The dread gray box "bug".

[Sokol1]

This "bug" need to be fixed ASAP, keep this empty  "Info Window" don't help any "new/casual" player, neither the game image.

 

Example, an guy request refund and classify game "unplayable" in STEAM due this gray box.

 

 

"Refunded product
As much as you follow tips and tutorials on the net, there is a gray window on the top left of the screen making the game impossible.

Even inserting a new pop-up and deleting it, the gray window persists.

Changes to files as indicated did not help either. Impossible to play."

 

OK. PEBCAK, but what was damaged was the image of the game.

 

Will be much more helpful, productive add in Flashcards a instruction "How customize, create Info Window" - which will interest most "advanced" players, 

than to continue to believe that an instruction for close the "Dread Gray Box" - inside the game, is the solution.  

This issue bother every type of player but especially the one that the game needs, the "new/casual player".?

Edited September 29, 2020 by Sokol1

[9./JG52_J-HAT]

Pois é...

[TDK1044]

I got rid of it in about 30 seconds.  Select it, Alt....right click...close window. This brief video explains it. 

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2020 by TDK1044

[5th_Hellrider]

These Custom Windows are quite complex and I would say totally useless. They should be removed, if the developers are able to do so.

 

Honestly it was one of those things I expected with the TF5.0, as well as a simpler and more intuitive menu. Unfortunately nothing.
I was also expecting a bit more complete stats, with bomber scores and stuff like that. Unfortunately nothing.

 

Il2 CloD / DW risks, indeed it already is, a sim played only by old CloD players and does not attract new ones. Sad but true.

[Art-J]

21 hours ago, TDK1044 said:

I got rid of it in about 30 seconds.  Select it, Alt....right click...close window. This brief video explains it. 

 

Il-2 veterans know it, an certainly Sokol does, flying the sim and giving the tech advices about it since its beginning. That's not the point of his post. The point is, there must be a better way to make completely new players aware of the window management via as many sources as possible, especially the ones who are too lazy to RTFM before jumping into the plane (it's an excellent manual, mind you, but info about windows is buried near the end of it and I can see how some new folks might overlook it).

[Sokol1]

Quote

...

 totally useless. They should be removed, if the developers are able to do so.

 

That's the ironic part of the thing, if want, remove the "dread gray box" for good require just delete a line of TEXT in the default ConfUser.ini included in Steam installer.

 

Spoiler

4:-1=-posSize '0.016 0.029 0.163 0.361' -titleStr "Info Window" -title -border -alpha 150 -ualpha 110 -vscroll -wrap -history 100

 

 

Edited September 30, 2020 by Sokol1

[FTC_Karaya]

I agree there needs to be a section in the flashcards that deals with the info windows. Best include it in every flashcard at the end so people are bound to stumble over it.

That said I dont see why info windows should be removed as a whole. The fact that players can customize what is shown where and in what detail is a plus in my eyes over other competing sims. This feature just needs to be documented and communicated more clearly so even the completely inexperienced players know it exists and how to work / adapt it.

[Sokol1]

Quote

That said I don't see why info windows should be removed as a whole. 

 

The point is not remove Info Window feature - what is a very nice to have feature, a plus over other CFS.

 

The point is remove - editing default ConfUser.ini on Steam install files, that empty Info Window that have 'ualpha" set high and result in a gray box in the screen, and cause confusion, complains since CloD day one.

 

This Info Window don't have reason (use) to be on screen.

 

The initial though was bring attention for possibility of customize Info Window, but the "collateral effects" caused across the years show that this way was not a good idea.

 

Instead insist in this non productive "close gray box", just tell in manual how create and customize Info Window.

Edited October 9, 2020 by Sokol1

[9./JG52_J-HAT]

I think this topic needs more attention.

 

Three people asking about this "bug" in two different topics. The second thread was just two threads below with the answer in it right in the first post.

Sometimes I think people are trolling.

