Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Skuzzy on August 29, 2014, 01:05:54 PM
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The Alpha has been coming along well, and the testers have been a huge help. <S> Most of the work has been in making sure things are stable, optimizing performance, and ironing out the graphics.
With that in mind, here is a comparison of where we were and where we are, with specific regard to the trees.
Here is an early screenshot we released of our progress. Note the blobs in the trees as they get farther from your view.
(http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/images/skuzzy/alpha1.jpg)
As we progressed, we felt the trees could be done better and so Hitech and Waffle decided to take another swing at them. Here is where we are today. Yes, the count and placement of the trees has changed, and might continue to change, but we feel the look of the trees, as they get farther from your eye point is better now.
(http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/images/skuzzy/alpha.jpg)
The different frame rates are due to the two different computers used in taking the screenshots.
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Nice trees.
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:aok
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:aok :O
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lookin good hitech creations ! well worth the wait :rock
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Looks awesome. Thanks for the update
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Good stuff.
Question - are the 2 different PC's from the list of HTC PCs that have been listed fairly recently? I only ask because their specs were pretty common and modest, and those FPS numbers are excellent. I think that bodes well for many worried their systems won't be up to the new version.
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The first system is an Intel E8400 CPU, 4GB of system RAM, and an NVidia GTX 660 w/2GB of video RAM.
Second system is an Intel E6550 (2.3Ghz), 4GB of system RAM, and an AMD 4850 w/1GB of video RAM.
Both running Windows 7 64 bit.
Performance is still being evaluated as we go through the Alpha, so it is still too early to make any statements as to the hardware requirements.
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Excellent work so far. :aok
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I'm half tempted to ask to be let in, so I can see if my Radeon 5770's can handle it. :headscratch:
Yeah, the trees look MUCH better now. Very nice. :aok
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Will the trees still be bullet proof?
I hope not.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk0dBZ1meio
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yall really trying to temp me to come out of retirement :aok
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Will the trees be perked?
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Gonna be sweet, I just pray my comp can keep up and keep it fast enough to be able to fly without screen freezes. Very nice work though guys it looks great
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Trees look great. :aok
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The second screenshot is much better looking. The trees in the upper image have a sort of impressionist look to them, the later trees are much more realistic and well worth having even if this means there are less of them. Also the general lighting effects and the shore detail near the bridge look better in the second shot.
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The 1st shot looks like green cotton balls glued to trees :P
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Zack is an Alpha male. :old:
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Yes :old:
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Skuzzy,
will my puter be able to run the new version on med-high settings, 35-50fps with some minor compromisses as it does run the current version? (currently everything is enabled, sliders maxed, except the self-shadowing whats at the second notch and anti-aliasing whats in the middle of the slider)
PhenomII 955, 8GB ram, Hd5830
Thinking about resubbing, would be nice to know if my machine is enough to run the game at the quality i would accept.
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Skuzzy,
will my puter be able to run the new version on med-high settings, 35-50fps with some minor compromisses as it does run the current version?
PhenomII 955, 8GB ram, Hd5830
Thinking about resubbing, would be nice to know if my machine is enough to run the game at the quality i would accept.
When the beta comes out..... in 2 weeks :noid .... you should be able to test it for yourself.
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Debrody, we appreciate the inquiry, but it really is too early to answer that question. It would be a disservice, to you and everyone else, to try and do so.
When we get to that point, we will gladly have an answer for everyone.
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Much improved on the trees, awesome work. :aok
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One thing that looks a little off to my eyes is how dark the water is relative to the sky colour.
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The creeks and ponds around where I live are usually black at the bottom from organic matter piling up. They decay more slowly under water and usually take on a dark brown/ black color so I don't think that the color is too far off, however I do think that if the water closest to shore has a slight color shift (towards the color of the bank around it) it would look better.
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One thing that looks a little off to my eyes is how dark the water is relative to the sky colour.
Noticed now that you mentioned it.
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One thing that looks a little off to my eyes is how dark the water is relative to the sky colour.
For what I've seen around here while taking off in a passenger plane from my hometown beside a lake, the water looks surprisingly dark no matter what the weather is. The average depth is about 2.5 metres, doesn't that equivalent 8 feet? Not to mention aerial photos where the water is pitch black on the clearest days. Water seems to be sky blue only when looked at a shallow angle. The other perspective I've looked at it is from a boat, looking like silvery glimpses on either a black or gray background depending on the weather, black again on a clear day. You can trust me when I say that I've been looking at my local lake from an AH perspective! And it's not a pond, at certain points you can see the horizon curving.
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Blackwater Park :rock
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Will the trees be perked?
Only these........
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WSzw9u3NcgQ/S9I4GGPt1uI/AAAAAAAAACE/A6wZleVFltc/s1600/trees+lord+of+the+rings.jpg)
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Only these........
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WSzw9u3NcgQ/S9I4GGPt1uI/AAAAAAAAACE/A6wZleVFltc/s1600/trees+lord+of+the+rings.jpg)
:lol
I can imagine it now..
INCOMING!!!
What!? Who? Where?!
Boulder!!!!!
:eek:
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Only these........
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WSzw9u3NcgQ/S9I4GGPt1uI/AAAAAAAAACE/A6wZleVFltc/s1600/trees+lord+of+the+rings.jpg)
We're getting Tree Ents? :D
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For what I've seen around here while taking off in a passenger plane from my hometown beside a lake, the water looks surprisingly dark no matter what the weather is. The average depth is about 2.5 metres, doesn't that equivalent 8 feet? Not to mention aerial photos where the water is pitch black on the clearest days. Water seems to be sky blue only when looked at a shallow angle. The other perspective I've looked at it is from a boat, looking like silvery glimpses on either a black or gray background depending on the weather, black again on a clear day. You can trust me when I say that I've been looking at my local lake from an AH perspective! And it's not a pond, at certain points you can see the horizon curving.
