Caught in the Searchlights: Night Raid on Boulogne

[ATAG_Snapper]

A video depicting a formation of six Wellington 1c medium bombers on a night raid to Boulogne, Occupied France, on September 9, 1940. This video was taken from a Work In Progress alpha version (MEV81) of IL2-Sturmovik Cliffs of Dover Blitz and Desert Wind Tobruk combat flight simulation.

https://youtu.be/_BB6Jpa_KSU

[DN308]

Outstanding !

Can’t wait to launch some eggs on the harbor too

[9./JG52_J-HAT]

Nice!
Now that’s something different for me.
Also didn’t know we had lights in CloD now (or in the beta).

 

Night fighters with working radars when? ?

[354thFG_Leifr]

This is really nice, and actually something I would be interested in doing. Please post more of this, Bomber Command is woefully under-represented in all formats of media and this is my sort of idea of fun for a quiet Friday night.

 

[Sokol1]

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

Also didn’t know we had lights in CloD now (or in the beta).

 

Since Blitz, this screen is from a mission - of Piper_Kiev Beaufighter mini-campaign; I play in November, 2020.

But are some issues, if use more than one runway beacon light, the cockpit lights end bugged.

 

 

 

 

[Trooper117]

Thanks for the video... good stuff!

[ATAG_Snapper]

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

Nice!
Now that’s something different for me.
Also didn’t know we had lights in CloD now (or in the beta).

 

Night fighters with working radars when? ?

The lights were just activated in the current alpha - there are separate controls for nav lights and landing lights: ON, OFF, or TOGGLE. Also, the stars are awesome when flying at night, which includes the Milky Way. I believe they are accurate to the period (ie date/time of night). Work continues on FLRC (Fixed Loop Radio Compass) and Lorenz Beacon systems. Radar in night fighters? Now THAT would be cool! 110's vs Beaufighters. Yowsa!!!!! I don't know if there is any development in the works on that. Stay tuned. 

49 minutes ago, Leifr said:

This is really nice, and actually something I would be interested in doing. Please post more of this, Bomber Command is woefully under-represented in all formats of media and this is my sort of idea of fun for a quiet Friday night.

 

A year or so ago I created The Wimpey Squad over at the ATAG Forum - a very loose-knit group of Welly pilots from various squads, plus escort fighter pilots who are very welcome (Wellies tend to draw 9./JG52 109 jocks like flies to sh..honey). It's been very quiet of late, but there's nothing to creating a Squad Night: just make a post in the Target For Tonight thread about getting together in any server (TWC Server is very popular - lots of targets!).

 

Give the word (I'm Snapper over at ATAG) and one mouse click and you're in! Same for anybody here. 

17 minutes ago, Trooper117 said:

Thanks for the video... good stuff!

Thanks, Troop. I'm just transitioning from Premiere Pro CS6 (olde & ancient version) to the current Premiere Pro CC. It's like a whole new software program, but it has some really good features - including very fast rendering times. This little video took me the best part of the weekend (and this morning) to put together, but it's getting easier.

1 hour ago, DN308 said:

Outstanding !

Can’t wait to launch some eggs on the harbor too

There are some wrinkles to iron out before we get to hosting night missions on the servers, but it would be fun to run a one-off event for a night time mission(s). Just flying under the stars to Boulogne in the Wellington was absolutely gobsmacking visually...but there was a war on! (and a video to make!) LOL

[BOO]

@Riley - the frame rate in the video is quite low, even with the aircraft at altitude its barely touching 60 whilst on the ground it dipping into the mid 20s and even lower at certain points. In some of the previous videos there been much made of the number of AI in the air and the maintained higher fps. Im just wondering what else was going on (VR, video processing etc).

 

Cheers 

Edited November 15, 2022 by BOO

[OBT-Eazy]

1 hour ago, BOO said:

@Riley - the frame rate in the video is quite low, even with the aircraft at altitude its barely touching 60 whilst on the ground it dipping into the mid 20s and even lower at certain points. In some of the previous videos there been much made of the number of AI in the air and the maintained higher fps. Im just wondering what else was going on (VR, video processing etc).

