[Richie]

You're welcome Friendly.

[Richie]

The interface looks too modern...it is not immersive this way. I´d try something like a map background or rof style hangar or even some plain light brown colour.

Else wery nice update

People will be astounded especially Tree but I have to agree and complain for the first time...See I'm not a butt kisser I've just liked everything so far ;)

[philip.ed]

I could live with that type of interface. It looks like they've put a lot of work into it.
But I agree it could look more 'period'. It can all be changed post-release though :D It looks quite polished as it is considering this is early BETA.

[peterwoods@supanet.com]

For those unfamiliar with the Irvin Suit here is an advertisment from the 5 January 1939 issue of Flight Magazine.

http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu181/2_Puff_Pete/Miscellaneous/Irvinsuit1939.jpg

[philip.ed]

Very interesting :D many thanks for that ;)

[BG-09]

I can feel it!!! I can feel it in the air! After all these YEARS!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HLvz2c8SnQ

THE FIRST FLIGHT IS COMING SOON!
Enjoy it!

Oleg, you are the man with the gun in to the air - shoot only when you are READY!

~Cheers!

[vosk]

Oleg, you are the man with the gun in to the air - shoot only when you are READY!

~Cheers!
very good words!
Yes! Shoot only when you are READY!
Мы будем ждать столько, сколько потребуется!

[Richie]

I've done 3 so for. The first is not so good.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzFnShk2OgI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRzRLwSbpQ4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scZ_1-lhsIE

[Richie]

Actually the first 2 stink lol. You tend to get lazy in editing when putting the movie together making screens too long.

[dflion]

Thanks Oleg,

The QMB WIP interface looks very good. I like the abiliity to import an FMB mission into the QMB and the the increase of flights from four. (There will need to be a limit?)

I personally like using the QMB for testing aircraft through their flight envelope, honing my dogfighting skills and checking out map ground details. By easily importing an FMB mission, you will have a much bigger scenario to draw from. For newbies it is a great introduction to the simulation.

I would be very interested in seeing some more detail of the FMB, if you can release them?

All other pics looked great, particularly liked the high level shot of Kent and the Cliffs of Dover and the grass colours.

Keep up the good work.

DFLion

[tityus]

The visual quality of those pics are much better than what I expected... no doubt.

Every time I follow a thread here, I'm reassured that guys posting are so far ahead of me, regarding their ability to discuss details of WWII period and related knowledge, that I often refrain from posting - as I would hardly add something new - I keep merely reading.

However, as I'm not able to tell what type of jacket pilots used or what shade of plane markings were current, I tend to focus on what I easily notice: the simulation aspect.

The simulation aspect of the flight simulator genre is what really attracts me and some that I fly with.

I have some questions in the line of:

- will ALL gauges work? As in, when a flag of a hit box is set and damage occurs, is it readable in the gauges.

- will one be able to interface with 3rd party peripherals/instruments, so cockpit builders can fly their creations online (sort of a devicelink online)?

- could system failures be scripted in the mission, so more interesting missions can be written?

- will it have a training mode where student and instructor can watch the same, online, and knowledge be transmitted more efficiently? Share control when needed.

and many, many more...

For those I can't find an answer around.

I better stop because the idea is not to create noise in the thread, but, just in case developers have some answers for the anxious simmer out there, I've wrote...

té mais
tityus

[heckbomber]

i really hope the tanks arn't going to turn into High caliber AA batteries again and shoot down planes, seriously how many planes were shoot down by tanks main cannon, probably not more than 3 and even that i find hard to believe, but in il2 its almost one every other mission

[IceFire]

i really hope the tanks arn't going to turn into High caliber AA batteries again and shoot down planes, seriously how many planes were shoot down by tanks main cannon, probably not more than 3 and even that i find hard to believe, but in il2 its almost one every other mission

Back in the old IL-2 days yes that was a problem. Tank gunners were put on a special diet and were consequently able to pick off maneuvering fighters at 5 km (maybe not that bad :)). Now you can fly infront of a entire column of tanks and they can't hit you. Some tanks don't even bother tracking aircraft.

Which tanks are you going up against? Half tracks with 20mm or 37mm flak batteries are MEANT to shoot you down for instance :)

[Acid]

I like the interface, i hope the pilot career part of it has a detailed layout aswell, detailed with proper Stat tracking on all types planes shotdown, ground targets destroyed, medals aquired, and so forth..:)

[McHilt]

Found a nice colour pic


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/RedToo/Spit-Colour.jpg

Great! saved that photo right to my own collection, THX

Oh btw, changed the [url] thingies to [img] to show the pic...:mrgreen:

[AdMan]

Bushes close to buildings like in this screen help a lot from having them look like lego.
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/attachment.php?attachmentid=3309&d=1284729602
The houses feel like they are a part of the map instead of just sitting on top of it. I'm wondering how far away until grass blades appear, from far away the terrain still looks flat in these WIP screens, yet close-up shots come alive with the various grasses and trees



early stages of interface looks great

[=69.GIAP=TOOZ]

The aircraft in pic #3 - is that a Ju-86 or a Dornier?

[Daniël]

The aircraft in pic #3 - is that a Ju-86 or a Dornier?

Dornier Do 17 Z, I think.

[Zappatime]

In the LIFE magazine shot of the Spit and crew, the grass looks very dry, almost tinder box dry I'd say.

[airmalik]

Great updated! Nice to see all the improvements from week to week.

Lots of details to notice in pics 2 and 3.

- different types of smoke/vapour trails
- reasonably sized fire
- progressive damage. Looks like the bomber had a fuel leak which lead to the fire on the port engine. The engine+mount shook itself loose off the wing causing the plane to dive to the left due to he asymmetric thrust. Close to the sea the right engine seems to have started leaking coolant.
- the spitfire seems to have take a few hits and the pilot looks like he's being pushed down by the g-forces.
- the bullet holes in the canopy and the posture of the pilot suggest the Spitfire will be joining the Dornier in the drink before long

A question about the Spitfire. Were the markings always aligned with the roundel? In this screenshot the A is not inline with the rest of the markings.

