With the great new terrain graphics coming...

[oboe]

Would it be possible to change the visuals of attacked fields so that we see the pillars of smoke from distance first, rather than the fires burning?

I guess what I am asking for is to increase the visual range of the smoke, and/or decrease the visual range of fires.   Pretty sure the smoke would be visible long before the fires would as you come into range.

I think maybe too, have the smoke columns taller and more slender rather than short and wide?

[Benny Moore]

Why would they be tall and slender?  Have you ever seen a burning building?  I agree that smoke should be visible long before the fire, but I don't see why the smoke clouds should look like tornadoes.

[Krusty]

Considering a single plane on fire anywhere in your field of view eats up 20fps, can you imagine seeing multiple burning fields' pillars of smoke 20 miles out? I wonder how much a hit this would cause. I'm pretty sure my card can handle it, but I'd bet a lot of other players' cards can't.

[oboe]

The plane on fire (b-24s and B-26s) are one of the most well-rendered features of AHII, I think.   Its really stunning.

This pic shows what I mean (you'll have to compensate for the wind drift of the smoke columns):


No flames visible, and the columns are taller than they are wide.  

Agreed, everything has to be done with frame rate considerations in mind, but right now attacked sites don't look realistic from a distance.

[Tilt]

http://forums.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=198083


please

[oboe]

second everything Tilt said in linked thread above.   Well thought out and presented.

[Benny Moore]

I just don't want the ridiculously tall and thin smoke clouds from the IL-2 series.

[Raptor]

One major problem with smoke in AH is we have wind turned off in the MAs. Go offline and turn the wind to 5-20mph and it looks significantly better, though it is not the thinner smoke you speak of.

[FiLtH]

I like the idea.

[Odee]

Originally posted by Krusty
Considering a single plane on fire anywhere in your field of view eats up 20fps, can you imagine seeing multiple burning fields' pillars of smoke 20 miles out? I wonder how much a hit this would cause. I'm pretty sure my card can handle it, but I'd bet a lot of other players' cards can't.

Wow, Krusty, you need to get rid of Homer's PC and buy a real one.  I get a minimum of 132 FPS and as high as 180FPS in game, no matter the clutter of smoke, or esoterica A/C in my view

[oboe]

System specs, please, Odee.    I'm in the early stages of planning my next computer build....

[Laurie]

Originally posted by oboe

I think maybe too, have the smoke columns taller and more slender rather than short and wide?

thats how i like my women:lol

[Krusty]

Odee my system is respectable. See my sig for details. I'm just saying if I get 50 FPS and there's a flame trail on the screen, I drop to 30 fps. That's what it feels like. I don't turn on CTRL-I much so I don't know the exact drop.

[Odee]

Originally posted by oboe
System specs, please, Odee.    I'm in the early stages of planning my next computer build....

Athalon 64 +3500 2.1 ghz
1gb DDR Ram
dual Geforce 6600 SLI w/256 video ram Each (512 for the analytically challenged)
A-64 Gigabyte K8NXP-SLI mobo
800 watt power box and 4 fans.
7 USB ports
Running XP Home SP2

I want to bump up the DDR Ram, but also want to use pedals in stead of the stupid X52 twisty stick, so my dilema is upgrade the pedals or the memory first.

Krusty I fly pretty much all the time with CTL-I up top to monitor the FPS while I relearn the game. (been gone about 6 years)  Lowest I have seen it go is 89, and that was in some crowded clouds.

In the furball over A39 ( Nit base bellow A9? ) last night, I stayed pretty much around the 100 mark, give or take 20 and that's OTD in the thick furballing.

What are your video settings for the game?  Might be trilenear is screwing you up my friend.

[brucerer]

Originally posted by Krusty
...can you imagine seeing multiple burning fields' pillars of smoke 20 miles out?

When can you ever see multiple burning fields? Doesnt happen too often where you have two fields in the screen at the same time. Remember FPS is only affected by what is on the screen at any time. If there were a hundred burning fields off the screen (eg behind you) you wouldnt have to render them at all, hence no FPS loss.