TFS - March update 2025

[AWC]

TFS March update

 

 

Here's some progress from the last month of Team Fusion's work. As promised, we wanted to share our work on the Channel Map and sound effects package that are being constantly improved. Below you can view the current and new images of the following RAF airfields:

- Manston
- Kenley
- Ford
- Hornchurch
- Biggin Hill

 

These are just a selection of many more airfields which our lead map maker has updated to suit 1942 specifications which he has based on historical documentation. The main changes include additions of paved runways and taxi ways, new roads, and new built-up areas. The same is being done for bases in France.

 

Our sound engineer is also working on updating the sound effects of the simulator. The video should speak for itself – the main additions are more realistic external and cockpit sounds. Gunfire is also changing for the better!

 

[II./JG27_Rich]

109 external 

Edited March 30 by II./JG27_Rich

[Mysticpuma]

Thanks for sharing. Map work looks impressive.

One question....why use a captured 109?

One point in regards to sound design. Bird scarers are used at airports, so when the guns are going off, I'd be more expectant of the calm chirping birds, to be either startled, squark and go silent as they fly off or stop chirping and once the gunfire finishes, wait a few seconds and then start building up again.

 

Hearing birds chirping calmly as guns blast away doesn't sound right at all?

 

In regards to the 109 flyby sound, I'll let Luftwaffe fans comment. I just expect to hear them coughing, spluttering and burning after being hit by my P-51 😎 

Edited March 30 by Mysticpuma

[Mysticpuma]

(and I do realise the point of the video is the gun audio.....but the bird sounds is a valid point if we are discussing sound design?)

[Aurora_Stealth]

It's great to see this progress coming through, please do keep it up guys! I know we're going to get a greatly improved simulation with the VR/VU update. 

 

Regarding the Bf 109 E engine sounds, I'd recommend the below video for general reference, ignore the first minute or so but 1:15 onwards will give you a range of external audio.

 

In short, you'll need to add that high pitch supercharger sound/whistle plus some tweaking to the pitch (external audio) of the engine itself I'd say.

 

 

All my best, 

 

Aurora

Edited March 30 by Aurora_Stealth

[Cloyd]

1 hour ago, Mysticpuma said:

(and I do realise the point of the video is the gun audio.....but the bird sounds is a valid point if we are discussing sound design?)

Agreed. As an avid bird nerd, I was surprised to hear the birds merrily chirping while the guns blazed away. It just would not happen. But, it's a detail, not a big deal.

[philiped]

Thanks for the update. The new sounds are a great improvement.

 

I don't mean to sound negative, but I am struggling to see the improvements in the new terrain work. Having lived in southern England my whole life, and having flown over the Kent countryside on numerous occasions, the new terrain colours and vegetation look nothing like what you would see at the height of summer. The old/current textures are perfect! The fields look like they have been burned golden in the sun, and the density of the vegetation and tree lines is superb. The new terrain work,  by contrast, is far too green and 'fake' looking, and the trees look like they have been purposefully dotted around. I cannot understand how sparse the landscape looks. It does not look natural or immersive in any way. I know that hedgerows are being added, which are a welcome addition, but they should blend seamlessly with the dense foliage of the trees. I always thought that TF had done an amazing job getting the channel map to look like an accurate representation of southern England, but the new 'improvements' are a major step down.

 

 

[jaguar]

I agree with philiped. Though I visited Kent just twice from the ground, the colors of the landscape were are more in line the current rather than the new textures 

 

Also, airfields are not close of what I have seen from 1942 aerial photography.

 

For instance, there seems to be a grass extension on Maston runway, like a precursore of the giant emergency runway of 1944. However, as far as I remember work on Maston started around late spring 1943

Edited March 30 by jaguar

[Aurora_Stealth]

Yeah, taking a detailed look through each of the airfields - I concur regarding some of the comments on the landscape... I can't tell if the lighting and saturation from the editor is actually playing a part in our perception of the new images and their unnatural look. It could be cloudy/slightly hazy weather in the 'old' images versus a sunny day when the 'new' screenshots were captured in the editor which is affecting lighting.

