graphics?

[Nilsen]

If the game is good you dont have time to notice things like that, and that is were this game shines

Im no uncritical fanboI by any means, but when it comes to graphics this game has what it needs in spades. One day before i have to reinstall this machine ill give the high-res pack a try. Dont think my lappy has what it takes, but it has to be tried.

[Furious]

Click here to see how many folks HTC are.

[Shuffler]

Originally posted by thndregg
Like Paris Hilton?

Sorry, had to say it.

umm Paris meets the dumb and misses on the looks.

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

[999000]

who cares about graphics.......get me a submarine!!!! ...a PBY to drop mines infront of the CV groups or pick up down pilots for perks ....or even get me CV groups with 3-4 CV's in it!..get me more PT spawns..get me  a air transport to land tanks..get me more more MORE!!!!!!!!..ok i going back to my corner now!
999000

[Mr No Name]

I like the gameplay with a few exceptions but I do think the graphics need to be punched up quite a bit.  To be fair, I have seen MUCH worse.

[BS8th_Jaw]

With all settings maxed, hi res pack and some of better skins the game looks great.

You have to remember that this game is for online combat. Not 32 player, not 100 player, but several hundreds.

It also caters for people who don't have the latest super dooper computers so they can still play too.

This community thrives on the dogfights, the battles over land and the egos clashing. No other WW2 combat simulation provides the same overall experience.

Well, I've had different experiences... with settings maxed and the high res pack and extra skins... it does look bettder ill admit but nothing compared to some of the other flight Sim's on the market today.

Yes, I realize its for 100+ players but that shouldn't stop graphics development. I'm not asking for a huge gigantic awesome graphics update... just something to make the game look less like it came from the stone age of graphics. For example, when Oleg's IL2 released, it came out with two available options for graphics for users. Users could set very basic settings if their computer couldnt handle it, other users with better machines could set the graphics higher with a little know how thus giving them the experience of a lifetime by getting awesome graphics with good game play.

On the contrary, have you ever heard of World War 2 online? its a game that offers this type of game play + much much more... and soon, Oleg's battle of Britain will be coming out, according to my research his new series will offer the same exact game play as this Sim offers currently plus a lot more; ground battles (infantry as well), sea battles and air battles all packed into one - except heres where the difference will be, it will have awesome graphics and realism added into it and those two, when combined, will win players hearts.

You see, with todays gaming community, there are two types of players. Game play players and Graphics players and of course you always have the people who are in the middle who will sacrifice either for a game; meaning they would sacrifice graphics for game play or vise versa. I'm more of the third type, I love flying IL2 and I especially love the graphics that the game offers... however I think IL2 is a bit shallow on the game play side of things because it doesn't offer quite as much as say AH2 does - which is why I have started playing this Sim, yet, even though I like this Sim I'm starting to see flaws that could eventually make me stop flying it.

For instance, the flight model... I find it very unrealistic compared to IL2 - now this could just be maybe because I'm flying on the big arena's and I'm not exactly sure of their realism settings... or it could be the Sim itself... so if someone can fill me in on this that would be nice.

Also another thing that turns me off towards this Sim is its lack of historical accuracy. I come from a very historically based family so I love history (My grandpa flew in WW2 and I have heard a whole bunch of stories from him) and when I get into a flight simulator I Like to see historical accuracy as well as fun game play. IL2 kind of hit realism on the head... it still has a bunch of issues however. AH2's problem is its lack of... should I say ww2 realism? In the fact that when you takeoff instead of fighting German or Japanese Aircraft, I'm fighting mainly American and British aircraft... this just isn't fun for me same goes for ground units... when two tanks clash its usually two Panzer's vs one another... not a Panzer and a sherman. Yes I know there is a Axis vs Allies server... except theres one problem.. its always empty. I don't know why the Sim has gone this direction... because it really takes away from a WW2 simulator when you are fighting the wrong battle.

Yes I know about the FSO and me and my squad are currently signed up for the next event. I would hate to think however that this is the only time me and my squad (who are based on a historical squadron) are able to get on and fly historically.

This game has Great potential to become incredible but I believe the only thing holding it back is its graphics engine. Even though the player base is somewhat older people than usual, I still believe that those older people will want better graphics in the future.

What a great idea.... make the game unplayable for all the guys with low end computers. Who needs an FPS of 18 when you can have rubber bullets with a FPS of 4.

Heck....why don't these guys just get a job. Send their kids to work. Get divorced. Don't pay the mortgage for a month an get a wandango computer instead.

They may be HO freaks but at least when they HO it'll look fantastic.

Just to clarify before I move on, I am not attempting to be rude, if I sound rude I apologize ahead of time.

