V.14762 BETA Download Links

[Tiger27]

Originally Posted by Gollum

I remember this post but was hoping Stutters, FPS drop, and AA were not considered "minor" when they render the game unplayable. And I don't mean prissy "oh this isn't perfect so I'm not playing" unplayable. I mean, the game doesn't work unplayable.

Thanks for the reply though. I guess I'll be waiting months to play the game again.

You dont list your specs and seem to be having issues that not everyone are getting, it still may be at your end?

[Tiger27]

Originally Posted by Blackdog_kt

Just had a very small test and will keep flying during the night to see if there's any gameplay-issue improvements (Ju88 gyrocompass, bomb release joystick buttons working from bombardier's seat, etc).

I got my first launcher.exe crash today but i fixed it simply by restarting the sim, it plays the same as before (smooth on mostly medium settings on my 2 year old PC:i7 920, Ati 4890 1GB and 3GB of RAM, win7 64 bit) and everything looks good in regards to FPS, i even bumped one of my low settings to medium.



I also had to get the new .ini files (i didn't do it in the previous patch) that do away with a lot of redundant fields. I prefer to get everything in a working order first so i can actually test stuff, instead of having preventable errors give me "false alarms". There is by now a standard routine i do and every patch has been an improvement for me.

First, how to get the new .ini files (the configuration files). If you have only recently downloaded your copy from Steam you probably don't need to do this, i had mine installed early though so i had to change them:

1) Launch the sim, go to controls and select "save as", then tell it to save an .ini file somewhere you can easily find it. I had actually done this a long time ago, saving a "mycontrols.ini" file in my documents folder.

2) Go to documents\1c softclub folder and move the files conf.ini, confs.ini, confuser.ini to a backup folder.

3) Do the same for the files of the same name in steam\steamapps\common\IL-2 sturmovik cliffs of dover, moving them to their own backup folder.

4) Run the steam file verification tool . This will spot you are missing the .ini files (since you moved them to another location) and download the new ones. I have opened and compared the old and new files and their structure is different, so i can confirm this will give you the new files without having to mess with steam cloud settings, just keep the cloud thing off altogether.

5) Probably all your settings have now been reset. Go to controls and load the .ini file containing your previously saved control bindings, then click on the apply button. In my case it happened to keep them stored anyway. My realism settings and graphics options had also been reset so i had to reselect them and i think my transparent on-screen windows also changed so i'll have to customize them again. All in all it's less than 5 minutes of work for a cleaner, leaner config file structure so it's worth it.

I don't know if all this affects single-player career progress but i think it doesn't: i accidentally skipped a mission once and i manually edited another file to revert back to the previous "step" in the campaign but it was a completely different file, so i don't think campaign progress has been affected.

6) EXIT THE SIM. This is probably why i got a launcher crash the first time around (i had just applied the beta patch too, further complicating things) i didn't exit after changing graphics options and tried to fly a mission right away. Next time i just changed settings, restarted the sim and all was fine. It's generally a good habit to restart the sim when changing graphics options.


To get the beta patch up and running:

1) Assuming you have up to date .ini files keep reading, otherwise follow the above routine first.

2) Even if you have current .ini files, make sure you are as close to a stock installation as possible. I run with no mods (i am waiting for the SDK first) so it's relatively easy. I just backup anything i might want to keep or fear i might lose (mainly my controls settings), then run the Steam file verification tool.

3) Extract the beta patch file into the main game folder (steam\steamapps\common\IL-2 sturmovik cliffs of dover) and let it over-write anything it asks you to.

4) Go to documents\1c softclub\cache, select everything under that folder and delete it. This forces the sim to rebuild the shader cache and will prevent problems with graphic glitches and/or FPS that may be caused by running a newer version with cached shaders of a previous version.

Please do this before claiming visual bugs, reduced performance, etc, as it helps A LOT: i've never had degraded performance ever, every new patch is smoother than the last and i'm running a two year old PC.

This cache clean-up happens automatically when you install a live, official patch from Steam but i'm not sure if it happens with beta patches, so i do it manually just to be sure.

5) Start flying


When the patch goes live on Steam:
1) Either revert to the previous version by using the file verification tool, or just patch on top of the beta one.

2) Clear your cache

3) Go flying


I hope it helps some of the people having problems, it's been immensely helpful for me so i thought i'd pass it on.

Important Edit: Whatever you can test OFFLINE, do so. It's perfectly possible to join a server running a previous version when you are running a newer version beta patch and this will give you all sorts of glitches. You might be able to join but that doesn't mean the two versions are always compatible with each other. Luthier himself said so in one of the previous updates. So, test the aircraft behavior offline and when you go online to test multiplayer specific issues, make sure the server is also running the same version as you are.

Bug reports from multiplayer are pretty much worthless if the server and client are not running the same version. It's also why i don't go online yet, i spend most of my time not flying/playing the sim but testing, bug-hunting and compiling a FAQ for when the US release happens to help get people up to speed fast, so i don't want to have all kinds of "false alarms" caused by incompatible versions and/or mods when trying to see what works, what doesn't and how i can work around any remaining issues.

Great work BD, I was having problems with the last patch until I cleaned my cache and updated the
ini files.

My main issue is I can't save my control settings while in game, nor load any saved ones, this used to work?

