Terrain Update Oct. 2024: Speedtree 8.42

[Buzzsaw]

Hello All

 

The addition of Speedtree 8.42 continues. 

 

At this point the new trees are in and have replaced the old models... but work on the shaders, (colouring) continues.

 

Below are some images from the ingame Alpha, which includes trueSKY.

 

We expect to add the work to the VR Beta in the next month or so.

 

Note:  This Alpha does not include the new grasses, small rocks and other minor objects.

 

https://i.ibb.co/7zSg43C/20241016222639-1.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/ZLrs7Yw/20241016221929-1.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/rpvy6L8/20241014211701-1.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/Nsm6wjY/20241016221817-1.jpg

[FurphyForum]

Thanks for the update Buzz.

 

Is there any other info that you might care to share WRT your stated set time dates?

[BOO]

@Buzzsaw The images look great.  What about everything else? Can be expect a fuller update re VR position, VU implementation with VR and TF6 anytime soon? 

[5th_Barone]

These looks really nice!

Thanks for sharing

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

Thanks for sharing! Looks nice 👍

[No.54_Reddog]

These look good. Are the trees all the same size? Something looks a bit off with them but I can't put my finger on what exactly.

[SCG_Schneemann]

Could be. They look to be all the same tree, without the size and rotation modifier. Obviously the published game will have all that sorted. And have the six or seven different tree types. But I think they look pretty good. 

[Mysticpuma]

44 minutes ago, SCG_Schneemann said:

Could be. They look to be all the same tree, without the size and rotation modifier. Obviously the published game will have all that sorted. And have the six or seven different tree types. But I think they look pretty good. 

But, as always, I will be the one to address the Elephant in the room....with six weeks to go until release....how close are we to all the flyable content, Truesky, VR, VU, Speedtree being ready?

I mean, you know the community wants to read what the state of play is....can you just be honest and tell us?

 

Announced on September 23rd 2023, due for release in two months.

So the question is, how much of this is ready for release? How much is working, fully functional in game?

From TFS's own post:

 

"Key Features

•       18 new flyable types and variants are added with FORTRESSES AND FOCKE-WULFS – DIEPPE, allowing the players to experience aerial conflict over the English Channel from in the autumn of 1941 to the culminating moment of the Dieppe Raid in August of 1942.

•       A detailed new 1942 English Channel map with added landmarks, updated airfields and 4k terrain, large caliber Coastal Gun batteries, fortifications, minefields and defenses.

•       New tank, artillery and vehicle types added allowing the land battle to be recreated in detail.

•       Naval Vessels from the Royal Navy and Kriegsmarine are modeled including Scharnhorst Class Battlecruisers, Admiral Hipper Class Heavy Cruisers, Renown Class Battlecruisers, as well as destroyers and landing craft.

•       New aircraft detail including new engine technology like Turbo Superchargers, as well as more precise Flight, Damage, Propeller and Overheat modeling.

•       Improved graphics, including 4k textures for aircraft externals and cockpits, extended viewing distance, 4k terrain modeling, full 3D implementation for players with Virtual Reality headsets, updated vegetation and new cloud and weather systems.

•       Excellent multiplayer environment allows over 100 players and dozens of AI aircraft online simultaneously, providing for intense and challenging human versus human aerial battles.

•       New artificial intelligence routines and improved combat behavior for AI aircraft add to the excitement of detailed campaigns in Single Player for Luftwaffe, Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Force pilots.

•       New Quick Mission Builder provides the opportunity for faster and more detailed player created missions without the complexity of the Full Mission Builder.

