Thursday, May 10, 2012. Patch Alpha – Report 1
 

Patch Alpha – Report 1

Hi everyone,

First of all, we’d like to thank everyone who’s sent their crash logs and suggestions to the team. Your help is extremely valuable, and we really do appreciate it. We know how dedicated and thorough our fans can be, and it always raises our spirits to see all the effort and time you put into helping us make our sim better.

As most of you know – and we should have mentioned it when releasing the patch – all of Russia was on official holiday for four days. Most of the programmers took some much needed rest and are just now starting to sort through the bugs. Over 500 emails with reports and suggestions were sent to Luthier’s email over the holidays. He sorted through every single one of them and relayed everything to the appropriate team members, but if your email contained a question or a suggestion that requires someone else to investigate, it may take a little while to get a response. Ilya wants to apologize to everyone now if you do not receive an immediate reply. Your email does get read, and gets looked at very carefully, especially if it contains crash logs or dumps.

With that, we do have to respond to a few of the more common responses to the alpha patch.

1. “Why are my graphics busted?”
We did not reduce any graphics in the game! We did not resize any textures, redo any models, or anything like that! Also, in its current state, the graphics engine does not produce different FPS depending on texture resolution. You can very easily check the fact by watching the FPS counter as a plane’s external texture loads while the game is paused.
We’re simply ironing out some quirks with the texture manager in the current pre-release version of the patch. It’s been rewritten in order to reduce stutter. It no longer freezes the game when a large number of new objects have to get loaded with their textures, but it’s still imperfect. Lower res graphics are a temporary non-intended side effect.
We never ever tried to improve performance by decreasing the visual quality of the game.

2. “Fix your damn game! “
This is, after all, an alpha patch that was released with many known issues clearly listed, and the main purpose of the release was stated as locating and fixing crash bugs. We’re sorry it’s been frustrating. The remaining crash bugs are hard to catch, which is why we’re actually glad it’s been crashing for you. Yes, I said glad.
It’s been crashing for us too, and in a way that makes it impossible to catch the exact culprit. The crash needs to happen in a very specific rare way to point out the root cause. We need to get that specific crash report to fix it. We’ve got a few hundred crash dumps to look through now, so chances are, one of them should contain the smoking gun.
And, returning to the common thread in some of the responses – we are fixing it! That’s exactly what we’re doing right now! And you are helping!

Again, we do apologize if you are one of the people for whom the game crashes a lot. Remember – this is a pre-release test version of the patch, and you are not required to use it at all! Please roll back to the previous more stable version if you want to continue flying while we continue working.

Now we’re going back to work. We’ll release a status update by Saturday.

good news.

are you guys following bugtracker? it would be nice to have some feedback there too. a lot of bugs there, and only 2 of them ever got an answer from the devs.

please mark bugs as rejected /being worked /solved.

http://www.il2bugtracker.com/projects/cod/issues

the alpha patch changed the game for me, its so much better, I can't wait to see what comes next, can only get better :D

Thanks for the update. Let us know if you need more crash logs...I can produce one about every 10min... ;)

Keep up the good work. Looking forward to further patches.

Alexander

Tbh I wish my game would crash on the off chance that the bug report would contain the necessary info to help with a fix but since the Alpha I have not had one single crash. The negative for me is more micro stutters than the last Steam version.

As to the graphics I read in a thread yesterday that the low res dials in Cockpits were down to a filter problem ? Could this be confirmed and also that it will be fixed for the next patch ?

thanks B6 for update

Thank you B6!

Sounds great blacksix!! Thx for the :grin:update!! We appreciate the communication!!!
Once again thank you!

hmmm...

B6 See here:

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=31928

Thanks for the communication, nice to hear from the team and to squash some silly comments (purposefully taking visuals out).

Thanks B6.

thx for the update and your continuous work!
definitely some improvements there and if the crashes can be ironed out now, it would be a huge step forward.
Also thanks for some corrections in the sometimes misleading german version ;)

Pls, like pupo said, check the il2bugtracker regular as it is the easiest way to talk/comment about bugs :-)

Thanks!
 

THIS saturday? Nice.

Also BlackSix, please tell Luthier that the dot distant LOD change is a positive one. We want it to stay, because aircraft are easier to spot now.

Thanks, hoping for a quicker turn around on the next patch, lets pray its not another 6 months.

Thanks B6 your words are very encouraging as always,and you'll get there I'm sure.Remember,the guys on here are very passionate about this sim which is why some of them let off in the way they do,I am no different.

It is,I'm sure is not personal,but moreover a release of frustration,they and can all see,as I do the potential of your sim and it's future.

I have been flying COD since it's release on day one and I am in it for the long haul, however long it takes to sort out,as it has allready given me so much pleasure.

Keep up the good work guys.................and hey,a little flyable Wellington would'nt go a miss for public relations,he he:)

More users having more crashes = more proof that specific root causes are causing the crash = faster fix = happier users.