Nice to see a non fiery dust explosion in the fourth shot.

Beautiful lighting on the 109 in the fifth shot. Nice to see the cliffs visible from such a distance. The trees in this pic don't blend well with the ground and I think in motion, we'll see a moving ring of vegetation at the limits of the draw distance. Based on the recent terrain improvement I'm sure it'll be addressed.

Blades of grass on what appears to be a paved road is a bit odd. Looks like someone mowed the grass and blew it on to the road.

Strange thing about the column of vehicles. It appears it's the same column in all the pictures but in some pics, the white car (MG?) has been replaced by a tank.

One of the things that really struck me in this update is the correct sense of scale and altitude. This is going to be a tremendous sim! Can't wait to fly it.

[BG-09]

At the time - August 1940, in which the Battle of Britain was held, the grass at the airfields have to be rather yellow than bright green!! Oleg, please mix the grass - yellow + green leaves - this will fix the things easily!

[MD_Titus]

if the grass is dried, then all the grass is dried. wouldn't be a mix of dried and green.

however, whilst it would be nice to have different shades depending on season/month/preceeding mission's weather conditions, it's hardly essential.

[kimosabi]

You're nagging about dried grass? LOL

Thanks for the update devs!

[philip.ed]

It makes a huge difference; Britain wasn't saturated during the summer, yet from the base-colour on the field textures that is the impression given at the moment.
If you're aiming for a BoB simulator, it's such an easy colour tweak to make that adds so much more to the immersion :-P

[BG-09]

if the grass is dried, then all the grass is dried. wouldn't be a mix of dried and green.

however, whilst it would be nice to have different shades depending on season/month/preceeding mission's weather conditions, it's hardly essential.

Yep! It is easy - add some yellow and it is ready! I see a lot of SPRING colors in SoW, rather the proper LATE SUMMER to AUTUMN colors of the plants grwing in to the sim.

[BG-09]

It makes a huge difference; Britain wasn't saturated during the summer, yet from the base-colour on the field textures that is the impression given at the moment.
If you're aiming for a BoB simulator, it's such an easy colour tweak to make that adds so much more to the immersion :-P

It looks as freak, but it is important feature - seasonality of the environment. This is definitely AUTUMN grass! Not SPRING, EVEN SUMMER grass! :|

[McHilt]

It looks as freak, but it is important feature - seasonality of the environment.


:mrgreen:, we have yet found another issue we can argue about: the color of grass... ;) ok, but eh, I totally agree here; season depending colors DO add to the immersion, most definitely.

[pupaxx]

ok maybe we have become too demanding, due the quality of Friday updates.
Maybe to be so faultfinding about the 'color of grass' is an exageration...but
one of the reason why (for me) Il2 has lost its charm is the lack of evocative power, the landscape is no more immersive, or involving.
You fly ETO or PTO mission and it's all the same.... New Guinea=Kent=Rhur valley=Kursk and so on. Grass colour for sure concurs in those differences. I can not even imagine how hard is recreate such differences in a video game. I'm sure OM is well considering to achive such results.
In this regard I hope SOW will be implemented with adeguate comms menu and in flight voices. I like too much in games voices and comms in Shockwaves BoBII, doesn't you? They well focused on details like English slang and typical Brit accent. I'm not anglophone but spoken English is a must.
Cheers

[RedToo]

Hi All,

For information the Spit LIFE pic in this thread looks like one that I posted over at UBI and SiMHQ in a couple of threads. I have tweaked it in Photoshop. To the best of my knowledge the original looks like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/RedToo/2c4034e8f6abbfa8_large.jpg

As you can see though the grass is still more yellow than green.

RedToo.

[Blackdog_kt]

The visual quality of those pics are much better than what I expected... no doubt.

Every time I follow a thread here, I'm reassured that guys posting are so far ahead of me, regarding their ability to discuss details of WWII period and related knowledge, that I often refrain from posting - as I would hardly add something new - I keep merely reading.

However, as I'm not able to tell what type of jacket pilots used or what shade of plane markings were current, I tend to focus on what I easily notice: the simulation aspect.

The simulation aspect of the flight simulator genre is what really attracts me and some that I fly with.

I have some questions in the line of:

- will ALL gauges work? As in, when a flag of a hit box is set and damage occurs, is it readable in the gauges.

- will one be able to interface with 3rd party peripherals/instruments, so cockpit builders can fly their creations online (sort of a devicelink online)?

- could system failures be scripted in the mission, so more interesting missions can be written?

- will it have a training mode where student and instructor can watch the same, online, and knowledge be transmitted more efficiently? Share control when needed.

and many, many more...

For those I can't find an answer around.

I better stop because the idea is not to create noise in the thread, but, just in case developers have some answers for the anxious simmer out there, I've wrote...

té mais
tityus

Take this with a grain of salt, as i'm just going by memory here. Some of what i say might be inaccurate or unconfirmed and some is just conjecture based on putting together different things we've been told at various points in the development of the sim. In short, i just put 2 and 2 together and see what is a reasonable conclusion, but this is by no means official data. Here goes.

I don't know about the gauges, but i guess that most of them will work correctly. As for the gauges registering damage and helping you judge the situation of your aircraft (because that's what gauges are for in reality), i think this is a part of the new damage model. So for example, if your oil lines are hit your oil pressure gauges will probably start dropping.

Devicelink improvements have been talked about by the developer team, so i guess that what you say is going to be possible.

As for scripted failures now. There was talk about a difficulty setting for single player/offline flying that will present random failures depending on how you use your aircraft in the campaign, but i don't know if it's confirmed or any other details. As for scripted events, this falls under the use of triggers in the mission builder and i guess that since IL2 is getting triggers in the FMB by team daidalos, it's a safe bet to assume that SoW will feature triggers as well. So, it looks like it's going to be possible to have scripted failures.