That holds true at our country but if you look at the mediterranean sea from the air during summer, it's beautifully shaded from dark blue of the deep water to the green shallow patches.
The thing I've always liked in aerial views of the sea is the wakes of ships. They look like they're suspended in water from a distance. Modeling that would be cool! :)
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That holds true at our country but if you look at the mediterranean sea from the air during summer, it's beautifully shaded from dark blue of the deep water to the green shallow patches.
The thing I've always liked in aerial views of the sea is the wakes of ships. They look like they're suspended in water from a distance. Modeling that would be cool! :)
Agreed, most of our lakes, rivers and even the sea at our coasts have a brownish hue due to the peaty swamps the water comes from. Another factor is the silt especially in Southern Finland, making water look like latte no matter how clean it chemically were. I noticed the Baltic Sea was much clearer already in Northwestern Denmark beside the ship in the harbour. And based on the photos I've seen especially seas and oceans have a wide variety of colours from pitch black to lead grey to a multitude of blues ending in caribbean turquoise. Of course everyone compares the game landscapes to their own home and travel related experiences. In that context I'd like to see a variety of landscapes and buildings and terrains surrounded by a corresponding sea. Our current 30's style Western European inland town wouldn't fit a Caribbean beach landscape and even Mediterranean towns look different.
Is there any possibility to get a different terrain and building set for each map in the MA? Not saying that they should be accurate, but being true to the style. One map with a Mediterranean landscape with palms and olive trees and sunfaded buildings, another in Pacific landscapes with colonial buildings among local huts and the turquoise sea and yet another with a lead grey northern European sea with the current set of buildings surrounded by spruce and pine woods. And so on. BTW the current town looks much like those in French Alsace, time seems to have stopped there in many places.
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One thing that looks a little off to my eyes is how dark the water is relative to the sky colour.
You cannot swim anyway Greebo :old:
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Agreed, most of our lakes, rivers and even the sea at our coasts have a brownish hue due to the peaty swamps the water comes from. Another factor is the silt especially in Southern Finland, making water look like latte no matter how clean it chemically were. I noticed the Baltic Sea was much clearer already in Northwestern Denmark beside the ship in the harbour. And based on the photos I've seen especially seas and oceans have a wide variety of colours from pitch black to lead grey to a multitude of blues ending in caribbean turquoise. Of course everyone compares the game landscapes to their own home and travel related experiences. In that context I'd like to see a variety of landscapes and buildings and terrains surrounded by a corresponding sea. Our current 30's style Western European inland town wouldn't fit a Caribbean beach landscape and even Mediterranean towns look different.
Is there any possibility to get a different terrain and building set for each map in the MA? Not saying that they should be accurate, but being true to the style. One map with a Mediterranean landscape with palms and olive trees and sunfaded buildings, another in Pacific landscapes with colonial buildings among local huts and the turquoise sea and yet another with a lead grey northern European sea with the current set of buildings surrounded by spruce and pine woods. And so on. BTW the current town looks much like those in French Alsace, time seems to have stopped there in many places.
Actually we have been lied to for years regarding the cleanliness of the sea. The color of the water is due to heavy pollution from the paper and pulp factories and the massive phosphate leaks from Russia + fertilizer residue from farming. The 5 million population St.Petersburg area still has no waste water cleaning on large areas, all large industry and community waste is dumped straight to the rivers. The sea is not only brownish cafe color but it's almost grown solid with vegetation. Every rock surface is covered with long slimy weeds.
For some reason the government is feeding a constant propaganda to keep up the illusion. I have witnessed with my own eyes however how much the water has changed from the 80's up to today and the color has drastically changed with tightening environmental regulations. In the 80's you had to take a speed boat and drive 30 minutes outwards to the sea before you got a nice white foam in your wake. Now you only need to drive 15 minutes at the same speed. Close to the shore you still have only about 30 centimeters visibility.
Spending a lot of time in the mediterranean has opened my eyes on the truly sad condition of the gulf of Finland.
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I understand your pain, knowing you live in the East end of the Gulf of Finland, very close to St. Petersburg. For the inland lakes and rivers being brown or latte'ish we can't blame the Russians, though, and not even agriculture. Admittedly the draining of swamps has still something to do with the hue, but even that is purely natural nonpoisonous stuff, used even for cosmetics. This summer I swam in quite a broad river in the south-west part of our country and the water was totally opaque! However swimming in it was considered totally safe, it was a public beach tested regularly for bacteria and other harmful stuff. The waterflow was simply carrying so much silt.
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I understand your pain, knowing you live in the East end of the Gulf of Finland, very close to St. Petersburg. For the inland lakes and rivers being brown or latte'ish we can't blame the Russians, though, and not even agriculture. Admittedly the draining of swamps has still something to do with the hue, but even that is purely natural nonpoisonous stuff, used even for cosmetics. This summer I swam in quite a broad river in the south-west part of our country and the water was totally opaque! However swimming in it was considered totally safe, it was a public beach tested regularly for bacteria and other harmful stuff. The waterflow was simply carrying so much silt.
On the other hand the public beaches in Tampere that caused the stomach epidemics were also tested ;)
I agree that the brown color of lake and river water is largely from natural sources - but for example the Kymi rivers bottom silt contains so much toxins, deadly toxins like heavy metals, mercury and dioxines that it's forbidden to do any dredging there. Those beach inspections look for immediate biohazards such as bacteria - but I'm fairly sure they don't measure heavy metal and other poisons that cause long term effects.