 

New Aircraft

Focke-Wulf 190A-1

Focke-Wulf 190A-2

Focke-Wulf 190A-3

Messerschmitt Bf-109G-2

Messerschmitt Bf-110F-1

Messerschmitt Bf-110F-2

Junkers Ju-88C-6

Junkers Ju-88A-4

Spitfire Mk VC

Spitfire Mk VC 'Clipped Wing'

Spitfire Mk IXA

P-51A-83

P-51A-91

B-17E

Wellington III

Beaufighter VIC

Typhoon Mk IA

Typhoon Mk IB"

Edited October 17, 2024 by Mysticpuma
Typo

[Bussard_x]

Pictures look great, thanks for the update. The announced release date is not realistic, it is done to give some push to developers and testers to get things done asap.

 

[Buzzsaw]

This is an alpha... tree types which will be seen in the final will vary.  There are multiple types of new trees in 8.42... more than in 5.2.

 

The positioning of the new trees will be the same as the old... although in some cases, hedges are replacing previous rows of trees on the field boundaries.

 

You can see the quality of the trees compared to the older versions.

 

New trees will be rendered in 4k with PBR... (Physics Based Rendering) this will be our first step in the introduction of PBR.

 

Regarding news on the release date... we will have something in the next month.

 

Regarding VR... we are analyzing the data from the latest VR Beta releases... which were created to identify and isolate the sources of the crashes which have been experienced by users.

[Bf109Ace]

Looks great!

Love the sky, a huge improvement over what we currently have!

I await the release date with bated breath!!

Keep up the good work!!!!

[No.54_Reddog]

4 hours ago, Buzzsaw said:

This is an alpha... tree types which will be seen in the final will vary.  There are multiple types of new trees in 8.42... more than in 5.2.

 

The positioning of the new trees will be the same as the old... although in some cases, hedges are replacing previous rows of trees on the field boundaries.

 

You can see the quality of the trees compared to the older versions.

 

New trees will be rendered in 4k with PBR... (Physics Based Rendering) this will be our first step in the introduction of PBR.

 

Regarding news on the release date... we will have something in the next month.

 

Regarding VR... we are analyzing the data from the latest VR Beta releases... which were created to identify and isolate the sources of the crashes which have been experienced by users.

Thanks.

 

Can you explain the difference between alpha and beta as it pertains to CLOD please?

 

Also, can you confirm that the implementation of truesky in this alpha is complete and could if VR was not a consideration be released "as is"? (To be clear, I am not advocating this, merely asking a question to understand the maturity of the feature)

[Buzzsaw]

44 minutes ago, No.54_Reddog said:

Thanks.

 

Can you explain the difference between alpha and beta as it pertains to CLOD please?

 

Also, can you confirm that the implementation of truesky in this alpha is complete and could if VR was not a consideration be released "as is"? (To be clear, I am not advocating this, merely asking a question to understand the maturity of the feature)

The Alpha is an inhouse, Team Fusion only access version.  Because we have a Git setup, it is constantly changing as members of the team upload their work.

 

No, the trueSKY version in this Alpha is not complete... we still need to determine the sources of the VR Crashes... which could possibly be trueSKY, not the VR software.  So we are not locking down this version.

[ACG_Staddy]

Well happy to see these screenshots in the daylight  

[RedTooClodo]

Great work!

 

Quick question about the hedges - presumably the uniform 'bobbly' appearance is because they are currently made of only one plant type like the trees?

[Dagwoodyt]

4 jpeg's, no video, stunning🙄
 

[Lorena_Scout]

Great job Buzz o/

 

looking great, can't wait for that

 

btw, besides more kinds of trees, what else speedtree brings to the table?   higher fps because is a plugin and takes the load of the engine?

 

I am not familiar with this tech.

[Mysticpuma]

1 hour ago, Lorena_Scout said:

Great job Buzz o/

 

looking great, can't wait for that

 

btw, besides more kinds of trees, what else speedtree brings to the table?   higher fps because is a plugin and takes the load of the engine?

 

I am not familiar with this tech.

 

Speedtree 8.4 features;

https://store.speedtree.com/whats-new-in-v8-4-0/

 

The latest version of Speedtree is V10, hopefully TFS won't delay FAF to get it working with the CloD and will go ahead with V6, upgrading to V10 after.

