Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: august on September 10, 2004, 12:49:19 PM

Title: Visuals
Post by: august on September 10, 2004, 12:49:19 PM
i fell in love with this game one afternoon shorty after i had enrolled.  

a cloud bank was rolling in.

it was the last week of AH1 so the terrain was different, greener, more lush if i remember correctly.  there were these canyons with walls that seemed to stretch up for miles.

i would fly out of my way to go through them.

is there a word for farfegnugen in planes?  the joy of flying.

whatever it is...at that moment...i experienced it...

i have yet to experience it to any major degree in AH2.  

it was the first thing that i noticed missing and i have missed it since.

i have seen two clouds since AH2 started and i play everyday.

i have never had the opportunity to fly at night, save the dueling arena, but i would like to.

i have never flown over a snow covered mountain, or seen the leaves change color from 20k.  

i would really like for the folks at hitech to consider the importance of visuals in this game and how it affects the overall experience for players.

for some of us...it is the thing.

flying has as much to do with what is out the window as it does with the stick in your hands, and it is really the feeling of being in another space that gets me high.

so come on hitech.  show us what you got.

for those of us who will probably never get any closer to really flying, this is as good as it gets.  

turn on the visuals bro.

best,
august

(screaming eagles fighter squad)
Title: Visuals
Post by: Kev367th on September 10, 2004, 12:53:39 PM
Hear , hear.
Title: Visuals
Post by: Soulyss on September 10, 2004, 01:12:43 PM
From what Pyro has indicated they are on the way at some point.  

From an annoucement just prior to AH2 release...
Quote
There are still numerous aesthetic enhancements that aren’t yet completed, but we don’t feel that they warrant holding up the release any longer. We’ll continue to work on those after the initial release...
Title: Visuals
Post by: Midnight on September 10, 2004, 01:39:50 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Soulyss
From what Pyro has indicated they are on the way at some point.  

From an annoucement just prior to AH2 release...


Yeah, and we're going to get and FPS base capture and subs and something called "Tour of Duty" too :rofl
Title: Visuals
Post by: august on September 10, 2004, 01:56:22 PM
From what Pyro has indicated they are on the way at some point.

From an annoucement just prior to AH2 release...

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are still numerous aesthetic enhancements that aren’t yet completed, but we don’t feel that they warrant holding up the release any longer. We’ll continue to work on those after the initial release...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


glad to know that...and i am really looking forward to those changes...ty sir.

but what i am really trying to stress here is:

A.  those that already exist are not being utilized.

B.  those changes that are "in the works" are things that some of us find to be priority, so we would appreciate it if they would impliment them as soon as possible (or at least some of them.)

C.  there have been many posts regarding these issues, but we have yet to hear from the nice folks at hitech about what is happening in this area.  it sounds like your quote comes from a good long time ago.

in a way, i look at my membership fee at HT as a form of stock which i am investing into thier company...i am asking if my investment is going to get a return and i am hoping that it will.

does anyone know of any flight sims out there that can offer what i am looking for?

if so, would i be wise to invest in them?  will they do to aces high what hitech did to, was it...warbirds?  i wonder...

i guess that i am fortunate in having not played AH1 for long enough to notice the other differences. lord knows, ive heard all about them.  lol... im sure that they feel that they have to!

but this is the one that sticks out the most for me...

and the one that i most want to be addressed.

it was a major letdown.

really.

i wanna FLY baby.

and i know they can do it.

(if they kiss it.)
Title: Visuals
Post by: BigGun on September 10, 2004, 02:01:34 PM
$$ you pay to HTC are in no way Stock in the company, simply a fee for a service.
Title: Visuals
Post by: august on September 10, 2004, 02:07:04 PM
fine.  not meant literally.

and i am sure that they wouldnt suffer by my taking my fee elsewhere...which i will, when i find what i am looking for...either here or there.  

theyd live...and i probably shouldnt have put that in there as it may be percieved as a veiled threat.  it is not...just a consumer looking at the product, suggesting changes and reminding myself that there may be alternatives as i am certain that there will be.

market rules.

not the point really.

read above posts for the point.

for me, its an issue of asthetics, those that exist that arent used, and those that may or may not be coming forthwith.