Just a note Luthier has a link to the bug reporting post in is op, might be worth posting this there as well.

[Kanalkrank]

Originally Posted by Zimbower

BETA tester reporting for duty for only 30 dollar an hour!

Hi! I haven't seen you in a long time...

yeah, we can do this for $30/h, I think this's competitive salary, but they don't have benefit package including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan, short-term disability insurance etc.

[drewpee]

The BF-109 is much nicer to fly. only load outs are no longer working.

[xpupx]

Originally Posted by smink1701

Anyone seeing the following...

* Various graphical improvements. The distant clouds are finally back - i.e. the flat representations of clouds you saw on beta screenshots with pretty sunlit borders. Finally fixed the landscape stripes bug, etc.
* Improvements to FM and DM and various cockpit systems, as usual - long list there.
* AI improvements, including at least the majority, if not all, of the order system working.
* A new warship!

No not in my game, also have Equipment gone invisible on pre saved scripted items, flak burst now have a white flash and no black smoke burst! One step forward and three back!

[TUSA/TX-Gunslinger]

Originally Posted by Shado

Well after my previous moan it appears to be the weathering layer thats been fixed affecting the skin shine, which will need some work as far as skinning is concerned, where it really does shine (pun intended) is the bare metal effect is stunning, load up a Hurricane in QMB, whack the weathering right up and take an external look at just behind the spinner, how long before we get a bare metal skin to work with

This is what stunned me too. When running TBD track I saw this many times on the Hurricanes. SP also, weathered Italian aircraft look good in this regard also.

1. Real aluminum!
2. "Markings" checkbox working in SP and MP

More testing for me tommorow.

S!

Gunny

[mungee]

A BIG improvement!

What is VERY IMPORTANT is to delete the contents of the cache folder (documents\1c softclub\cache) before running the new patch - after doing that, the graphic glitches dispappeared, the frame rate INCREASED A LOT and the stuttering REDUCED A LOT.

However I'm still getting BAD STUTTERING WHEN LOOKING STRAIGHT AHEAD IN 'COCKPIT VIEW'!
Looking out to the wings, the stuttering disappears - it's therefore looks like its being affected by the pixels etc relating to the instrument panel and/or rear view mirror! Obviously stuttering in this view is the most bothersome because one can't aim etc.

When looking sideways (to the wings), I get a consistent and smooth 30+fps, whereas when looking straight ahead I get 30+fps dropping to 7fps after every 2 or so seconds (creating the stutter) - hope that helps!?

Other than that, it's a big improvement - thanks, and keep up the good work.

I respectfully suggest that resources get prioritised to the STUTTERING ISSUE - with bad stuttering, the game essentially remains unplayable for me and others who have systems a year or two old.

[Tiger27]

Originally Posted by mungee

A BIG improvement!

What is VERY IMPORTANT is to delete the contents of the cache folder (documents\1c softclub\cache) before running the new patch - after doing that, the graphic glitches dispappeared, the frame rate INCREASED A LOT and the stuttering REDUCED A LOT.

However I'm still getting BAD STUTTERING WHEN LOOKING STRAIGHT AHEAD IN 'COCKPIT VIEW'!
Looking out to the wings, the stuttering disappears - it's therefore looks like its being affected by the pixels etc relating to the instrument panel and/or rear view mirror! Obviously stuttering in this view is the most bothersome because one can't aim etc.


When looking sideways (to the wings), I get a consistent and smooth 30+fps, whereas when looking straight ahead I get 30+fps dropping to 7fps after every 2 or so seconds (creating the stutter) - hope that helps!?

Other than that, it's a big improvement - thanks, and keep up the good work.

I respectfully suggest that resources get prioritised to the STUTTERING ISSUE - with bad stuttering, the game essentially remains unplayable for me and others who have systems a year or two old.

Possibly some of your settings are to high, I have very little stutter and certainly none out the front, but I always turn the mirror off as it is buggy anyway and reduces fps.

[addman]

Nice that the weathering slider now functions for single plane flights. The Stuka is still shaking though, please look into this luthier.

[dflion]

Originally Posted by mungee

A BIG improvement!

What is VERY IMPORTANT is to delete the contents of the cache folder (documents\1c softclub\cache) before running the new patch - after doing that, the graphic glitches dispappeared, the frame rate INCREASED A LOT and the stuttering REDUCED A LOT.

However I'm still getting BAD STUTTERING WHEN LOOKING STRAIGHT AHEAD IN 'COCKPIT VIEW'!
Looking out to the wings, the stuttering disappears - it's therefore looks like its being affected by the pixels etc relating to the instrument panel and/or rear view mirror! Obviously stuttering in this view is the most bothersome because one can't aim etc.

When looking sideways (to the wings), I get a consistent and smooth 30+fps, whereas when looking straight ahead I get 30+fps dropping to 7fps after every 2 or so seconds (creating the stutter) - hope that helps!?



Other than that, it's a big improvement - thanks, and keep up the good work.

I respectfully suggest that resources get prioritised to the STUTTERING ISSUE - with bad stuttering, the game essentially remains unplayable for me and others who have systems a year or two old.

Mungee, do you get rid of of everything in the Cache and Shaders file? Can you kindly explain in more detail what is happening when you do this?

DFLion