 

https://store.speedtree.com/speedtree10/

Edited October 19, 2024 by Mysticpuma

[SCG_Schneemann]

Hedges are being improved. I've got another hedge model I've been developing that looks more realistic, and less clunky. The original screenshots were just placing an enlarged ST5 bush model to make them. The newer ones I am working are reducing the tri count so we can stack more together for a smoother looking "string". It's always a compromise - too many chunks framerate, too little looks like beads on a necklace. Since it is a flying game, I am erring on the reduced look from close up to optimize for distance approach, trying to find that happy middle ground. It won't look like a FPS up close - that's not the point. It's to have something that you are flying over at 300m and above look as realistic as we can make it.

 

And ST should help reduce framerates for the same level of detail, although we're just trying to see if we can upgrade the level of detail without making it more FPS hungry. It's all fiddling and testing, fiddling and testing. We are trying to find that middle ground where it runs well in both flat screen and VR. And part of it is the process of retexturing/remodeling most, if not all of the buildings to optimize them, to try to reduce the bubble draw issue (lower poly buildings means more buildings able to be rendered before that last LoD). Then test again, and again.

[Bussard_x]

2 hours ago, SCG_Schneemann said:

Hedges are being improved. I've got another hedge model I've been developing that looks more realistic, and less clunky. The original screenshots were just placing an enlarged ST5 bush model to make them. The newer ones I am working are reducing the tri count so we can stack more together for a smoother looking "string". It's always a compromise - too many chunks framerate, too little looks like beads on a necklace. Since it is a flying game, I am erring on the reduced look from close up to optimize for distance approach, trying to find that happy middle ground. It won't look like a FPS up close - that's not the point. It's to have something that you are flying over at 300m and above look as realistic as we can make it.

 

And ST should help reduce framerates for the same level of detail, although we're just trying to see if we can upgrade the level of detail without making it more FPS hungry. It's all fiddling and testing, fiddling and testing. We are trying to find that middle ground where it runs well in both flat screen and VR. And part of it is the process of retexturing/remodeling most, if not all of the buildings to optimize them, to try to reduce the bubble draw issue (lower poly buildings means more buildings able to be rendered before that last LoD). Then test again, and again.

 

Developing hedge model, is this within SpeedTree?

[II./JG27_Rich]

Will the grass be fuller?

[BOO]

7 hours ago, II./JG27_Rich said:

Will the grass be fuller?

Somewhere it was mentioned the new grass wasnt.... 

 

.....Ah - here

 

On 10/17/2024 at 5:40 AM, Buzzsaw said:

 

 

Note:  This Alpha does not include the new grasses, small rocks and other minor objects.

 

 

 

Edited October 22, 2024 by BOO

[SCG_Schneemann]

Still in the works. Trees and bushes first, grass and rocks to follow.

[Dagwoodyt]

Unwillingness to put up video clips is concerning. BTW no improvement in instrument lighting in cockpits(?)

[Mysticpuma]

3 hours ago, SCG_Schneemann said:

Still in the works. Trees and bushes first, grass and rocks to follow.

Any news of when we will hear where the works currently stand?

Feels a bit like HS2 at the moment

[II./JG27_Rich]

It would be great to have some nice grass at the bases. If you have some nice grass at the bases you're right back on par with IL-2 Great Battles graphics wise ..Imo Cliffs of Dover's clouds will be awesome

Edited October 22, 2024 by II./JG27_Rich

[SCG_Schneemann]

3 hours ago, Mysticpuma said:

Any news of when we will hear where the works currently stand?

Like now? Hahaha.

As always, everything can be constantly improved, but as far as Speedtree goes, I've made/modified the ST library trees to suit our needs; the game code has, to my knowledge, been incorporated for the trees and shaders; our new shader individual has done wonders dialing it in and tweaking the code. You have seen some of the pictures already. I am meeting with him tomorrow to discuss if we can start in on the autumn and winter map shading. There will be autumn and winter versions of the trees. The grasses are in the works - at this point it is an incorporation into the code process. Obviously with a custom engine and ST's support of it, there is still some work still to be done. The ground cover models are identified, and are being worked.

