4-12 wish list (Merged)

[Whacker]

Originally Posted by IceFire

OpenGL working with Intel HD is a Intel problem. Intel cards have always had quite a bit of trouble with anything that uses OpenGL. My understanding is they use the bare necessities for basic compliance and that is it.

I am curious about forced anti-aliasing for people who don't have nVidia cards. What is that about?

The problem is he wants the game to run perfectly at a million hojillion FPS, at max settings, on his work-oriented laptop with crappy integrated Intel graphics, which are NOT designed for gaming at all. He started a thread on this IIRC a month or two back, but I could be confusing him with someone else. The anti-aliasing is probably more of the same, wanting his Yugo to run like an Porsche. /facepalm

[IceFire]

Originally Posted by Whacker

The problem is he wants the game to run perfectly at a million hojillion FPS, at max settings, on his work-oriented laptop with crappy integrated Intel graphics, which are NOT designed for gaming at all. He started a thread on this IIRC a month or two back, but I could be confusing him with someone else. The anti-aliasing is probably more of the same, wanting his Yugo to run like an Porsche. /facepalm

Indeed the Intel HD graphics are a tiny bit better than the older Intel GMA cards of yesteryear but not by much. Enough to accelerate Windows Vista/7 and offload some of the HD video requirements from the CPU...definitely a smart move even on a business class machine but they definitely are not oriented towards gaming. Even less so towards simulation gaming which is another level of requirements up in my mind.

I think it telling that IL-2 1946 is based on code over 10 years old and yet it will still take everything you can throw at it. I acknowledge that it doesn't support newer standards at the base level and yes it has been upgraded, but in terms of the raw GPU, CPU, and memory throughput... the old IL-2 still requires serious hardware.

[martinistripes]

An idea for a future patch which may be very simple to implement. When selecting aircraft, for QMB or multiplayer, can we have small country flags by the aircraft so we know which country they come from and also maybe a small fighter or bomber icon depending on it's roll?

I know some will say I should know my aircraft better, blah de blah de blah... but I'm sure many of us don't have the time or inclination to memorise the (now) exhaustive list of options.

I play LAN with a friend. And typically our conversion goes like this:

Me: Ok, lets have russian vs german, 1943 aircraft only
friend: Ok
Me: Ok, I'll go in the Yak-3, choose an axis aircraft
friend: Which aircraft are axis? Is this axis?
Me: Don't know
friend: Is this one axis
Me: Not sure

You get the picture.

I know we could exit the server and go into the museum to check, but my idea of small flag & aircraft role icons next to the aircraft designation codes would be extremely helpful and a better way to do things.

[Daniël]

Originally Posted by martinistripes

An idea for a future patch which may be very simple to implement. When selecting aircraft, for QMB or multiplayer, can we have small country flags by the aircraft so we know which country they come from and also maybe a small fighter or bomber icon depending on it's roll?

I know some will say I should know my aircraft better, blah de blah de blah... but I'm sure many of us don't have the time or inclination to memorise the (now) exhaustive list of options.

I play LAN with a friend. And typically our conversion goes like this:

Me: Ok, lets have russian vs german, 1943 aircraft only
friend: Ok
Me: Ok, I'll go in the Yak-3, choose an axis aircraft
friend: Which aircraft are axis? Is this axis?
Me: Don't know
friend: Is this one axis
Me: Not sure

You get the picture.

I know we could exit the server and go into the museum to check, but my idea of small flag & aircraft role icons next to the aircraft designation codes would be extremely helpful and a better way to do things.

I don't find it difficult to recognise from which country an aircraft comes, and what about captured aircraft?
Maybe there could be an option like: Only show German planes - only show fighters - only show bombers - only show Russian bombers - show all planes. Or something like that. I don't think this is high priority for TD, but for new pilots this would make it a little easier because there are so many planes

[martinistripes]

Originally Posted by Daniël

I don't find it difficult to recognise from which country an aircraft comes

Yeah, I just knew someone would say that. There are no doubt many enthusiasts here on the forum. Congratulations to you sir. But for the more casual player that doesn't have a degree in WWII aircraft, I'm telling you, it would be useful.

Also, after my revisit (LAN play) last night. I still don't understand why the multiplayer setup screen is so limited. For example, why can't I choose not to have enemy flak? Why can't I specify the weather? It can all be tailored to your desires in the quick mission builder. So, why not in multiplayer? When you want to fly head to head against a friend, the flak becomes an annoyance.

[Luno13]

You can delete the flak in the full mission builder. There is no QMB for online scenarios. I'm sure one of the stock multiplayer scenarios has no flak. If not, it should be easy enough to delete the units you want to - literally five minutes of work.

Although I already know most planes in the game like the back of my hand, I do agree that it would be a nice feature for new players.

