Storm of War is returning

[No.54_Reddog]

Hi all,

 

In anticipation of a successful release of VR and the visual update, and after a break of 5 years, the Storm of War CLOD server is returning.

 

Initially we will be running some standalone events, depending on reception and numbers we may bring back our Long War campaign.

 

Right now we are just doing some testing but look out for further news soon.

[OBT-Lionel]

Excellent news !  ?

[TBD79_OD_]

This is the only think that will bring me back to Cliffs. Hoping it can be a successful reboot!

[ACG_Ginger]

Great news Reddog , I and a few of the group have already signed up for the Beta test so lets hope it's all good , even if the Vr takes a while to get sorted it will be great to have a server up again.

[Amarok]

This is excellent news and I am eagerly awaiting the return of the Storm Of War server.?

[l_MaD_l]

Great to hear! I don't need VR, but I'm happy to see many in the Clodsky! 

[343KKT_Kintaro]

LoL, "Storm of War: The Battle of Britain" will not be entirely back until 2025, which is when the trademark registration expires...

 

 

[OBT-Mikmak]

It is a great news ?

Edited February 19, 2022 by OBT-Mikmak

[56RAF_Roblex]

Good luck Reddog.    Your SoW server was the only thing that kept 56sqn playing CLoD. When your squadron left so did we.

Edited February 24, 2022 by 56RAF_Roblex

[IRRE_Simpel]

Great news ! The same for us ! Your SOW campagain is the only thing that will bring us back to Clodo 

[354thFG_Leifr]

Hello!

Yes, this may see a return to Cliffs for myself.

[II./JG27_Rich]

That's great. We have two arenas to battle over 

[Patricks]

On 2/19/2022 at 10:10 AM, No.54_Reddog said:

Hi all,

 

In anticipation of a successful release of VR and the visual update, and after a break of 5 years, the Storm of War CLOD server is returning.

 

Initially we will be running some standalone events, depending on reception and numbers we may bring back our Long War campaign.

 

Right now we are just doing some testing but look out for further news soon.

 

Hey Reddog, will there be a Discord server for SoW CLoD?

 

[56RAF_Roblex]

On 2/27/2022 at 1:01 PM, Icer said:

 

Hey Reddog, will there be a Discord server for SoW CLoD?

 

 

Tell me it will be Teamspeak.   Discord is useless for multi squadron ops where you need to talk to your wingman , your squadron leader and Tophat each within a few seconds of each other.    SRS is also good.

[Patricks]

As Reddog has gone quiet and DCS has fixed the 190 (?) maybe they are going in another direction?

[OBT-Eazy]

On 3/16/2022 at 4:11 PM, Icer said:

... DCS has fixed the 190 ...

 

Sweet dreams...

[Patricks]

32 minutes ago, OBT-Eazy said:

 

Sweet dreams...

 

Reddog did mention the latest version of CLoD (any day) and VR (not any day soon) so that could be the reason for the wait...

Edited March 18, 2022 by Icer

[No.54_Reddog]

Hi all, sorry for the radio silence. I have been doing some testing in the background and it seems like most of the code we had still works. 

 

The initial idea is still to run dedicated events rather than a 24/7 persistent campaign. This is because I am not sure that the effort will match the player base. The current picture seems to indicate a pretty dire state of affairs on a planet of 6+billion people, to have only a 30 day average of 23.5 players (less than il-2 1946...). That's what is causing my reticence to be honest. 

 

We had hoped (like many I guess) that there would have been a bit more concrete info on the next release by TF containing the VR and TrueSky and wanted to launch to coincide with the likely increase in players.

 

On the subject of comms,  we will likely be using SRS as a comms tool, although it won't interface with the game directly it will allow players to monitor and transmit on a number of frequencies/channels. The intent will be to have a common GCI channel, and then individual squadron channels per side. We haven't tested that but after discussion with Ciribob that appears to be all we can do at this stage.

 

[Patricks]

Thanks for the update @No.54_Reddog. I was under the impression the latest CLoD update was going to include new 4k ground graphics, but it sounds like that (and VR) is still a ways out there. 

[LLv34_Flanker]

S! 

 

Flew on SoW years ago, found it again in DCS and now back to CloD. Excellent news

[Mysticpuma]

15 hours ago, Icer said:

Thanks for the update @No.54_Reddog. I was under the impression the latest CLoD update was going to include new 4k ground graphics, but it sounds like that (and VR) is still a ways out there. 

