Author Topic: graphics?  (Read 6092 times)

Offline BaldEagl

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graphics?
« Reply #90 on: August 13, 2007, 03:05:24 PM »
I would like to see some of the long-lost graphics from AH1 (and II).  Namely:

-The palm trees (like there used to be on Mindnao)
-The camoflauge-net vehicle hangers (as the 2 new spread out hangers on the VB's)
-The rocks (like there were in the canyons of Pizza but without the exploding when you run into them part)
-The desert (like the high plains of Pizza)
-The deciduous trees/forests (like we had just before this last update)

This would all be in addition to what we have now, sprinkled around the right places.

It would be nice to see trees/forests change with elevation and/or proximity to water.

BTW, I agree with cleaning up the buildings on the steep hillsides (speaking of that remember those huts that used to be on the hillsides?) and adding some rock-face/cliffs along the seasides.

I would think most of these graphics, already having been developed, wouldn't take too long or too much effort to integrate but I could be wrong.
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Offline Ack-Ack

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graphics?
« Reply #91 on: August 13, 2007, 03:31:20 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by bj229r
Ive seen some AWEsome graphics on 1st person shooters, but those games cannot be played dialup, and all require gaming computers---the graphics we have here are quite good, and if THAT is your greatest concern, the major point of the game  is passing you by



Pretty much all that play those types of games competively or are hardcore players turn the graphic settings down to minimum when playing.  


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Offline NoBaddy

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« Reply #92 on: August 13, 2007, 04:23:40 PM »
Yes, I've noticed the "fog". Now I see planes about about 7000 yards (if I'm lucky). Of course, I've also seen it on HT's new flat screen monster and it's much different. One thing that seems to help is to keep your gamma as low as possible. It's a trade-off for me, see the enemy planes or read my dash. Oh well, I guess even virtual life is about compromise. :D
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Offline dedalos

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« Reply #93 on: August 13, 2007, 04:29:14 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by NoBaddy
Yes, I've noticed the "fog". Now I see planes about about 7000 yards (if I'm lucky). Of course, I've also seen it on HT's new flat screen monster and it's much different. One thing that seems to help is to keep your gamma as low as possible. It's a trade-off for me, see the enemy planes or read my dash. Oh well, I guess even virtual life is about compromise. :D


How bad can it be if you can see a plane 7K or 10K out?
Quote from: 2bighorn on December 15, 2010 at 03:46:18 PM
Dedalos pretty much ruined DA.

Offline hubsonfire

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« Reply #94 on: August 13, 2007, 04:29:53 PM »
The only thing in this game that should look good is the plane. If you're looking at anything besides another plane, or doing anything other than trying to shoot the aforementioned plane, you're a sissy, and you're wasting bandwidth. Please stop.


Yes, as has been said about four million times now, il2 has better eyecandy, but at least in AH, you can look around and see how ratty things are.
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Offline dedalos

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« Reply #95 on: August 13, 2007, 04:32:01 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by hubsonfire
The only thing in this game that should look good is the plane. If you're looking at anything besides another plane, or doing anything other than trying to shoot the aforementioned plane, you're a sissy, and you're wasting bandwidth. Please stop.


Yes, as has been said about four million times now, il2 has better eyecandy, but at least in AH, you can look around and see how ratty things are.


Your opinion really counts NOT !!!:furious   You are from the desert areas of shouth Chicago or as you call it "Indiana" .  Anything would look good to you :D
Quote from: 2bighorn on December 15, 2010 at 03:46:18 PM
Dedalos pretty much ruined DA.