[Pershing]

Originally Posted by martinistripes

A

Me: Ok, lets have russian vs german, 1943 aircraft only
friend: Ok
Me: Ok, I'll go in the Yak-3, choose an axis aircraft
friend: Which aircraft are axis? Is this axis?
Me: Don't know
friend: Is this one axis
Me: Not sure

You get the picture.

Yeah, and this picture shows me you should think twice before play Il-2. There are many other games, why don't you try them?

[martinistripes]

Originally Posted by Pershing

Yeah, and this picture shows me you should think twice before play Il-2.

Hah! Really? Tell me why I should think twice before playing ANY game. I've owned Sturmovik since the original Forgotten Battles (2003), and been playing flight sims in one form or another since F/A-18 Interceptor (at least 1988 ). So please tell me why I need to think twice before playing 1942. Will I endanger somebody's life by not knowing the details of every single aircraft off by heart? Do you really take your games so seriously Pershing, that I have offended you with my lack of knowledge and ludicrous suggestion? If so, I really pity you. There's a saying that goes something like, "If you've got nothing worth saying, don't say it". Maybe you should consider that one before posting next time.

@Whacker Thanks for your response. Trouble is, I don't have the patience to study WWII aircraft. And with the choice available now, it really would be a case of studying. My friend has far less patience than I. For example, he would not sit and play a campaign or coop mission, to much straight flying and waiting around for him. We just like to duel and gloat (mostly after a few beers!) -a tradition since we were both teenagers. But I like to at least setup realistic encounters for us both.

To be honest, compared with other features and functions the developers have added, it seems a simple one to me. I appreciate the ambiguity that you mention, but surely you would just go with country of initial origin and purpose originally intended for (not what they were later adapted to do). If it's multi-role, you have a multi-role icon, or list a couple of icons side by side.

PS. I fly DCS: Black Shark 2. It's one aircraft and learning that is plenty for me.

[Whacker]

Originally Posted by martinistripes

An idea for a future patch which may be very simple to implement. When selecting aircraft, for QMB or multiplayer, can we have small country flags by the aircraft so we know which country they come from and also maybe a small fighter or bomber icon depending on it's roll?

I know some will say I should know my aircraft better, blah de blah de blah... but I'm sure many of us don't have the time or inclination to memorise the (now) exhaustive list of options.

I play LAN with a friend. And typically our conversion goes like this:

Me: Ok, lets have russian vs german, 1943 aircraft only
friend: Ok
Me: Ok, I'll go in the Yak-3, choose an axis aircraft
friend: Which aircraft are axis? Is this axis?
Me: Don't know
friend: Is this one axis
Me: Not sure

You get the picture.

I know we could exit the server and go into the museum to check, but my idea of small flag & aircraft role icons next to the aircraft designation codes would be extremely helpful and a better way to do things.

Ignore the snobby responses. Your point is a good one, but...

It is true that most of the existing IL-2 player base are more "sim" minded gamers. As such, most of the players are going to recognize the aircraft and which side used them, in what roles, and have relatively high familiarity with their characteristics, quirks, and backgrounds.

The main problem with implementing your idea is that some aircraft were used by multiple countries in multiple roles, some of them even by opposing sides. For example, the Spits were primarily British, but they had a large number of ex-pat European refugees flying for them, including the Czecks, Polish. Many Americans also flew them in the earliest parts of the war. Likewise, several American built aircraft were used at various points by the British, including the P-38. Regarding roles, some aircraft had rigidly defined roles, others varied. Clearly a B-17 or Lancaster isn't going to be a heavy fighter. The Bf-110 worked in several roles, including heavy fighter, night fighter, and light bomber.

So, assigning icons that indicate national use and/or role can sometimes be a bit precarious. It's not a bad idea, just that implementing it would probably take much more time than it'd be worth, if you'll pardon the expression.

You stated that you and your friend(s) are casual gamers, which there is nothing wrong at all with that. Perhaps you might find it interesting to take a little bit of time and do some basic research and reading up on the histories of the planes you like flying. History can be extremely interesting and revealing, and put some of the aircraft into a better context so you and your friends can understand them better.

Just some food for thought...

[sniperton]

Originally Posted by Whacker

Ignore the snobby responses. Your point is a good one, but...

As to possible implementing problems, I think two things could be done in any case.

First, upgrading the object viewer and/or making it a bit like Hardball's Aircraft Viewer, so that the user can have the needed info from inside the sim itself.

Second, the various roles played by aircrafts used by various countries do not exlude each other. I mean each aircraft can have multiple "roles" flags and multiple "countries" flags, so that a Bf-109F4 could be found both as fighter and fighter-bomber, or both as German and Hungarian. Two more selection list slots on the QMB panel, listing e.g.

All
All Axis
All Allied
USA
GB
etc

or:

All planes
Fighters
Fighter-bombers
etc.

A more ambitious project would be to link both functions, I mean if there were a possibility in the plane customization section in the QMB to show the aircraft info also available through the object viewer.