Friday Update, January 27, 2012

[Ataros]

Originally Posted by zapatista

btw, i was GIVEN a russian download version of CoD about 6 months ago (as a thank you for building a friends new pc), and i DELETED it, it was so unplayable on my system (and i dont have weeks to waste to fiddle with it to try and get it to run each time a micro patch is released on steam). i tried it again about 3 months ago (with all the steam updates) and it was still UNPLAYABLE (except if you just fly over water and limit yourself to air quake servers online), even if my pc is mid-range (i5 dual core, 4 gb ram, ati 5770 1 gb card, 27' monitor at 1920 x 1200, hotas, track –ir etc). to get such negative feedback from some of the most ardent and long term oleg supporters (having played il2 since its first demo almost 10 yrs ago) speaks for itself, there is something seriously rotten in denmark ! sure, for people with monster pc's (and there are a few here) they now get reasonable performance over land/cities, but that is the only exception (and they are the main posters of the video's you refer to)

In your particular case the issue that prevents you from playing is too high resolution multiplied by a low-end PC (budget video card and a dual core processor). Your system would run it OK @ 1400x900 resolution. No patch will fix it and I can explain why:

My experience with sims like Warbirds, Il-2, several versions of MSFS, ArmA1, 2, RoF, etc. gave me a good lesson: do not buy a high resolution monitor if you do not want to buy the most expensive video card on the market every year. I flew Warbirds in 800x600 оn 15', then IL2 on 17' in 2001 @ 1024x800x16bit, 2002 @ 1150x960x16bit and only since 2003 @ 1280x1024x32bit (changed several processors and video cards in the process). With shooters like Call of Duty, BF2,3 or Wings of Prey resolution can be set as much as 2 times higher because they are "optimised" which means visibility distance and details level are reduced (compare CloD to BF3 for instance). Sims are different in nature (and by definition) as their purpose is to have IRL visibility distance and IRL details level. It is just absolutely not logical to expect sims to be optimised in the same way as other genres are. The most challenging sims for me to run smoothly was MSFS and then RoF (on a single core CPU back then) btw.

The above lessons were very painful because I wanted higher FPS but did not want to pay for it buying a new video card every year. Having learned the lessons I bought 1680x1050 monitor for CloD because I new it would be as demanding as any other sim I know. Now I know that every sequel will raise requirements higher and higher as soon as they are published every year or so.

@ 1680x1050 the game is very playable on my very old system i7-860@3.8 (2 years old) - HD4890 (3 generations old). Landscape, forest, buildings @ low, other @ med-high with some driver & system fine-tuning.

I do not expect much performance increase from the upcoming patch. It will be not more than 10% for some systems and switching just one graphics setting up will take it away.

You will be able to run 1920 x 1200 with max settings only when SLI is working and you have 2x 580-3GB vram set up I am afraid. But SLI technology is very unreliable in sims and if it works in one patch it may not work in the next patch as RoF example shows for instance. I do not recommend going this way.

If you definitely need a huge screen now, the most cost efficient solution is to purchase a big 2nd hand CRT monitor or a projector and run it at about 1400x900 or 1680x1050 resolution max.

It is not possible to have a quick, cheap and quality(high-res) solution at the same time in real life. There is always a trade-off in real life. You have to sacrifice 1 or 2 factors to have another:

1) wait till 2013 hardware (time),
2) buy every new top video card that enters the market (cost),
3) reduce resolution and/or settings (quality).

You can have it quick, cheap and high quality at the same time only in children fairy tales.

PS. Mr.X whose videos show that the game is very playable in its current state has the same 2 year-old processor as I have and a 2-3 years old gtx480. Perhaps he plays with lower settings than he records videos and his res is reasonable 1920x1080. http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=29379

Originally Posted by Ataros

In your particular case the issue that prevents you from playing is too high resolution multiplied by a low-end PC (budget video card and a dual core processor).

Recently I migrated from 1680x1050 to 1920x1200. CLOD STILL runs fine (well, not perfect, as Im used to in other games and sims but smooth enough for my taste anyway) as long as theres no effects near (fire or dust etc)....sometimes its a bit slower when more planes are in dogfight, low over cities....but the slideshow starts when the effects are near as I already said.....