Finally, this is the only part that i can safely say has been more or less confirmed. We will be getting a two-seater Tiger Moth and we'll be able to use it to train other people online. I think this is also possible for other multi-crewed aircraft, so for example some people could fly as gunners in a bomber.

[McHilt]

Hi All,

For information the Spit LIFE pic in this thread looks like one that I posted over at UBI and SiMHQ in a couple of threads. I have tweaked it in Photoshop. To the best of my knowledge the original looks like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/RedToo/2c4034e8f6abbfa8_large.jpg

As you can see though the grass is still more yellow than green.

RedToo.

I like the low saturated colors, makes it more dramatic. Captures a WWII mood perfectly if you ask me.
If there's anything adding to a gloomy atmosphere, it's... gloomy colors, somewhat greyish like in this picture.
Personally if I had anything to say about it... I'd rather keep them under-saturated instead of too vivid.

(an OT example of perfect mood is RTCW, which had a very grey colorpalette combined with great sounds and
stunning in-game music, which is the reason I still love that game)

Great picture that captures drama very well.
I just noticed that at least 5 guys are servicing that spit...

[The Kraken]

I like the low saturated colors, makes it more dramatic. Captures a WWII mood perfectly if you ask me.
If there's anything adding to a gloomy atmosphere, it's... gloomy colors, somewhat greyish like in this picture.
Personally if I had anything to say about it... I'd rather keep them under-saturated instead of too vivid.

I'd rather keep them just right ;) This undersaturated appearance we are used to associating with WW2 colour images is not how the world looked like back then (just like WW1 wasn't black & white and had people moving at twice the speed). It's okay as an artistic means in certain movies and games, but for a simulation I find it a bad approach.

Not that the grass shouldn't still look dry and barren if that's how it was back in 1940.

[McHilt]

I know Kraken, I know man, but... just slightly then, just a pinch you know, to compensate for the modern technology we play it on. :mrgreen:

[Friendly_flyer]

A question about the Spitfire. Were the markings always aligned with the roundel? In this screenshot the A is not inline with the rest of the markings.


In real life, the size of letters, their placement, colour and even font varied between RAF squadrons. The type of lettering with lowered letters toward the front is a style found in a few Spitfire squadrons.

[philip.ed]

I have known about this FSX addon for a while now, and apparently it's awesome ( I can't comment first hand though )
It's called Real-Environment-Xtreme (REX) and it looks quite amazing. Just look at those clouds :o

http://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/

Take a look chaps. With SoW apparently third party friendly, something like this could be a future possibilty (unless the team make the most jaw-dropping clouds ever...)
I mean, with SoW's particle physics, working in collaboration with a company like this could produce great results (although maybe not free results...)

[McHilt]

Yeah, these clouds are absolutely crazy cool, previous products also had similar features... really cool! Been playing FSX for a while but never had that stuff due to lack of money...:(

[philip.ed]

I know, it's not the type of thing that I'd have invested in as well, but if something like this could be used for SoW I'd probably spend the money...

[McHilt]

:-) Me too if money permits that kind of deal

[Hecke]

Why does the water not show any effect to the crashing plane.
There should be circled waves going away from the entrance of the plane in the water.


And the trees in the second part of pictures just look very very bad.

[orkan]

Why does the water not show any effect to the crashing plane.
There should be circled waves going away from the entrance of the plane in the water.


And the trees in the second part of pictures just look very very bad.


Plane has not yet crashed.

[Richie]

Take this with a grain of salt, as i'm just going by memory here. Some of what i say might be inaccurate or unconfirmed and some is just conjecture based on putting together different things we've been told at various points in the development of the sim. In short, i just put 2 and 2 together and see what is a reasonable conclusion, but this is by no means official data. Here goes.

I don't know about the gauges, but i guess that most of them will work correctly. As for the gauges registering damage and helping you judge the situation of your aircraft (because that's what gauges are for in reality), i think this is a part of the new damage model. So for example, if your oil lines are hit your oil pressure gauges will probably start dropping.

Devicelink improvements have been talked about by the developer team, so i guess that what you say is going to be possible.

As for scripted failures now. There was talk about a difficulty setting for single


player/offline flying that will present random failures depending on how you use your aircraft in the campaign, but i don't know if it's confirmed or any other details. As for scripted events, this falls under the use of triggers in the mission builder and i guess that since IL2 is getting triggers in the FMB by team daidalos, it's a safe bet to assume that SoW will feature triggers as well. So, it looks like it's going to be possible to have scripted failures.

Finally, this is the only part that i can safely say has been more or less confirmed. We will be getting a two-seater Tiger Moth and we'll be able to use it to train other people online. I think this is also possible for other multi-crewed aircraft, so for example some people could fly as gunners in a bomber.


In the video you can see the gauges at work..just to get a visual


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQbCIT-aMnY

[major_setback]

A question to Oleg and dev' team:

Will there be special small maps for the quick missions as in Il2 (and FB), or will quick missions take place on the full sized map?

In FB we were limited to a few small maps when buiding quick missions. Just wondering.

[Blackdog_kt]

In the video you can see the gauges at work..just to get a visual


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQbCIT-aMnY

I'm familiar with that one, in fact thank you for bringing it up as i tend to re-watch it from time to time :grin:

I think when people ask about gauges, they probably mean the more obscure ones. The main gauges worked in IL2 as well, so i think that the question mainly concerns things like ammeters and not RPM or manifold pressure gauges. To be honest i'm very interested to see how far they go with that. Since we've been told that all sorts of things will be modelled individually inside each aircraft and possibly have their own DM, we are going to need working gauges for the respective systems to see if and when something goes wrong.