 

https://steamcommunity.com/app/754530/discussions/0/2928986648536307355/

 

"Gray SQUARE

Any ideas why in the upper left corner of all screens, I get a gray box roughly 2x2" ?
I cant figure why"

 

https://steamcommunity.com/app/754530/discussions/0/1675812484351168455/

 

"Display oddity

Hi Guys - I am flying version 4.55 and have developed a permanent, empty gray rectangle in the upper left corner of the screen. It is not really big, but blots out any text in that corner. There is nothing I can do to affect or remove it. Has anybody experienced that and know how to get rid of it? I have downloaded and reinstalled, but grey square is still there."

 

"same problem with they grey rectangle upper left of the display "

 

It is simply a matter of editing the default .ini. and rolling it out with the next patch, like Sokol said.

 

Please don't expect every player to be able to figure things out on their own. In cases such as a game that should be accesible to all sorts of people the bar needs to be set to a lower common denominator.

 

The examples in this thread show that most people won't bother to even search for an answer before coming to a conclusion (that the game is broken, that it is a problem etc; hence bad reviews based on things we consider "stupid").

 

[vonGraf]

I had to learn it again too after some years break from flight sims (customizing CloDs windows) but for certain aspects they're quite helpful and I like the feature.

Would never come on the idea to downvote a game because I'm 'not able' to ask in the related forum/internet for help/a reminder.

Unbelievable..

[Sokol1]

For those who don't remember, the "dread gray box" whe are talking about is this at left, top of the screen, that appear when someone open the game for first time:

 

 

The thing don't have any use to the game... other than make people complain. ?

 

[Buzzsaw]

On 9/29/2020 at 9:10 AM, Sokol1 said:

This "bug" need to be fixed ASAP, keep this empty  "Info Window" don't help any "new/casual" player, neither the game image.

 

Example, an guy request refund and classify game "unplayable" in STEAM due this gray box.

 

 

"Refunded product
As much as you follow tips and tutorials on the net, there is a gray window on the top left of the screen making the game impossible.

Even inserting a new pop-up and deleting it, the gray window persists.

Changes to files as indicated did not help either. Impossible to play."

 

OK. PEBCAK, but what was damaged was the image of the game.

 

Will be much more helpful, productive add in Flashcards a instruction "How customize, create Info Window" - which will interest most "advanced" players, 

than to continue to believe that an instruction for close the "Dread Gray Box" - inside the game, is the solution.  

This issue bother every type of player but especially the one that the game needs, the "new/casual player".?

We'll look at making some changes for the next big patch.  (not in immediate future)

 

We will not remove option to customize settings.

 

More likely remove the option for the window to be solid... perhaps only transparent.

 

Possibly add a note in the Aircraft flash cards... the windows are already explained in the 'Getting Started..." manual.

[Mysticpuma]

13 hours ago, Buzzsaw said:

We'll look at making some changes for the next big patch.  (not in immediate future)

 

We will not remove option to customize settings.

 

More likely remove the option for the window to be solid... perhaps only transparent.

 

Possibly add a note in the Aircraft flash cards... the windows are already explained in the 'Getting Started..." manual.

That stills puts you in the same situation as the first post because any new player will simply say "I have a transparent box", all that is being suggested is the confuser.ini be set to 0 when launched and then if players want to enable it (as experienced will) they can do so easily. The point of the post is to stop (genuinely must be hundreds of posts) new players asking how to get rid of the window. 

If the window isn't there they won't ask how to remove then eventually if they want more details on the screen  they can look at the flashcards. This is about new players fi ding their feet not experienced ones having to work out how to do it. 

[343KKT_Kintaro]

I have no problems wit the HUD windows in the Dover series. Once you learn how to set them, you are the happiest man on earth.