Offline CheeseDip

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graphics?
« Reply #96 on: August 13, 2007, 06:01:54 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by NoBaddy
Yes, I've noticed the "fog". Now I see planes about about 7000 yards (if I'm lucky). Of course, I've also seen it on HT's new flat screen monster and it's much different. One thing that seems to help is to keep your gamma as low as possible. It's a trade-off for me, see the enemy planes or read my dash. Oh well, I guess even virtual life is about compromise. :D


I'm sorry. I don't know how long you've been playing and I mentioned it's been on and off for me. You mentioned you notice fog now. Were you around when there was none? It seems to me if something was working and now it's not except for a few people with high end flat screens then compromise is game induced for a select few. I have tried gamma sliding. I've moved the gamma to both extremes. Nothing really helps. I use a Dell CRT which is very crisp and clear. 7000 yards? I have trouble seeing a plane turn in front of me at 2200 yards because the fog washes out planes. I use my monitor for clear color definition prior to printing to get vivid color prints but AH2's ocean, for example, is a dull shade of grey. What ever happened to deep blue?

For years I've stopped by, read the forums and heard the Company has tried to go middle of the road to allow all different types of computer setups with the game. They always did a great job. My P4 2.6 Ghz, 9800 video card had worked well. Now it's appears to be inadequate because someone got a new monitor and changed the views to fog? I already asked the question, "how realistic is that?" I'm looking out the window of my home and can see a clear blue sky with some wisps of high level cirrus. I try to get into the game and fog is all I get.

I also mentioned I tried the game for a while when it was AH. The skies were crystal clear. The change to AH2 occured and fog showed up. It was all but unplayable. It was so bad I left but stayed in touch with some friends. They told me it was fixed and I came back and looked. It wasn't quite as clear as the original  AH was but worked well. The only difference between the old fog and the new fog is the old fog had tiles on the ground. The new fog doesn't.

I remember the days in AW when a fast computer got you a frame rate of 17. An upgrade to a new computer cost $1000 and go you a frame rate of 20. That was considered good because when you rolled the plane your view didn't look like a Blue Angle doing an 8 point roll to 90 degrees of bank angle. It appears as though a change of thinking has occcured and players may have to begin "keeping up with the Jones", just to be able to play the game. In those days there were changes made and it greatly effected frame rate. I'm not so sure adding personal eye candy for one player helps the whole community and being married with kids and pets I'm not sure I can afford it. It would be nice for the programmers to continue to provide a great game with a great view for all to play.

Some people may call this complaining. Others may call it an honest assessment of the game. Call it anything you want but it's one mans opinion. Nothing more or less.

Offline NoBaddy

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« Reply #97 on: August 13, 2007, 06:22:05 PM »
:lol

I know exactly what you mean with the "8 point roll" thing. I started AW on an 8 mgz Atari ST. :)

I was an alpha tester here. Yes, I know what it was like before the haze was added. I would suggest you try dinking with the gamma. Lowering it did help somewhat.

    
dedalos...

Options are a nice thing to have. Waiting until I'm engaged to find that all the other baddies are above me is annoying. I would much prefer to have the option to hike my skirt up and run away screaming like a lil gurl!!!! :)
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Offline Furious

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« Reply #98 on: August 13, 2007, 06:36:34 PM »
Cheesedip,

Try changing your horizon setting here: http://www.hitechcreations.com/ahhelp/graphics.html

or try shift F1, shift F2, shift F3 or shift F4 to change your viewing distance.

Offline Krusty

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« Reply #99 on: August 13, 2007, 10:24:05 PM »
If you can't see a plane 2k out you have monitor or video card settings problems.

You admit it's set up for printing -- but this usually means it is set so at the expense of all other programs that use your monitor. Either you're set up for print or you're set up for best color. Rarely will the 2 coincide.

Try making a profile for your current settings, then another with all your tweaking REMOVED. Restore the monitor to default values across the board, and your video card as well. Make sure your AH gamma is set to default ("1").

