AH2 Review in Flight Journal Luftwaffe special

[Blue Mako]

Originally posted by Gixer
Then there must be something wrong somewhere as the graphics in AH2 are hardly anything to bring a system to it's knees.



...-Gixer

Yup.  Tried running AH2 yesterday in H2H and my processor was working so hard it started to overheat.  Although, it was about 40 deg in my study at the time...

I've got a 2.4GHz P4 with 1GB RAM and a 128MB ATI 9800Pro vid card and I can't turn the draw depth of the ground objects above about 1 mile without totally killing my FR.

There is something screwy with the way the ground objects (particularly the trees) are drawn.  Maybe AH2 tries to draw every single surface on every single object no matter if it's viewable or not if it's within the draw radius?  In any event, I think the processor and vid card load for AH2 is completely out of proportion.

And the number of online players is irrelevant to this discussion as the game cares not a jot if you are online or offline, it still runs like a dog with the trees in view.  Besides, all of the graphics processing is done on your local machine, not the server, it just sends information re velocities, orientation and damage packets.  It doesn't draw the planes for you...

Anyway, sorry to go on at length.  It's just a pity that the game has such a serious drain on resources when the FM has so much to offer.

[Overlag]

Originally posted by Blue Mako
Hmmmmm.  I can run IL2 full blast on my system no problems, can't say the same for AH2.

Skuzzy has stated in the Tech Support forum that no current computer can run AH2 at full detail.

Food for thought.

aye, Il2 = max quality and runs fine and looks miles better
AHII = medium on most sliders to get solid 70fps

[Overlag]

Originally posted by Fruda


To address the issue of the framerates on AHII... It probably has to do with optimization. Just look at how Valve optimized HL2 for the Radeon series of GPU's. It runs MUCH faster on a Radeon than it does on a GeForce. I think the problem is that HTC hasn't optimized AHII for any specific card and processor, along with a sound card.

thats not really the case, its more to do with the 5x00 range of Nvidia cards sucking so bad at "real DX9"

4x00 and 6x00 cards are fine

[Pongo]

"The Ki-84 and B-24J look better than Il-2's planes."

lol
what are you talking about? They look great..they look fine..but they are not at the current standard of IL2. Or even a generation or so old of Il2. They are way way fewer polys..how could they?

[Fruda]

Well, I went up in a 109 in Il2:FB about an hour ago, and yeah, it does look better.

But, my point on the flight models still stands --- AHII is much more realistic in that respect. It's not floaty and dragless.

[Wotan]

What 109 have you flown in rl?

I only flew 109s in AH for almost 3+ years. In FB/AEP/PF I fly them exactly the same way and there's very little difference at all.

The only exception being with AH2 the 109s low speed handling is worse then in AH1 and worse then FB/AEP/PF. Most of the FMs from the 2 games are very similiar...

[4ACES]

The trees are killing the frame rates to a large extent. In any area you fly, the more trees that are visible then the more it sucks down your frame rates.

[Kermit de frog]

wow, now there's a name i haven't seen in awhile.

4ACES, you still flyin around in your typhy?


oh yeah, umm Aces High is a better game than IL2.  IMO.

[Fruda]

The flight model in Il-2 just seems too light. Too responsive...

[Gixer]

Originally posted by Fruda
But they are better than Il-2's. Yes, they are --- potentially. The Ki-84 and B-24J look better than Il-2's planes. That said, when all of our aircraft are pushed to AHII standards, we'll have a better-looking game than Il-2.

Also, take into account that AHII has much better flight models. I played Forgotten Battles just yesterday, and it made me really want to go back to AHII.

To address the issue of the framerates on AHII... It probably has to do with optimization. Just look at how Valve optimized HL2 for the Radeon series of GPU's. It runs MUCH faster on a Radeon than it does on a GeForce. I think the problem is that HTC hasn't optimized AHII for any specific card and processor, along with a sound card.

Yes the planes look great I agree but the terrain,water,sky,clouds everything that builds the environment looks terrible. I'm sure HT are working on the terrain etc but as it stands at the moment. well..

As for AH and optimization for graphics card, I think the AH engine as it always has been is much more CPU intensive then any GPU might be able to help it. Even probably including the latest X series Radeons. I hope to buy a new X800 Pro flashed to 16 pipes soon, so if I get around to it I'll do some testing.

I can run FS9 at close to max detail with weather at 100% and still get 20 fps including traffic at 100% over Seattle. If I turn up AH2 past medium and especially with the new water graphics it turns into a slide show.

AH2 aircraft graphics are great, just waiting on the environment to catch up.



...-Gixer

[Wotan]

Originally posted by Fruda
The flight model in Il-2 just seems too light. Too responsive...

Scale your stick correctly....

[2stony]

One point that no one seems to have brought up. AH is $15 per month. Il-2 is free.

[Pongo]

Nor have we brought up that AH plays on a consistant server with upwards of 500 players.
Why state the obvios? compare them on features they share not ones that are implicit in thier niches.

[2stony]

Ok, the graphics are better and there aren't as many arses as there are in AH.