Friday, May 25, 2012. Report 3

[=FI=Scott]

I suspect that I fall within a large category of humble people for whom DX9 blah-blah-blah, DX10 blah-blah-blah, DX11 API (?) blah-blah-blah is pretty much geeky technofluff.

Comparisions invite bias but if you try and be objective and load up Cliffs and fly it for a mission then load RoF and do the same what is the huge difference ? in terms of category of game (beyond the fact that they represent different eras) they are pretty much the same product appealing to the pretty much the same category of gamer.

Where the two part company is the way in which they deliver their respective experiences. If playability (which to me covers stability, performance, looks and experience) over a large cross section of user PC's is the mark (and tbh thats how developers sell in numbers that please accountants) RoF all but kills Cliffs.

In terms of the visual experience RoF could be written in BBC basic for all I care, it has a look about it, both in terms of its terrain, clouds, models, effects etc that every so often still makes me do a double take. I (personally) have never once had that in CoD while looking out of the cockpit.

I have come to the conclusion that the mark has been missed so completely with this game the situation cannot be retreived, am I happy about that ?, God no, Me and about a dozen other friends were supposed to be playing the arse of this game months ago. So far time spent online as a squad- Zero.

On the basis that I don't play the game any more, have no interest in doing so and have got bored of the handbag fights here I'm going to let the door hit me in the ass on the way out.

[chris455]

Originally Posted by =FI=Scott

In terms of the visual experience RoF could be written in BBC basic for all I care, it has a look about it, both in terms of its terrain, clouds, models, effects etc that every so often still makes me do a double take. I (personally) have never once had that in CoD while looking out of the cockpit.

Yes, ROF is stunning visually- so is COD. I have no way of knowing what graphics settings you are using, but COD is every bit as visually striking as ROF- and I am a huge fan of ROF. Different, yes, but only in approach, not in visual excellence. The graphics in COD (provided you have the hardware to take advantage of them) is one area where the devs hit it out of the park, period. The water, shadowing, shading, use of color, visual detail- in these areas, BOTH ROF and COD are truly phenomenal. And- if you really want to see what can be acheived in a DirectX10 environment vs, DX9, fire up FSX in DX9 then switch to DX10 compatibility- the difference will blow your socks off.
It is s difference one doesn't have to be a "geek" to appreciate.

[arthursmedley]

Originally Posted by =FI=Scott

I suspect that I fall within a large category of humble people for whom DX9 blah-blah-blah, DX10 blah-blah-blah, DX11 API (?) blah-blah-blah is pretty much geeky technofluff.

Comparisions invite bias but if you try and be objective and load up Cliffs and fly it for a mission then load RoF and do the same what is the huge difference ? in terms of category of game (beyond the fact that they represent different eras) they are pretty much the same product appealing to the pretty much the same category of gamer.

Where the two part company is the way in which they deliver their respective experiences. If playability (which to me covers stability, performance, looks and experience) over a large cross section of user PC's is the mark (and tbh thats how developers sell in numbers that please accountants) RoF all but kills Cliffs.

In terms of the visual experience RoF could be written in BBC basic for all I care, it has a look about it, both in terms of its terrain, clouds, models, effects etc that every so often still makes me do a double take. I (personally) have never once had that in CoD while looking out of the cockpit.

I have come to the conclusion that the mark has been missed so completely with this game the situation cannot be retreived, am I happy about that ?, God no, Me and about a dozen other friends were supposed to be playing the arse of this game months ago. So far time spent online as a squad- Zero.

On the basis that I don't play the game any more, have no interest in doing so and have got bored of the handbag fights here I'm going to let the door hit me in the ass on the way out.

This sums up the present situation for me and my squad too and I'm quite sure a fair few others also. I don't resent or regret the money I paid out to pre-order this game over a year ago now - I can put that down to experience but I'm regretfully coming round to the view that CoD will go the way of MS CFS3. I really really hope I'm wrong and I still hold out hope that sometime this year Ace of Aces will be able to open a "told you so" thread and recount some of the more luridly doom-laden posts that we've seen on these boards but alas that hope is diminishing.

[addman]

Originally Posted by arthursmedley

This sums up the present situation for me and my squad too and I'm quite sure a fair few others also. I don't resent or regret the money I paid out to pre-order this game over a year ago now - I can put that down to experience but I'm regretfully coming round to the view that CoD will go the way of MS CFS3. I really really hope I'm wrong and I still hold out hope that sometime this year Ace of Aces will be able to open a "told you so" thread and recount some of the more luridly doom-laden posts that we've seen on these boards but alas that hope is diminishing.

Don't worry, the current alpha patch isn't even beta yet, just imagine how awesome the retail version will be.

[SlipBall]

Off-line can be a lot of fun, no lag or stutters for me...very important to set the AI sliders properly though (I give my wing man max settings), and to also give them objectives.