Is it possible to bring AH graphics engine up to par?

[Citabria]

I recall years ago (a decade ago maybe) somthing about the way ah graphics looked being tied to the physics and flight modelling engine as one package but I could be wrong.

this post isn't about textures or 3d models (which are excellent). its about the actual engine that displays all this and to some extent the terrain engine and the level of detail it is capable or incapable of incorporating while maintaining decent frame rates...

lighting and clouds. like real tactically relevant cumulous and stratus layers of billowing stuff with shadows on the ground below them.

want it all to look real with nice clouds well you need the sunlight under them and the ground beneath them to be less bright than the areas the sun shines directly.

and do it all with 60fps across the board.

right.

well just one dweebs opinion.

[cobia38]

 thought you quit 

[Citabria]

I've been quitting since 1999 this game is a narcotic.

I want the needle and bong or whatever paraphernalia referenc you choose to look less ghetto though

[Scca]

I think one of the challenges with doing this is the fear of losing much of the player base.  Modern graphics require costly equipment to run.  Some people already have machines to run them, but many don't.  This is part of the appeal of the game in that it's still playable running a decade old PC. 

I love the game, and would upgrade to continue to play, but I have the spare change to do so. Not everyone does. 

[Citabria]

losing the side of the player base that has cash to spend and demands eye candy to suspend their disbelief that is up to current market standards is just as great a problem yet is not feared?

[Shifty]

losing the side of the player base that has cash to spend and demands eye candy to suspend their disbelief that is up to current market standards is just as great a problem yet is not feared?

Probably not because..

this game is a narcotic.

[Citabria]

well thats for the junkies but we are the minority. these games rely on new customers to survive.

look at it from another viewpoint...

if you put AH clips on the history or military channel during a dogfighting documentary in its current unedited graphic state would it be realistic looking enough to make many people want to try it?

the junkies love the eye candy but new customers have so many options to entertain them even in this small niche they demand the eye candy because visual realism to the masses equates to physics and flight modelling realism even though the junkies like us know better.

my wife said it best...

"why are you playing that game? it looks awful the other ones actually look real."

"because" was all I could think to say in my defense because if i went off about flight models and accurate cockpit bars well.. you get the idea.

[Max]

Fester, why not give Hitech a call and discuss. I realize your post question is somewhat rhetorical but no one outside HTC can provide you an accurate answer.

[morfiend]

 I'm not sure I'm ready for AH to look lifelike!  I think it's better if it's slightly cartoonish because it already goes to many players heads and they think it's real.


  Now just imagine if the graphix were lifelike,how could we explain to them it's just a game.......



  YMMV.


   

[leitwolf]

I think one of the challenges with doing this is the fear of losing much of the player base.  Modern graphics require costly equipment to run.  Some people already have machines to run them, but many don't.  This is part of the appeal of the game in that it's still playable running a decade old PC. 

I love the game, and would upgrade to continue to play, but I have the spare change to do so. Not everyone does. 

I think this is one of the weakest arguments. With dated graphics AH is being "priced out of the market" w/r to newer/more shiny games for people who have current hardware.
Folks with old PCs are pretty much by definition always going to be shrinking target audience.. why nail yourself to a coffin of old hardware and ever decreasing market?

Now, I'm not suggesting going overboard with AH graphics, but a reasonable move ahead can be done without leaving too many old boxes behind. Target needs to be at least FSX level (And yes, in some areas AH is already ahead).

[titanic3]

Higher resolutions seems the easiest to do as well as making the game look significantly better. Even the hi-res texture pack fail to capture every detail a plane should have. You can't even read the warning labels on some planes. Ground textures would actually be one of the biggest improvement.

Second easiest would probably some kind of post processing effects that simply overlaps the games graphics (ala Skyrim's ENB mods). I tried adding ENB to AH, but the game doesn't support it and you end up with missing/weird textures. More color variation and defined shadows goes a long way to cover up crappy graphics. Best part is this is all optional. Higher resolutions wont affect gameplay since there's really no advantage being given. And ENB settings simply changes color and shadow perception (even adding a few shadows of its own).

[asterix]

my wife said it best...

"why are you playing that game? it looks awful the other ones actually look real."

I am shure she did. I bet she used the same exact words too. What other ones did she mean?

[tunnelrat]

I am shure she did. I bet she used the same exact words too. What other ones did she mean?

I'll give you a hint... one of them rhymes with "War Thunder"... and someone I know LIVED in Historical Battles for the entire weekend... dude needs an intervention.

[pervert]

Aces High is massively multiplayer, the new games are prettier but are very limited in how many people can play at once, I'd say your answer as to why not is there, for it seems you cannot have both.

[Nutzoid]

Not saying anyone should move or anything like that, but take a look at the "eyecandy" in Warthunder. 

Nutz