I went to the con. This was one of the main reasons that I went to the con ... to hear it right from the source. I know not everybody can get to these cons, but from what I understand, this con did not have quite the turnout that other cons have had because it wasn't in Grapevine. This surprised me, cause I knew that HT would show with the AH II goods and let the info fly, and this probably would be the only opportunity to get a lot of the answers.
Here is what I got ...
1) New flight model
This has been discussed in length here in Pyro's post. That stuff bores the crap out of me, but from what I heard, the wings will have, I believe, 4 points of data gathering as opposed to the 2 points that are used now. HiTech said that these new points will make the stall characteristic, not more forgiving, but rather more "real". The stall on the P-51 that we flew was very smooth and not as snappy and violent as what we have now, which I took his word as being more "real". That was the only part of the discussion that I heard ... there could have been more, but I think that I needed a beer at that point.
2) New graphics model/engine
I saw and flew the new P-51. The detail is fantastic. Seams and rivets jump out at you. HiTech has already posted a pic of the left wing. We were told that ALL planes will be converted to support the new graphics (quite an undetaking if you think about it.) I would categorize the new tracers effect a part of the new graphics engine. From what I saw, it looked awesome, but HiTech said that he wanted to tweak it a little more (+ or - the alpha effect). HiTech has re-done all the explosion effects. He blew up a hanger and the effect was impressive ... definately different than what we have now.
3) New damage model
What HiTech didn't show prior or since the con was the right wing on the same P-51. This wing showed all the different types of damage that will be displayed. Detail ranged from bullet holes to large holes ripped thru the wing that one can see thru. Damage on this wing during the demo had no effect on the flight due to the fact that it was for testing the display only.
4) Micro-Terrain will be implemented
The ground objects are now 3-D. Rolling an ostwind under a tree and looking up, one can see the different layers of the tree coverage. When asked if the trees will stop bullets or will trees cause explosions, he responded with ... its all configurable. This means that the map-maker has the option to choose if ground objects provide visible cover, physical cover, and when bumping into these obejcts, will they cause you to stop, blow-up, or pass right thru them.
Visually this Micro-Terrain is extremly impressive. We will have the ability to activate levels of detail. If I remember correctly, bump-mapping was switchable, and one other setting will be switchable too, just forgot what it was. HiTech said that it is his intention to make more of these types of settings switchable from within the game so that one does not have to leave the game to make the changes.
5) New objects for map-makers
These objects will make the ground more detailed and immersive if they so chosen by mapmakers. I saw a few different looking towns (not capturable) that were in different states of destruction or decay. They are just eye-candy. Field layouts, from what I saw will be changed ... new airfields.
6) New Clipboard menuing system
Very intuitive and windows-like. Hard to describe without the visual. I would say that it has a switchblade effect ... sub-menus sliding out from parent menus.
7) Tour of Duty Mission Engine
All missions will be scripted and then loaded into a databse and the AH TOD engine will read and execute them. Sounds simple ... bet it wasn't. I don't know if there was a discussion of the TOD gameplay aspects ... I might have been getting another beer.
He spoke of no new gameplay changes for the "Classic" version. He said that there will be no new planes introduced for the initial rollout. He said that AH II will be introduced in Beta as the "Classic" version and the "Tour of Duty" will follow after. The is a very smart and logical decision IMHO ... work the bugs out in the MA before firing up the TOD, which adds another level compexity with the automated missions.
This is all that I can remember ... If you do any kind of software development as a profession, you can understand the daunting task that each of these points addresses with the exception of #5. Since the annoucement ... to when AH II is supposed to be released, is what I would consider a monumental task for any development group if 10-15 people ... HTC does not have this kind of staff I believe. Not only is the coding a daunting task, but all the research that must have been done is mind-blowing.
I am a software architect (have been in the business for almost 30 years) and I am completely blown away (every day) by this game and what I saw at the con. So when you feel the need to demand that HTC come forth and spend whatever little time they might have to themselves during this development cycle, take a deep breath and be patient. I am completely convinced that HTC is busting butt to make this real for us and ... WE WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED !!!