For example, a malfunctioning electricity system might take out the gun heaters, resulting in guns jamming at high altitude, etc. Actually i'm more excited with the possibility of discovering new ways to screw up and die online than any other aspect of the sim :grin:




I have known about this FSX addon for a while now, and apparently it's awesome ( I can't comment first hand though )
It's called Real-Environment-Xtreme (REX) and it looks quite amazing. Just look at those clouds :o

http://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/

Take a look chaps. With SoW apparently third party friendly, something like this could be a future possibilty (unless the team make the most jaw-dropping clouds ever...)
I mean, with SoW's particle physics, working in collaboration with a company like this could produce great results (although maybe not free results...)

That's an add-on that consists of improved clouds, runway textures and markings as well as water textures. I fly FSX on a friend's PC every now and then and it's true that it gives some awesome clouds. The interesting part is that these clouds are not 100% computer-generated. They are made from real photos and by real i mean non-digital because they wanted to be able to enlarge them at will without being limited by the resolution of a digital camera, so they took real photos that they could enlarge without loss of quality and then imported them by scanning them. They burned some serious amount of film for that add-on :o

[bf-110]

Got kinda disappointed with the QMB menu...Looks difficult to use.IL2 QMB was easy and simple.IL2 FMB wasn´t that hard neither.

And what means the couple on the Blenheim and the Tiger Moth?

[fruitbat]

It makes a huge difference; Britain wasn't saturated during the summer, yet from the base-colour on the field textures that is the impression given at the moment.
If you're aiming for a BoB simulator, it's such an easy colour tweak to make that adds so much more to the immersion :-P

while i find myself mystified posting about grass, it changes through the months, and depends on the weather.

This year it was green in june, and green again by august, because of the weather, and only had that dried look through july.

By the way, i live in kent, and work outside on a farm through the summers, and i can't help but see this stuff change.

if your going to be really anal about stuff, then in june, the wheat fields need to be green, july changing, august golden, and sept ploughed.

aug 9th this year, just east of canterbury, notice the very green medows down across from the filed we had just harvested,

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/thefruitbat1/grass2.jpg

aug 16th, dover looking at france.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/thefruitbat1/grass.jpg

pretty green to me.

personally, i care more about other stuff, but each to there own.

[ATAG_Dutch]

while i find myself mystified posting about grass, it changes through the months, and depends on the weather.

This year it was green in june, and green again by august, because of the weather, and only had that dried look through july.

By the way, i live in kent, and work outside on a farm through the summers, and i can't help but see this stuff change.

if your going to be really anal about stuff, then in june, the wheat fields need to be green, july changing, august golden, and sept ploughed.

aug 9th this year, just east of canterbury, notice the very green medows down across from the filed we had just harvested,

personally, i care more about other stuff, but each to their own.

Thankyou fruitbat. A bit of realism amongst the idealist fantasies.

[Richie]

I'm familiar with that one, in fact thank you for bringing it up as i tend to re-watch it from time to time :grin:

I think when people ask about gauges, they probably mean the more obscure ones. The main gauges worked in IL2 as well, so i think that the question mainly concerns things like ammeters and not RPM or manifold pressure gauges. To be honest i'm very interested to see how far they go with that. Since we've been told that all sorts of things will be modelled individually inside each aircraft and possibly have their own DM, we are going to need working gauges for the respective systems to see if and when something goes wrong.

For example, a malfunctioning electricity system might take out the gun heaters, resulting in guns jamming at high altitude, etc. Actually i'm more excited with the possibility of discovering new ways to screw up and die online than any other aspect of the sim :grin:






That's an add-on that consists of improved clouds, runway textures and markings as well as water textures. I fly FSX on a friend's PC every now and then and it's true that it gives some awesome clouds. The interesting part is that these clouds are not 100% computer-generated. They are made from real photos and by real i mean non-digital because they wanted to be able to enlarge them at will without being limited by the resolution of a digital camera, so they took real photos that they could enlarge without loss of quality and then imported them by scanning them. They burned some serious amount of film for that add-on :o

I got you there about the screwing up. I liked when Forgotten Battles first came out how you had to keep track of you fuel mixture otherwise your tank was empty in a very short time. The oxygen thing will be fun. The more complicated and realistic the better I say. But it should and will I'm sure be simple to turn from realistic to beginner mode. I've actually got a CD where a pilot goes threw the start up of a 109. How many pumps on the prime and so forth so I'm ready ;)

[jermin]

In the video you can see the gauges at work..just to get a visual


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQbCIT-aMnY

When was this video released? I didn't know this.

[major_setback]

When was this video released? I didn't know this.

Here:

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=12757

You might have missed it because it was originally posted on page 2 of the thread.

[major_setback]

Video on how to use the controls of the autogiro:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MwxHCzGbY

[tityus]

thanks for the reply Blackdog_kt

Take this with a grain of salt, as i'm just going by memory here.Don't worry there's plenty of salt and your memory serves you well.

I've been asking about devicelink online and always adding another aspect of simulation from quite some time. The most promising answer I got was last november, from Oleg himself, answering this:

Tityus - Will it have a resource to export aircraft data so we can link with other peripherals and apps (as devicelink did, but more comprehensive - simpit intended)? Will it work also online?
Oleg - We will have new device link. Probably it will work online as well.


Tityus - From the past preview we saw, it will have moving air masses. so... Will it have gauges to provide windspeed, temperature and pressure? (high level precision bombing intended)
Oleg - If it is in a cockpit - then we model it. In Sow now most gauges are working, if not all.

Nothing new on the subject was released and those "Probably" and "most" leave too much suspense in the air for my weak heart... :-)

Also, When I heard the teaser about the navigation radio aid from TD, I got very excited as, on a first impression, IL2 was heading the other way: the arcade way.

By following HL numbers, the sensation was that the relative number of players on full switch servers has dropped. Apparently, almost every one has, at least, speedbar and map icons. I hope TD really incorporates it to the next patch.

As for scripted events, this falls under the use of triggers in the mission builder and i guess that since IL2 is getting triggers in the FMB by team daidalos, it's a safe bet to assume that SoW will feature triggers as well. So, it looks like it's going to be possible to have scripted failures. I'm assuming there is a good chance of SoW having it - older simulators had it and it's not that hard to code.

