Infantry is IN!

[89-]

This is pretty awesome news imho, just had to make a topic Loft: "we WILL surprise you yet, e.g. infantry on the aerodromes will make it into the  game."http://forum.il2sturmovik.ru/topic/1714-obsuzhdenie-73-j-chasti-dnevnikov-razrabotchika/?p=182674

[89-]

Yep, I am, so there is no ambiguity, my translation is correct  Loft: " Infantry from the CGI will feature in the game".

Edited July 27, 2014 by 89-

[89-]

That's google translate for you;) Loft was replying to somebody who said that little from the CGI will make it into the game. To that Loft answered, that "he was right, but not as right as he, the poster himself, thought. There will be surprises yet, infantry from the CGI will be in game. So yes, a lot of the CGI stuff will not make it, but a lot will, this can not be measured in percent".

Edited July 27, 2014 by 89-

[Uufflakke]

This is what BlackSix said about the infantry in that trailer:

"No, we've no such plans currently."

 

http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/8185-developer-diary-part-73/?p=139347

 

It might imply that in near/far away future animated infantry will be added.

Or nothing at all.

[LizLemon]

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

The number of vertex shaders you'd have to run for moving infantry is probably way more then the dx9 computers 777 is targeting can handle. 

[Uufflakke]

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

The number of vertex shaders you'd have to run for moving infantry is probably way more then the dx9 computers 777 is targeting can handle. 

 

In case animated infantry will be added I think it will be a simplified version of the trailer one.

 

Something like this perhaps?

 

[bivalov]

yes, LOFT said - "Из этого ролика перекочует в игру пехота на аэродромах" or "from this movie in game will be infantry on airfields" - exactly like this, and personally i think that is could be not about just infantry in game, it's like now drivers in cars, position of AA guns, artillery etc. lets see in future, of course, it's good news.

[89-]

This is what BlackSix said about the infantry in that trailer:

"No, we've no such plans currently."

 

http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/8185-developer-diary-part-73/?p=139347

 

It might imply that in near/far away future animated infantry will be added.

Or nothing at all.

 

BlackSix was wrong, the plans for infantry were already in place when he wrote it. BLackSix is a community manager, Loft is the producer - who's word are we taking?

[Dakpilot]

There will be cut scenes in the game with infantry running  ....everybody is right

 

Cheers Dakpilot

[Uufflakke]

BlackSix was wrong, the plans for infantry were already in place when he wrote it. BLackSix is a community manager, Loft is the producer - who's word are we taking?

 

I don't know.

 

There are already a lot of discussions going on at the moment: thickness of armoured windshield, revi too high, the bar, roll rate.

Why not adding another discussion to the list: Can we expect yes or no animated infantry? Or: Who knows better. B6 or Loft? 

 

Or for an answer about infantry ask here:

http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/7-questions-developers/page-22

[LizLemon]

We're only talking about models of infantry.

 

Just animated 3D models, like the old IL2 game achieved 14 or 15 years ago when PentiumIV and GeForce 3s were state-of-the-art.

 

If you want to animate infantry then every vertex that is being moved has to be calculated. This is easy when your infantry soldiers are a handful of polygons. But the more polys you have per soldier, the more vertexes you have to calculate. This can end up being an exponential problem very quickly. 

[Tab]

If you want to animate infantry then every vertex that is being moved has to be calculated. This is easy when your infantry soldiers are a handful of polygons. But the more polys you have per soldier, the more vertexes you have to calculate. This can end up being an exponential problem very quickly. 

Extreme_one's point is that it was already done in Il2 Sturmovik in 2003. There is also infantry in War Thunder. A small soldier figure will probably take 50 polys. It will be enough. Current cars and tanks are about 1500 polys with the closest LOD. 3d scenes complexity is definitely not what's bottlenecking the game performance now. It's physics and its impact on CPU that are a bottleneck. My mid-range AMD 270 is running at 50-60% load almost all the time using 1 GB of video RAM. There is some headroom for more 3d models and textures of higher resolution.

 

@OP: good news and thanks for letting us know. I missed that statement of Loft.

[LuftManu]

I really like that idea, Shooting from trenches, and running, or being a "group" is not very heavy to the Cpu, not more than a vehicle, so for me is a really good idea! 

 

Who wants to Bomb some trenches in mid of the Ruins in Stalingrad? 

Edited July 27, 2014 by Manu_vc

[Densetsu]

Flying low over a big infantry charge would be pretty amazing.

[Requiem]

Moving infantry has been implemented by SYN_Vander in Rise of Flight, so there is no reason why it wouldn't be possible or overly taxing on current computers.

[SYN_Mike77]

15 years ago sprites were the way to put infantry in games.  They don't look near as good as 3d models but they work.  For a flight sim, I'd be happy with sprites as infantry.  Also, some infantry has been added to RoF as Requiem says above.  So it is possible.

[Panzerlang]

It's been done before in a game that carried the IL2 branding.

 

Nobody is expecting infantry models that compete with those in Battlefield 4.

 

Simple, low poly models with simple running animations certainly won't tax our PCs, just as they didn't 15 years ago.