sank you for the correction sir    : )
Title: Visuals
Post by: august on September 10, 2004, 02:09:01 PM
in my world of stock, the dividends are clouds.
Title: Visuals
Post by: Edbert on September 10, 2004, 02:20:52 PM
AH2 has (had?) some awesome clouds. They were not the squared off blocky ones like in AH1 either, they were random (or seemingly) patters with thick and thin spots and had apparent lighting variations. They were awesome but I have not seen them in quite some time. Are they part of a particular map or does the arena somehow generate them?
Title: Visuals
Post by: moot on September 10, 2004, 02:28:08 PM
The AH2 colors are too dull.
Title: Visuals
Post by: Octavius on September 10, 2004, 02:30:55 PM
I love fluffy clouds.  Implementing them is somewhat more difficult as it means another repackaging of the .res map file.  Also, I'm not sure if things have changed from AH1 to AH2, but clouds originally were tracked by the server as one entity (like a player's aircraft).  More clouds take a toll on the server, so if we are to have more clouds thrown around, they wont have a heavy concentration of them.  

Wouldn't mind seeing just a few more :)
Title: Re: Visuals
Post by: 68DevilM on September 10, 2004, 03:50:16 PM
Quote
Originally posted by august
i fell in love with this game one afternoon shorty after i had enrolled.  

a cloud bank was rolling in.

it was the last week of AH1 so the terrain was different, greener, more lush if i remember correctly.  there were these canyons with walls that seemed to stretch up for miles.

i would fly out of my way to go through them.

is there a word for farfegnugen in planes?  the joy of flying.

whatever it is...at that moment...i experienced it...

i have yet to experience it to any major degree in AH2.  

it was the first thing that i noticed missing and i have missed it since.

i have seen two clouds since AH2 started and i play everyday.

i have never had the opportunity to fly at night, save the dueling arena, but i would like to.

i have never flown over a snow covered mountain, or seen the leaves change color from 20k.  

i would really like for the folks at hitech to consider the importance of visuals in this game and how it affects the overall experience for players.

for some of us...it is the thing.

flying has as much to do with what is out the window as it does with the stick in your hands, and it is really the feeling of being in another space that gets me high.

so come on hitech.  show us what you got.

for those of us who will probably never get any closer to really flying, this is as good as it gets.  

turn on the visuals bro.

best,
august

(screaming eagles fighter squad)


we want our happy place back:D
Title: Re: Visuals
Post by: phookat on September 10, 2004, 03:51:48 PM
Quote
Originally posted by august
s there a word for farfegnugen in planes?


Flugvergnugen
Title: Visuals
Post by: august on September 10, 2004, 04:24:55 PM
owned a web development company in atlanta few years back...

http://www.aciexhibits.com proof that i did...not the best site but hey, its old...at the time it was the first full page flash site that i knew of...  our goal was to be the edge.

anyways, i know enough about developement to know how these things go...while the money is rolling in, there is not a whole lot of git up and go when it comes to r and d... and the people that worked with me, or that i contracted (who i paid exhorbidantly) had a whole lot of lunches and came up with many an excuse not to do this or that because it might mean a few extra hours of coding and editing when we could go to the beach in florida instead.  in the beginning i was as guilty of this myself.

in the end, to keep my promises, i wound up having to do all of the work or firing those who couldnt, or wouldnt get it done.  unfortunately, it was too late and i, in frustration, gave up and went back to my original calling.  self absorbed, non client based art.  the kind that you buy when its done.

my company failed by an inability to be the edge that we wanted to be and died by the sword of the competition who could and would take responsibility for being that ball.

i blame myself.  but not for lack of effort.

i made promises that i couldnt keep and it sunk me.

is this happening to high tech?  probably not, yet.

fact is, that most of the things that we were trying to accomplish
really werent that hard... they just took a willingness to stick by the original plan (ONE THING.  DONE WELL) and wait to reap the rewards until we had made it so.

i really dont think that getting the visuals down in this game is going to be so hard either.  certainly not enough to afford several months of downtime or customer disatisfaction without so much as a well placed excuse.

and i dont think that a passionate coder (or artist) ever gets tired of uploading a better product, or making it so when they want it to be so.

clouds to start.  update on the rest.  make it better.  

i miss my Flugvergnugen.

please and thank you.