 

Cheers 

 

[BOO]

10 minutes ago, OBT-Eazy said:

 

Mate if youre happy with 19 fps -crack on!. 

 

 

[343KKT_Kintaro]

Spectacular video. Thank you TFS! It reminds me that I was quite good at night flying in my oldest generations of sims (like 1946) but that I'm no longer a good night pilot in the more recent flight sims like DCS, Great Battles and Cliffs of Dover. I'll need some training before I accomplish such a mission, that's for sure.

 

I kept an eye on the fps counter: I'd say the average fps rate is 50. 73/74 sometimes, with a few falls to the 32/33 fps. I didn't notice any drop to the mentioned 19 fps.

 

 

[9./JG52_J-HAT]

@BOO I don’t know what the system specs were in the video but it looks like it’s running in 2d (the hud elements get that typical cylindrical shape when in VR and are clearly not on the same plane as the screen, even when recording with one eye only).
Performance in 2d in the beta isn’t too different (not noticeable when playing without the fps counter anyways) from what we have now. So it’s probably just the system trying to keep up with the effects.

 

But please anyone who nows more feel free to add or correct me.

 

@Riley what’s MEV81 Alpha? Is that a different one than the one being tested for VR right now? Like an earlier one?

[Sokol1]

11 hours ago, Sokol1 said:

But are some issues, if use more than one runway beacon light, the cockpit lights end bugged.

 

Mmm... thinking about, since the runaway beacon light is a blinking light and if use more than one in the mission the cockpit lights became bugged, this is a hint of why navigation lights still Alfa until today. ?

[Buzzsaw]

The framerates are at their lowest when the camera is in external view down by the explosions and right in the middle of the city...  those are fps eaters.

 

Frames are a better when inside the cockpit... and remember there are dozens of flak guns and multiple searchlights as well as lots of British bombers close together over a heavily urbanized area.

11 hours ago, 9./JG52_J-HAT said:

 

@Riley what’s MEV81 Alpha? Is that a different one than the one being tested for VR right now? Like an earlier one?

MEV81 is the name for the internal Team Fusion Alpha which contains all the elements not for public or even VR Beta release.

 

Such as new planes for TF 6.0, new maps for TF 6.0, new buildings, vehicles, new features such as landing lights, etc.

 

[9./JG52_J-HAT]

56 minutes ago, Buzzsaw said:

Such as new planes for TF 6.0, new maps for TF 6.0, new buildings, vehicles, new features such as landing lights, etc.

 

We got the landing lights part in a video. Now we need more videos from an MEV with the rest of that enumeration ?

 

Joking, of course. Thanks for clearing that up. 

[Mysticpuma]

5 hours ago, Buzzsaw said:

The framerates are at their lowest when the camera is in external view down by the explosions and right in the middle of the city...  those are fps eaters. 

Hi Buzzsaw. 

I remember the issues with frame rate on explosions, and as you say, they are real frame rate killers. 

As I understand it, this is down to the graphics being bottlenecked by the CPU and this would often cause graphics errors/visual effects and particles to disappear when it reached 'breaking' point? 

With that in mind, I also remember that the coders are now in the process of utilising the graphics card much more thoroughly to reduce the CPU load. 

Quick question then, are the explosions still to be added to the code, so the GPU takes the load as it does appear that this is the only FPS issue shown on the video? 

I noticed at the 3m 40s and 4m 20s mark in the video that when explosions start the Searchlights vanish, is this a graphics issue to do with the CPU/Particle limit overload?

 

Final point, it's good to read the v6 assets are available for testing (within the team) so when 1C announce it, is it fair to consider it should be a short(er) after it's announces to seeing it available to buy? 

 

Thanks for your update, cheers, MP

Edited November 16, 2022 by Mysticpuma

[Dagwoodyt]

Will a TF 6.0 announcement come before the Visual Update is released to Blitz users?

[Lusekofte]

A wellington unit, you say. I flown it as much time allowe. Is it possible to join?  
I went into two server alone last night to fly wellington. Within 5 minutes there were 6 more. 
did you fly following beacon? Can I add beacon on fmb and fly

[BOO]

On 11/15/2022 at 6:56 PM, 343KKT_Kintaro said:

I kept an eye on the fps counter: I'd say the average fps rate is 50. 73/74 sometimes, with a few falls to the 32/33 fps. I didn't notice any drop to the mentioned 19 fps.