 

I'm pretty sure the infantry in the original IL2 beta were 2D sprites (like 2-position gifs or something).

[Madov]

Within the Il-2 1946 mod world we now have moving ground troops doing all kinds of things, especially panicking at the sight of ground attack aircraft. There is plenty of precedence for something similar and more advanced to happen in BoS.

[Uufflakke]

Moving infantry has been implemented by SYN_Vander in Rise of Flight, so there is no reason why it wouldn't be possible or overly taxing on current computers.

 

 

Yes, I hope to see stuff like this in BoS too.

Animated horses and spinning wheels by SYN_Vander:

 

[SeriousFox]

I think it will be like animated props that can't be killed or damaged. like the one from FSX 3rd party airports. (especially ORBX one)

[FlatSpinMan]

Excellent!

And I had no idea that Vander's infantry were animated, and so convincingly, too.

[Feathered_IV]

Great news.  It's one of the features that will really make the game.

[steppenwolf]

This is good news. But it's sad that things like '2D sprites' and '15 years ago' are our benchmark. We've got some fundamentally outdated gaming philosophy and expectations in the flight sim community. 

[Panzerlang]

This is good news. But it's sad that things like '2D sprites' and '15 years ago' are our benchmark. We've got some fundamentally outdated gaming philosophy and expectations in the flight sim community. 

 

Well, we've got the 190 bar from 15 years ago, so I guess the benchmark is in the approximately right place.

[Rjel]

This is good news. But it's sad that things like '2D sprites' and '15 years ago' are our benchmark. We've got some fundamentally outdated gaming philosophy and expectations in the flight sim community. 

I sorta had that feeling too. We so want anything new in a flight sim, we settle where other genre fans will often have multiple choices for their favored type of game. Still there is hope. Until BoS hits gold, I'm not going to give up hoping for a lot more than we've seen to date in the early access. A populated world to any degree would be a welcomed improvement in my eyes.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Rjel

[BlackSix]

BlackSix was wrong, the plans for infantry were already in place when he wrote it. BLackSix is a community manager, Loft is the producer - who's word are we taking?

It was a surprise for me too, I didn't know about the infantry.

[Sakkay]

that's good!

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

I love surprises!

[ShamrockOneFive]

Interesting news. I wasn't sure I believed it for a while... curious to see what it looks like. What we're actually going to see.

[Brano]

There are allready horses and moving infantry in RoF.I see no problem why they should not be included in BoS.

[kendo]

I had been thinking that even with the FW-190 the game completion was sitting at 60%. With only one more aircraft - the HE-111 - and the campaign system still to be implemented I was struggling to see where the 40% was coming from.

 

Seems some surprises will be on the way. Nice!

[TheBlackPenguin]

Great news, this will add a lot to immersion.

[ram0506]

They were 3D models in Il2 Forgotten Battles and subsequent expansions.

 

Low detail, very simple animation, but still adequate.

 

Took me quite a while to find a video. You can see in the video, they cast a shadow and everything.

 

http://youtu.be/D-LgcTIOsJQ

In that way it would be absolutely sufficient for the game! Maybe not only as drivers but also some representatives of infantry units on the battlefield (we don`t need the whole 6. army )?

[DeafBee]

Wow amazing if infantry will be in the game. 

[flyingjulez]

Watching the trailer I was like "wow, infantry on the airfield makes a hell of a difference for immersion".

 

This will bring new customers I promise

[Jason_Williams]

As has been pointed out already, this kind of stuff has already been done in ROF by Vander which utilizes our existing tech. There are stationary ground crew on the airfield, soldiers marching and horses pulling wagons etc. All of which can be seen in ROF if you use PWCG. Vander and Pat did an amazing job. Anything is possible given enough time and money which we don't always have.

 

Loft and I spoke about this a while ago and it was always a possible item. I've always wanted it, but the decision to spend resources on it is up to Loft as he is in charge of the daily dev schedule. However, I caution everyone though, please keep reasonable expectations of what it will entail.

 

Jason

[Sokol1]

It's been done before in a game that carried the IL2 branding.

 

Combat sim review: February 2001

 

http://www.combatsim.com/memb123/img/1/6/0/il2-troop6.jpg

 

Curiously, the low poly running for cover pilot from original il-2 end adding more the detailed ones in CloD or BoS.

See the amount of funny "movies" in which he acted.

 

"Run Forest, run".

 

Sokol1

[SharpeXB]

Yes, I hope to see stuff like this in BoS too.

Animated horses and spinning wheels by SYN_Vander:

 

 

Maybe those could be imported into BoS. They had the same horse drawn carts in WWII

[IIN8II]

If it is the case, it will add a lot of immersion to the sim, especially one that is named after a ground attack aircraft. 

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

In that way it would be absolutely sufficient for the game! Maybe not only as drivers but also some representatives of infantry units on the battlefield (we don`t need the whole 6. army )?

 

+1000

 

We don't need a lot of details, they will never be seen moving at 400kph at distance.  But seeing guys in columns (e.g., behind a tank) or dispersing from vehicles, AAA, etc. (some of which was in Il2 1946) would add sooooo much to the immersion of a ground attack.