 

In either case, the trees do seem to contrast quite a lot on the landscape and interfere visually with other elements including the buildings due to the dark colour which becomes more and more prominent the further you look out. So much so that at a distance it becomes hard to distinguish where towns start and forests begin. I agree that some of the landscapes do seem a bit sparse e.g. Ford, Manston. This could be in part due to a lack of hedgerow placement causing the trees to look out of place. Biggin Hill seems to have some significant hedgerows which help profile the fields and airfield nicely and connect with the trees.

 

I'm sure this is all WIP so I appreciate getting an update of where the team is - it is great to have these more regular updates and visibility of progress. 

 

One technical thing which is hard to define is what is a standard height of hedgerow? you have to model something and they can vary so much... some of them seem appropriately short near roads for example, but as you look out further into the distance they seem quite low and out of scale to the trees or perhaps that is the draw distance being culled which is not defining them so well at distance.

 

The photo below just emphasises how hard hedgerows are to get 'right' across a landscape ... whatever 'right' is. It's as if you need a few different models / heights of them to match certain types of terrain e.g. ones that profile a small single lane or country road, others that are taller which heavily profile a major road or the boundaries of a large field or farm etc.

 

 

That all being said, I actually like some of the depth and definition you get at shallow angles looking out into the distance (e.g. Biggin Hill); but its the contrast of the tree colours which is overpowering and I think the (lack of) visually discernible hedgerows at distance which is making the trees look out of place and unnatural where previously there might have been a line of trees bunched together.

 

Anyway, please take this all as constructive feedback as that's all it is.

Edited March 30 by Aurora_Stealth

[RedTooClodo]

Have to say I too find the new landscape perplexing.

[philiped]

If I were looking at those screenshots for the first time, I would assume that the old/current landscape pics are actually the new development ones. The density of the vegetation is spot on for how England looks, and the terrain colours are very accurate. 

[AWC]

15 hours ago, Mysticpuma said:

Thanks for sharing. Map work looks impressive.

One question....why use a captured 109?

One point in regards to sound design. Bird scarers are used at airports, so when the guns are going off, I'd be more expectant of the calm chirping birds, to be either startled, squark and go silent as they fly off or stop chirping and once the gunfire finishes, wait a few seconds and then start building up again.

 

Hearing birds chirping calmly as guns blast away doesn't sound right at all?

 

In regards to the 109 flyby sound, I'll let Luftwaffe fans comment. I just expect to hear them coughing, spluttering and burning after being hit by my P-51 😎 

 

The captured 109 was because I forgot to change the aircraft nationality, simple mistake. Good idea for the birds, don't know if this has been thought of by our sound engineer.

[Blitzen]

Thank goodness - they've worked on those annoying clicking sounds- they were driving me bats!!! ( only kidding...) 

Now if there was only news about ...wel...you know...

[paul_leonard]

 

[343KKT_Kintaro]

Paul Leonard, this is a modern recreation. A 1918 sound recording NEVER would have sounded like this.

[dmdiman92]

Is this update not out yet?

[Buffo002]

So everyone will probably recognize the inside of the 109, even though there were British markings on the wings... that's not important, it was about presenting the inside of the Bf-109 cockpit. I wouldn't even bother with the birds... there are plenty of games where they chirp and someone even shoots... the external sound of the 109 is better than in the game now, but I would still improve it, but there were only demonstrations, a calm flight and a flyby. Of course, the interior sounds in the cockpit are very good. But otherwise, good job...  The external sound of the Bf-109 mainly lacks that almost whistling tone.  

 

Edited March 31 by Buffo002

[Mysticpuma]

10 hours ago, paul_leonard said:

 

While it does say;

"A moving short sound track of the moment the First World War ended, courtesy of the Imperial War Museum.

The track is not a 1918 recording but it isn't a fake either. The recording was made recently by coda to coda. They used a painstaking process to make a realistic recreation of the moment. The sounds of gunfire...moreThe sounds of gunfire and shells were reconstructed using the data recorded on the Western Front by the British Army's leading edge sound ranging equipment. Experts, including the Smithsonian Museum say that is a very realistic recreation. It was made at https://codatocoda.com "

 

What you clearly pointed out is the birds weren't singing when the guns were firing and there is a reasonable delay before they fade back into audio range.

