Developer Diary 231 - Discussion

[jollyjack]

Fiddling Arthur Smith's song

17 minutes ago, kendo said:

Because if every pilot in the squadron has a photo of the same woman in the cockpit, I can see it causing problems....possibly envision some unexplained 'blue on blue' incidents.....

 

Fiddling Arthur Smith's song verse from 'There's More Pretty girls than One' comes to mind for the Country minded ....

 

'There's More Pretty girls than One

There's More Pretty girls than One

Don''t be blue, i tell you true

There's More Pretty girls than One'

[pa4tim]

I was waiting for the P38 but I am so impressed by the Tempest, I never heard of it before I started playing IL-2, it is such a nice looking and flying plane.  I have the P38 in Xplane and I thought it was pretty nice but after seeing the IL-2 version my opinion changed, the IL-2 version is gorgeous. 
Compliments to the designers/developers.

[spitfirejoe]

thanks so much @ the Dev Team. Looking very good. Can´t wait for the update.

[GP*]

1 hour ago, Uufflakke said:

...one of the many Kardashians...

Such as Bruce Jenner v2.0? ?

[Voyager]

4 hours ago, HunDread said:

 

But it's not the decision of Il-2 developers

You can turn it on with any PC. It's just likely to chug unless you turn other things down. 

 

Vision limits are one of the weakness of Il-2 and is excellent that they've found ways to fix it, even if it requires hefty hardware to keep up. Time moves on, and the fact that an eight year old computer can run GB at all is a minor miracle compared to how things were when the original Il-2 and basically nuked my two year old Celeron 400.

 

I'm just looking forward to being able to see the towns when I'm cruising over them at 15,000ft, even if does mean I can only fly non-combat flights until I've rebuilt my box. 

[spitfirejoe]

Many People here talk about the upcoming multi thread support increasing the visibility. I use VR only for IL-2 and using my HP Reverb is really a great step forward in terms of VR Quality.

With my PC specs  i7-8700k  32Gb DDR4 and a 11Gb GTX1080Ti I get really a very good VR Performance with High, partly Ultra Settings.

May I expect a worse performance in VR with the upcoming BoBp map with it´s detailed cities and towns? Could someone please explain the discussion a bit more about the expected performance change after the next update. Do I have to fear the next update with my PC and VR or not?

Thanks.

Edited September 21, 2019 by spitfirejoe

[ZachariasX]

1 hour ago, Pre said:

Such as Bruce Jenner v2.0? ?

Nah.

[Jade_Monkey]

15 hours ago, Voyager said:

Did I just see multi-threading is coming to Il-2? How many threads are we looking at? As many as the processor can handle, or more of a fix 8 or 16?

 

If Il-2 is starting to support multithreading, this changes everything...

 

IL2 has always supported multithreading. The distinction is that certain processes such as FM or DM are not parelellized. So the game as a whole does use multiple threads, but some "core" processes are still strongly dependent on a single thread.

 

The way I interpreted the news is that the distant city rendering is not part of those "core" processes and can take advantage of more threads.

 

I'm obviously not an expert but this is my understanding of how it works in IL-2.

[Lusekofte]

Missed this one. Very nice 

[RedKestrel]

24 minutes ago, spitfirejoe said:

Many People here talk about the upcoming multi thread support increasing the visibility. I use VR only for IL-2 and using my HP Reverb is really a great step forward in terms of VR Quality.

With my PC specs  i7-8700k  32Gb DDR4 and a 11Gb GTX1080Ti I get really a very good VR Performance with High, partly Ultra Settings.

May I expect a worse performance in VR with the upcoming BoBp map with it´s detailed cities and towns? Could someone please explain the discussion a bit more about the expected performance change after the next update. Do I have to fear the next update with my PC and VR or not?

Thanks.

Plane and ship visibility increases have been supposedly optimized to have minimal impact so that shouldn’t worry you, and if the building rendering strains your machine leave it off is my advice.

[Blitzen]

I wonder what weapon options the new aircraft will have ,esp. the Tempest ? Anyone know...

