Developer Diary, Part 51

[JG1_Vonrd]

Ahh, just a teaser then. Thanks MIKHA.

[KamikazeSexPilot]

There seriously needs to be a slider for how much motion blur there is. I for one like motion blur, but in very small, tasteful amounts. Also seriously guys I would think you're getting more people now complaining about the individual graphical settings being removed than people complaining before. This really needs to go back to the way it was. More customisability for graphics is never a bad thing.

[greggr62]

 

 

I openly acknowledge that the game developers have access to more information, I don't at any point claim to have more than them.

 

However, I have yet to read a report that the Lagg 3 was anything but an under powered horrible aircraft to fly (which is why they changed the engine to the M82 radial engine creating the LA 5)

 

Yet the latest update is the exact opposite of this.

 

The latest update seems to have not changed the 109's performance in regards to the cold weather (I didn't notice any improvement, has anyone?), yet dramatically improved the Lagg's performance.

 

 

I honestly hope to be proven wrong, but all things being equal, if the Lagg's performance in cold weather is improved, than logically so should the 109.

 

Cold air being denser will improve the volumetric efficiency of both engines.

 

 

As a slight aside, did the soviets solve the negative g issues with their carburetors like the Brits did? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree. Before the update, I could hardly shoot down any Me-109s. Has always been a tedious and lengthy process. After the update, the Lagg specifically seems "super-charged", not so the Me-109. I managed to shoot down 3 Me-109s in the same mission. Since I cannot have improved so dramatically in one week, I think the change in the flight model must be thought over. It is an almost different aircraft.

In any case the update was great overall, thanks to the team for the good work.

[Emgy]

 After the update, the Lagg specifically seems "super-charged", not so the Me-109.

109 engine does also benefit from the cold air, tree level top speed is about 30km/h faster than previous in-game tests (see Bos-compare software), easy to test with level autopilot.

[TheGreatKotobuki]

With all of these new graphics being introduced into the camera settings I really would like individual graphics options back.

[Frequent_Flyer]

It also appears the " novice ' AI are more aggressive for both the Red and Blue. The smoke and fire appear better rendered to me. I really like the damage modeling it appears very realistic . If we don't get the QMB in the next update, could the devs. add hostile flak firing at my aircraft I would like to see this.

[Brano]

....

As a slight aside, did the soviets solve the negative g issues with their carburetors like the Brits did?

From my different post>

M105PF we have in LaGG3 s.29 was allready equipped with direct fuel injection.Previous M105P/PA were carburator fed. (PA was version with carburator w/o float)

P version had float carburettor (like early Merlins),with PA version they switched to membrane carb. (there should be 6 of them,I suppose 1 per 2 cylinders) With this setup plane could fly for ~5min. up-side-down.

Edited February 2, 2014 by Brano

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

 Why did I read that M-105PF had 6 x K-105 carburettors. License built of Solex-Hispano 56SVC self-adjusting carburettor.

[kongxinga]

I am getting some weird crash to desktop errors while flying in this update that were not there before. Message is Il-2 has encountered an error and need to close. Could it possibly be my video card failing with all the motion blur? I can't reproduce the error , but it has happened in the middle of a dogfight and on takeoff, and has never happened before.

 

I am running trackir and dxstory concurrently to have headtracking and to record videos.

[Volkoff]

I really like the cold weather bump in horsepower and performance for the LaGG-3 and the Bf-109. I had a lot of fun with the new content, including the blur effect, and I am certainly looking forward to future early access periods. Thanks to the team, including the testers, for all of your great efforts!  MJ

Edited February 2, 2014 by =69.GIAP=MIKHA

[Brano]

S!

 

 Why did I read that M-105PF had 6 x K-105 carburettors. License built of Solex-Hispano 56SVC self-adjusting carburettor.

You are right.My mistake.Just checked that with my Yak 1 book

[hiro]

I remember my dad telling me the vapor trails of the skies above and wanted to fly during the battle of the leyte gulf. 

 

And how one of the first gripping scenes of air combat I saw was the contrails of the B-17's and their fighters battling the luftwaffe in black and white photos . . . .

 

 

I can't wait to take off to see circle of the trails high above, as I race to meet them . . .

[Nankeen]

Possible changes observed: The Lagg3 feels different During takeoff and in flight at low altitude higher speeds.

Maybe its a just case of pracice?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other note:

Like the colours of the Starlingrad Map.

 

Just had to see what the 109 looked like in flames, It did not appear to need as many rounds as the Lagg3.

 

 

[pacoviciana]

Hello, 

 

First of all, thank you for this wonderful simulator, there is an incredible work behind, so it first this sincerely greeting. 

 

I have checked the last weekend for performance graphics in game. 

 

But first, the specs of my computer: 

 

Apple MacPro (2008) with OSX 10.6.8 with Bootcamp and Windows 7-64 bit. 