Amazing one small point can make a difference in sound engineering for reality to be represented.

So every time the guns fire the birds should be cancelled out, then maybe a 5-10 second delay before they start coming back into audio range.

Good stuff 

12 hours ago, Soto_Cinematics said:

 

The captured 109 was because I forgot to change the aircraft nationality, simple mistake. Good idea for the birds, don't know if this has been thought of by our sound engineer.

Been there before with the wrong markings... irritating but can be explained away with captured markings ☺️

[simfan1998]

4 hours ago, Buffo002 said:

 The external sound of the Bf-109 mainly lacks that almost whistling tone.  

 

Indeed, my lawnmower sound more exciting.

Edited March 31 by simfan1998

[II./JG27_Rich]

It's the grunty thumping away that I like after it goes by you. You can hear the engine instead of the supercharger.

 

605 in this G10 sounds like it's a fire breathing beast compared to the 601

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnpC_BcK7xY&t=258s

 

Edited March 31 by II./JG27_Rich

[Buffo002]

14 minutes ago, II./JG27_Rich said:

It's the grunty thumping away that I like after it goes by you. You can hear the engine instead of the supercharger.

 

605 in this G10 sounds like it's a fire breathing beast compared to the 601

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnpC_BcK7xY&t=258s

 

So the Fokáček FW 190 had a radial engine so it has a completely different sound, at higher altitudes it didn't have as much power as the 109, but I had other advantages and the development of the war changed the performance of the engines, but it occurred to someone (a Tank Master) to put an engine from the Ju-88 bomber and later an engine from the Ju-188 into the Fw-190 D and Ta 152 fighter, that was a great idea.

Edited March 31 by Buffo002

[II./JG27_Rich]

1 hour ago, Buffo002 said:

So the Fokáček FW 190 had a radial engine so it has a completely different sound, at higher altitudes it didn't have as much power as the 109, but I had other advantages and the development of the war changed the performance of the engines, but it occurred to someone (a Tank Master) to put an engine from the Ju-88 bomber and later an engine from the Ju-188 into the Fw-190 D and Ta 152 fighter, that was a great idea.

The BMW 801 does have a very different sound and fortunately there is one in Everett 

 

 

Edited March 31 by II./JG27_Rich

[AtomicP]

A positive update, thanks. However, I agree with the points made about the airfields. I think this is one area CloD got right already with perhaps some tweaks to buildings and fixing roads to nowhere in some of the towns. Assuming TF stick with the new stuff, it'll need some colour matching with the existing landscape, otherwise it'll continue to look pasted on. If the trees are Speedtree, I'm sure there's a way of colour grading them to match everything else.

 

 

[SCG_Schneemann]

Noted on the colors. It's still a work in progress, as was mentioned. The point was to show that the airfields to the best of our knowledge, have been updated as close as we can to the historical 1940 layouts. Most of the color differences are in the shaders, lighting, and other effects, which will be improved before release. Both old and new pictures are without the new speedtree foliage. Incidentally, the speedtree 5 foliage is the same between old and new, so any color discrepancy isn't in the textures, but in the lighting and shaders. 

[Mysticpuma]

18 minutes ago, SCG_Schneemann said:

Noted on the colors. It's still a work in progress, as was mentioned. The point was to show that the airfields to the best of our knowledge, have been updated as close as we can to the historical 1940 layouts. Most of the color differences are in the shaders, lighting, and other effects, which will be improved before release. Both old and new pictures are without the new speedtree foliage. Incidentally, the speedtree 5 foliage is the same between old and new, so any color discrepancy isn't in the textures, but in the lighting and shaders. 

Are you getting any closer to showing the latest Speedtree and Truesky in game?