Offline 999000

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« Reply #100 on: August 14, 2007, 12:26:01 AM »
OK OK OK.....I'll jump on the graphics bandwagon ...if you can get me a Blonde with big "guns" instead of "tatertot' as a co-pilot!
999000

Offline CheeseDip

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« Reply #101 on: August 14, 2007, 02:18:57 AM »
NoBaddy, I've moved the gamma bar all over the place. Other than things get brighter or darker the clarity remains the same. Atari? Hehe. I started flying with a Mac. I can't remember if it had a 100 Mhz CPU but I had to upgrade the CPU in my Mac a few times until I finally got over 20 frames per minute. There were different plug-in, after market, CPU's available for a few hundred bucks. I also paid an hourly rate to fly that wasn't very cheap and the internet gateway was a bulletin board. I think there were only a few providers that you could access flying through.

Furious, I saw the check and uncheck the box for better visibility and will give it a try. I don't like using the F keys because I don't experience too much of a frame rate drop. It seems to maintain 55-65 most of the time.

Krusty, I've been flying on and off for years and have used the same card and settings the whole time. My mentioning color saturation for printing was used to show I've very familiar with card settings and setting up for this game.

Thank you all for the hints and tips.

My concern is like an old story, "There once was a game called AH. It played almost like the real thing in the virtual world of aerial combat. Then one day, along came a man from Texas who bought himself a new flat screen monitor". Well, you get my drift. It's kind of like God telling Noah to build an Ark without providing him with the design specs to have all of the animals come aboard and thrive once the flood was over. How many get left behind because they can't afford a new monitor?

I remember when the arena held 600 people and there was at least that many up on weekends. Visibilty was not an issue even with so many flying in the same arena. The frame rate wasn't even bad. I have no idea why someone would just make it so hard to see. I wonder if it's because of this so called eye candy? I'm not sure that I'm seeing much of a change in the air except of the programmer induced fog. I must say I like the wispy clouds and it doesn't appear to effect my frame rate much and is very realistic. The fog is anything but realistic. Maybe I should rephrase that. The fog is realistic but I ask anyone to show me where every single day of the week is foggy. Speaking more of eye candy I remember talking to someone from AW who went to one of their conventions. He mentioned they presented new, improved graphics and showed a P-38 canopy that went up and down.  They also introduced the two smoking, burning parts when a plane blew up. I think I've seen the same eye candy here. I gather that didn't hurt frame rate much and is realistic.

One last question. What ever happened to night time? That was somewhat realistic and you knew what to expect. If you didn't like flying at night you logged off until daylight arrived which didn't take long. Unfortunately we don't have the luxury of waiting for the fog to lift.

I'm not here to complain so much as understand why the need for fog 24/7, every day. The game is excellent so why diminish it? I've been reading the forums and there doesn't appear to be much in the way of the "why" things are done but a lot of "don't ask because it's the way it is".

Offline dedalos

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« Reply #102 on: August 14, 2007, 08:32:37 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by NoBaddy
    
dedalos...

Options are a nice thing to have. Waiting until I'm engaged to find that all the other baddies are above me is annoying. I would much prefer to have the option to hike my skirt up and run away screaming like a lil gurl!!!! :)


Really?  How about you follow your own advice then? :rofl

Quote

If eye-candy is what floats your boat....you should go else where.


Just replace eye-candy with options, fog, etc :rofl :rofl :rofl :noid
Quote from: 2bighorn on December 15, 2010 at 03:46:18 PM
Dedalos pretty much ruined DA.

Offline Krusty

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« Reply #103 on: August 14, 2007, 09:10:15 AM »
Cheesedip, nighttime was terrible. 90% of the paying customer base logged off for 45+ minutes because of night. This happened almost every time. Even when DUSK arrived folks logged.

With 90% of the 500-player arena logging the second it starts getting dark, it was a clue that nobody was going to stay (or PAY) for night time. It's gone, and it's staying gone (until HT's further notice), and good riddance!

Anytime somebody asks for night, I say "Fly offline. You'll get the same results."

Offline Jackal1

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« Reply #104 on: August 14, 2007, 09:51:08 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by Shuffler
umm Paris meets the dumb and misses on the looks.

She has the intelligence of a nail and the build of one too.



:aok Exactly.
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