VR is still in Beta and Truesky and the graphics update are still in Alpha, the likelyhood of it appearing before Christmas 2022 is the best guess. So if Sow were preparing to return with or for VR then it's likely the Server won't be up and running for a while yet sadly. 

[Patricks]

3 hours ago, Mysticpuma said:

VR is still in Beta and Truesky and the graphics update are still in Alpha, the likelyhood of it appearing before Christmas 2022 is the best guess. So if Sow were preparing to return with or for VR then it's likely the Server won't be up and running for a while yet sadly. 

 

With so many other flight sim distractions waiting is not an issue, i'm used to being part of sims with a small group of dedicated developers, BMS Falcon has been doing this (extremely well) for many years... IL-2 Box has its faults but it is quite beautiful now, and the new clouds make hiding (what I do best) feasible..

Edited April 4, 2022 by Icer

[Buzzsaw]

8 hours ago, Mysticpuma said:

VR is still in Beta and Truesky and the graphics update are still in Alpha, the likelyhood of it appearing before Christmas 2022 is the best guess. So if Sow were preparing to return with or for VR then it's likely the Server won't be up and running for a while yet sadly. 

Not accurate.  We expect the Visual Update to be released in the summer of 2022.

[Mysticpuma]

4 minutes ago, Buzzsaw said:

Not accurate.  We expect the Visual Update to be released in the summer of 2022.

Buzzsaw, that great. I have followed multiple threads and TFS have clearly said VR will come out before the graphics update, can you confirm then that VR is out before this or at the same time? 

 

Sorry, it is just confusing and I do have those posts which say Graphics Update first, then that was changed to VR update first, then both released at the same time?

 

Are you able to confirm what the current status is of those posts please? 

[Buzzsaw]

At this point we are not planning on releasing VR separately.

 

It will be released as part of the Visual Update package, which will comprise the following:

 

-  VR Implementation

-  trueSKY implementation

-  Speedtree 8.0 implementation

-  4k Terrain

-  4k Cockpit and Externals

 

At the moment we are testing all of the above in the VR Beta with the exception of Speedtree 8.0 which is further behind in the work to implement it.

[Mysticpuma]

17 hours ago, Buzzsaw said:

At this point we are not planning on releasing VR separately.

 

It will be released as part of the Visual Update package, which will comprise the following:

 

-  VR Implementation

-  trueSKY implementation

-  Speedtree 8.0 implementation

-  4k Terrain

-  4k Cockpit and Externals

 

At the moment we are testing all of the above in the VR Beta with the exception of Speedtree 8.0 which is further behind in the work to implement it.

Thank you for your reply, appreciate it. 

Can I ask, what version of Speedtree is currently used and what advantages does Speedtree 8.0 bring to the project? 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Mysticpuma

[Patricks]

18 hours ago, Buzzsaw said:

At this point we are not planning on releasing VR separately.

 

It will be released as part of the Visual Update package, which will comprise the following:

 

-  VR Implementation

-  trueSKY implementation

-  Speedtree 8.0 implementation

-  4k Terrain

-  4k Cockpit and Externals

 

At the moment we are testing all of the above in the VR Beta with the exception of Speedtree 8.0 which is further behind in the work to implement it.

 

Release it right now or else!! Or else i'll wait.... 

[Buzzsaw]

On 4/5/2022 at 12:39 AM, Mysticpuma said:

Thank you for your reply, appreciate it. 

Can I ask, what version of Speedtree is currently used and what advantages does Speedtree 8.0 bring to the project? 

Current version is 5.2.

 

Advantages of 8.0 are better and more varied tree models in the library, a better tree modeler for creating custom trees, as well as improved features such as the way trees react to wind, etc.

 

We also will have access to Speedtree 9.0 when it is finished.

[Buzzsaw]

Please note:  If you look at Speedtree videos and demos, remember there are two different types of tree rendering programs offered by Speedtree.

 

There are those for films and images... and there are those used in games.

 

By necessity, due to the huge number of trees present in games and the fact these need to be rendered 'on the fly' i.e. in real time by the player's CPU/GPU, the game tree models are simpler than those used in film where they don't have to be rendered in real time.

 

So don't expect the new trees which will be used in our Visual Update to be the same as the trees used for Film work where the 3D images are only rendered once, not in real time, and then digitally incorporated into the film.  ?