[Mysticpuma]

5 hours ago, SCG_Schneemann said:

Like now? Hahaha.

As always, everything can be constantly improved, but as far as Speedtree goes, I've made/modified the ST library trees to suit our needs; the game code has, to my knowledge, been incorporated for the trees and shaders; our new shader individual has done wonders dialing it in and tweaking the code. You have seen some of the pictures already. I am meeting with him tomorrow to discuss if we can start in on the autumn and winter map shading. There will be autumn and winter versions of the trees. The grasses are in the works - at this point it is an incorporation into the code process. Obviously with a custom engine and ST's support of it, there is still some work still to be done. The ground cover models are identified, and are being worked.

Thank you for taking the time to reply and give some insigh and facts.

Cheers, Mysticpuma.

[major_setback]

On 10/19/2024 at 10:32 AM, RedTooClodo said:

Great work!

 

Quick question about the hedges - presumably the uniform 'bobbly' appearance is because they are currently made of only one plant type like the trees?

 

I may be wrong, but I believe there is no option to make a hedge, so it has to be made up of individual bushes. Hence the hoppy hedge.

 

[Dagwoodyt]

22 hours ago, SCG_Schneemann said:

There will be autumn and winter versions of the trees. The grasses are in the works - at this point it is an incorporation into the code process. Obviously with a custom engine and ST's support of it, there is still some work still to be done. The ground cover models are identified, and are being worked.

So is work on the DW-T map being done in parallel or to follow? Seems like there are three maps: one each for basic Blitz and DW-T and an enhanced Channel map for TF 6.0. This looks like a 2026 debut for TF 6.0 if all goes according to plan🤔

[SCG_Schneemann]

In parallel, or in the case of the textures, prior to the Channel updates. The map plan is to have updated maps (Channel and Tobruk) as part of the upgrade, or enhancement. We're trying to update all the maps as we go. Most of the core work is being done to the base game, so all maps will benefit from the work being put into the new shaders/TrueSky, etc. The Dieppe Raid module will be revising the Channel map to 1942 information (fortifications, paved runways where they were, airfield layouts). 

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

Just a quick question about textures. Are there any plans in the future to "tidy up" them ie. tiles next to water, roads going nowhere, places of unpopulated building areas etc. Sure a bit of nitpicking and has no effect on gameplay itself and CloD is not the only sim with this. 

[SCG_Schneemann]

As best we can - it's a big map. 

[Bussard_x]

What about the numerous 2D houses/buildings in close view on the current map? These are bugs from the initial release. Were meant for high altitude view.

[SCG_Schneemann]

Not aware of what you mean? Can you show an example? I'm not aware of any 2D buildings. Even the last LoD should be a 3D block.

[Bussard_x]

5 minutes ago, SCG_Schneemann said:

Not aware of what you mean? Can you show an example? I'm not aware of any 2D buildings. Even the last LoD should be a 3D block.

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2024 by Bussard_x

[SCG_Schneemann]

That is the original game texture, which have totally redone. That appears to be a section of town close to an airfield that gets automatically cleared. I'll keep looking but I think we've eliminated all of those.

[Trooper117]

Good stuff, keep up the good work chaps!

[II./JG27_Rich]

On 10/19/2024 at 8:35 AM, Mysticpuma said:

 

Speedtree 8.4 features;

https://store.speedtree.com/whats-new-in-v8-4-0/

 

The latest version of Speedtree is V10, hopefully TFS won't delay FAF to get it working with the CloD and will go ahead with V6, upgrading to V10 after.

 

https://store.speedtree.com/speedtree10/

 Skip it . I was going to be an ass but I heard Dad in my head in my head "Richie that's not very nice" Dad was always right  

Edited November 6, 2024 by II./JG27_Rich