Nice equation.

+ 1

I hope you find the culprit of the crashes and fix the low res side effect in cockpit! I don't experience any crashes in flight myself so I can't help with the logs :(

+1

Just happy to see there is progress and the community is engaged!

Keep up the good work guys

Also, in its current state, the graphics engine does not produce different FPS depending on texture resolution.


I would appreciate a bit more info on this sentence.

Does this apply only to the textures option and SSAO or the alpha GFX engine video options in general?

Thanks for the feedback B6.

Could you tell me at what stage DX9 support will be added to the alpha/ beta patch? Being an XP user with no options to upgrade for the forseeable future, it'd be nice to be able to help out with the testing.

+1
Yep,agreed keep it in,this is a quantum leap

S!

Thank you for the information, very much appreciated. Posted crash dumps my system did create, but sometimes even game crashed nothing was created. Good to see community has been testing and reporting..after all that way we help to IMPROVE the series :-)

First I must say I fly mostly, nearly only Spitfires, and with the new patch the Spitfire is impossible to fly.
The MK 1a and 2a have big problems with their throttle setting and graphic representation.
All models of Spitfire have new problems with the engine oil leaks that are over modelled, it is impossible to dive in any setting of propeller angle and/or radiators setting in any case the oil or water coolant does overheat and the engine run rough and stops.
I must say I also do not have any performances improvement due to the beta patch.
This is why I did remove the beta patch and hope the definitive one doe’s better.:

Thanks for that BS, a question if I may, earlier you had told us that the CTD was fixed, we even asked you if you had tried it online and you said you didn't need to because of some set up you have in the office, also the partcles creating a slowdown prevented you releasing this patch earlier yet they still cause massive slowdown, is there any particular reason why the information you give us often contradicts itself?

Many Thanks and good luck

+1

That is the truth, when all is said and done. Some of us get really frustrated because, ultimately, we care. It is good to have a product people care enough about to go mental once in awhile. :D

Thanks for clearing some things up, B6! It does make a fair amount of sense now..... it is best that some of these things are indeed stripped away for the alpha as there will be no confusion, then, when pinpointing what is causing all the CTDs. "Plunk!" - That's the sound of a penny dropping. :D

I've never get a CTD.. Steam has a guide that a few of you may want to try out...look here https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...7169-TIAV-5361

I rarely experience slow-downs due to particles and then its momentary and not problematic in terms of game-play.

I'm enjoying the added reflections and overall appearance of the sim with the Alpha patch.

Cheers,

Septic.

Cheers for the heads up, I run my sim much better now and can finally get some use out of it. :)

ps Thank you for also clearing up that this is an Alpha patch.

Added reflections? Where they? lol Gotta say I didn't notice any.....

B6

You want crashes, specific crashes...Give details of what you need...
OS, Version, Patch level, DX?....hardware???

I am sure there are people around who might be able to help out... especially if they know exactly what you are looking for.

Sorry if it has already been covered, but details would great.

Thanks BlackSix and the team.

If there's to be a mini update could we have the Spitfire throttles fixed please?

By the way - is CoD modelled with a 'Standard day'? Can you give us information on the atmospheric conditions used in CoD? These would play a big part in all those speed and climb tests people are doing.

mop

If CloD CTDs there are specific crash dump files created in your "Your Documents\1C Softklub\Il-2 Sturmovik Cliffs of Dover\cppcrash" folder. Zip these and mail them to ishevchenko(at)1cpublishing.eu .

Thanks for the update, B6. My experience is that the new engine is a huge step in the right direction. Thanks also for clearing up some other misconceptions.

No, that was in response to someone saying that the devs dont test online because they "didnt have internet in the office" and the devs stated they had tersted online and they had internet set up in the office.

That wasnt the only reason the patch wasnt released, reread the issues. Clearly there are still problems with the effects (as they stated re. clouds).

The information doesn't contradict itself, it seems more a problem in how certain people interpret the information given.

A venerable project director learned me several years ago a basic rule when you are in the middle of a problem: "never ask why".

Cheers!

Thanks for the update. Appreciate your hard work and really hope you soon nail it.
On day one i thought the patch fixed it for me. I have 1 crash in 3 hrs of flying.
The following days however it felt like theree was no patch at all. Still launchercrashes, lots of em and at unpredictable situations. Ive sent my logs and hope you can nail it down very quickly. I really want to play the game. But sadly in the current state i have to shelve it - again:(

Winger

"A few extra days of work for this, a few days for grass, few days for clouds"

Looking forward it. I assume you are still on track with this?

It is just what he says: Texture resolution does not have an impact on FPS. This virtually is the case with all games. The only thing that one has to take care of is that you have enough memory on your video card to fit all the textures in there. You have a 560Ti which means that you most likely have 1GB of ram on your card which easily is enough.

In general reducing texture resolution in the options of any game to get better performance is foolish unless you have very little video ram. With enough ram it will only degrade the visuals but you won't gain any FPS.

