Any rumors about improving the terrain?

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Looks to me like he reduced it and turned it into a jpg for posting.

I should know, I built the terrain.

Like I posted, you can try to prove me a liar simply by going into the AvA or spawning a custom arena. Go ahead, try.

AHII does not have a blur effect in the image - are you really oblivious to the photoshop?

[Easyscor]

The difference is that I know how massive that city is and you haven't a clue.

[olds442]

Well done, you're correcting my 6 months old post! Boy, you sure showed me

and if it means that much to you, I was referring to Pand who has a multi-thousand dollar setup by the looks of it, smart one

And 10,1000$ huh?

forgot i was not super pro at typing i assume this means you want my soul

[olds442]

AHII does not have a blur effect in the image - are you really oblivious to the photoshop?

Are you really oblivious to the fact its JPG and resized?. The man is telling you to look for yourself but oh it must be fake so why try is the logic being applied im assuming

[Rich46yo]

It's not the old people leaving due to graphics, it's the younger crowd who can't/won't spend the time to learn the game.

Its not just the young people who left the game. It would be irresponsible to think that. Yes there is a core group of old timers and thats a strength but the game has lost 1/2 its players since its prime and that sounds like zero growth to me. Less players = less quality fights. Most of all on the big maps. Yesterday at 1500 hrs there was about the same amount of players there is on a week day on a huge map. Frankly it was boring as heck and I signed off early.

Graphics isnt everything but it is important. And an update wouldnt even have to be cutting edge because the game is so strong in other areas. I remember what a success the last one was. I think the next one will be so too.

[Easyscor]

While you're looking it over MrRiplEy, check out the Normandy Coast. I think you'll be surprised again.

[zack1234]

I think the game is fine

It would be vastly improved if we had the Gloster Meteor


I know nothing about the Flight Sim business so its probly best that I dont comment to much 

[RedBull1]

Its not just the young people who left the game. It would be irresponsible to think that. Yes there is a core group of old timers and thats a strength but the game has lost 1/2 its players since its prime and that sounds like zero growth to me. Less players = less quality fights. Most of all on the big maps. Yesterday at 1500 hrs there was about the same amount of players there is on a week day on a huge map. Frankly it was boring as heck and I signed off early.

Graphics isnt everything but it is important. And an update wouldnt even have to be cutting edge because the game is so strong in other areas. I remember what a success the last one was. I think the next one will be so too.

This^ +1

[Easyscor]

I've seen it take quite awhile for people to get a feel for what that terrain has to offer so it will probably be awhile before our friend posts his review. The usual response has been O_O and WOW. That's very gratifying for a terrain builder.

Do I wish for more ground vertices? Absolutely! And other things too, but that doesn't mean a terrain can't be competitive with the posted screen shots from those other games, if you have the time to do the work. And the amount of work is daunting.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

The image you posted has artificial blur added afterwards. Just compare the two shots:





Now, do you still claim your picture wasn't photoshopped?

In addition to that I found the textures to have an absolutely horrible z-fighting issue, the terrain is flashing like disco lights when in flight. This may be something AMD driver specific but I can see why this terrain is not accepted for MA use.

The z-fighting issues I believe are also a part of the ongoing issues with AH graphics engine - they're not entirely the texture designs fault. I'm assuming this because I get no such problems on any other game titles using the same hardware and OS.

[Easyscor]

Nice screen shot.

[asterix]

Have you seen the amount of players War Thunder has? 

it's a terrible game, but a lot of people play because it looks like it was made this decade

I did not browse enough to see any number of players in War Thunder or World of Planes, but the first thing that caught my eye was the fact that these are free games. If the number of players would be subdivided, then how large group takes part in arcade style playing and how many in full realism? If AH2 was a free game, I am pretty shure there would be more players, but would the newcomers adapt to the realism and communication etiquette.

Before starting again now I played late war arena through tours 128-132. If I remember correctly numbers as big as 500 was pretty common during 21:00 UTC. Titanic tuesday increased it regularly to 800 or so. The number of players during daytime in Europe was pretty low. Are all those gone because of the outdated graphics? I remember messages popping up in game when players gave their farewell saying that they cancel their account because of the economic depression, I did too. Many newcomers stopped playing, because their two weeks of free time got over. I do not remember people saying goodbye because of low visual appeal. That may have been a reason too.

I understand that the graphics needs to be updated, but some of you guys make it sound like it is the most important thing to do. Changes that need higher system requirements are not that easy because some people win and some lose. If there are players who enjoy the gameplay but stop playing after free time is over, there are guys who stop when their PC gets outdated. If some players are willing to sacrifice a little of the gameplay for better graphics and turn to other games, then you may be killing this game as well as people like me who do not want to get a new computer. I would like everyone to be happy.