2x3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon processor 6Gb Ram. Nvidia Geforce 8800 GT 

 

I tried to Rise of Flight with the following grafic specifications: 

 

 

And with Fraps 25 fps out of the plane Brandenburg and the map of the channel, but the Albatross V usually have between 45 and 50 fps:

 

 

In contrast with the IL2 Battle of Stalingrad and the lower spec graphics and the same screen resolution, performance goes much lower than ROF, between 12 and 25 fps when I approach the court or cities, and high-altitude arrival 30 or 35 fps. 

 

BoS graphics specs:

 

 

Lapino Map and Bf 109:

 

 

 

Stalingrad Map 50 Kms:

 

 

Stalingrad Map Full:

 

 

Any suggestions?.

 

Sorry about my english.

[FuriousMeow]

8800GT isn't going to be enough.

 

Minimum for RoF is currently:

 

GPU: 1024 Mb+, GeForce GTX 260+/Radeon HD5850+

 

BoS isn't fully optimized but you're still going to need to upgrade that video card. It's over 7 years old.

[Jaws2002]

Yeah. That 8800 series was pretty good, but it's been a while since then. I had a 8800GTS with 512 megs of ram at some point, few upgrades ago.  I went to gtx285, then gtx 590 and now I run an overclocked gtx 780.

 

The game will only get more demanding from here on. There are a lot of things that still need to be added to the game, like clouds, effects. The map still needs to get a lot of towns, bases, objects and so on. Now add to that a dozen planes and a dozen tanks, AAA's and vehicles, your game may not run at all.

 I'd think about upgrading. Maybe the whole thing.

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

 If devs could be convinced to use Mantle Could help with a lot of things. And before the outcry starts it does not require a rewrite of the code etc.

[Blooddawn1942]

So....it's been a nice session this weekend.

Looking forward to friday evening and I'm curious if we will get something new this week.

[LLv44_Mprhead]

S!

 

 If devs could be convinced to use Mantle Could help with a lot of things. And before the outcry starts it does not require a rewrite of the code etc.

 

I think it would help a lot people with lower end AMD graphic cards.

[FuriousMeow]

Yes, Mantle. One game so far supports it, just released - and has nothing but hype driving it.

 

I don't understand why people think a new tech that is pretty much unproven is going to be some amazing revolution until it actually hits the market and is fully integrated/tested in anything other than one title that isn't showing significant gains with it. It's just marketing hype otherwise.

 

 

The Bottom Line

 

Is AMD Mantle everything it is cracked up to be? The answer is potentially yes. As we stated, you first need to understand the goals of AMD Mantle, and the kind of benefits it can provide. Do not expect GPU dependent performance to get significantly better. Rather, if you are on a more mid-range system this should help more than someone who has the latest bleeding edge hardware overclocked to madness. At least, that is the trend we see so far. When we test lower-end video cards, it will really tell us just what kind of advantages Mantle has in store.

 

Mantle could potentially, drastically change the gaming world if more games used it. Lower-end computers, especially notebooks, and ultrabooks could see significant gaming performance increases. AMD isn't done with Mantle, this is just a first taste of it. We have to say, this first taste is sweet. We also experienced no issues, no crashing, it was rock stable for all the pounding we gave it the whole day. We look forward to future improvements from DICE and AMD, and hopefully more games that will implement Mantle. Remember, we have more evaluation coming, so stay tuned.

 

 

 

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/02/03/amd_mantle_performance_preview_in_battlefield_4/5#.UvENl7Tkq-g

 

 

Mantle’s isn’t a slam dunk. It doesn’t magically catapult AMD APUs to performance dominance over Intel chips or give AMD an unbeatable edge over rival Nvidia.

 

 

http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/175881-amd-mantle-benchmarked-the-biggest-innovation-in-gaming-since-directx-9/4

 

 

And supporting two APIs requires a lot of time and development, which especially divides the support and turns into a nightmare. Something changed in D3D, Mantle gets broken. Vice versa.

Edited February 4, 2014 by FuriousMeow

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

 FuriousMeow...You seem to be in the green camp Better not talk about PhysX either, breaks the whole game for all AMD users being an exclusive API to nVidia. Mantle does not break the game at all as nVidia still runs D3D and well that too. Good deal to me. Mantle does not need a rewrite of BoS code either. BF4 uses it and so will upcoming Thief. I noted a whopping increase in Star Swarm demo after getting the 14.1 beta 1.6 driver for my GPU. And I do not talk about a few FPS but over 20-30fps. That is a huge effect, at least to me. And if Oxide can do it and DICE so why would not others? I did watch the presentations of the D3D vs Mantle and it seems to make sense. I am not against it and if BoS could get it, even better. So not really understanding why you would be against it if feasibly could be implemented? Not now but in future maybe. 

