Friday 2010-11-19 Dev. update and Discussion

[carl]

i like the menus but the pictures, i like them all but shot_20101117 is my favourites, when i get this sim i may just spend first couple of weeks making screenies

[SlipBall]

Originally Posted by philip.ed

We haven't seen the tracers in motion so it's hard to comment Also, with the spiral, was this a common feature or is it down to camera shake? I've heard strong arguments for both reasons.

I think a combination of both for sure. The flight path of bullets gets very erratic when the mach barrier is crossed as they slow, after only 2 or 3 seconds of flight time. Add the sideways movements of the platform, caused by the firing of guns themselves. Another factor being any sideslip of the aircraft during the firing, introducing strong crosswind on the projectile. These would all combine to give a pronounced image to the viewer.

[Necrobaron]

Very nice! I might sound like a broken record, but once again, this is one of the best updates to date. A good bit of information can be gleaned from those lovely screenies...

[Sutts]

Originally Posted by choctaw111

The spiral effect of the smoke was not a camera shake issue. The spiral like vortices were actually present.
I had a 20mm MG-FF cannon shell pulled from a shot up B17. The hole for the tracer was off center. This is another contributing factor to the spirals.
The only thing about the wiggling tracers that I have an argument about is quite simple.
When viewing a tracer that is fired, it will appear as a streak traveling in a straight line, no wiggles, BUT if you are firing a handheld or semi fixed machine gun, the vibrations and recoil on your face will cause the tracer to appear a little distorted, very much like the camera shake.

Agreed, there's no way that the spiral effect we see in film could be caused by camera shake...if it was then the spiral smoke effect produced earlier in the flight of the shell would not be there in the subsequent frames..but it is.

I don't believe all tracers produced this spiral but some of the larger calibre ones definitely did. How it was produced I have no idea. We've seen balistic studies on this forum recently showing that bullets/shells do gyrate around an axis in flight but I can't believe this wobble was very large. Perhaps it becomes larger as the flight time increases and energy is lost?

[philip.ed]

Originally Posted by SlipBall

I think a combination of both for sure. The flight path of bullets gets very erratic when the mach barrier is crossed as they slow, after only 2 or 3 seconds of flight time. Add the sideways movements of the platform, caused by the firing of guns themselves. Another factor being any sideslip of the aircraft during the firing, introducing strong crosswind on the projectile. These would all combine to give a pronounced image to the viewer.

Could such a noticeable spiral be reached?
Maybe....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aqJw...E3248F&index=7

I can't say whether this is the camera shake causing the effect, but then maybe this is modelled in SoW? In the same way that the different prop-visuals are modelled dependent on the speed the player sets the game to....?
Quite interesting, I can't wait to see this in-game.

[Sutts]

Originally Posted by C_G

I agree with Lancelot.
While the GUI is "fine" (clean, etc... etc...), it's very boring.

Here's an idea to make it much more graphical.

Have a cut-away of a He-111 (it has to be some aircraft that uses almost all of the available controls- though ideally you could profile any aircraft you wished),
clicking on the landing gear selects the gear assignment, then push the button that you wish to assign - graphic: the landing gear goes up to confirm selection.

for the engine controls, graphical zoom in on the throttle quadrant and associated controls, click on the labeled item, assign button

For the bombardier controls the same. Graphical zoom in on the equipment in the cockpit, direct assigning of controls via mouse + game device button.

This would be so much more interesting and intuitive than the old IL2 "endless-scrolling until you get to the right control" exercise.

I know it's probably too late to suggest this, unfortunately.

C_G

For sure this would be more interesting than a list BUT you'd need a knowledge of the arrangement and controls of the aircraft in the picture in order to use it. The list works well in my opinion. I like the clean look of the interface too. Much more professional looking than a picture of a book open on an old desk like some have suggested. Just my opinion of course

[C_G]

Originally Posted by Sutts

For sure this would be more interesting than a list BUT you'd need a knowledge of the arrangement and controls of the aircraft in the picture in order to use it. The list works well in my opinion. I like the clean look of the interface too. Much more professional looking than a picture of a book open on an old desk like some have suggested. Just my opinion of course

Items would be labeled... in any case, I think development has gone too far for energy to be put into the sort of feature I suggest.

If I were to decide between the present type of list (modern/clean) vs. "faux historic" I would go for modern/clean.

[GOA_Potenz]

WOW the ammount of controls is insane, so for everybody like me
that was concern about the complexity of the sim, now i can do nothing
more than no sleep till have this sim in my PC.


Flying in full real will be a total new experience for MP and SP

Oleg how many axis we can control??? need to know as i'm building a
control box with axis.

REGS

POTZ

[orkan]

Menus must be functional, and a game/simulator immersive. Leave menus be. Respect typography.

[arjisme]

Originally Posted by philip.ed

I don't see how camera shake can explain a continuous spiral pattern in the tracer smoke as shown in that video. It would explain the wiggly tracer light, but that isn't a spiral effect -- it is an erratic wiggle. But for the tracer smoke, as the camera moves across the scene, the smoke remains in its spiral pattern.

I assume the spiral pattern comes from tracer rounds that tumble.