 

 

It does drop (17 briefly) but, as pointed out, in the external its worse. 

 

My point wasnt to detract. As it stands there is now an offical TFS Video YouAd with lowish to very low FPS on clear display without any information about the rig or the settings used. 

 

If i know Im looking at a video of the game played on (for instance) a GTX1080 at a 4K resolution then Im thinking "fair" - if however Im looking at one played on a 3090 at 1080P id be more concerned.  People will assume that an "offical" video will be showing the game at its contrived best not the prefferred setting of an individual user.

 

Folk pick up on all sorts of things, they dont all necessariy go "oooo" and "ahhh" at a nav lights. I was not trying to be negtive, only thinking that others would see the FPS and think "Clod runs like a bag of spanners,  ill give it a miss" without perhaps understanding why.. Which would be a shame if its not the case.  

 

 

[Mysticpuma]

11 minutes ago, BOO said:

It does drop (17 briefly) but, as pointed out, in the external its worse. 

 

My point wasnt to detract. As it stands there is now an offical TFS Video YouAd with lowish to very low FPS on clear display without any information about the rig or the settings used. 

 

If i know Im looking at a video of the game played on (for instance) a GTX1080 at a 4K resolution then Im thinking "fair" - if however Im looking at one played on a 3090 at 1080P id be more concerned.  People will assume that an "offical" video will be showing the game at its contrived best not the prefferred setting of an individual user.

 

Folk pick up on all sorts of things, they dont all necessariy go "oooo" and "ahhh" at a nav lights. I was not trying to be negtive, only thinking that others would see the FPS and think "Clod runs like a bag of spanners,  ill give it a miss" without perhaps understanding why.. Which would be a shame if its not the case.  

 

 

Hi Boo. 

Snapper lists his gaming spec on ATAG as FOLLOWS. 

 

[BOO]

36 minutes ago, Mysticpuma said:

Hi Boo. 

Snapper lists his gaming spec on ATAG as FOLLOWS. 

 

Makes me feel a little easier if it was played at the native 1440P. 

[ATAG_Snapper]

Thanks, Mystic. Henceforth I'll post my system specs in future video posts that I shot.

 

Boo, I played this mission at 2160p (3840 x 2160). My system does struggle sometimes, as you've noted, but for the vast majority of play the action is very smooth and 4K res looks spectacular on my relatively inexpensive 55" LG LED 4K TV*. I'm a sucker for eye candy.

 

* purchased a couple of years ago at a "Black Friday" supersale at the local electronics box store - Best Buy. It's not a so-called "Smart TV" with the attendant extra costs involved since I only use it for gameplay/internet browsing. I did pay a little extra for the HDMI cord which seems to handle 4K bandwidth very well.

 

For the sake of movie-making, this video was created entirely from the Full Mission Builder (FMB) from a number of mission builds I created. First, the "Master Mission" which encompassed the whole trip to Boulogne from start-to-finish, then a bunch of "mini-missions" taken from the Master Mission so I could re-shoot scenes from different aspects relatively quickly.

 

Finally, a LOT of time spent learning Adobe's Premiere Pro CC which is very different from my old, familiar Adobe Premiere Pro CS6. But, pulling hair out from time to time aside, it was fun to do.

 

As mentioned earlier, this was taken from a working alpha copy that the coders and modellers use to test/explore possible new features, optimizations, etc etc. I'm privileged to have access to this raw work-in-progress and was careful to get Buzzsaw's express go-ahead to publish this video.

19 hours ago, 216th_Lusekofte said:

A wellington unit, you say. I flown it as much time allowe. Is it possible to join?  
I went into two server alone last night to fly wellington. Within 5 minutes there were 6 more. 
did you fly following beacon? Can I add beacon on fmb and fly

Join? Sure, it'd be great to have you with us. You will have access to "The Wimpey Squad" subforum which has a lot of threads/posts you will find quite interesting. Give me a minute and I'll "click you in"!

