New Clouds!!! :D

[Karnak]

Found the new clouds.  Used them to evade a P-51D that was determined to get a Mossie 16 scalp.

They were very much nicer and had no performance impact on my computer.  My computer is nothing remotely new, Athlon 64 X2 4400, WinXP Pro, 2gb of memory and a 512mb nVidia GTS 250.

[Saxman]

Yeah, I haven't seen any sort of performance hit from the clouds yet.

The new environment mapping, self-shadows, and bump-mapping, otoh, lol.

[W7LPNRICK]

we were playing a couple nights ago when all the clouds disappeared. I checked & it was all across the map....? 

[Karnak]

we were playing a couple nights ago when all the clouds disappeared. I checked & it was all across the map....? 

They were present over the center island today.

[DEECONX]

Some more cloud screens







Close call with a 38 diving out of the clouds...



I stumble upon a 47. He makes a run for the clouds but it's too late...




I can say for a fact though, the screens don't do them justice. Was flying with some squaddies and a few times they were barely 2k and completely vanished. then all of a sudden tracers are flying across your nose from a high 5 o'clock position and an enemy comes at you from no where. Some blood pumping fights I tell ya. 

[Shuffler]

The new clouds are amazing. The most realistic yet.

Folks having issues are running their machines beyond their ability.

[Motherland]

Hnnngggg

[Wizer]

I am stuck out of town for another month and can only access the BB.  Clouds look great.  thanks for the post Latrobe.  Hopefully the clouds will turned back on by the time I get home.  Xmas is coming gents  upgrade those computers    Did anyone film their dogfights in the clouds?

[Strollin]

Hmm dunno if I have film but will check.

[Vinkman]

The are still active in the 10,7 sector.

Some players went from about 30 fps to less the 10. This is unacceptable, and I have no idea why they would impact someone so drastically, so I wish to find out why before turning them back on.

HiTech

They did not impact my machine. I turned bmp on and off in sector 10,7 and had no noticeable difference in frame rate. Note: I didn't see the actual FR. it may have dropped, but from 60 to 50, where I couldn't tell the difference) 

The new clouds are awesome. I hope the issue can be resolved and they can become SOP.  

[Ack-Ack]

Folks having issues are running their machines beyond their ability.

A general and incorrect statement.  I have a top of the line machine and last night when the clouds suddenly appeared over TT island, my frame rates dropped by 15 FPS in the clouds.  It didn't effect me as it only brought down my FPS to 60FPS but there was still a significant drop of FPS.  Got the FPS I lost back by disabling bump mapping for the clouds.

ack-ack

[Strollin]

A general and incorrect statement.  I have a top of the line machine and last night when the clouds suddenly appeared over TT island, my frame rates dropped by 15 FPS in the clouds.  It didn't effect me as it only brought down my FPS to 60FPS but there was still a significant drop of FPS.  Got the FPS I lost back by disabling bump mapping for the clouds.

ack-ack

Yeah agreed, as I posted above, my FPS dropped by 20.

Top of the thread. Anyone know if there is a thread with how to build a decent comp? Too expensive for me to have someone do it for me. Thanks!

[Saxman]

Top of the thread. Anyone know if there is a thread with how to build a decent comp? Too expensive for me to have someone do it for me. Thanks!

Simple answer:

A good video card is probably the most important thing for gaming, but you do want the best CPU and memory you can afford.

Slightly more detailed one:

For raw power nVidia cards are the best, however Radeon isn't THAT far off the mark, and tend to run cheaper as well. Be careful with dual-PCB nVidia cards, though. They run HOT, even if you don't overclock (I had to UNDERclock my GTX 295 AND run it at 100% fan power to prevent overheating, and even then it's a bit dicey). If you go with a dual-core nVidia you really want the single-PCB version, if one's available.

AMD processors do still offer the best value for their power, but once again, if you want raw power go Intel. So far at least, it doesn't seem the new Bulldozer architecture has done much to close the performance gap, especially now that Ivy Bridge and the tri-gate transistors are hitting the market.

RAM is a bit more tricky, though I've had a lot of luck with Corsair.

[Motherland]

What do the clouds look like with bump mapping off? Just like before?

[HL117]

Thought the clouds rocked saw them in TT Mon and Tues night a little abrupt the way they come and go but awesome, this older systems does well but much turned off or down in graphics...............I vote keep them when HiTech finds a fix for frame rate issues.


HL