A long unanswered ( ok, maybe it has been ,but I just haven’t seen it, ) why no drop tanks , even the now semi ancient original IL-2 Sturmovik ‘s aircraft had droppable tanks early on. Its not a big deal but the new American aircraft would just”look” more like their real counterparts of that period.

Finally I leave my studio (& my imaginary VR Cockpit) for three week in early October , so I have my fingers firmly crossed that this big update will be introduced in the immediate future so I can have enough time to play with the new planes, use to new map ,and at long last hear English ( I sure hope they use period RAF slang..) and American ( ditto as per period slang,) I’d like to see ,finally....how the 262 will do against formations of “”real” Medium bombers :the AI  ( and I hope its good...) B-25.

[spitfirejoe]

2 minutes ago, RedKestrel said:

Plane and ship visibility increases have been supposedly optimized to have minimal impact so that shouldn’t worry you, and if the building rendering strains your machine leave it off is my advice.

Thanks for answering.

I am looking forward to the new map and planes very much and hope that everything looks great in VR. I plan to upgrade my PC when the next gen VR Headsets after the Reverb will arrive with 2 times  real 4k resolutuion screens…..by that time I hope Intel and NVIDIA will bring some very potent hardware for high resolution VR Headsets. 

[6FG_Big_Al]

21 minutes ago, Blitzen said:

I wonder what weapon options the new aircraft will have ,esp. the Tempest ? Anyone know...

A long unanswered ( ok, maybe it has been ,but I just haven’t seen it, ) why no drop tanks , even the now semi ancient original IL-2 Sturmovik ‘s aircraft had droppable tanks early on. Its not a big deal but the new American aircraft would just”look” more like their real counterparts of that period.

It was announced (already a few months ago) that the fuel system will be revised again. In addition, if nothing has changed, also dropping tanks. So something to look forward to this year.

Here is a article from Stormbirds with the relevant post: https://stormbirds.blog/2019/02/24/managing-fuel-in-il-2/

[GP*]

Any bets on MP player numbers after BoBP? 
 

Not just total numbers (although that will be interesting to see), but the blue side / red side numbers. I feel the balance may shift slightly from a surplus of 109/190 drivers to Mustang/Tempest/Lightning jockeys (with some Spits and Jugs for good measure). 

[BraveSirRobin]

7 hours ago, HunDread said:

"We have made this feature optional for simmers that have a weaker PC. For such a map as Rheinland with many cities and towns, it really improves the perspective and the overall feel. Of course, it is useful for other maps too - for instance, it allows bomber pilots to spot their targets significantly sooner. "

 

 

Sorry if it was discussed before but is it a wise decision to tie a gameplay advantage to PC specs?

 

This doesn’t give you an advantage against other players.  You can’t see their aircraft from further away.  Just buildings.

[cardboard_killer]

Oh, if you only knew the number of times I've had a building bring me down. They sneak up on you!

[JG1_Wittmann]

I will say that this update looks great and the increase in draw distance is great as well as the new AC and the huge map.   I was only commenting earlier on the Jagdpanzer  because at the time  my primary interest  is on the Tank Crew aspect.   Draw distance on the ground only matters out to maybe 10K,  if that.

 

I am probably guilty of holding over a small amount of resentment  at the Tempest Video  posted.   The Tempest looks great and I will fly that as well as the P38 and Mustang.  The resentment comes from when I started the Tempest video,   I did not get to witness the best thing that I loved about that plane in IL21946,,,,,,,,,,,,,,   the sound of the engine when you increased to full throttle, and then WEP,    Would love to see a Tempest video, with that sound   vs the  Broadway version :)

[HunDread]

4 hours ago, BraveSirRobin said:

This doesn’t give you an advantage against other players.  You can’t see their aircraft from further away.  Just buildings.

 

Gives advantage compared to other bombers.

Edited September 21, 2019 by HunDread

[Rolling_Thunder]

2 minutes ago, HunDread said:

 

Gives advantage against other bombers.

You can put a gamer into a sim but....