[The Fugitive]

Hitech has said that the terrains are capable of looking like "that other game". I wonder why they don't let it?  I know in the old days they were very careful of file size. The game was download only and so a smaller file size over dial up was better. Today however "most" people are on hi-speed internet. Yes I understand that many are not, but again how long does everyone have to suffer due to those on the low end?

If the game is capable of these graphics on the main maps why not use them? Can the download be separated enough so that game updates are one download, and terrain updates another? While I hate the idea of the WOT pay system I do like the idea of enough players that we would have 2 or 3 LW main arenas.

[gyrene81]

And Really?? That's a lot like calling tech support and having the guy ask if the computer is plugged in isn't it? Yes I have textures maxed out. I used to use the 8092 shadows or whatever they were before HTC got rid of them. And just because your next post is going to try to prove me wrong it is a custom built gaming rig from ibuypower. 

  if it's from ibuypower, it's probably a very good computer but, it's not a custom built gaming rig. i didn't ask about just textures and shadows, i asked about all graphics settings.

this would be current maxed out aces high graphics settings...


if you can run 60fps with those settings in a low alt furball at a coastal base with ships close to shore, over a heavy tank battle ...then maybe you have a foot to stand on about the graphics quality. my system is capable of running any retail box game with high settings in multiplayer mode, none of which allows more than 64 players at a time on a terrain. the mmo's that i have played and currently play are all give and take, either photo realistic graphics with limited players on a map or, photo realistic graphics with unlimited players but limited graphics detail range (1 mile or less). aces high isn't high end photo realistic graphics but it is a decent balance considering the range of visibility with detail, the number of objects that can be rendered within that range (including all the skins available) and the number of players that are allowed in a single environment. neither world of tanks, war thunder, iracing, guild wars, or any of the other mmo's are as balanced as aces high is when it comes to all of the aspects involved.


that's not to say there isn't room for improvement. i'll concede that the ground and water is minimalistic in comparison to some, but i know it is a trade off of looks vs performance and i for one would rather have the performance without the need for higher performance hardware than i can afford. some of the people in this discussion wanting better graphics either weren't here for, or have forgotten about the last graphics upgrade and the subsequent blowout from subscribers. and what those people (10% or less of the current subscriber base) are asking htc to do is yet again push the graphics higher and subsequently increase the hardware requirements to maintain performance, at the risk of losing yet more subscribers without any guarantee that the improved graphics will actually draw more subscribers than such graphics improvements will lose.

[fbEagle]

 if it's from ibuypower, it's probably a very good computer but, it's not a custom built gaming rig. i didn't ask about just textures and shadows, i asked about all graphics settings.

this would be current maxed out aces high graphics settings...
(Image removed from quote.)

if you can run 60fps with those settings in a low alt furball at a coastal base with ships close to shore, over a heavy tank battle ...then maybe you have a foot to stand on about the graphics quality. my system is capable of running any retail box game with high settings in multiplayer mode, none of which allows more than 64 players at a time on a terrain. the mmo's that i have played and currently play are all give and take, either photo realistic graphics with limited players on a map or, photo realistic graphics with unlimited players but limited graphics detail range (1 mile or less). aces high isn't high end photo realistic graphics but it is a decent balance considering the range of visibility with detail, the number of objects that can be rendered within that range (including all the skins available) and the number of players that are allowed in a single environment. neither world of tanks, war thunder, iracing, guild wars, or any of the other mmo's are as balanced as aces high is when it comes to all of the aspects involved.


that's not to say there isn't room for improvement. i'll concede that the ground and water is minimalistic in comparison to some, but i know it is a trade off of looks vs performance and i for one would rather have the performance without the need for higher performance hardware than i can afford. some of the people in this discussion wanting better graphics either weren't here for, or have forgotten about the last graphics upgrade and the subsequent blowout from subscribers. and what those people (10% or less of the current subscriber base) are asking htc to do is yet again push the graphics higher and subsequently increase the hardware requirements to maintain performance, at the risk of losing yet more subscribers without any guarantee that the improved graphics will actually draw more subscribers than such graphics improvements will lose.

  Yes my child i have the graphics maxed out the way you describe in your screenshot. As for 60FPS in a low alt fur ball with a giant gv battle next to the coast with ships close to shore, i guess we'll never know because i'm not sure that has ever happened. Something a little more your speed, i run BF3 on ultra and WOT maxed out as well with no issues. And yes i use the 64 player servers in BF3 with 60FPS. And i would consider a computer that i picked the parts for custom built. I didn't say it was a home build did I?