Thats a ridiculous reason... having a family does not keep a person from getting a better computer, unless of course that person is so poor that he/she can barely afford to keep a family up kept... if thats the case then why are they even involved in gaming? If things are seriously that bad... should they not be the ones who work hard to support their family and place all other things aside? And if things aren't that terrible for them, then whats to stop them from saving a little money over a period of time and buying a new upgraded computer?

Look at it this way, I have a family and I am able to support them and also I am able to save money towards my rig, which btw is not exactly top of the line. I was able to build myself a decent rig for no more than $1000.

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

We aren't talking about FPS games, we are speaking about flight Sims, graphics for both kinds of games are VERY different from one another. One concentrates on small graphics such as weapons, player models and buildings. The other concentrates on airplanes and scenery. And as I stated above the graphics are not my greatest concern about this Sim, its just the one thats really jumping out at me.

If the game is good you don't have time to notice things like that, and that is were this game shines

Im no uncritical fanboI by any means, but when it comes to graphics this game has what it needs in spades. One day before i have to reinstall this machine ill give the high-res pack a try. Dont think my lappy has what it takes, but it has to be tried.

 Its fairly good yes, but the original thing that caused me to notice the rather outdated graphics was the lack of historical accuracy on the game play side of things (lack of Axis vs Allied). That was the first thing I noticed, the second thing was the flight model, and the last thing was the graphics.

Don't get me wrong, I still like this Sim, it has way more to offer to a squadron than IL2 does (which like I said already is why me and my squadron have activated in this Sim). Hopefully when Combat Tour comes out, it will make up for the lack of Axis vs Allied in the current installment of the game.

Overall yes I do believe that the graphics are really decent for this type of a Sim. The thing I'm afraid of is that when better Sims come out *Oleg's Battle of Britain* it will pull a whole lot of the player base from this Sim to that Sim.

[Fulmar]

Originally posted by LYNX
What a great idea.... make the game unplayable for all the guys with low end computers.  Who needs an FPS of 18 when you can have rubber bullets with a FPS of 4.  

Heck....why don't these guys just get a job.  Send their kids to work.  Get divorced.  Don't pay the mortgage for a month an get a wandango computer instead.

They may be HO freaks but at least when they HO it'll look fantastic.

So before you bust a gasket you going to have to come back down to earth before the sky is falling.  Upgrading the graphics doesn't neccessarily mean you have to toss your computer to the wayside.  Welcome to the world of programming where different graphic options can be intiated to make all kinds of computer playable.

Reflections on the water?  Uncheck that box.  Atmospheric fog?  Uncheck that box.  Directx 9 or Directx 8 mode?  Select what your video card can handle.  And the list can go on and on.

So before you get on the bandwagon of bashing different graphics upgrades and automatically assuming your 30 fps will now become 5, take a look at pretty much any other game out there.

Look at World of Warcraft, a pretty new game compared to the age of AH2.  The minimum specs for that massive mutliplayer are as follows.  Granted it probably doesnt look pretty but you can still play the game.

800 MHz or higher CPU.
256 MB or more of RAM.
32 MB 3D graphics card with hardware Transform and Lighting, such as GeForce 2 or better.
4 GB or more of available hard drive space.
DirectX® 9.0c or above.
A 56k or higher modem with an Internet connection.

Yes, a GF2, thats 7 years old...

[thndregg]

I look at it this way. What we play now is a loooooooong way from these "stone age graphics":



I'm pretty comfortable with Aces High.

[Roscoroo]

ha ha .... so Oleg's BoB sim is gonna support 500+ players .... lmao

I doubt it ... it will be another il2 boxed h2h room sim .

[Krusty]

"On the contrary, have you ever heard of World War 2 online? its a game that offers this type of game play + much much more... and soon, Oleg's battle of Britain will be coming out, according to my research his new series will offer the same exact game play as this Sim offers currently plus a lot more;"


You've touched on a topic that some of us have discussed before (in other threads). You might be able to search for it, but allow me to sum up.

WW2OL is a ground game. It will always be a ground game. The Aircraft are thrown in there, and it is not a real flight sim. The air aspect of it is simply pathetic compared to almost every other sim out there (AW, WB, FA, AH, IL2). It doesn't count, to me, as a "flight" game. No more than BF1942 counted.

IL2's another can o' worms. IL2's flight physics are a joke. While they add new "features" to each new add-on/stand-alone, the root code itself hasn't changed since the first IL2 game was released. PF has better graphics, sure, but it's still the same flight code, the same physics, just with different 3D models and lighting effects. It's a dated system, to say the least. On top of that, the original flight model is absurdly arbitrary. Flaps work like super speed brakes on all aircraft. They work the SAME on all aircraft. The lift and flight code makes EVERY plane fly almost identically to every OTHER plane in the game. You can take up a P-39 or a Fw190, and aside from the parameters that cause it to stall out, it's the exact same identical plane. Same for most planes.

