Friday 2010-11-12 Dev. update and Discussion

Everything looks fantastic. . . but I was wondering about the flames.

When looking at the flames with the aircraft in front of in them, there is a bright white outline of the plane structure. Is this from lower settings being used or something that still has to be ironed out. To me it looks like someone photoshopping the aircraft in front of the flames without blending it properly, or is it the reflection from the flames on the edge of the aircraft surfaces?

Everything else looks amazing, just wondering about that one issue.

[Avimimus]

Originally Posted by Peffi

You must be joking ! It's a FLIGHTSIM !!!

I still remember the story of a bush pilot who was suffering vertigo - he figured out which way was up by looking at the orientation of a Caribou. The Caribou was above him. Patterns of vegetation can add variety - they can also be useful for navigation.

We model rivets with such detail - why not model the world they exist in? If we just wanted to model flight we would have the calculations with neither planes nor landscapes...

It isn't that hard to build a tool for altitude, latitude, concave vs. convex rules (compared to the other stuff Oleg is doing). Of course, it isn't a priority. I'm just impressed enough by what Oleg is already doing to let my imagination run wild.

[tourmaline]

Everything just looks stunning.

Can't wait to get my hands on the stick again.

[krz9000]

everything looks great but i hope they update the soundengine and the camera systems...i cant stand to see these strict attached cameras anymore. pls add a random wiggle and loose momentum to it

[Sutts]

Amazing work Oleg and team. The lighting effects are incredibly real and compare well to real period photos. Here's a few piccies for comparison. Love the ripples in the skin BTW.

Can some of our resident Lufwaffe experts enlighten me on the use of flat paints on german aircraft of this period please? I know many Allied aircraft of the time featured VERY flat non-specular paint that was specially designed using angular pigment particles to scatter light and prevent skin sheen/reflections. Just look at the belly of a wartime Lancaster as an example.
This paint would only develop a sheen in areas that had been rubbed or had oil/grease contamination.

I'm hoping our Spitfires and Hurricanes have a nice drab non-reflective finish much like my wartime jeep. Anything more glossy will start to look like a modern day warbird with low maintenance satin or gloss paint. Any chance you could confirm this please Oleg?

I'm not familiar with German finishes but the shots below clearly show quite a reflective surface on the Stuka which is replicated beautifully in SoW. Did all German aircraft have a satin finish like this?

[Peffi]

Originally Posted by Avimimus

why not model the world they exist in? If we just wanted to model flight we would have the calculations with neither planes nor landscapes....

Isn't that exactly what Oleg is doing, modelling the world the planes exist in? Just because Oleg doesen't model every flower and bush that exist in England and put them in their right spot doesn't mean he just as well should skip modelling airplanes, horizon, landscape etc. Your reasoning is completely void of logic.

[Foo'bar]

Originally Posted by luthier

So the user texture can actually be a smaller resolution, 512, even 64x64 and still look all right-ish since the riveting and the weathering on top of it are 2048x2048.

Wow, that really is a good way to allow individual paint schemes while decreasing dramatically the mass of files to be spreaded by server. Bravo!

[Flying Pencil]

I would buy this game JUST to see the effects!!

I am to the point I do not care if I cannot play it! LMAO

Wow ! thanks for the video Mr Oleg. My favourite bit has to be inside the Bf 109e cockpit as well as the others. Its so accurate, I love how you can see the top of the canopy framework , really looked like the camera was inside the cockpit.
Cant wait to see the on my pc.

[philip.ed]

Can I just say that you're team has done an astounding job with this. Visually, this looks absolutely groundbreaking IMHO for an early demo-and that really is great to say.
The terrain looks beautiful too, any preconceived doubts that I had have gone out of the window seeing this.
I'd love to see a smog around London and the majoy industrial cities...would this be possible? Not just for visuals, but it would make bombing missions for the luftwaffe (and also the RAF on the other side of the channel) all the more interesting.
Seriously, this looks great. If one were to be picky, it's just the effects and the clouds that might need more tweaking, but considering this is just an early demo-clip I have little doubt that perfection in these areas can be reached

Excellent work. I hope that, for you, you feel your efforts have been worthwhile. I can't stress enough how pleased I am seeing this, and I know others who are even more astounded than me.

Thankyou team. I'll point out that I'd have waited another 5 years for a game that looks this good. I have no doubt the gameplay will echo this.