Some things to make you stop and stare ...
 

It's absolutely right that we are giving copius amounts of feedback to get things fixed but I thought it might also be nice to start mentioning some of the things which are truly amazing with this game and for which the devs need a serious pat on the back. In no particular order ...


1. The explosions you get when you blow up the large round fuel silos are outstanding. Sure, you get a fps hit, but it doesn't seem to matter. The fire afterglow actually looks and feels hot too.

2. Bombs have a wonderful crump noise when they hit and the explosions are really well done.

3. When a hangar is hit & destroyed by a bomb, the animated collapse is a really nice touch.

4. I think carb icing must be modelled which was a real surprise. Flying through cloud, my Spit started running rough, but then cleared a few seconds later in clear air.

5. Early morning low level mist is extremely convincing, atmospheric and well placed.

6. Has anyone actually watched how aircraft shadows race over the ground and ANY objects in their path. Incredibly well done indeed.

7. When the sun is low, the atmospheric haze/smog layer become more apparent and the colours are just superb.

8. An obvious one, but the dynamic shadows and lighting in the cockpit are outstanding.

9. Crash landing in a field is now such a joy, it's almost too tempting. The dynamics, sounds and visuals of the swaying grass or crops are top notch (ok, ignoring fly-through trees for the mo)

10. The hazy/non-existent horizon over the Channel is perfectly done. The view of the Cliffs of Dover from afar are totally convincing and a virtual source of comfort for any RAF pilot.


So, just some of thoughts and observations. Feel free to add.

PPP

For me it is the gunnery I can`t get over in this game. The moment I put 4 20mm shells dead-on in the Hurricane cockpit made me smile. I don`t know if anyone else feels like I do, but the first hew hours with this game (mainly dogfighting over the La Manche) made me think that I was in an old WWII guncam flick, blazing away. The little explosions on the planes, the holes and the gunsight, just awesome. The old IL2 shooting seems cartoony in comparison.

I bet that if one made some black-white movies from guncams in COD , then put them up next to the real guncam flicks , a normal individual wouldn`t notice any difference.

well, its easy to spot... just watch as the A.I goes warp 5 in a 60g turn :P

Definitely! The more time that is spent with it, the more becomes noticeable. And how much more is going to be evident once dormant content is activated, when all the initial ‘bugs’ are ironed out.

Give them a pat from me too.

I looked behind me in a Hurricane and noticed the bolts on the armour plate behind me. They're inscribed with "Maddox Games". Thought that was a nice touch. I really like the cockpit shadows but had to disable them. They cut my framerate from 24 down to 10fps. This sim has so many realistic features in it that people start listing them as bugs! Maybe a more inclusive manual will clear things up a bit.

I got the RAF gunsight functions mapped to my Warthog so I can adjust range and target size on the fly. It's little things like this that blow me away. Same with the landing gear/flap actuator in the Hurricane. Looks like a bug when you can't activate it untill you realize it's a two step process. They could've just released the Hurricane and call it a study sim . The value is immense and the potential endless. We need specific flight manuals for each of the planes though.

The atmospheric effects are very nice during dawn and dusk. I stopped flying at the default time setting. My settings are medium/low and everything looks a magnitude better when the sun is lower in the sky. Difference between a cartoon and a warm, atmospheric, fotorealistic scene.

Can't wait to buy the Americas version. Keeping my fingers crossed that they include all the patches and updates on the release version. Buying the DVD and then still having to download the entire game is a bit much.

this sim is stunning with all its details.i have to agree on all points you guys mentioned.what i like most in this sim,is the morning or evening sun glancing above the fields.the colours and the shadows just look awesome!and the fields itself look just real in dawn.with the shadows you can almost feel the depth of them.
btw, i tried to blow up some fuel tanks in industrial area but nothing happened.perhaps i shot at something different,i assumed to be fuel tanks.can someone upload a screen to show which buildings are the fuel tanks actually?would be nice.

I love how the sun light in the cockpit falls off when flying under clouds. Lovely done. You almost can feel cold.

I would be willing to pay for a detailed guide on each of the aircraft within the sim; how to use features, how to press performance out of them, how to get them going, performance limits, strengths etc. Maybe that's something 1C can think about doing, now that they have some revenue.

