Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Baine on April 13, 2005, 10:37:36 PM

Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: Baine on April 13, 2005, 10:37:36 PM
Look, I love trees, I really do. I hunt, I fish, I'll pet a deer with my kids at the popcorn park zoo. I even like picking up the leaves now that I got my leaf blower/vacuum.
Trees make all those things better.
But trees in the AH maps are out of hand.
I think trees are great when I'm in a gv, or when I'm hunting a gv. They add to gameplay.
But I don't think we need forests all over the map. We've got forests in places Gvs will never travel. We've got forests on tops of mountains that it would take a panzer a year to climb.
They are killing my framerate and, I suspect, the framerates of lots of other players out there.
For what?
If you're FR doesn't take a nosedive every time you approach a tree covered hill, you probably don't notice them one way or the other. They don't significantly affect gameplay in those cases one bit and probably do only a little bit to affect your appreciation of the game.
They do, however, affect gameplay enormously if you see your FR drop from 40 to 12 every time the LA you are chasing dives to the deck. They make the game virtually unplayable. That's not at all fun.
I don't see the point.
I've turned my graphics down. All that did was make everything really, really ugly, make it impossible to see GVs on the ground and cause me to crash into the trees when they suddenly materialize in front of me.
I hate playing AH at those times. Probably not the reaction HTC was looking for.
I don't have the best machine in the world, but it's not the worst _ a 2 gig AMD processor, 640mb of ram and a 64 meg video card. Well above the supposed "minimum system requirements."
Could I upgrade? Sure I could. I could also buy myself a beautiful bamboo fly rod, a nice vintage Stratocaster or a really nice longboard to use this summer.
Or I could save the money to take my wife and kids on vacation or replace those drafty windows upstairs so I can sleep nekked even in winter. And don't get me started on the rising cost of college or the obscene price of cars.
AH is my hobby. I like it. I used to love it. I've played it for years. But if HiTech wants to engage in an arms race to see if his customers' computers can keep up with his improvements, well, in my case at least,  he wins. No contest.
I might be in the minority. I tend to be. But I think it's time HTC examine all its improvements with an eye toward overall impact, both positive and negative. If his business plan is to cater to a clientele that upgrades their machines annually, then nothing needs to be done. If he's looking for a broader customer base, well then I hope they turn a cyber Paul Bunyan lose on some of those dang trees.
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: Shane on April 13, 2005, 10:44:23 PM
agree about the point of trees being over-seeded in places.  it's like the war is taking place over a primival forrest.

there *is* such a thing as too much of a good thing.
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: Slash27 on April 13, 2005, 10:46:39 PM
Buy the Strat!:aok
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: MOIL on April 13, 2005, 11:13:00 PM
Don't get me wrong, I love eye candy and yes I have the computer from he11 to run it.
However, I can sympathize and agree with the somewhat poor layout of the trees and forests.
I do like seeing all that green, but IIRC looking thru a billion WW2 photo's {actual photograpghs} there was a lot of roads, dirt, mud, snow, tree lined streets and roadways, villages and small cities and many many more bridges and structures.

Maybe people can submit ideas for layouts, theme's, countrysides, I don't know, just a thought.
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: Kweassa on April 13, 2005, 11:33:27 PM
I like beaches.
 Suggested them in the past.

 If we see white beaches adjacent to water it'd be cool.
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: zorstorer on April 13, 2005, 11:36:46 PM
Insert quote from apocalypse now here :)
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: Nath_____ on April 14, 2005, 12:00:04 AM
ya like isnt there deforestation in AH world
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: Stang on April 14, 2005, 12:10:29 AM
You used to be able to blow trees up hehe.
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: Grits on April 14, 2005, 01:07:50 AM
Charlie dont surf
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: Gwjr2 on April 14, 2005, 01:53:25 AM
get the Herc's up with some good ole agent orange does the trick every time with little or no side effects. :aok
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: SKJohn on April 14, 2005, 03:22:59 AM
maybe we should plan the maps in North Africa - nothing but sand - no hit on frame rates.  Brilliant idea!  Wait, don't we already have that?  Wasn't it called.......the Pizza Map?
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: TexMurphy on April 14, 2005, 04:27:16 AM
Yeah a Baltic or central european map without forrests makes alot of sence. Its like a north african map without sand.

geee...

Tex
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: Engine on April 14, 2005, 07:22:56 AM
He's asking for a reduction Tex, not elimination.
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: Baine on April 14, 2005, 08:42:33 AM
Quote
Buy the Strat!

I've already got a nice old Jazzmaster. I love the sound, but find the layout of the switches makes them difficult to use. I guess I need a HOTAS for my guitar.:)
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: DaddyAck on April 14, 2005, 09:28:03 AM
My 2 cents is I love the new trees, I love the clouds too.  My computer manages to chew them down rather well.  Course, my dial up connection tends to be a downer compared to my beloved cable modem.  

But yeah, trees and clouds are fine the way they are in my case. :D
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: Kirin on April 14, 2005, 10:09:44 AM
Absolut no frame-rate hit with trees or clouds. Infact the new version is much smoother frame-rate wise than the old one was. Capping out at 63FPS all the time.

Only dive I take is above lots of water. Other than that the gfx are comming together nicely. Can't await to see more eye-candy!!!
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: SkyLab on April 14, 2005, 10:17:52 AM
I guess if i hadn't just built a new computer I would not care much for the new eye-candy either.

AH2 was the reason I built my new computer. I guess I can thank the tress for getting me off my dead arse and finally building a half way decent machine.
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: Engine on April 14, 2005, 10:44:15 AM
Hell, I just built a new one. A64 3200+, 6600 GT and I still see 12 fps when landing with these new trees.
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: Kirin on April 14, 2005, 11:18:50 AM
My system specs

AMD Athlon 64 3800+
1024MB Corsair TwinX RAM
GeForce 6800GT
Audigy2 (booo!)
2xSeagate Barracuda SATA 76GB


newest drivers for chipset, motherboard etc.

using newest official Forceware from NVIDA

ingame settings: 1280x1024x32, everything default, using 1024 textures, FPS cap 60

video settings: v-sync on, AF off, FSAA 8x


---


Will post screenies with trees and FPS drop over water...
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: BBQ_Bob on April 14, 2005, 11:43:10 AM
I understand, I also take a frame rate hit. I go from 45 to 7 or 9 and it really sucks, whatever happened to the key command to turn off the ground clutter?
Title: Enough with the trees already!
Post by: Slash27 on April 14, 2005, 05:41:25 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Baine
I've already got a nice old Jazzmaster. I love the sound, but find the layout of the switches makes them difficult to use. I guess I need a HOTAS for my guitar.:)



Tried that on my Les Paul, didnt work out too well:D