The lack of official word has left too much room for speculation.

We will be getting a two-seater Tiger Moth and we'll be able to use it to train other people online.This is good news. Although, in terms of CPT the TigerMoth isn't too much, it's a nice bird to bring people airborne.
What I was hoping, was something in the lines of the trainee seeing things from your POV and when you "release control" he would take command of the AC. There was an old sim I flew that you could record a track and, from a point in time when you press a certain key, you could start controlling from there.

Anyway, I don't want to get too high expectations, because SoW could be betting on high visuals and cool features, as the old game_vs_simulation scale inevitably tips toward game.

(...) when Forgotten Battles first came out how you had to keep track of you fuel mixture otherwise your tank was empty in a very short time. (...) The more complicated and realistic the better I (...) got a CD where a pilot goes threw the start up of a 109. How many pumps on the prime and so forth so I'm readyLearning the good tips from the old training films and reading the actual pilot manuals for better knowledge... that would be nice, wouldn't it?

té mais
tityus

[Richie]

When was this video released? I didn't know this.



Seven months ago. It makes you wonder what's really going on over there in mother Russia.

[pupaxx]

I have known about this FSX addon for a while now, and apparently it's awesome ( I can't comment first hand though )
It's called Real-Environment-Xtreme (REX) and it looks quite amazing. Just look at those clouds :o

http://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/

Take a look chaps. With SoW apparently third party friendly, something like this could be a future possibilty (unless the team make the most jaw-dropping clouds ever...)
I mean, with SoW's particle physics, working in collaboration with a company like this could produce great results (although maybe not free results...)

+100 :shock::shock:

[McHilt]

Plane has not yet crashed.

:mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:


and the trees are still WIP, I guess... as we all know

[BG-09]

Thanks Fruitbat-y!

Oh, I can smell the fresh air comming fron your picktures! It smels like a.....sea and a farm in Kent! You are working on a farm! What a great job - realy! Long time agо, when I was a teenager, I was working in a farm every summer with my grand parents, and my cousins too...Now I am a lawyer, and the farm is missing me so much!

~Cheers!

[swiss]

Amazing!!! :shock: I have no words to describe that. It's just so different and much better than Il2.
A few questions:

1.Will droptanks explode violently if they are hit?

2.Will there be jamming stations in SoW, so the radiocantact can falter?

3.If planes are very much used in a campagne and the engine is almost broken and almost al the paint is gone, can the engine be changed and can the plane get a new coat of paint? Or will you get a new plane?

1.
A FULL tank is not going to explode(only in Hollywood), it could catch fire though.
For an explosion you would need a fine spray of fuel.
You may want to try that a home(outside, on an empty parking lot) Take a plastic bottle, fill it with fuel, leave 1inch to the top.
Have something to seal the bottleneck ready.
Light a match, throw it in and tell me what happened.

A: most likely the match will just extinguish in the fuel, just like in water.
B: The fuel catches fire, you got a tiny flame coming out of the bottleneck.
Seal the opening and your fine again.

Now if you try the same with only a few milliliters(DON'T!), resulting in a mix of lots of O2 and fuel fumes inside, the bottle most likely is going to blow up in your face.



3.
How long are you willing to wait fore the paint to dry? Honestly, I don't think they did some "ad hoc on the field" paint jobs.


BTT:
Again excellent pics, thanks.

[Flying Pencil]

not much to moan about this week as far as i can see...great update...things looking much better :)

I think he means drooling!

I cant wait for SoW to get released!!...
...still, with the selection screen a WIP, I wonder if October release possible?


Moving on:
Why did you have to blow up a Do-17z!
For that I can nitpick all the modeling errors,... for a later time

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/attachment.php?attachmentid=3304&d=1284729347

[Daniël]

1.
A FULL tank is not going to explode(only in Hollywood), it could catch fire though.
For an explosion you would need a fine spray of fuel.


I think a shell would do the work: The shell hits the droptank and the shell explodes, which causes a leak + heat. There is enough oxygen in the air so in theory that would cause a KABOOM!

[Romanator21]

Drop tanks catch fire in Il-2 as well. You just never see it happen because

A) online, no one takes drop-tanks

B) offline, the AI know where you are at all times and will drop the tanks by the time you're anywhere near them.

Go set up a mission in QMB with friendly planes that carry drop tanks and shoot at them. A nice fireball will result.

[Alien]

This is nearly impossible to have FULL droptank in the middle of dogfight, 'cause you must calculate fuel consumption and the fact, that every pilot uses droptanks first. And when droptank's fuel level is approaching 0, or, let's say, a half, then fumes might be enough to cause explosion, even with ordinary shell, or bullet. And don't forget about big hole, which is giving more and more oxygen to the burning fuel, so it's quite possible to blow a droptank, and is proven by some guncam vids of WWII period.

[swiss]

... and is proven by some guncam vids of WWII period.


The YT 190 vid? I alway wondered whether that was a tank or a bomb. ;)

[AWL_Spinner]

I have known about this FSX addon for a while now, and apparently it's awesome ( I can't comment first hand though )
It's called Real-Environment-Xtreme (REX) and it looks quite amazing. Just look at those clouds

I mean, with SoW's particle physics, working in collaboration with a company like this could produce great results (although maybe not free results...)


REX is wonderful, but within the confines of the FS-X engine it's akin to putting lipstick on a pig.

FS-X is a wonderful tool for generating screenshots, but you have to bear in mind that these are largely 2D images which do a crazy dance if you try and get in among them - FS-X just isn't build for properly volumetric clouds and whilst you can generate some stunning flat images with burnt-in shadows on the ground and REX clouds behind you, they don't look nearly as good in close-up motion as they do in a still.

I'd take less detail in properly rendered 3D clouds any day!