[SirFlappy]

On 1/3/2021 at 8:33 PM, Mysticpuma said:

That stills puts you in the same situation as the first post because any new player will simply say "I have a transparent box", all that is being suggested is the confuser.ini be set to 0 when launched and then if players want to enable it (as experienced will) they can do so easily. The point of the post is to stop (genuinely must be hundreds of posts) new players asking how to get rid of the window. 

If the window isn't there they won't ask how to remove then eventually if they want more details on the screen  they can look at the flashcards. This is about new players fi ding their feet not experienced ones having to work out how to do it. 

He is right,just make all the boxes off by default (with an option to turn them on mentioned in the notes "manual",if you desire).

 When the much hyped Clod was first released years ago,this was one of the irritations that put me off the game,messing about searching the web to figure out how to get rid of them.

 In WW2 if the pilots kept seeing grey boxes all over, they would go and see the medic!!

    Its clutter that should be out of the way from the get go....no need to stress new players for nothing.

Edited January 5, 2021 by SirFlappy

[343KKT_Kintaro]

6 hours ago, SirFlappy said:

no need to stress new players for nothing.

 

 

We live an internet age: it takes the average gamer to come here, to the official forums, and ask the right questions. This is what I did last Summer, and I'm enjoying the game at its best. Boxes on by default will stress the beginners as much as no visible boxes at all. Please TFS leave the game as it is, for it forces the beginners to settle the question once and for all... same as it did to me. IL2-CoD possesses the best HUD system we ever had in a flight combat sim, please leave it as it is.

 

 

[DD_Arthur]

57 minutes ago, 343KKT_Kintaro said:

We live an internet age: it takes the average gamer to come here, to the official forums, and ask the right questions. 

 

Kintaro, in the example of the Steam posting put up by Sokol you can see that the beginner complaining about the window had done an internet search about this but could not find an answer.

  For any newcomer to the game, once they actually manage to navigate there way through the UI and successfully launch a mission the first thing that people think is "whats that box?"

In this case the beginner settled the question once and for all by getting a refund.   

 

Check out the Steam charts figures for April 2020 and compare with the latest figures.

 

 https://steamcharts.com/app/754530

 

You might well be correct about the HUD system.  It was certainly innovative and works well when you know how to use it.  No one is suggesting the system should be removed from the game but  CLoD simply can't afford to lose a single player to stuff like this.  

 

 

 

 

 

[Dagwoodyt]

1 hour ago, DD_Arthur said:

 

Kintaro, in the example of the Steam posting put up by Sokol you can see that the beginner complaining about the window had done an internet search about this but could not find an answer.

  For any newcomer to the game, once they actually manage to navigate there way through the UI and successfully launch a mission the first thing that people think is "whats that box?"

In this case the beginner settled the question once and for all by getting a refund.   

 

Check out the Steam charts figures for April 2020 and compare with the latest figures.

 

 https://steamcharts.com/app/754530

 

You might well be correct about the HUD system.  It was certainly innovative and works well when you know how to use it.  No one is suggesting the system should be removed from the game but  CLoD simply can't afford to lose a single player to stuff like this.  

 

 

 

 

 

Ironic perhaps, but maybe the Steam charts provide disincentive toward changing much of anything. I am looking forward though to the trueSKY patch as it's an unambiguous commitment.

[343KKT_Kintaro]

How many newcomers to a video game, in 2021, do not connect "video game" to "the video game's official forum"? How many newcomers to a video game, in 2021, do not know that video games DO HAVE official forums?

 

Anyway... you may be right about making things easier for the beginners... but how? when you install a non-customizable HUD system like in the two other IL-2s ('46 and Great Battles) you need very few help. But in the case of CoD... when you install the game, it's better to be in front of a semitransparent window rather than a transparent one. The third choice is no window at all, which is obviously even more confusing because the guy would be wondering if whether or not there's any HUD in the game.

 

 

 

[DD_Arthur]

Kintaro the majority of people who buy this stuff will never join the forums or look at them.  Yes, really!!  Re-read Sokol’s post. This thing has been confusing new players for nearly ten years.  The Steam charts show that Cliffs has the same number of players now - after the launch of Tobruk- as it did   last April. It needs all the help it can get right now.