What B6 meant to say is that there is no reason for them to reduce texture resolution to gain performance...because there just would be no performance gain. I bet he got a few emails of users accusing them of reducing image quality to get the performance gain the promised...just the typical consipracy theory.

But to answer your question...that means you can crank up the texture resolution option in CloD to maximum without a performance hit. Changing SSAO or any other option however will still have an effect.

Alexander

Edit: Oh...and that would spelled "Dual Core" in your signature...unless your cores are fighting a duel with each other... ;)

Interesting is that in the same map and condition Spitfire MK II (87 Octan) has close performacne to RL data but other planes not.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ATAG_Septic View Post
I'm enjoying the added reflections and overall appearance of the sim with the Alpha patch.
Added reflections? Where they? lol Gotta say I didn't notice any.....


I notice them most on the prop with the sun behind. There's also reflections off distant objects.

Yes...I like those reflections too...

Alexander

Thank you for the update.

The prop does feel more 'alive', and my initial impression is that spotting planes beneath you is easier too. The dots show white against the sea, is that what you mean by distant reflections or something else?

Yes, guys are following bugtracker, but now we have no time for this. The main purpose is locating and fixing crash bugs, all other - later.

Ilya have received this link in 15 or 20 your letters)

When we solve main problems and we will have time for this. Final patch should support DX9.


Guys, I can't to answer your technical question, please wait next update from Ilya.

Thanks a lot for the info B6 !

Good idea. Stay far away from features and concentrate 110% on fixing it. Swing back around and put all the fluff stuff in when you have no bugs.

great. lets hope once this graphic engine update gets gold, the rest can be looked at.

Thanks for the update BS! Looking forward to improvements (especially being able to turn cloud and grass back on) and more frequent patch releases.

Thanks for the quick response, B6. I'll be looking forward to it. Sorry I can't help with the testing, but good luck to those who are.

Yes! Keep up the good work!

thanks B6 hope my report helps.

hope my few crash dump files do some contribution; what you do now for CLoD will pay off for BOM

Those have been there for quite a few months, before the last release patch. However, water reflections don't show up since the 2nd beta, are you getting them now?

Not on my display they haven't old chap. I haven't noticed a difference in water reflections, I'll look out for that :)

Cheers Septic... I shall keep my eyes peeled for them. :)

Thanks for the Heads up .

Glad to have been of help with the crash logs, thanks for the update.

Thanks for stopping by BS. Wasnt expecting a visit today. Nice

Thank you B6 and team! :)
Your frequent communication with the community is very much appreciated!

I think a more common question that really needed answering is why have so many people either got a worse FPS like me or no change to their FPS? I read somewhere that it was suppose to double the FPS.

Blacksix,

your post just proves that the customers have the broken beta on their computers for last 14 months. Since the release. Actually they bought it btw..

Now you want some of them to test every alpha of rewritten BoM engine. But the rest have to wait.... Did I get it right?

Thanks for the update.

No crashes for me; no crashes before the patch either.

I think it has to do with the hardware the devs are running. Most people that saw major fps increases seem to be people with older hardware. Most of us with newer stuff probably won't see as big of an improvement. But yeah worse performance boggles my mind...we should be moving forward here, not backwards.

Thx for the update B6, lookin forward to more news!

Keep up the good work gents :)

I've gotta say the Russians have WAY to many holidays!

I've gotta say the rest of the world have WAY to few holidays!

Thanks for the update B6, can't wait for final patch. :D

I don't think you did.... ;)

Its because its an Alpha patch mate, when they said that they had fixed the CTD they meant that they want to fix the CTD and need an Alpha patch to find out why its happening. You only get the double FPS when you turn the trees and grass and clouds off, who needs them anyway and they had little effect on the outcome of the Battle of Britian. These guys are experts mate, it may sound like they are making it up as they go along but believe me they are sure to pin the donkey on the tail soon. :grin::grin:

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showpos...9&postcount=12

Thanks for the update BlackSix. The code isn't all bad, as I've never had a CTD or poor frame rates, on my highly optimized system. Hopefully peoples log files will quickly help the development improve the sims stability, and produce a successful final patch.

Sigh and it begins again, "starts slow sarcastic clap and walks off"...

I was thinking the same. ;)

Turn off the tree and many good think will see... :!:

Thank you BlackSix and 1C !

I like honest feedback even if honesty sometimes hurts.

And I also like that the news is positive (yes, I consider them positive).

And I very happy you clarified the thing about the graphics quality. This is great news!

Nice weekend!

~S~

I moved the 3-4 pages of troubleshooting to its own thread in the technical section. If anyone else has problems they would like to troubleshoot with community input please post in there. Of course still post initial bug feedback here if you like. This is just some house keeping to keep this thread readable! ;)

Troubleshooting here > http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=31987

Good work on the alpha patch, hope it helps. Please don't nerf the British plane speeds!

(also, flyable wellington - I beg you!)