[FuriousMeow]

S!

 

 FuriousMeow...You seem to be in the green camp Better not talk about PhysX either, breaks the whole game for all AMD users being an exclusive API to nVidia. Mantle does not break the game at all as nVidia still runs D3D and well that too. Good deal to me. Mantle does not need a rewrite of BoS code either. BF4 uses it and so will upcoming Thief. I noted a whopping increase in Star Swarm demo after getting the 14.1 beta 1.6 driver for my GPU. And I do not talk about a few FPS but over 20-30fps. That is a huge effect, at least to me. And if Oxide can do it and DICE so why would not others? I did watch the presentations of the D3D vs Mantle and it seems to make sense. I am not against it and if BoS could get it, even better. So not really understanding why you would be against it if feasibly could be implemented? Not now but in future maybe. 

 

I don't pick sides, I'm not some simpleton that goes "mine is better herr derr" or even delusional enough to care about nVidia vs AMD. I compared AMD's 290x against the 780Ti. Features (I like PhysX), and issues (heat on the reference design, and non-reference designs were few, causing performance issues with the 290x) led me to the 780Ti, not some nonsensical "side preference." PhysX doesn't break anything for AMD users, it's a toggle that is either used or isn't. Yeah, if you try to run PhysX with AMD then of course it's going to break the game. You don't put diesel into a gas engine and expect it to run, the gas engine is designed for gas. nVidia is designed for PhysX, AMD isn't.

 

I know BF4 is using Mantle, those articles clearly said that. They also clearly state it's not a huge industry changing API, not now at least. As I said, it also requires concurrent development of two different APIs which leads to more development resources. DICE's studio is several orders of magnitude larger than 777 studios so they can easily support two APIs. The presentations are worthless, developed to market the product but not based on reality - based on hopes, promises and dreams. Some may be achieved and realised, others may fall flat - happens everytime a new technology comes along that is untested and marketed as being the next best thing. I never said anything about being against it, that's your own inference. I clearly stated that it's not currently something amazing, game changing or even worth developing for at this time. On the other hand, you think it is because you clearly stated that they could develop for Mantle and somehow believe it will yield outstanding performance results which is completely not the case right now. The FPS difference you talk of was marketing dreams pure and simple, it's not being realized as of yet so until it happens in the market place and not potentially could happen according to marketing then what you "talk of" will mean something. Until then, it is just talk about Mantle - regardless of what the slides and marketing reps talk of.

 

APIs have come and go over the years, some touting great game changing features just to go the way of the Dodo because they were propriertary and the API failed to deliver what the marketing said it would. Just a list of a few APIs over the past 20 years: GLIDE, RRedline, OpenGL (still around, but not used as much anymore), 3DBlaster, Mystique/MSI, and many more.

Edited February 4, 2014 by FuriousMeow

[LLv44_Mprhead]

I never said anything about being against it, that's your own inference. I clearly stated that it's not currently something amazing, game changing or even worth developing for at this time.

 

This kind of souds like you are against it, doesn't it? Anyways, what I see could be the benefit of mantle is that it could bring larger amount of computers in the group of "good enough to play BoS." That would expand potential player base, and I think it would be a good thing.

[FuriousMeow]

No, that doesn't at all. It's not worth developing for at this time, how in the world can that be against it? This isn't a simple drop in, it requires a lot of programming to include it and it's current stage is unproven, a lot of ifs, and a lot of marketing hype. The real world application of it at this time shows it's not currently what it's stated, and I included links above that show that.

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

 I did not buy nVidia due it's outrageous pricing, even I like the hardware. If I get 290X for 500€ and have to pay nearly 800€ for GTX 780Ti then it is a no-brainer. I just tweaked the fan profile and no problems with reference card albeit planning aftermarket cooling to it. And when looking at the 780Ti vs 290X the performance difference does not warrant the price difference, pretty hefty price for a few FPS in my gaming resolution. nVidia and AMD both do great hardware, the green team just slaps insane price tags on them sadly.

 

 About Mantle. It seems to have potential and I wish it would get more foothold. And as mentioned if it helps mid range computers to run games better it is a win-win. After all the enthusiast segment of gamers, like most simmers are, is very small. It is the mid range that sells the most and has toughest competition. Our top of the line products are just for ePeen slapping and bragging rights I see Mantle as a more practical thing than PhysX. The latter only adds some clutter and effects that do not add a thing to the game itself, except fuzzy feeling for doodah lovers Mantle could help games to get more into the game, like objects and stuff. And this from the presentations. And don't we want more lively environment in our sims?

 

 Anyways, let's see how it matures and gains ground. My bet is that BF4 and Thief will help if the performance levels are good. And boy, I do miss Glide..remember EAW when I installed my Voodoo2 cards in SLI...that was some difference!