 

Edit: re Long Range Radio Beacon is found withing the FMB. Although I didn't use it for this particular video (I let AI do my navigating by hitting "Autopilot"  ), I actually did place a radio beacon at Lympne and set its frequency to 302 Khz. The Fixed Loop Radio Compass in the Welly can get you to your airfield very well, even in the dead of night. Work continues on the Lorenz Landing Beacon.  Also, with the FLRC for the mathematically-inclined you can adjust the angle of the FLRC and use it to navigate and/or verify your map position over water expanses or at night. My math sucks, but I have in the past drawn up mission maps where I included strategically-placed radio masts with different frequencies so you could pinpoint your location over the North African desert (fortunately Jerry hasn't devised jamming methods...yet! LOL)

[BOO]

@Riley Thanks Snapper for clearing that up - And thanks for taking the time to put the video up. As I said, my intention was not to knock amything but to have some context in there so people can better guage performance instead of making assumptions. 

 

All the best

[ATAG_Snapper]

Just now, BOO said:

@Riley Thanks Snapper for clearing that up - And thanks for taking the time to put the video up. As I said, my intention was not to knock amything but to have some context in there so people can better guage performance instead of making assumptions. 

 

All the best

 

Just now, BOO said:

@Riley Thanks Snapper for clearing that up - And thanks for taking the time to put the video up. As I said, my intention was not to knock amything but to have some context in there so people can better guage performance instead of making assumptions. 

 

All the best

It's all good, BOO. It's helpful feedback so I know what info would be useful for forthcoming videos.

 

Cheers!

[FG-28DerDa]

On 11/16/2022 at 6:41 PM, 216th_Lusekofte said:

A wellington unit, you say. I flown it as much time allowe. Is it possible to join?  
I went into two server alone last night to fly wellington. Within 5 minutes there were 6 more. 
did you fly following beacon? Can I add beacon on fmb and fly

The Wimpy squad was initiated by Snapper aka @Riley some time ago and we had a lot of fun practising formation flying and level bombing. We even had some successful raids.

Recently it has been a bit quiet, but still lots uf us are around and fly regularly but independently on TWX campaign server.

Just announce a date and time over at ATAG and I'm sure some will be glad to join.

[Lusekofte]

Thank you. I fly Clod on my island house and DCs in the city with some gb coop in the middle. Loosely attached group was the line getting to me. 
I cannot dedicate dates other than a week forward and sometimes not even that. 
my phone act like a panic button for several customers dispersed around 3000 km. 

[Mysticpuma]

Not really sure if TFS are aware of Riley's posts because they just managed to put together a 10 second video of a Navigation light flashing? 

 

 

[No.54_Reddog]

That video is just fantastic showing the nav lights. This will add so much immersion and game play opportunities it's brilliant. Thank goodness they didn't waste any time fixing the insignificant GUI or AI issues.

[jollyjack]

uhhh, i see only a vague bomber silhouette and a white arrow ..

Looks like them UFO spottings only believers see ... must buy me a better monitor?

Edited November 21, 2022 by jollyjack

[Mysticpuma]

I believe the white arrow is a new feature to help online players point out where the enemy are ?

[Dagwoodyt]

?

Edited November 21, 2022 by Dagwoodyt

[ATAG_Snapper]

Oops, my bad. Did not intend for it to be made public. 

 

Sorry, everyone. Fixed.

[ATAG_Snapper]

16 hours ago, jollyjack said:

uhhh, i see only a vague bomber silhouette and a white arrow ..

Looks like them UFO spottings only believers see ... must buy me a better monitor?

No - don’t do that! LOL

 

This was just a test clip I ran testing a few things that I didn’t intend to go public. The nav lights show clearly in the original 4K video (and the gameplay it was made from). However, the distant nav lights are almost impossible to discern via YouTube, even at 2160p res. I was also experimenting with audio tracks injecting varying values of hi-pass filters and distortion to emulate 1940-esque radio transmissions. 
 

However, I neglected to set this 17 second YouTube video from the default “Public” to “Private”, so it was fair game for critiquing while it was up.

[jollyjack]

You're spotted anyway as your location is 14 (instead of area 51?) .... you got an official request for removal?:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ufo-files