Originally Posted by Ataros

Your system would run it OK @ 1400x900 resolution. No patch will fix it

Oh if they succeed in optimizing the core engine then everybody (spec. guy with "newer quads and decent GPUs") should notice a rather big difference in perfromance....textures, landscape and AA settings should have more impact on performance than difference in resolution (at least if its not so big difference)....

my system:
i7920 OC 3.5Ghz
GTX470 TF2 (custom coolers) 800Mhz OC on core (should outperform slightly both 480 and 570 on stock speeds)
6GB of DD3 working at app. 1333Mhz
Dell U2412M (1920x1200, low input lag e-IPS panel)
X-FI Gamer
TiR5

[Ataros]

Originally Posted by Tvrdi

Oh if they succeed in optimizing the core engine then everybody (spec. guy with "newer quads and decent GPUs") should notice a rather big difference in perfromance....textures, landscape and AA settings should have more impact on performance than difference in resolution (at least if its not so big difference)....

my system:
i7920 OC 3.5Ghz
GTX470 TF2 (custom coolers) 800Mhz OC on core (should outperform slightly both 480 and 570 on stock speeds)
6GB of DD3 working at app. 1333Mhz
Dell U2412M (1920x1200, low input lag e-IPS panel)
X-FI Gamer
TiR5

My understanding based on what I read in Technical section here and in Benchmark thread @sukhoi http://translate.google.com/translat...hp%3Ft%3D68723 is that resolution is the biggest factor influencing performance compared to any other setting. I think res influence is not linear but exponential.

Also res has a highest hit on video memory I believe.

E.g. single gtx580 can run CloD almost maxed out (maybe 1 setting not maxed out) at 1920x1080. But @1920x1200 2-3 settings will need to be reduced to avoid slideshow when effects are near. Older cards can not handle new shader versions (special effects) as good as new ones.

Dual cores with gtx8800 can run it on res not higher than 1280x960.

Could you include your system specs into your signature please to avoid misunderstanding in the future?

PS. To me optimisation of original Il-2 happened by purchasing new hardware in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006. This allowed me to raise resolution and increase FPS. I do not see any reason why it will be different in CloD. Same happened to me in MSFS, RoF, ArmA and other sims. Code optimisation helps a little bit but usually the benefit is quickly taken away by new features introduced in sequels. Miracle will just not happen because it never happened before. Even the devs want it badly and want to believe it possible but it is not.

Originally Posted by Ataros

Also res has a highest hit on video memory I believe.

This. More than anything else. But like I said I didnt notice any signifficant drop of performance migrating from 1680x1050 to 1920x1200. On my system.

Originally Posted by Ataros

E.g. single gtx580 can run CloD almost maxed out (maybe 1 setting not maxed out) at 1920x1080. But @1920x1200 2-3 settings will need to be reduced to avoid slideshow when effects are near. Older cards can not handle new shader versions (special effects) as good as new ones.

I have mostly med settings (textures and plane models on high). "External" AA applied (DX files). On most occasions works fine as soon as thers no effects near (dust and engine fire..explosions).

Originally Posted by Ataros

Could you include your system specs into your signature please to avoid misunderstanding in the future?

I did now.

Originally Posted by Ataros

PS. To me optimisation of original Il-2 happened by purchasing new hardware in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006. This allowed me to raise resolution and increase FPS. I do not see any reason why it will be different in CloD. Same happened to me in MSFS, RoF, ArmA and other sims. Code optimisation helps a little bit but usually the benefit is quickly taken away by new features introduced in sequels. Miracle will just not happen because it never happened before. Even the devs want it badly and want to believe it possible but it is not.

Agree. New and better hardware will always help. But. A bad optimisation of game engine is something which can cause bad performance for most folks. So only guys with super PCs can enjoy in smooth performance. Thats something we dont want, right? Anyway, even for today standards my machine is pretty good and like I said I stilll have problems...