Where were you during the beta? Did you and your squad fly the beta at all? It wasn't there simply to test the software, it was an opportunity to test your own hardware before release of AH2. Considering that AH2 has been in development for more than a year, there was plenty of opportunity for players to get their machines ready.
I can't get over the fact that so many guys never even bothered to try the new game during the beta, especially when everyone KNEW that AH1 was short for this world.
You asked what was wrong with AH1? How about the old graphics engine for starters?
AH1 offered easy field captures. Easy fuel porking, long range pray and spray shooting and let's not forget the death laser bomber guns. There was also simple but unrealistic aircraft systems management.
AH2 makes field captures more difficult with big towns and multiple VHs at V-bases. Try as you might, you can't reduce fuel at a base below 75%. The new gunnery model makes it far more difficult to kill things. The death laser, ack-star buffs are history. And now, you actually have to manage your fuel. That means that you cannot simply fly everywhere at full throttle anymore.
What we have now is a bit more of a combat sim and a bit less of an air war arcade.
My suggestions are these:
1) Get more RAM on that machine, at least 512 meg.
2) Run your monitor at its maximum refresh rate, even if you must reduce resolution.
3) Consider a better video card.
4) Get the lastest drivers for the one you have.
5) From the pull-down menu (in video setup) set the max texture size at 256.
6) Set the sliders more towards performance.
7) Look into overclocking your CPU, and the video card (the higher end ATI cards can be overclocked with a few mouse clicks).
8) Take your squad into the TA and have them adjust their video settings until they have reached the best frame rate possible. Then, fly and practice with the new gunnery model and clipboard interface.
Finally, that Celeron machine of yours is ancient, but many of the components can be used in building a new machine. Drives, sound card, keyboard, speakers and monitor are probably good enough. You can upgrade to a fast P4 with a new motherboard for less than $500, including a new case. Look at my specs below. I took a two year old Dell 4300 and built a solid gaming machine for considerably less than $500. You can do the same and feel confident that it will be enough to play AH2 for at least 2 years without another cent being invested. I run at 85 fps away from the ground clutter, and never less than 65 fps at any time.
AH1 was obsolete. HTC needs to remain competitive and AH1 no longer offered enough promise. AH2 is a big improvement. Moreover, the few minor bugs will be quickly resolved.
My regards,
Widewing