In AH you actually FEEL like you're in a 190 or a p51 or a zero. AH's physics model (how forces act on a plane in any given case) isn't perfect, but is by far the best out there until some future as-yet-unstarted game is developed.

The only thing IL2 has over AH, in my opinion, is that when you stall out in IL2, it's more of an immersive feeling of stalling out and fluttering over. That's a minor point though.

Oleg is totally arbitrary in how he assigns weapons damaging, reversing himself several times. First he makes 50cal very strong, then he makes them very weak. Then he makes them as strong as depleted uranium shells. He changes the performance of planes based on the griping of folks in the forums that "thought" they should be better.

HTC models weapons after the real strengths of the WW2 weapons. They model the plane performance off of the best WW2 historic performance. For example, Oleg models the Ki84 with high-octane US fuel (based on a post-war test where one was given high-end US fuel), but the Japanese never had this fuel, nor this performance, nor this capability in the war. HTC models it on historic performance charts based on the fuel it actually used when it flew in combat. You see the difference?

Oleg just pumps out cookie-cutter games (all the same physics with new graphics), while HTC actually does their best to make a damned good flight model (and on TOP of that are STILL introducing new features AND new graphics!)


So, IMO, neither of the two games you mentioned are even semi-accurate. IL2 is mostly a scripted, linear, offline-mission based game, and it does a decent job when you fly it offline. It won't ever match HTC for accuracy or "fun." WW2OL doesn't even count.

[Bronk]

Originally posted by Krusty
Snip

Hmm twice in less than 7 days.
 Run people the world is ending.



Bronk

[PK1Mw]

Well all I'm going to say is AH has come a long way from what it used to be. But if you are not happy with that progress, and so hard up for graphics like iL2's or ww2ol, then go play those Even though iL2 and ww2ol is NOTHING like AH.

Also there was a comment about the Battle of Britain release and being able to host 500 people.. well at any given time there's at least 250 people on and quite possibly all the way up to 800 depending on the night and time. iL2 would cream their pants if they ever seen numbers like that.

HTC in general has enuff things to worry about than boosting up the graphics which at this point in completely unnecessary. Lets worry about getting our planes modeled correctly, getting the B25, new maps, and CT.

[SIK1]

Awww, what the heck it had to end sooner or later..

[BS8th_Jaw]

You've touched on a topic that some of us have discussed before (in other threads). You might be able to search for it, but allow me to sum up.

WW2OL is a ground game. It will always be a ground game. The Aircraft are thrown in there, and it is not a real flight sim. The air aspect of it is simply pathetic compared to almost every other sim out there (AW, WB, FA, AH, IL2). It doesn't count, to me, as a "flight" game. No more than BF1942 counted.

IL2's another can o' worms. IL2's flight physics are a joke. While they add new "features" to each new add-on/stand-alone, the root code itself hasn't changed since the first IL2 game was released. PF has better graphics, sure, but it's still the same flight code, the same physics, just with different 3D models and lighting effects. It's a dated system, to say the least. On top of that, the original flight model is absurdly arbitrary. Flaps work like super speed brakes on all aircraft. They work the SAME on all aircraft. The lift and flight code makes EVERY plane fly almost identically to every OTHER plane in the game. You can take up a P-39 or a Fw190, and aside from the parameters that cause it to stall out, it's the exact same identical plane. Same for most planes.

In AH you actually FEEL like you're in a 190 or a p51 or a zero. AH's physics model (how forces act on a plane in any given case) isn't perfect, but is by far the best out there until some future as-yet-unstarted game is developed.

The only thing IL2 has over AH, in my opinion, is that when you stall out in IL2, it's more of an immersive feeling of stalling out and fluttering over. That's a minor point though.

Oleg is totally arbitrary in how he assigns weapons damaging, reversing himself several times. First he makes 50cal very strong, then he makes them very weak. Then he makes them as strong as depleted uranium shells. He changes the performance of planes based on the griping of folks in the forums that "thought" they should be better.

HTC models weapons after the real strengths of the WW2 weapons. They model the plane performance off of the best WW2 historic performance. For example, Oleg models the Ki84 with high-octane US fuel (based on a post-war test where one was given high-end US fuel), but the Japanese never had this fuel, nor this performance, nor this capability in the war. HTC models it on historic performance charts based on the fuel it actually used when it flew in combat. You see the difference?

Oleg just pumps out cookie-cutter games (all the same physics with new graphics), while HTC actually does their best to make a damned good flight model (and on TOP of that are STILL introducing new features AND new graphics!)


So, IMO, neither of the two games you mentioned are even semi-accurate. IL2 is mostly a scripted, linear, offline-mission based game, and it does a decent job when you fly it offline. It won't ever match HTC for accuracy or "fun." WW2OL doesn't even count.