(although, having said that, whilst the lighting looks great in the screenshots we've seen so far from SoW, the clouds are an area that worry me.... hoping for some more exciting atmospherics to be revealed in future updates)

Cheers, Spinner

[Friendly_flyer]

1.Will droptanks explode violently if they are hit?


I think you may be referring to an incident early in the BoB, where Bf 110s flying in from Norway was met by Hurricane squadrons, and the lead plane of the German squadron blew up violently. The 110's were equipped with huge external belly tanks. The explosion was theorized to have been caused by tracer bullets igniting petrol vapour in an empty tank.

These tanks were not drop-tanks. Proper drop-tanks was developed during the BoB, but did not become common until 1941. The explosion of the Bf 110 belly tank in combat is as far as I can tell a one-off event.

[Blackdog_kt]

I think it depends on what people mean by "explosion". I've seen the guncam video on youtube where a 190 gets attacked and the drop tank is set ablaze. The thing is, it doesn't blow up violently enough to outright destroy the 190.

It sure ignites in a spectacular fashion and i don't know what kind of damage the aircraft sustained as a result, but it's clearly seen having its wings in place and continuing to fly.

In theory, a cannon shell hitting the tank under the right conditions would be able force the creation of a fuel-air mixture/spray that could be ingited by a second shell/tracer or even the residual heat from the first shot: the first shell bursts the tank and the shell's explosion sends fuel flying all around, which could then be ignited as it's now mixed with air.

However, let's also not forget that burning doesn't equal explosion. Many things that can cause explosions under certain circumstances fail to do so under others. In order for an explosion to happen, we also need to have the volatile contents under pressure. So, an empty tank full of vapors but sealed and under some kind of pressure is more probable to explode when hit. A tank that gets holed but doesn't explode on first hit might result in a fuel leak that gives a suitable fuel-air mixture to ignite by subsequent bullets but by that point the pressurization is gone, so the most probable outcome would be the fuel burning but not exploding.

It's just like gunpowder. When sealed in a shell casing and ignited, it's capable of propelling shells at speeds high enough to kill people and shoot down aircraft, but if you open the shell casing, empty the gunpowder on the floor and set it alight it just makes nice sparkles :grin:

[Flying_Nutcase]

Looking good Oleg!

Great shadows, the editor UI looks modern and slick, and the grass is awesome!

One question about the grass
Does the grass move in the wind? Sry if someone's asked already.

Cheers,


Flying Nutcase

[WTE_Galway]

Looking good Oleg!

Great shadows, the editor UI looks modern and slick, and the grass is awesome!

One question about the grass
Does the grass move in the wind? Sry if someone's asked already.

Cheers,


Flying Nutcase

Not if you mow it :D

http://www.thecatalogshop.co.uk/images/littlewoods-catalogue-page-1940.jpg

[julien673]

http://www.luft46.com/armament/mk108.html

From there .. here is the text,

Rheinmetall-Borsig MK 108 30mm cannon
In many ways, the Rheinmetall-Borsig MK 108 30mm cannon was considered to be a masterpiece of weapons engineering, due to it's compact size, ease of manufacture and hitting power. Although it was first designed by Rheinmetall-Borsig in 1940 as a private venture, the design was finalized in 1942. It met a later RLM requirement for a new aircraft cannon that could knock down enemy bombers with the lowest expenditure of ammunition and stay beyond the range of enemy defensive fire.
In short, the MK 108 was a blow-back operated, rear-seared, belt fed 30 mm cannon using electric ignition and was charged and triggered by simple compressed air. One drawback was that once installed, there was no method to adjust the gun's harmonization. One distinctive physical feature was the very short gun barrel, which gave the MK 108 a low muzzle velocity of 500-540 meters (1640-1770 feet) per second. The maximum rate of fire was 650 rounds per minute. The operating sequence for the MK 108 went like this:

An ammunition can fed the rounds to the gun by means of a disintegrating belt
Once the sear was released, the bolt went forward under the action of the two driving springs
A projection on the top of the bolt passed through the ring, thus extracting a round
This then forced the round into the chamber and fired the round while the heavy bolt was still moving forwards
The empty cartridge case reinserted itself in its link after firing
Ejection was achieved by means of pawls activated by camming grooves that were cut into the top of the bolt
Finally, the new round slipped into position and the sequence repeated
An interesting feature was that neither the barrel or receiver moved in recoil, the entire force of firing was absorbed by the rearward movement of the bolt against the driving springs, which buffered against the recoil. No locking mechanism was needed, because by the time the fired round had overcome the inertia of the firing bolt, the round had left the barrel and the pressure had dropped.
There were two main types of ammunition for the MK 108 to use, a 30 mm high-explosive self-destroying tracer ("M-Shell" or "Mine-Shell") and a 30 mm incendiary shell. The first type was designed to cause a maximum blast effect by combining a very thin shell casing with the maximum load of explosive. Tests carried out at Rechlin (where most of the Luftwaffe aircraft and weapons tests were done) showed that with a "M-Shell" with 85 grains of explosive, five hits could destroy a B-17 or B-24 bomber. The second type of shell, the incendiary, was meant to be targeted at the fuel tanks of the enemy plane. Since some penetrating force was still needed to overcome the armor or airframe of the target, and not have the shell break up or explode upon contact, a hydrodynamic fuse was fitted so that the shell only exploded once it came into contact with liquid.
Although there were drawbacks with the MK 108, such as an insufficient flat trajectory (the shell "arced" too much due to the low muzzle velocity) and that the ammunition belts sometimes ripped when the guns were fired while the aircraft was banking sharply, the MK 108 was chosen to be fitted in a wide variety of Luftwaffe aircraft (please see table below) before the war's end. It was also planned to be used in many of the project aircraft also (please see table below), for the reasons given above: ease of manufacture, compact size and weight and destructive power. The MK 108 30mm cannon earned a fearsome reputation among Allied bomber crews, who named it the "pneumatic hammer" due to its distinctive firing sound.