[No.54_Reddog]

On 4/4/2022 at 8:15 AM, Mysticpuma said:

VR is still in Beta and Truesky and the graphics update are still in Alpha, the likelyhood of it appearing before Christmas 2022 is the best guess. So if Sow were preparing to return with or for VR then it's likely the Server won't be up and running for a while yet sadly. 

 

Hi MP, thanks for the update. Christmas would be a disappointment. I was under the impression that the release would have been earlier than that from some of the other TF announcements but as always there never seems to be a line in the sand and a definitive date, or any sort of communicated timeline. This just leads to speculation and misunderstanding and frustration I guess. It is what it is.

 

We will probably run an event in the next month or so and see how that goes, but it's difficult to see how the current population justifies another 24/7 campaign.

On 4/4/2022 at 5:14 PM, Buzzsaw said:

Not accurate.  We expect the Visual Update to be released in the summer of 2022.

Sorry, didn't see this before my last post.

 

This sounds very promising.

 

Not to be that guy, (I know, bit late for that) but what do you class as summer? For me that would be June, July and August. Just want to check that we are on the same page. How confident are you that this summer release is feasible? Again, don't mean to be that guy but TF don't have the greatest track record with deadlines.

[Buzzsaw]

10 hours ago, No.54_Reddog said:

 

How confident are you that this summer release is feasible? Again, don't mean to be that guy but TF don't have the greatest track record with deadlines.

At this point Summer 2022 is by my estimation a good forecast for when we will release the Visual Update.

 

Some of the elements are complete, some are mostly complete and others are still in process.  But overall good progress.

 

Regarding TF 6.0... at the moment the forecast would be Spring or Summer 2023.

[oof_]

23 hours ago, No.54_Reddog said:

Not to be that guy, (I know, bit late for that) but what do you class as summer? For me that would be June, July and August. Just want to check that we are on the same page. How confident are you that this summer release is feasible? Again, don't mean to be that guy but TF don't have the greatest track record with deadlines.

Maybe you could tell us the date for the VR OPEN BETA.

Thanks - Oof

[No.54_Reddog]

1 hour ago, oof_ said:

Maybe you could tell us the date for the VR OPEN BETA.

Thanks - Oof

Sorry I can't tell you anything as I am not in the know. As a fortune teller however if they do mean to release in june/july/aug (which Buzzsaw sadly didn't confirm), then one would assume being mid April now, that an open beta would be done prior to release with enough time to implement any changes required so maybe July? That of course is if they choose to do an open beta. They might just choose to take the same approach as other devs these days and release without a beta and sort it out later. As this is I think a free update, it doesn't make much odds either way?

[Patricks]

It has been in a closed beta since the end of February, info here - 

 

[oof_]

I would like to join in since i have the quest 2. Isn't that somehow possible.
Im playing CoD everyday for 5 hours or something.

[Patricks]

22 minutes ago, oof_ said:

I would like to join in since i have the quest 2. Isn't that somehow possible.
Im playing CoD everyday for 5 hours or something.

 

Per Buzzsaw on March 3rd - "Applications are currently closed... they were open for two weeks." 

[Buzzsaw]

7 hours ago, oof_ said:

I would like to join in since i have the quest 2. Isn't that somehow possible.
Im playing CoD everyday for 5 hours or something.

I have already replied to you in a private message oof, you did not reply to that message.

[JS81Knows]

On 4/10/2022 at 10:30 PM, Buzzsaw said:

At this point Summer 2022 is by my estimation a good forecast for when we will release the Visual Update.

 

Some of the elements are complete, some are mostly complete and others are still in process.  But overall good progress.

 

Regarding TF 6.0... at the moment the forecast would be Spring or Summer 2023.

This is very exciting news! Can you share any info regarding a TF6.0 Announcement?! You mentioned external events had delayed this. Any rough idea when you might reveal its content? Thank you!

[Amarok]

On 2/19/2022 at 10:10 AM, No.54_Reddog said:

Hi all,

 

In anticipation of a successful release of VR and the visual update, and after a break of 5 years, the Storm of War CLOD server is returning.

 

Initially we will be running some standalone events, depending on reception and numbers we may bring back our Long War campaign.

 

Right now we are just doing some testing but look out for further news soon.

Moin Reddog,

 

when will "Storm of War CoD" returning? Next year?

[Buzzsaw]

On 4/19/2022 at 9:49 AM, JS81Knows said:

This is very exciting news! Can you share any info regarding a TF6.0 Announcement?! You mentioned external events had delayed this. Any rough idea when you might reveal its content? Thank you!

We are working with 1C on an announcement now.