I love watersplashes , they splashes in the direction o the crash, first time i see that.
And the oil leak effect!!! you can see all these litle drops and turbulences!!

I like the solo flight mission were i can see life at the airfield and the moving clouds.
Another thing is the broken glass when the aircraft is hit. For sure i love little eyecandies like the rolling wheel when it is retracted. I think there are many new features to explore. And i like them all!!!!!

Dev team really made it. It becomes an addiction. GREAT SIM! With the last patch i was able to activate cloude high land detail.;)

love the damage effects, jagged chunks of loose aluminium quivering in the wind the strips of canvas that flutter around behind the aircraft, flames that spread to other parts of the plane, those little bits of flaming debris that fall off, the sound of a struggling engine coughing oil and smoke, the sight of the landing gear locking mech failing and the leg dropping down, watching that medium sized grey puff that leaves a jagged hole where an oxygen bottle used to be, the shock of being calmly sat behind a 109 plinking away then seeing nothing but a fireball coming towards you followed by masses of smoke and flames where that one lucky incendiary has pierced the forward fuel tank.
sigh it's the little things :)

Not mine, but posted earlier, I think it looks astounding!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkNt_osAwe4

There are so many...

*The way the suspension is actually working when taking off or landing.
* Those amazing cockpit shadows.
*The way pilots flail away, clutching at air when their chutes don't open.
*The particle effects (smoke, leaking oil or fuel) look excellent.
*Damage modelling. (Been said already, but it's so good it can't be said enough)
*That beautiful water, especially at dawn or dusk.
*That satisfying feeling of scoring a kill. It feels much more satisfying than in the old series for me.

I have almost all graphic details at lowest settings (on my old computer, new one is coming). I have now played 21+ hours (not continually! :)) and every dogfight still amazes me, especially when my cannons and mg's hit on enemy plane at close range, 50-100 meters. Exactly like i have read on many books...
can't really wait how good it will look on new computer!

FLAK is awsome :)

L.

I like how the airspeed indicator freezes and shows a reduced speed when flying for too long inside a cloud :grin:

Also there are really usefull shadows! I was trying some multiplayer flying a 109. When zooming down from the sun to surprise a lost spit i notised not only my shadow on the ground infront of me, but a second shadow! Looked behind me and sure enough there was a spit on my tail which i managed to get away from :grin:

+++++! :)

Couldn't agree more with the beauty of this sim, even with it's rough edges. The details are absolutely amazing, and sometimes make me forget that it's just a "game".

I can't wait to see what more unfolds. Seems like somebody is always uncovering something new every time I visit the forum.

I agree that this sim has been worth the wait... the detail of the cockpits is amazing!!

and for me the thing that really sets this apart from the other IL titles is the expansive and vast horizon...I really disliked the old fish eye lens look.

how anyone could bad mouth this sim despite it's problems is beyond me:confused:

I'm getting a little OT here, but it's easy to do.. even for someone like myself who tries to see past the rough edges.

Along with many others, I've waited for this sim for a long time with fairly high expectations. When it was released in a nearly unplayable state (for me anyway), I was horribly disappointed to say the least.

But... I'm keeping the faith. It's still very, very rough.. but there's so much beauty in all the details at the same time. I'm continuing to stay optimistic, what with the recent developments. :) I'm happy at least that I can at least get some good quality flight time in and finally appreciate the little nuances.

OK, I'm done. Not gonna hijack this thread with my opinions. :)

Have you seen this thread on SimHQ ?

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.ph...ml#Post3269457

Paul

As the fps of COD is getting better and better, the community will find more and more pleasant surprises from the sim. :)

This is exactly what I was missing when away from IL2. Sharing the resources. So easy to read and accesible. Mindblowingly awesome.

Will try to takeoff with Emil using this thing today.

Holy shamoly!

Aircraft tires catch fire when shot with incendiary bullets.

I think I also experienced an engine starting to malfunction 1-2 minutes before I ran out of fuel.

+1

Lives up to its name.

I love the fires!!!

