BoX visual improvements appreciation thread

[LLv24_Zami]

I've been very pleased with the development of the visual side of this game after the DX11 patch.

 

There have been improvements in every update after that and the last one with the land texture anisoptronic filtering

was perhaps the most impressive of all. It practically eliminated ground texture shimmering, which I found very disturbing. Before 2.010, I was forced to use costly sparse grid ss to improve the situation but now I don't see any need for it.

 

Other things worth the mention is improvement to the trees, new hit and damage effects, new clouds in ultra, support for 4k skins and all what I've forgotten. And of course VR graphics are second to none.

 

And these improvements came with significant performance gains. Game looks better than ever on my screen and runs very well!

 

Just wanted to say thanks, great work

[Comes]

The Trees and hit effects really make a difference. I am really happy, that we have more graphic options to choose from now.

 

I just wish, that the devs will find a way to increase the terrain draw distance. 

[dburne]

Other things worth the mention is improvement to the trees, new hit and damage effects, new clouds in ultra, support for 4k skins and all what I've forgotten. And of course VR graphics are second to none.

 

And these improvements came with significant performance gains. Game looks better than ever on my screen and runs very well!

 

 

This for sure, I am absolutely amazed by how good BoX looks and performs in VR, it truly is outstanding!

[Jade_Monkey]

I haven't had much time to look at the clouds since they were tweaked recently. What changed exactly?

 

The increased contrast for the trees was a great improvement in my opinion. I'm not sure if this change made the difference, but now it's possible to spot other planes when they are flying low over the trees. Before it was impossible, and I'm a young person with good eyesight.

 

The only visual improvement still on my wish list is that I hope that the bubble effect can be softened in some way. The terrain.cfg trick is not working for me anymore.

[Guest deleted@50488]

Loks better from upgd to upgd - my preferred flight simulator in  terms of "feeling there" !

[LLv24_Zami]

Main thing imo in forest improvement was getting rid of trees changing direction all the time, trees looked like flashing. That is settled now.

 

Jade, terrain.cfg works for me.

[Jade_Monkey]

Main thing imo in forest improvement was getting rid of trees changing direction all the time, trees looked like flashing. That is settled now.

 

Jade, terrain.cfg works for me.

It used to work for me but not anymore. Mind PMing me the file you use (or the code)?

[ACG_pezman]

I'd like to see the ability to make smoke start from the ground in different colors.

 

Not like the aerobatic smoke, but like if CAS was needed and smoke was used to spot the enemy or friendly lines.  I think that would make for some very interesting missions. 

 

And, because I like the idea, a little rearm+refuel option at an airfield would be nice.

[LLv24_Zami]

It used to work for me but not anymore. Mind PMing me the file you use (or the code)?

I'm at work, typing with my phone. I can send my file later to you.

 

It's taken from this thread, first post: https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/23699-make-il-2-look-stunning-improved-ground-detail-and-visibilit/page-3?do=findComment&comment=474193

 

I use textlod 8192,8 for every line.

[ShamrockOneFive]

I have to say that the sim is looking VERY good right now. I just flew an IL-2 mission just a few minutes before sunset on the Stalingrad autumn map and it just looked incredible. I remember it being good but this just beautiful. There's a cohesion happening here where things that looked good before continue to be good while other issues that we were having are getting better all the time.

 

Keep it coming! It looks great!

[=EXPEND=CG_Justin]

I am on board with these sentiments. The game is looking amazing! 

 

I do have a question though. Has anyone made any adjustments to their Nvidia Inspector profile post patch? Like adjusting things that may have been needed before and not so much now that might free up some resources?

 

- I was forced to use costly sparse grid ss to improve the situation but now I don't see any need for it.-

 

Zami, if you are an Nvidia user, can you show what you've changed in you profile post patch (SGSS) or anything else that has freed up resources?

[LLv24_Zami]

I do have a question though. Has anyone made any adjustments to their Nvidia Inspector profile post patch? Like adjusting things that may have been needed before and not so much now that might free up some resources?

 

 

Zami, if you are an Nvidia user, can you show what you've changed in you profile post patch (SGSS) or anything else that has freed up resources?

If you did not use SGSS, you don`t have to change anything. It`s not on by default. Only thing I change in Nvidia control panel is the Maximum pre-rendered frames, I set it to 1.

 

But here`s a picture where I marked the setting controlling SGSS so you can check it out:

[=EXPEND=CG_Justin]

Thanks Zami, I'll look when I get home in the morning.

[kaboki]

 

I just wish, that the devs will find a way to increase the terrain draw distance.