[Mistralfred901]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for this report. I think the airfields are good but it could be better. 
During World War II airfields evolved from 1940 to 1942, for example Manston :

 

1940:

 

 

1942:

 

 

Ford :

 

1940:

 

October 1942 :

 

 

Other photos of airfields I've covered on other forums;

 

https://forum.dcs.world/topic/311358-informations-about-airfields-for-devs/#comments

 

https://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=69125

[paul_leonard]

The airfields recently pictured are for the updated 1940 Channel Map only.  Another map for 1942 is in the works for the Dieppe DLC.  The airfields in the 1942 map will reflect the construction that went on in 1941 and 1942, both in England and France.  A lot of effort went into the research for the changes including review of a great deal of literature and images/maps.  We are hopeful that you will be pleased with the evolution of the maps.

[simfan1998]

5 hours ago, paul_leonard said:

The airfields recently pictured are for the updated 1940 Channel Map only. 

The issue is: they're all wrong (the 5 airfields posted) even for the 1940 period. There has been enough data posted the last years so that at least the airfield's layout should be close to the real one.
Just Check MistralFred's links.

[Mistralfred901]

It's a real shame.  I'd like to help TFS with the airfields because I have quite a few documents, photos and plans, especially of English airfields. 
At the time I made a template of Hawkinge and North Weald airfields for COD which I published here:

https://theairtacticalassaultgroup.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30879&p=333566#post333566

https://theairtacticalassaultgroup.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32861&p=352088#post352088

[Mysticpuma]

2 hours ago, Mistralfred901 said:

It's a real shame.  I'd like to help TFS with the airfields because I have quite a few documents, photos and plans, especially of English airfields. 
At the time I made a template of Hawkinge and North Weald airfields for COD which I published here:

https://theairtacticalassaultgroup.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30879&p=333566#post333566

https://theairtacticalassaultgroup.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32861&p=352088#post352088

Have you asked to join TFS? Looks like you would be a great asset to the team.

[paul_leonard]

I second Mysticpuma.  I looked at your work some time ago and not only was it impressive, but studying it actually got me doing my own work on airfield design. Thanks.

[No.54_Reddog]

So the main thrust of the update is sounds which people don't like and updated maps which are wrong? TFS as ever totally connected with the community...

[Dagwoodyt]

I'm sure we all appreciate the updates. The other side of the coin though is that everything I've seen suggests that TF6.0 is years away, if it ever materializes. Now, I really am not concerned with that likelihood. I had however, hoped that the VU/VR would actually become at least a public beta. Does not look like that will happen anytime soon, if ever. Everything about it is at some percentage of completion, nothing ever  100%. 😉

[Mistralfred901]

I'm not yet good enough in English to be part of the TFS (I'm French). But if I could, why not! Thank you for your compliments @paul_leonard and @Mysticpuma😃.

[jdu]

3 hours ago, Mistralfred901 said:

I'm not yet good enough in English to be part of the TFS (I'm French). But if I could, why not! Thank you for your compliments @paul_leonard and @Mysticpuma😃.

Me too I'm french speaking (Belgian) and I'm not very fluent in english as I wish.  In fact I speak english like a spanish cow but for us, at TFS, skill and talent are most important.

[Buffo002]

10 hours ago, No.54_Reddog said:

So the main thrust of the update is sounds which people don't like and updated maps which are wrong? TFS as ever totally connected with the community...

I didn't say I didn't like it at all. It's just that it lacks the whistling sound (especially when flying through), BUT it's better than the sounds in the game now. The internal sounds are good. But it's not that I don't like the sounds, it's just that it's missing something, but as I say, it's significantly better than last time or now in the game.  

[Stromboli]

English is my first language, and I don't speak it well. 

Stromboli

[No.54_Reddog]

11 hours ago, Buffo002 said:

I didn't say I didn't like it at all. It's just that it lacks the whistling sound (especially when flying through), BUT it's better than the sounds in the game now. The internal sounds are good. But it's not that I don't like the sounds, it's just that it's missing something, but as I say, it's significantly better than last time or now in the game.  

Ah, OK. Good job it wasn't your post I was referencing then isn't it?

[ST_Catchov]

9 hours ago, Stromboli said:

English is my first language, and I don't speak it well. 

Stromboli

 

One is not alone. It's quite common Stromboli.

[71st_AH_Mastiff]

ah those screen shots look much cleaner and crisper now.