When you hit a plane with an incendiary, watch as that part of the plane burns until it fails, sometimes falling off, spiraling down leaving a trail of smoke. Other times the fire will spread, engulfing whole sections of the plane, spreading to fuel tanks or engines or the gunners and pilots.

Also the way 1 or 2 cylinders can fail, a plane darting away and you get a brief look at a small yellow flame crawling out of one cylinder before the plane is gone, desperately trying to make its way home.

Really, really good, the only reason I'm not playing right now is I left my computer at my other house! :-)

At last some positivity! :D

The shadows and reflections on the cockpit glass are amazing.
Shoot a train engine and watch the huge fountain of steam explode out.
The way ships evade when under bomber attack.
Reflections of clouds on the sea.
Vehicles actually steer now. You can see their front wheels turn as they navigate roads.
The way bomb explosions have a shockwave effect that throws damaged targets outwards.

There is definitely gold to be gound in this sim.

T.

Tried to shot at a He-111 cockpit from a Hurricane in a head on... when I look over the shoulder after the pass, I see it slowly initiating a fatal dive.

Big surprise when I saw the track... bullets efectively killed the pilot and bomber saved his live by barely inches... but pilot took off his hands out of the controls before falling dead!

I have to add a few more now ...

1. Aircraft causing shadows on other aircraft. In close formation, just watch the wing shadow from your wingman creep over your airframe - fab!

2. Ground shadows from patchy clouds. Makes the landscape so realistic that at first you don't notice it ... because of course it's just normal every day nature.

3. From a previous post in this thread, it appears that not just carb icing is modeled, but also pitot tube icing. The latter is the tube that pokes out into the airflow and measures your airspeed. If it gets clogged with ice (perhaps in cloud) you will get airspeed indication errors. I don't know yet if pitot heat or carb heat is modeled to avoid these RW issues, but I guess it's only a matter of time.

4. Canopy fogging up when in cloud. A really nice touch - not perfect yet as its animation is a little stuttery/rough - but a great touch none the less.

5. Tyres getting shredded to the rims and tyres still spinning on an upturned crashed aircraft.

PPP

That's a nice post!

What's amazing in this game is the level of detail in almost everything.
I was amazed to fly over France and see windmills...working like real ones!
I wonder whether they stop turning if there is no wind :-P

Cockpit shadows is another thing that amazes me. I just can't live without them anymore!

Aircraft with radial engines like the G.50 and the Blenheim have carb heat. Also, pitot heat is modeled (i don't know how many planes have it though, i guess all would), you just need to bind a key to it in the options ;)

Things that make me smile;

Control cables to the tail surfaces on Moth vibrate

Clouds move and change shape constantly like real clouds

The feeling of really being high up when looking at the ground

The way the planes drop altitude when power is off, most sims leave you floating when power is off

The really great and detailed and easy FMB

The way the front crew member moves when you slip the Moth

The early morning or late day lighting and shadows

Many more to come I am sure.

I'd love to agree with you PeterPan but i'm still waiting on my system.

I watch the Vids with aching jealousy :-x

He111.

Details
 

All the multiple details we found everywere in this game. It is awsome.
I like the idea that in a near future some skins shall be produced and used by many of us.
Thanks to the production team. ;)

A lot of good ones in this thread.

For me it's definately the cockpit shadows, which more than once have led me to continually roll my aircraft to see how the shadows play against the rest of the cockpit (has led to not just a few crashes, as I'm quickly running out of altitude and options while mesmerized by the shadows).

That, and the feeling of flying low over the terrain, hugging every little hill, valley and bump in the terrain. Especially fun to do in a 109 when you're being chased by a few very angry Spitfires. Just pay attention to your altitude and the terrain, lest you become PART of the terrain.

Absolute best part, though: Sunset in hazy and partially clouded weather. Just makes me want to fly around watching it for hours on end.

Another quick one from me,
The sense of speed and movement is just awesome, feels like your screaming through the air in all planes you could be in a bleinheim only going about 220mph but from looking out the windows and seeing details flash past it feels like your going so much faster, and that every aircraft has it's own little features and quirks none of them feel the same to fly each one is different from take off to landing and i'm loving discovering each and every little feature of these planes.