Friday 2010-07-16 Dev. update and Discussions about the update ONLY!

[Avimimus]

Originally Posted by csThor

Dusty most of the german emblems for SoW-BoB were made by me (until I was rudely interrupted by a serious illness and now I have not the time to devote it to finish the last emblems and write the last manuals) and I provided Maddox Games with a number of "manuals" for the emblems, their application and the other facts pertaining to german units and their markings (colour, style etc). The fighter manual alone has 103 pages in PDF.

I hope your health does well.

Very impressive number of pages there...

[SlipBall]

Thanks for the up-date, everything's looking great!

[Avimimus]

Originally Posted by PhilHL

Hello Oleg Maddox!

I have a question for you. The damaged planes look very similar to the ones in IL-2 (lot of Alpha-Channel use). I have seen many very good damage models in other games which look much better as on your screenshots. For example many racing games. or the damage model of rise of flight, i knew your answer, but SOW will be released way after ROF and it should be better in my eyes.

Is the damage model in SOW again relativly simple as in IL-2? Like having tree different damage models for every part of the plane and if this particular part is hit by bullets it will always look the same?

I know you have the dynamic weathering effects, thats not what I want to hear

I have the feeling, also in other new games that some parts are not really beeing improved. More poygons, highter res of textures and more effects.. yeah thats nice, but thats not a game mechanics improvement.

As I first saw some screens of SOW i just thought.. oh no.. they use too much from il2 in this new game. I know you are basicly the same programmers but IL-2 looks very similar to SOW and not only the graphics.. also the above mentioned doubts of the new damage modell.

Can you release a more professional made video of SOW?? Videos are not the strength of your team or not in your interest or both.

Hi, as Luthier is off for the weekend and Oleg is on vacation I thought I'd pass on what I've gleaned.

The damage model won't include the type of warping/bending seen in Rise of Flight. WWII aircraft tended to be made out of metal cantilever structures which would snap and fragment before they would bend (in most cases) and it wasn't felt to be worth the effort (last I heard anyway). However, the new model will include structural weaknesses and failures. So damaged aircraft may break up in flight some time after being damaged (or even after the combat has ended) depending on how sharply they turn etc. This is similar to the modeling in Rise of Flight. The damage model is based on a system similar to that used in Il-2, but more detailed. The main advance is much more detail to internal modeling (eg. more parts to the engine, more complex engine failures). Oleg also seems to have stated that it will include modeling of wing spars - so the type of unpredictable damage seen in Rise of Flight, where a luck shot can sever a wing is possible. Finally, bullet holes will appear at the exact points where machine-gun bullets hit. However, damage from cannon shots will be much like in Il-2 and always appear in the same spot (the reason is that this can allow much more realistic detailing by Oleg's artists then any automatic system could)

The dynamic weather model is being rebuilt for the new engine.

As a basic principle I wouldn't expect radical differences in art or style from Il-2 (it is after all, being made by the same people). However, expect a lot of very interesting surprises and very real improvements to AI, weather, ground target details and many other areas. The sim will also allow much more end user modification - so terrains, smoke, new aircraft etc. can be made.

I hope that help satisfy you're appetite. I too await new videos, but after ten years I've finally achieved patience and a little bit of confidence in Oleg's abilities. My only concern is that he may be too much of a visionary and try to achieve too many features too soon.

[whatnot]

Originally Posted by caprera

I prefer to call it a "direct critique" and i explained also why i said that.

Surely more helpful than noob pointless cheering for every screenshot shown that even can't recognize AA or HDR like you....so please spare me.

Yes, we need more people writing oneliners about what sucks in the screenshots, that improves the game and developer's motivation a lot.

And we also need more gentlemen like caprera calling people noobs cheering for every screenshot when they point out two areas that could need improvement in a bit more civilized manner. That contributes to the discussion pretty well too.

[AC_Black]

~S~

Thanks again DT looks great

[Chivas]

Fire is very dynamic and can only be fairly critiqued after seeing it in a video. Saying the fire suxs at this juncture would be a noob comment.

[Sutts]

Thanks for the update guys, impressive stuff.

The trailing fire is really good. I think you'll have to see it in a video to get the full benefit though. You can get away with lower resolution textures in areas that move or change rapidly like the fire. I'd rather see the developers make frame rate saving decisions in areas that aren't really noticable like this. If we go 100% photorealistic on everything then it will never run on most people's PCs.

The fire inside the fuselage is fantastic and very scary looking. Never seen anything as real looking as that before in a sim. I particularly like how the fire has highlighted internal details like the flare chute tube (I think) in the rear fuselage.

Cheers

[Kudlius]

Sea looks fantastic, but forest? Is that real map?

[Dano]

Originally Posted by furbs

yep...those trees look much better...so i wonder why they dont look as good in the last few updates?

anyone have a idea?

I'd hazard a guess that we are seeing a low quality landscape with low quality trees, ie; the worst it will look.

[socorrista22198]

Hi

I think particle systems are part of the past, would be nice use volumetric systems

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPILh1JrEM0

Thanks for the game