[Dagwoodyt]

1 hour ago, DD_Arthur said:

Kintaro the majority of people who buy this stuff will never join the forums or look at them.  Yes, really!!  Re-read Sokol’s post. This thing has been confusing new players for nearly ten years.  The Steam charts show that Cliffs has the same number of players now - after the launch of Tobruk- as it did   last April. It needs all the help it can get right now.

If you start reading the negative Steam reviews you will note that many relate to issues such as failed controller setup, recalcitrant info windows, confusing trainer missions and other issues that "true believers" have long ago overcome. When responses to their woes from "long haulers" appear condescending it only makes the game's image worse. Not only that, they are frequently referred to the ATAG forum to look for help. Why should they have to look there rather come to the official forum here? Why sign up to two game forums? A magazine-generated game score will be cold comfort to new customers who just want their game to work without having to monitor multiple forums. Then again, if the folks who make up the bulk of the Steam concurrent player base want the game to remain the way it is, why would they not have their desires met?

Edited January 6, 2021 by Dagwoodyt

[FurphyForum]

19 hours ago, 343KKT_Kintaro said:

I have no problems wit the HUD windows in the Dover series. Once you learn how to set them, you are the happiest man on earth.

 

6 hours ago, 343KKT_Kintaro said:

 

 

We live an internet age: it takes the average gamer to come here, to the official forums, and ask the right questions. This is what I did last Summer, and I'm enjoying the game at its best. Boxes on by default will stress the beginners as much as no visible boxes at all. Please TFS leave the game as it is, for it forces the beginners to settle the question once and for all... same as it did to me. IL2-CoD possesses the best HUD system we ever had in a flight combat sim, please leave it as it is.

 

 

 

Kintaro, I'll paste a quote from you,  from a thread we had awhile back. These are your words....

 

 

 

On 10/21/2020 at 9:36 PM, 343KKT_Kintaro said:

 

 

Beginners need some help, developers need to make some sales, and we in the Cliffs of Dover community need to be more numerous if we want this game keeps developing.

 

Let's make it a bit easier for the beginners so that new blood comes to our community, so that we can grow stronger. In their first steps of learning, please let the beginners use these tricks, whatever the cost of realism may be following your standards of what full-realism is. The real thing is that our community is still too weak, and same as there are grammar nazis, if we start being full-realism nazis... we'll end up completely alone... until we witness the death of this sim, the best WWII combat flight sim ever.

[354thFG_Leifr]

7 hours ago, Dagwoodyt said:

Not only that, they are frequently referred to the ATAG forum to look for help. Why should they have to look there rather come to the official forum here? Why sign up to two game forums?

 

 

Unfortunately, it's long been the norm for folk interested in Cliffs of Dover to be forced on to the ATAG forum if they have some particular question or something to share. It's unfortunate because ATAG has long been a bastion of Team Fusion, and rarely took on criticism politely, or if you happened to come from the wrong 'circle' of Cliffs players (Storm of War). There has been a lot of wagon circling there. I have been permanently banned from the ATAG forum for having the gall to suggest that the UI required work after the Blitz launch. It's nice that Buzzsaw has to engage with the players elsewhere, finally.

 

At any rate; info windows are supremely powerful and a really nice tool, but they should probably be pushed to default 'off' for new installations as they can be non-intuitive, and for avoidance of the long-standing grey box bug. Changing the default value from solid to transparent won't change much other than the complaint value.

[343KKT_Kintaro]

To FurphyForum: yes, I remember this statement of mine, but that was in connection with the speedbar, which, as an option, generates no problems in terms of full realism if you simply do not use it ("full realism" was the big deal, the main concern, for my fellow participants on the thread, FurphyForum). Thus, nothing to do the speedbar (no serious consequences for the game as it is... if purely optional) with the customizable HUD windows (potential consequences).