I'm beginning to wonder if anyone here has ventured outside of AH2 and played IL2 1946 at all because frankly what you stated above about IL2 is not true. The part about the fuel I haven't researched so I wouldn't know about it.

Yes the Sim has its problems and oleg has reversed his decisions many times (I've been with the Sim since day 1) but thats what happens with games, decisions are made and sometimes reversed and revised.

IL2's another can o' worms. IL2's flight physics are a joke. While they add new "features" to each new add-on/stand-alone, the root code itself hasn't changed since the first IL2 game was released. PF has better graphics, sure, but it's still the same flight code, the same physics, just with different 3D models and lighting effects. It's a dated system, to say the least. On top of that, the original flight model is absurdly arbitrary. Flaps work like super speed brakes on all aircraft. They work the SAME on all aircraft. The lift and flight code makes EVERY plane fly almost identically to every OTHER plane in the game. You can take up a P-39 or a Fw190, and aside from the parameters that cause it to stall out, it's the exact same identical plane. Same for most planes.

That statement there tells me that you havent flown il2 1946. Because it isn't true at all. Flaps do not work as super speed breaks on the aircraft in il2, if you were to attempt to use them that way you would either jam them or throw your airplane into a spin/stall. The part about the lift flight code is false, aircraft do not all fly the same in il2. For instance, a zero will climb faster than a wildcat and the wildcat actually stalls out first in a climb due to its heavier weight - since the zero is lighter it climbs alot faster. Each separate aircraft you fly in il2 is different and requires you to learn the airplane before you can become a decent pilot in it. If what you said is true, then that would cut out the learning part as you could just go up in any aircraft and have it act exactly the same as the plane your fighting.

I find il2's flight model does have some problems yes, but I do believe it is better than most people believe I find its way more complex to fly. First time I hopped in a plane in ah2 I couldnt believe how easy it was to pickup any aircraft I flew... it seems easier which kind of takes the challenge out of it for me.

So before you bust a gasket you going to have to come back down to earth before the sky is falling. Upgrading the graphics doesn't neccessarily mean you have to toss your computer to the wayside. Welcome to the world of programming where different graphic options can be intiated to make all kinds of computer playable.

Reflections on the water? Uncheck that box. Atmospheric fog? Uncheck that box. Directx 9 or Directx 8 mode? Select what your video card can handle. And the list can go on and on.

So before you get on the bandwagon of bashing different graphics upgrades and automatically assuming your 30 fps will now become 5, take a look at pretty much any other game out there.

Look at World of Warcraft, a pretty new game compared to the age of AH2. The minimum specs for that massive mutliplayer are as follows. Granted it probably doesnt look pretty but you can still play the game.

800 MHz or higher CPU.
256 MB or more of RAM.
32 MB 3D graphics card with hardware Transform and Lighting, such as GeForce 2 or better.
4 GB or more of available hard drive space.
DirectX® 9.0c or above.
A 56k or higher modem with an Internet connection.

Yes, a GF2, thats 7 years old...

Good point, I agree 100% with this. Settings can be changed to suit a users computer setup.

Well all I'm going to say is AH has come a long way from what it used to be. But if you are not happy with that progress, and so hard up for graphics like iL2's or ww2ol, then go play those  Even though iL2 and ww2ol is NOTHING like AH.

Also there was a comment about the Battle of Britain release and being able to host 500 people.. well at any given time there's at least 250 people on and quite possibly all the way up to 800 depending on the night and time. iL2 would cream their pants if they ever seen numbers like that.

HTC in general has enuff things to worry about than boosting up the graphics which at this point in completely unnecessary. Lets worry about getting our planes modeled correctly, getting the B25, new maps, and CT.

I come from the IL2 crowd, and yes the numbers were impressive... but it was hardly orgasmic worthy.

WW2OL may not be the best, and the flight Sim part of it may not be the best either regardless it is a direct competition Sim for AH2.

Olegs BOB will suppport more than 500 people, its a fact and well known to the il2 crowd. And regardless of what you may think when it releases it will be a direct competitor for people who fly this sim.

Also, il2 is more than an offline flight Sim, there is a huge online community for IL2 (which brings me back to my original point of that you must have never really experienced IL2).

[Citabria]

personally I think every 3d model that has been added recently and will be added soon is top notch work far superior in accuracy and representation of the real thing than those boxed games with the unreal engine that the boxed game makers are paying millions for in licensing.

that being said I have always prefered the atmosphere of openGL over direct3d hands down.

I think the terrain will be technologically ready for another subdivision after a while it would seem to my eye that although the ah2 style of terrain is higher resolution it is heavily limited by the inability to combine any texture at will with any other and has some pretty sever blocking and grid effect the higher altitude gets. its a bit of a jigsaw pattern problem with 4 textures being interconnected with  a + grid in their middle.