Friday 2011-02-04 Dev. update and Discussion

[Necrobaron]

Originally Posted by Wutz

Ok I guess I mixed up the plane types there, but a German trainer would be nice in time, as British planes where not really used on the German side in great numbers, unless they where "souveniers" picked up along the way.

I think the Bu 131 is the trainer you're looking for.

[JVM]

Originally Posted by Foo'bar

Since when a 108 is a trainer? And where did luthier say that the 108 won't gonna be flyable in any time?

Damned! You grilled me, Foo'bar!

[Insuber]

Hi Luthier,

How are the Flight Models done? Parametric, fluidodynamic as in X-Plane, mixed ? Are they different from Il-2 ones, or just an evolution of them?

Cheers,
6S.Insuber

[Sutts]

Originally Posted by luthier

Let me also try to be extremely clear.

1. You can fly over cities on my PCs, just not at the highest settings, or at a low resolution with no FSAA. Stutters are only apparent at low altitude. Stutters mean short dips in FPS every few seconds by about 25%.

2. Whether the world's best PC will or will not stutter over cities depends on resolution and FSAA. If you run the game on three monitors at 5760 x 1080 with 8xFSAA, you will experience stutters while flying over London at altitudes under 200 meters or so.

3. The Buildings video option limits the number of buildings on the screen and offers fluid performance while still offering a picture superior to that of Il-2.

4. FPS is highly situation-dependent. We give you a huge sandbox to play with. So I cannot possibly make any blanket statements about performance on any hardware because we give you the tools to bring the game to a screeching halt.
Any game on the market can be made to run at 0 FPS with enough action on the screen. It's just most other developers ration the action very carefully and balance the game to make sure your FPS does not dip below a set minimum. We do that with our stock campaign and online missions but we do not limit what you can do with the game by yourself. Anyone can crank up the resolution and create a large enough low-level dogfight in Cliffs of Dover that will run at 0 FPS and possibly even crash the game.

5. To sum up: your FPS depends on factors beyond your hardware. It also depends on your resolution, on your FSAA setting, and on the amount of action on the screen.

This is the last I will ever address the topic.



I'm actually not sure, I'll have to ask Monday. CoD usually sits at around 1.8 Gigs in the memory. I don't think I've ever seen it go anywhere near 3 gigs.



Our future is highly dependent on the success of CoD. If everything goes well, then yes, dynamic campaign and dynamic weather are items 1 and 2 on the list.



It's not a big deal to code it in, it's just the guy who could do it is buried neck-deep in other stuff. I need to play around with the Warthog some more myself before we begin to think about actions.



No. Nor is one planned for any foreseeable future.



It depends on AI skill level. AI at any level checks the sky in segments, i.e scans the airspace. They also always take clouds and sun into the account.
Lower-level AI pilots have some periods when they don't scan at all. They scan a smaller overall area of the airspace. They focus on each segment longer - i.e. if he looks at his 8 o'clock you can attack him head-on and he won't spot you. Sun blots out a larger portion of the sky for them.
However the sun is not a 100% blind zone and there is a chance even the dumbest idiot will see you coming out of the sun, chances increasing the closer you are to his 12 o'clock high.

In the end, since you're rarely aware of your opponent's skill level, this results in a very realistic picture. You're never sure whether he breaks and turns into you from 3 miles away, or if you can keep sneaking up on him for a no-deflection shot at 50 yards. Very frustrating when you end up holding your fire just a second too long, and he spots you and breaks away after sitting dead square in your sights.



No, it's much more advanced. We have different customization options for different axes. For example you can not only adjust the curves but also set your idle, 100% and WEP positions for the throttle axis. I'm pretty sure this could be seen in some Igromir videos.

Wow Luthier, some seriously advanced AI going on there. I like it.

Originally Posted by luthier

Let me also try to be extremely clear.

1. You can fly over cities on my PCs, just not at the highest settings, or at a low resolution with no FSAA. Stutters are only apparent at low altitude. Stutters mean short dips in FPS every few seconds by about 25%.

2. Whether the world's best PC will or will not stutter over cities depends on resolution and FSAA. If you run the game on three monitors at 5760 x 1080 with 8xFSAA, you will experience stutters while flying over London at altitudes under 200 meters or so.

3. The Buildings video option limits the number of buildings on the screen and offers fluid performance while still offering a picture superior to that of Il-2.