[bzc3lk]

11 hours ago, HunDread said:

 

But it's not the decision of Il-2 developers

 

Either is it the "decision of the ILi2 developers" whether you to turn your game options up or down. Some people will demand all these features and eye candy and when the developers enable these options, will then start to cry foul. You will have to update your "potato" or fly with your current settings, as will I when the update comes out, will wait and try out first before making that decision.

 

The ironic part about this is that when the game was first release all the game/graphic options were very limited, much to the consternation of the community. Many customers wanted the option of fine tuning their game experience depending on their PC's capabilities.The Developers heard the complaints and changed their product, enabling more flexibility for the customer and now this "flexibility" is being derided as an advantage for some over others. Poor Jason and the Dev's must wonder what they have to do to please the community sometimes, "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario.

Edited September 21, 2019 by bzc3lk

[BraveSirRobin]

34 minutes ago, HunDread said:

 

Gives advantage compared to other bombers.

 

So what?  People who can afford better gear will always have advantages.  But in this case it isn't an advantage that will help them kill you.  It might be an advantage that helps them get better stats than you.  I hope that never becomes a reason for the devs to hold back on game improvements.

[jaygee485]

3 hours ago, WaNTRD said:

the Tempest Video  posted

 

I'm glad you mentioned the vid, as I had somehow missed noticing it. Of course I went back and tracked it down. 

Fantastic! I've been looking forward to the Tempest, even more than the Mustang, so it's really good to finally see it in action.

I'm with you regarding the audio. It's a pity we never got to properly hear the engine sound, as it was masked by the muzak, but the video is otherwise outstanding.

Anticipation is building....

 

 

[LukeFF]

1 hour ago, Rolling_Thunder said:

You can put a gamer into a sim but....

 

Lol yes. I've been hearing these sorts of arguments for as long as I've been around flight sim forums. The big hullabaloo used to be how TrackIR was unfair to those to didn't have it and how it should be banned in online servers. ? 

[Jonttu1]

8 hours ago, Pre said:

Any bets on MP player numbers after BoBP? 
 

Not just total numbers (although that will be interesting to see), but the blue side / red side numbers. I feel the balance may shift slightly from a surplus of 109/190 drivers to Mustang/Tempest/Lightning jockeys (with some Spits and Jugs for good measure). 

In an ideal world people would choose their teams based on team balance and not based on whatever team they like more at the expense of any balance, but that's unlikely to happen. It would be a refreshing change of pace at least to be able to actually play Germans for once though.

[RIPSkyKingTasmanaut]

10 hours ago, BraveSirRobin said:

 

This doesn’t give you an advantage against other players.  You can’t see their aircraft from further away.  Just buildings.

I am under the impression that plane render distance is also being increased in the near future, I presumed with this update. It was discussed in previous dev diaries, 'up to 10 times' further render distance. This is especially useful in the case of ships and high alt contrails and such. I'm  100% sure this was a thing as well

[BraveSirRobin]

Just now, Tasmanaut said:

I am under the impression that plane render distance is also being increased in the near future, I presumed with this update. It was discussed in previous dev diaries, 'up to 10 times' further render distance. This is especially useful in the case of ships and high alt contrails and such. I'm  100% sure this was a thing as well

 

That isn't optional.  It works the same for everyone.

[RIPSkyKingTasmanaut]

4 minutes ago, BraveSirRobin said:

 

That isn't optional.  It works the same for everyone.

yeah that's cool, that's what I've understood from it.

 

With regard to performance, I'm sceptical that an increased building render distance will have much impact on the average users' FPS. The small hitches that I experience are mainly when things pop into render distance all of a sudden. I'm willing to be that since things will pop in render distance sooner, there will actually be less overall 'hitching',  if that makes sense. I could be very wrong

Edited September 22, 2019 by Tasmanaut

[Venturi]

Outstanding work guys! The P-38, I can’t wait!!!

[JonRedcorn]

8 hours ago, bzc3lk said:

 

Either is it the "decision of the ILi2 developers" whether you to turn your game options up or down. Some people will demand all these features and eye candy and when the developers enable these options, will then start to cry foul. You will have to update your "potato" or fly with your current settings, as will I when the update comes out, will wait and try out first before making that decision.