[AndyJWest]

Although it was first designed by Rheinmetall-Borsig in 1940 as a private venture, the [MK 108 30mm cannon] design was finalized in 1942.
So nothing to do with SoW:BoB then?

[swiss]

, but if you open the shell casing, empty the gunpowder on the floor and set it alight it just makes nice sparkles :grin:

Been there. ;)

Did you know there are two sorts of gunpowder:
Fast burning(pistol and rilfe ammo) as well as slow burning(shotgun).

If you have the chance light both and compare them. :D

Edit:
a hydrodynamic fuse was fitted so that the shell only exploded once it came into contact with liquid.

How's that supposed to work? :confused:

[WTE_Galway]

How's that supposed to work? :confused:

In reality the VC70 was probably more effective:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~robdebie/me163/weapons15.htm

http://www.xs4all.nl/~robdebie/me163/images/large/weapon17.jpg


By the way this thread is WAY off topic .. again :P

[Richie]

If SOW progresses like IL-2 that 108 will come along eventually and when it does that will be something to see..

[reflected]

These shots are amazing as usual. I really can't wait for this game. Now that I've watched "First Light" I'm literrally sitting on needles! :D

BTW, the font used on RAF planes is not correct for the era. Why don't you use this one?

http://www.simmerspaintshop.com/forums/downloads/military-fonts/19/raf_ww2_851ath-77/

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal7/6601-6700/gal6603-Spitfire-Ulgur/24.jpg

( I know it's from 1941, but the font is the same)

[Richie]

Take a look at the damage on this Emil. I'm surprised he was able to ditch usually they don't do to well I've heard when damaged badly. That may be B.S. though

[Xilon_x]

yes i loock the dammage of bullet in the airplane structure.
compare the human dimension and the size of the plane.
compare the size of the human hand and the size of the bullet hole in the shell of the airplane.
verify SoW images of Oleg Maddox if the bullet holes were the right size and correct.
the bullet hole in the photo should be large half hand.BELLE PHOTOS.
GOOD PHOTO

[Xilon_x]

3352

looock whit attenction.

[Nasser]

Wooah, no valuable criticism here. This looks awesome, liking the menu so far.

[Richie]

I see what you mean Xilon.

[robtek]

I believe the holes in the emil result from aaa and not from rifle caliber machinegun!

[BG-09]

Take a look at the damage on this Emil. I'm surprised he was able to ditch usually they don't do to well I've heard when damaged badly. That may be B.S. though

This is the aircraft of Erich Mix in France 1940.


http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQw6jOe--qmxxWUom55pBjhM4zS1UP9vw8sdACU_1gkOioCwrs&t=1&usg=__zHiK9TC4SVycpodYKlwS4ETzAWM=

Erich Mix (27 June 1898 in Labuhnken(Trzcińsk) in Starogard Gdański (West Prussia) – 9 April 1971 in Wiesbaden) was a German politician, member of the Nazi Party, later a member of the FDP and Flying ace during World War II.

Mix fought as an infantryman in the World War I before he trained as a fighter pilot and posted to the Saxon jasta 54, where, as an Unteroffizer from June 1918 until the end of the war, he scored 3 aerial victories (plus one unconfirmed balloon) of Jasta 54's total of 22 victories, for which he was awarded both Classes of the Iron Cross.[1]

After the war, he studied law at the University of Greifswald and made a career as a leading administrative official. In 1934, he became Mayor of Tilsit (1934 to 1937), later of Wiesbaden (1 April 1937 to 1945 and again from 25 February 1954 to 25 February 1960). In the following year, he started flying again, training as an observer and as a fighter pilot in 1937.


Serving as technical officer with I./JG 53 at the outbreak of WW2, Mix claimed 3 French Morane fighters over Saargemund on 21 September 1939, and four more on 22 November 1939 over Saarbrücken.

Now commanding III./JG 2, three more Moranes were claimed on 21 May 1940, although Mix was shot down and forced to land in a field near Roye on 21 May in Bf 109E-3 W.Nr.1526.

After being hospitalized, Mix returned to III./JG 2 on 19 June. He left France with his unit and relocated to Frankfurt/Rhein-Main on 1 July. On 27 July, the unit returned to Évreux-West until 4 August. Mix claimed a Hawker Hurricane on 4 September. Mix remained Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 2 until 24 September 1940, when he became one of the older commanders dismissed by a frustrated Goering in favour of the younger, up-and-coming aces of 1940; in Mix's case, Major Helmut Wick. Mix's final claim was a Bristol Blenheim over den Haag in July 1941, while commanding JG 1.

During World War II, he thus claimed 8 (potentially 13) aerial victories.

[Pierre@]

As Gruppe Kommandeur of III./JG 2, Major Erich Mix' Bf 109 E-4 (W.Nr. 1526) was shot down by Morane Saulnier MS 406s on 21 May 1940.
Big holes on fuselage are impacts of 20 mm shells.

[BG-09]

As Gruppe Kommandeur of III./JG 2, Major Erich Mix' Bf 109 E-4 (W.Nr. 1526) was shot down by Morane Saulnier MS 406s on 21 May 1940.
Big holes on fuselage are impacts of 20 mm shells.

Pierre, Is Your name Pierre Alfaro?

[Xilon_x]

bullet hole
3353

3354

3355
loock this american airplane damage continue to flight ant pilot return to home. very hard.
3356

[Daniël]

3355
loock this american airplane damage continue to flight ant pilot return to home. very hard.


Really?! I think it is almost impossible to go fly home with half of the wing torn off on a combat mission with a lot of flak. Those guys were very lucky or just very good pilots. (or both)

[winny]

This would make a good thread on it's own.. A 'how the hell did they get home' thread.

http://www.merkki.com/images/b17damaged.jpg

http://www.daveswarbirds.com/b-17/photos/body/torn-in2.gif

[albx]

well this is an israeli F15, another era :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_EXtBEaBbs

[JVM]

Really?! I think it is almost impossible to go fly home with half of the wing torn off on a combat mission with a lot of flak.