 

If this was improved just slightly this sim would be just perfect, is the only thing left that bothers me...

 

Been away from this sim for almost 2 years and decided to give it another try now(because DCS normandy didnt turn out too be what i wished for). First thing i noticed was the shimmering that was driving me crazy before is greatly reduced, the performance is also alot better than before. Im now gonna preorder Bok and buy some planes just to support the great job the devs have done bringing this sim up to this level.

[MadisonV44]

Great improvements since DX11 I agree. 

 

By the way, how do you manage with graphics options to avoid : 

- plane loss of definition and shimmering against clouds ? 

- Object flickering from altitude ? (especially added buildings shadows and craters) 

Edited May 28, 2017 by MadisonV44

[ShamrockOneFive]

Great improvements since DX11 I agree. 

 

By the way, how do you manage with graphics options to avoid : 

- plane loss of definition and shimmering against clouds ? 

- Object flickering from altitude ? (especially added buildings shadows and craters) 

 

I haven't been able to solve those yet and I suspect that no-one has. Its an issue with the rendering system.

 

It's interesting to me as well because War Thunder which has a totally different game engine has the same shimmering problem with clouds.

[Danziger]

As far as graphical improvements goes there isn't much left to improve. I would say draw distance is the last major improvement we need. The only other things I can think of would be specular mapping so we can have the nice "metal" effect like in RoF. The last thing would be an upgrade to visual damage on the aircraft. These are all things for the long term of course. With all of the new tech coming in BoK and BoMidway I'm sure the devs are swamped with more important things.

[MadisonV44]

I haven't been able to solve those yet and I suspect that no-one has. Its an issue with the rendering system.

 

It's interesting to me as well because War Thunder which has a totally different game engine has the same shimmering problem with clouds.

 

Regarding the "Plane against cloud" definition issue, I have the strange feeling it was really improved in previous patch (2.009, but not documented so a few only noticed it). Since the issue came back in 2.010 (maybe because of the brand new high definition clouds in ULTRA settings).

 

For me 2.009 was the best ever balanced version of the game from the beginning in terms of graphics vs performance.

2.010 bring back a lot of stuttering issue for a lot of pilots / or poor quality servers

[ShamrockOneFive]

Regarding the "Plane against cloud" definition issue, I have the strange feeling it was really improved in previous patch (2.009, but not documented so a few only noticed it). Since the issue came back in 2.010 (maybe because of the brand new high definition clouds in ULTRA settings).

 

For me 2.009 was the best ever balanced version of the game from the beginning in terms of graphics vs performance.

2.010 bring back a lot of stuttering issue for a lot of pilots / or poor quality servers

 

Strange feeling? It's either there or it isn't and I've seen this crop up in all versions since early release.

 

I take a ton of screen shots and I'm always avoiding shots that have that effect. There hasn't been a patch where I could do it... otherwise I would have snapped a ton of screen shots using that plane on a cloud technique - great imagery just not something that you can do nicely right now (unless super zoomed in which seems to negate the issue).

[MadisonV44]

No need to be harsh if you want to defend an idea mate. Your tons of screenshots and posts are not a licence to be unkind.

Like it or not, I had less often the issues with the 2.009 on that point (and we shared the same remark with my fly mates)

 

Maybe I was not precise enough. So should I precise "on middle range distance" to help you to better understand (because as everybody knows that far distance plane against clouds is a complete spoiler to immersion and combat plane recognition). No improvement here.   

[ShamrockOneFive]

No need to be harsh if you want to defend an idea mate. Your tons of screenshots and posts are not a licence to be unkind.

Like it or not, I had less often the issues with the 2.009 on that point (and we shared the same remark with my fly mates)

 

Maybe I was not precise enough. So should I precise "on middle range distance" to help you to better understand (because as everybody knows that far distance plane against clouds is a complete spoiler to immersion and combat plane recognition). No improvement here.   

 

I apologise for being harsh.

 

I do, however, want to caution against the very strong and real placebo effect where perceived differences between patches are actually non-existent. It happens every patch in nearly every area of the sim.

 

Your added precision is noteworthy and helpful! I haven't noticed any differences in this area, however, there may be. I will check it out.

 

Separately, lots of people have reported that they have had performance issues in 2.010 which I would encourage people to take to the bug or tech support forums. Plenty of people have been able to get their performance issues resolved via a driver update. A few have not and that may be either a result of some optimization not playing well with their card or an external issue that needs to be further researched. If you are having trouble... pop over to the tech forum and one or more people may be able to help.

Edited May 28, 2017 by ShamrockOneFive