4. FPS is highly situation-dependent. We give you a huge sandbox to play with. So I cannot possibly make any blanket statements about performance on any hardware because we give you the tools to bring the game to a screeching halt.
Any game on the market can be made to run at 0 FPS with enough action on the screen. It's just most other developers ration the action very carefully and balance the game to make sure your FPS does not dip below a set minimum. We do that with our stock campaign and online missions but we do not limit what you can do with the game by yourself. Anyone can crank up the resolution and create a large enough low-level dogfight in Cliffs of Dover that will run at 0 FPS and possibly even crash the game.

5. To sum up: your FPS depends on factors beyond your hardware. It also depends on your resolution, on your FSAA setting, and on the amount of action on the screen.

This is the last I will ever address the topic.

.

Thank you Luthier, that information is very useful, just one more question if I may, are there any plans to weather the 109 before release?

Many Thanks

Originally Posted by luthier

CoD usually sits at around 1.8 Gigs in the memory. I don't think I've ever seen it go anywhere near 3 gigs.

Originally Posted by Oleg Maddox

but you need more than 4 [GB] to escape the one of the types of shuttering.
As Ilya already told - huge space with good resolution terraine need more memory both graphics card and PC itself.

So why do we need more than 4 GB then?

[Sven]

Originally Posted by Hecke

So why do we need more than 4 GB then?

Because you need 1 for your OS and maximum 3GB for CoD, it's just like they said Hecke, read better.

Originally Posted by Sven

Because you need 1 for your OS and maximum 3GB for CoD, it's just like they said Hecke, read better.

You're right thx for the help.

If you have a 2 GB GFX card + 1 GB OS you then should have 6 GB Ram, right?

[alexei1789]

Hi Luthier and Oleg,

thanks so much for still answering our question !
you say engine overheat realism is improved compared with il2...
What about cooling ? when air-cooled engine is at idle in a long descend, it stresses the engine (fast external cooling and slow in the center). Is this modeled in the sim ?
just wondering, and already happy to receive the sim as is

A.

[luthier]

Originally Posted by Feathered_IV

Hi again Luthier. I wonder if you'd seen this one earlier. Wiek Luijken is an aviation artist and fan of the Il-2 series. He would be happy to work with you.

Like the others have said, we don't decide on the box art, the publisher does.

We could certainly benefit from some top-notch 2D art both in the game and in our marketing - promotional materials, but it's way too late at this point to do anything.

Originally Posted by furbs

Do you know how the AI reacts to damage to their airplane,will they try and break off and run for home?

Yes. Moreover, it reacts to damage and especially losses to other planes, and may decide to run for home even if his plane is intact. Whole formations of newbies may scatter and run if you shoot down their leader etc.

Originally Posted by furbs

And does the AI try and use real world tactics, Boom and zoom, attack from the sun, neg G dives, hit and run(one pass and away, not staying to fight to the death like IL2) and such?

Not staying to fight till death was one of the most important requirements for me for the AI. They do use real-world tactics more than in Il-2. You'll see them working in group a lot more for instance.

Originally Posted by furbs

How does the AI suffer from engine overheat, fly untrimed, suffer from high G and blackouts?

AI engine model is greatly simplified compared to that of the player plane, but we do try to make sure it doesn't give them an advantage.
You can study this in detail when flying the real sim. Autopilot is very verbose, you can see exactly what levers they move etc.

Originally Posted by furbs

Would also be interesting to know if the AI will know if not to attack when at a disadvantage...low and slow

Well they try to extend away and take it from there, but generally even most humans would be doomed if caught in a situation like that.

Originally Posted by Ctrl E

can i be so bold as to ask about your korean war project. i'm guessing it's on the backburner somewhat?

Yes. It's not looking very hopeful for the next immediate sequel either.

Originally Posted by Insuber

How are the Flight Models done? Parametric, fluidodynamic as in X-Plane, mixed ? Are they different from Il-2 ones, or just an evolution of them?

We did a huge technical interview for a print magazine, where our FM programmer wrote like two pages of stuff on it. I'll see if we can publish it here, because that would be a much, much better answer than anything I can type up.

Originally Posted by alexei1789

What about cooling ? when air-cooled engine is at idle in a long descend, it stresses the engine (fast external cooling and slow in the center). Is this modeled in the sim ?

Our engine model is insanely compelx. I dare say it's the most complex engine model in any game of any genre by far. There's multiple points of interest for every piston, every cylinder, every hose, every exhaust, etc. The guy who wrote it can build an internal combustion engine from scratch in his garage. Working on engines is a huge hobby of his.
So rest assured that cooling, overheating, combat damage, or normal operation of our engines is as precise and as detailed as you'll ever see in any game in the next several years.