 

In a general way, I acknowledge receipt of everything you said, mates. I may be ready to approve what Leifr just said:

 

"At any rate; info windows are supremely powerful and a really nice tool, but they should probably be pushed to default 'off' for new installations as they can be non-intuitive, and for avoidance of the long-standing grey box bug. Changing the default value from solid to transparent won't change much other than the complaint value."

[Mysticpuma]

And that is all that is being asked for. 

[FurphyForum]

@343KKT_Kintaro: The point of that copy/paste was to enlighten you of what you have stated previously, and It doesn't matter what thread it came from, because in one thread you are pleading to give leniency to the beginner and give them all the help they need and then, in this thread you state to leave it as it is..... where as other mbrs are advocating that there is a problem and it needs fixing.

 

What I am saying here is you are not being consistent with your statements in order to help the new generation of players.  

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2021 by FurphyForum

[343KKT_Kintaro]

21 hours ago, 343KKT_Kintaro said:

I may be ready to approve what Leifr just said:

 

"At any rate; info windows are supremely powerful and a really nice tool, but they should probably be pushed to default 'off' for new installations as they can be non-intuitive, and for avoidance of the long-standing grey box bug. Changing the default value from solid to transparent won't change much other than the complaint value."

 

[4SCT_CR42Falco]

On 9/30/2020 at 6:00 PM, 5th_Hellrider said:

These Custom Windows are quite complex and I would say totally useless. They should be removed, if the developers are able to do so.

 

Honestly it was one of those things I expected with the TF5.0, as well as a simpler and more intuitive menu. Unfortunately nothing.
I was also expecting a bit more complete stats, with bomber scores and stuff like that. Unfortunately nothing.

 

Il2 CloD / DW risks, indeed it already is, a sim played only by old CloD players and does not attract new ones. Sad but true.

But you can delete them AFAIK. I find them useful, I use a window for engine management and one for messages as I'm not always on voice com. If you keep them transparent enough they are less annoying.

Edited January 29, 2021 by 4SCT_CR42Falco

[5th_Hellrider]

I know that, and I use custom windows too, but as I said they are not friendly for new players. Having a simpler sistem should be better. "LESS IS MORE!"

[343KKT_Kintaro]

2 hours ago, 5th_Hellrider said:

I know that, and I use custom windows too, but as I said they are not friendly for new players. Having a simpler sistem should be better. "LESS IS MORE!"

 

 

How could it be simpler... without spoiling it?

[9./JG52_J-HAT]

Just now, 343KKT_Kintaro said:

 

 

How could it be simpler... without spoiling it?

Not going into feasibility or if it‘s worth it or not, but just an example:

 

1 - default HUD with the messages we have today. Chat, damage, systems etc. Have an option / binding to hide the interface. Just  like we have in BoS.

2 - Put an option for „advanced hud handling“ or whatever the name. When enabled, it allows you to change the info windows like we do today. When off, it reverts to the default hud from 1. Turn it back on and it remembers your settings. Add a button in the options menu to reset the custom windows. 
 

Simpler for the users. Doesn‘t spoil the functionality for advanced players.

[5th_Hellrider]

3 minutes ago, 9./JG52_J-HAT said:

Not going into feasibility or if it‘s worth it or not, but just an example:

 

1 - default HUD with the messages we have today. Chat, damage, systems etc. Have an option / binding to hide the interface. Just  like we have in BoS.

2 - Put an option for „advanced hud handling“ or whatever the name. When enabled, it allows you to change the info windows like we do today. When off, it reverts to the default hud from 1. Turn it back on and it remembers your settings. Add a button in the options menu to reset the custom windows. 
 

Simpler for the users. Doesn‘t spoil the functionality for advanced players.

This is what I mean with "simpler" ?

[343KKT_Kintaro]

Ok guys, why not. Do not hesitate and create one "Feature request" in the Bugtracker. Good luck!