Apparently not...there are some other famous examples like an Israeli F-15 in more recent years...

In this case the pilot (alone) was able to come back and successfully ditched the plane besides his carrier.
He was alone because the other crew members bailed out in the area of Chi Chi Jima island where the aircraft was damaged due to air-to-air collision with another Avenger which had just lost a complete wing destroyed by the heavy flak.
The unfortunate crew members were beheaded by the island garrison troops...

JV

[philip.ed]

REX is wonderful, but within the confines of the FS-X engine it's akin to putting lipstick on a pig.

FS-X is a wonderful tool for generating screenshots, but you have to bear in mind that these are largely 2D images which do a crazy dance if you try and get in among them - FS-X just isn't build for properly volumetric clouds and whilst you can generate some stunning flat images with burnt-in shadows on the ground and REX clouds behind you, they don't look nearly as good in close-up motion as they do in a still.

I'd take less detail in properly rendered 3D clouds any day!

(although, having said that, whilst the lighting looks great in the screenshots we've seen so far from SoW, the clouds are an area that worry me.... hoping for some more exciting atmospherics to be revealed in future updates)

Cheers, Spinner


Yep, I can see what you mean. Judging from the pictures and videos shown, the clouds in SoW do look volumetric so I am confident that clouds which look like REX can be achieved. It's all about shape really, as clouds in Britain generally always have flat bottoms apart from when you see parts of clouds 'break' off; in which case a kind of spiral can be seen in the sky. WoP has this type of cloud modelled, and it looks quite nice really. A google search for clouds will bring up good results.
A few updates back I posted a youtube video of a 2007 cloud application (called nimbus or something like that) which showed some awesome looking clouds, so I really do think that it's possible ;)

[philip.ed]

These shots are amazing as usual. I really can't wait for this game. Now that I've watched "First Light" I'm literrally sitting on needles! :D

BTW, the font used on RAF planes is not correct for the era. Why don't you use this one?

http://www.simmerspaintshop.com/forums/downloads/military-fonts/19/raf_ww2_851ath-77/

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal7/6601-6700/gal6603-Spitfire-Ulgur/24.jpg

( I know it's from 1941, but the font is the same)

Nice to see you mate. If I were you, I'd read First Light (although I thought you had....) as it is a lot better than the programme IMHO. But I echo your enthusiasm. These recent shots are killers. The game is looking really nice.

[dduff442]

Australian Leonard Fuller landed 2 a/c locked together after a mid-air collision in 1940 -- using the controls from one and the engines of another!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp478Tgm5gg&p=DA07AD24168C736B&playnext=1&index=1

[BadAim]

Since there has been a lot of discussion on fuel and explosions and fire, I thought I might point out a few facts about gasoline. Gasoline is not explosive. Gasoline vapor, however is. (This is not entirely correct either, as it does not technically "explode", but "burn explosively" , which when contained within a fuel tank, can hardly be distinguished from an explosion) It's not the fuel in the tank, but the vapor that is most dangerous. This is why the Russians pressurized their fuel tanks (on many planes) with exhaust gas from the engine, the exhaust gas displaced the gasoline vapor and rendered the fuel tank nearly inert. There was of course always the danger of leaks (which would be vaporized in the slip stream just like in a carburetor) catching fire, but this was nowhere near as dangerous or as likely as a vapor explosion.

So, that nearly empty drop tank is probably more dangerous than the full one you left with! Get rid of the damn thing.

I hope SOW has the finer points of these things built in

Edit: upon further reading I see Swiss commented on this as well. It is really not generally understood by most people though.

[major_setback]

Not if you mow it :D

http://www.thecatalogshop.co.uk/images/littlewoods-catalogue-page-1940.jpg

Oleg mentioned that there might be animated animals in the game..cows and sheep I think. No need for mowers then!
Careful how you land!:-)

[kedrednael]

REX is wonderful, but within the confines of the FS-X engine it's akin to putting lipstick on a pig.

FS-X is a wonderful tool for generating screenshots, but you have to bear in mind that these are largely 2D images which do a crazy dance if you try and get in among them - FS-X just isn't build for properly volumetric clouds and whilst you can generate some stunning flat images with burnt-in shadows on the ground and REX clouds behind you, they don't look nearly as good in close-up motion as they do in a still.

I'd take less detail in properly rendered 3D clouds any day!
Cheers, Spinner

indeed! + 1 or something, maybe 800. :)
Just look at ROF they have 3D clouds and they look better when you are moving, although you get a strange white out when you fly near them. This also happens in il2 :(

[Richie]

Oleg mentioned that there might be animated animals in the game..cows and sheep I think. No need for mowers then!
Careful how you land!:-)


We have to have mascots!

[Richie]

I'll do the and.....

Battle Of Mascots!

[Richie]

And my mascot. I think he'll be able to fit in the Lian Li case I bought.

[Cobra8472]

Hey Oleg-

Great shots.

There is one thing that irks me however;

it seems you have removed the shader which adds the slightly white tinge/reflection along the edges of the aircraft surfaces (to simulate ambient light bouncing into the camera more frequently at large angles).

Was this removed for performance reasons, or is it simply disabled for the moment in the build used to snap the screenies?

Excellent work as always however! :)

[reflected]

Nice to see you mate. If I were you, I'd read First Light (although I thought you had....) as it is a lot better than the programme IMHO. But I echo your enthusiasm. These recent shots are killers. The game is looking really nice.

Oh I have! I have read it about 3 times so far! :D

What do you think about the fonts used on British a/c?

I'm not sure about the colors either. Weren't they a bit more greyish? It looks very bright white now... :?

[BG-09]

I'll do the and.....

Battle Of Mascots!

Mu-ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ... The Storm Of Waiting becomes The Battle Of Mascots!!! Mu - ha ha ha ha ha ... I am crying on the floor! Ha ha ha ha ha... The Battle Of Mascots!!! ... Have mercy to us poor Il2 fans, Richie!