 

The ironic part about this is that when the game was first release all the game/graphic options were very limited, much to the consternation of the community. Many customers wanted the option of fine tuning their game experience depending on their PC's capabilities.The Developers heard the complaints and changed their product, enabling more flexibility for the customer and now this "flexibility" is being derided as an advantage for some over others. Poor Jason and the Dev's must wonder what they have to do to please the community sometimes, "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario.

It's literally one guy on the forum complaining about it, let's not overreact.

[bzc3lk]

11 minutes ago, JonRedcorn said:

It's literally one guy on the forum complaining about it, let's not overreact.

 

Oh the irony. 

[Kurfurst]

Great update! Everything’s great  as usual and the Rheinland map looks like one that will be a favorite. However the thing I like the most is the crew of the Flakvierling.

[HunDread]

3 hours ago, JonRedcorn said:

It's literally one guy on the forum complaining about it, let's not overreact.

 

And actually I was not complaining just asked a question.

[ICDP]

12 hours ago, HunDread said:

 

Gives advantage compared to other bombers.

 

26 minutes ago, HunDread said:

 

And actually I was not complaining just asked a question.

 

Level bombing from 5000m is a problem because at that altitude by the time your target came into view there was little if any time to adjust your aim before you were past it.  This problem is finally being addressed (thanks devs).  If you think about it logically anyone who is bomber focused will turn other settings down to get extended building rendering.  That is of course if it even has any noticeable impact on FPS.

[G_Schwarz]

is there going to be a fuel drop tanks ?

[DD_Arthur]

19 hours ago, Pre said:

Any bets on MP player numbers after BoBP? 

 

Red/blue side stacking changes throughout the day as the Russian contingent are ahead of Europe timewise but yeah, it'll be interesting to see.

 

As a matter of interest,  last night - 8.30 p.m. British summertime - so Euro prime time,  I counted 418 players in online servers.

Not too shabby

[HunDread]

3 hours ago, ICDP said:

15 hours ago, HunDread said:

 

Gives advantage compared to other bombers.

 

3 hours ago, HunDread said:

 

And actually I was not complaining just asked a question.

 

Level bombing from 5000m is a problem because at that altitude by the time your target came into view there was little if any time to adjust your aim before you were past it.  This problem is finally being addressed (thanks devs) for some users.  If you think about it logically anyone who is bomber focused will turn other settings down to get extended building rendering.  That is of course if it even has any noticeable impact on FPS.

 

If you quoted me to prove i was complaining it's not a complaint. It's a fact.

 

To express my point I edited your quote above.

 

Let's close this. My concerm was rather general to find out if this will be a valid strategy going forward, I don't really care about this specific update.

[Habu]

What fact ?

 

The fact is that bomber can know (after a long navigation) if the target is here or not because they can see it.

 

What is the advantage for fighter ? It will help a bit to navigate, but in term of kill (and score), there are none. Except if your fighter ego can't support that bomber can do more points than you. When you are in a dogfight, seeing the town at 30 km is not your priority.

 

So yes, it's complaint. Or explain us what is the advantage.

 

The game evolve and add many new features and enhancement. But all of this has a cost. The devs choose that it's a checkboxe like the 4k textures. So if your PC can run that option, you can use it, if not don't use it. But do not impose your view. With that state of mind we have the sound control which can't be tune as we want with no separate channel.

Edited September 22, 2019 by Habu

[Reinhardt]

Looks great, can't wait to patrol the Rheinland for B-25s. 

[Poochnboo]

5 hours ago, Reinhardt said:

Looks great, can't wait to patrol the Rheinland for B-25s. 

I can't wait to patrol the Rhineland looking for people who are patrolling the Rhineland for B-25's.

[Yogiflight]

5 minutes ago, Poochnboo said:

6 hours ago, Reinhardt said:

Looks great, can't wait to patrol the Rheinland for B-25s. 

I can't wait to patrol the Rhineland looking for people who are patrolling the Rhineland for B-25's.

I can't wait to patrol the Rheinland looking for people, who are patrolling the Rheinland looking for people, who are patrolling the Rheinland for B-25s.