august
(stock holder)
Title: Visuals
Post by: eilif on September 10, 2004, 05:05:12 PM
amen! look forward to flying with a fellow artist.

 i cant wait till we get some more detailed plane models, mainly the cockpits. I guess were getting a frank soon, that will be to the new specs for cockpit detail and such.

il2 forgotten battles aces expansion pack has all the graphics you can handle.if  your system is up to snuff.

its kinda lacking in game play but its fun for toodling around site seeing.

i hope with all the new advancements in ah there are plenty of those slider bars tho, i am barely getting enough fps as it is, and unfortunately with greater graphics there is the clash of function and form. I think htc is still battleing about with the function part so they can get the grahics as nice as possible, which i dont doubt they can do, its just a matter of time, hopefully before we move onto another game.

Track ir 3 i would defanantly recomend for graphic emersion, makes looking at the landscapes much more enjoyable, and easy.  

http://www.trackir.com
Title: Visuals
Post by: Citabria on September 10, 2004, 05:12:21 PM
i really miss the ah1 terrain.

squirls terrain textures were very nice to look at.

I hope support for custom tiles and objects groups are available soon.

Ozkansas just looks like crap with ETO ah2 tiles and no tank towns.
Title: Visuals
Post by: august on September 10, 2004, 05:29:24 PM
woah.  tracker...(drooool)

joy!
Title: Visuals
Post by: august on September 10, 2004, 06:05:55 PM
but i am still flying aces high..and i would be just as happy without the headgear...just a few promises kept.

little note in case it appeared that i would be enticed by such a distraction.  heh heh.

not a simmer or gamer.  

just a customer.
Title: Visuals
Post by: NUTTZ on September 10, 2004, 06:33:36 PM
Give me a shout  if you want to see some trully nice stuff.

NUTTZ
GraphixOne@verizon.net

Quote
Originally posted by Citabria
i really miss the ah1 terrain.

squirls terrain textures were very nice to look at.

I hope support for custom tiles and objects groups are available soon.

Ozkansas just looks like crap with ETO ah2 tiles and no tank towns.
Title: Visuals
Post by: FT_Animal on September 11, 2004, 02:24:42 PM
Seasonal terrains would be an excellent touch.

It could be the same terrains with different textures. Like Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall. We had this in AW but only you saw the terrain you preferred.

You don't\Shouldn't have to remake the terrains, just change textures.

It makes a HUGE difference in immersion and the use of the right skins.

Another idea would be to not only rotate terrains, but rotate terrain seasons, then change the terrain, rotate seasons, change terrain.

This could be done VERY easliy and the pay off for immersion is high.

This would also impact the the skin designs and/or rotating with terrain seasons. It would open up a much wider spectrum for skinners to make seasonal versions of their skins.

This would also impact scenarios.

I think this tiny change would have big impacts on redundacy.

Again, another impact would be the weather itself. There could be snow clouds and snow falling for winter. Pipe dream?

Think about it for a few minutes.
You'd have; Terrain Seasons rotating, skins rotating with seasons and weather rotaing with seasons.

Also re-enable night cycles, because winter snow and moon refelction would make night fighting much easier.

2 cents
~A
Title: Visuals
Post by: august on September 11, 2004, 11:52:53 PM
well said.


each map rotation would be like christmas morning.
Title: Visuals
Post by: MOIL on September 12, 2004, 12:01:38 AM
Good post!
Title: Visuals
Post by: Sp4de on September 12, 2004, 12:05:04 AM
i want snow :( I WANNA FIRE MY FREAKING COLT TOO!!! DONT GIVE ME FOOD!! AND NOT LET ME EAT IT!!
Title: Visuals
Post by: MOIL on September 12, 2004, 12:11:37 AM
Ah ah ah   don't touch!

(http://www.lonrhohotels.com/aberdares/gallery/buffet.jpg)
Title: Visuals
Post by: Sp4de on September 12, 2004, 12:15:36 AM
NO TOUCH NO SHOOT.. i mean come on they make a freaking cow skin for the f4 i just wanna shoot it :(

(http://www.sscmagnum.de/bilder_waffen/Colt.jpg)
Title: Visuals
Post by: MOIL on September 12, 2004, 12:29:43 AM
:lol :rofl :lol :eek: