Clouds and their shadows are my number one wish. Every other sim seems to have clouds that you can actually have fun in, but Aces High is more like: "Oh, it's a cloud. Oh wait, no it isn't - it's a piece of tissue paper in the shape of a cloud."Indeed...I don't think they'd be much of a FR hit either...I could play FS2004 fine on a laptop with 512mb and a 2.2ghz single core, onboard video.
Indeed...I don't think they'd be much of a FR hit either...I could play FS2004 fine on a laptop with 512mb and a 2.2ghz single core, onboard video.
I want real clouds that you can fly in that reduce visibiulity like real clouds doTurn off the icons and get up in the clouds...you will have reduced visibility. Assuming you can get the plane over 5000 feet in the first place.
Turn off the icons and get up in the clouds...you will have reduced visibility. Assuming you can get the plane over 5000 feet in the first place.
no I mean I fly through clouds through most of the trip to my target, leave the clouds to strike, and re enter the clouds to get out of there, leaving the enemy wondering where I wentLOL...you really have no clue do you? The clouds work now...it's that a fat glowing icon that is giving you away.
LOL...you really have no clue do you? The clouds work now...it's that a fat glowing icon that is giving you away.Yup. Which possibly when in a bank of clouds the icon disappears...that'd be neat for sure.
LOL...you really have no clue do you? The clouds work now...it's that a fat glowing icon that is giving you away.
Unless I'm missing a key graphics setting here (:uhoh)...how do 2D clouds work?Better than no clouds at all...you've already forgotten the heavy clouds and fog banks that were enabled on the MAs for a short time last year haven't you? It looked like they were done in layers, but the effects were fairly good.
Better than no clouds at all...you've already forgotten the heavy clouds and fog banks that were enabled on the MAs for a short time last year haven't you? It looked like they were done in layers, but the effects were fairly good.
+1 on the canopy and clouds.
I wish there was a way to get more variation in airbases. Like a small airstrip that has a single grass strip with some random hangars/fuel tanks around it.
Besides, if it runs fine on MS Flight Sim, it should do just fine in AH. Not to mention, with updated sky/clouds, we could see an increase of more people playing AH, which means more money to HTC.That's where you're off a bit...in AH the cloud data is passed from the server to your system...in MS Flight Sim there isn't any data being passed back and forth, therefore no latency issues. As Karnak pointed out it has to be able to run on the lowest end systems at the lowest settings...and we all know how even the bushes can be flaky at some distances...think about what would happen to frame rates trying to render full clouds.
Would it be possible to implement a secondary server for the clouds and such? Or would that still cause latency issues.The problem isn't server related. It is FE related. All of the rendering is done locally on your machine and anything of a tactical nature should be present on every player's local system and that means clouds would not be something that could be turned off. In turn, that means the limitation we are faced with is what the lowest end supported systems can do.
One solution is to have pretty clouds on high end systems and poorer quality clouds for lower end systems that block out the exact same sections of sky. Getting them exactly the same might be a challenge, I don't know.
WoP?
Good point. Perhaps there can be a feature in the terrain editor to where the clouds are specifically tailored to the terrain? The cloud position would be fixed (and obscure surroundings), so as to have a tactical advantage during evasive manuevers and such. Since they would be fixed positions, everyone will see the same cloud in the same location at the same time. Therefore no need to implement a "server" controlled placement of clouds. Only downside is that clouds dont move or shift from place to place.
Now the real challenge is, how do we make clouds that are scalable to low end and high end computers? While providing equal tactical significance that is. Would like to hear HTC's opinion on this subject.
If we receive new clouds with the possibility of fog banks swallowing bases, does that mean we get to start flying instrument approaches? :Dyep. e6b calculations and a stopwatch we would just need a more acurate distance calculator
yep. e6b calculations and a stopwatch we would just need a more acurate distance calculatorSo when you pull up your clipboard to view the E6B you couldn't see your orientation to a location on the map? I'm guessing the clouds would be too thick to read your map... :rofl
yep. e6b calculations and a stopwatch we would just need a more acurate distance calculator
How about VOR's, too.
ILS would be nice. I'm not asking for autoland, just for something to allow my B-25 to do a nice and elegant landing :)That can be done with your eyes closed...
How about VOR's, too.if only that worked with buffs
Perhaps a Nav computer?
or how about
Get in yer' plane, merge with someone, and duke it out instead of trying to hide from everyone?
if only that worked with buffs
It's that trigger-squeeze syndrome. For some reason, there's never enough ammo. :P
In the last graphic update we saw photorealistic ground textures, bump maping, reflections, pixel lighting on the water, animated water, new trees, dynamic shadows on planes and just recently on other planes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that HTC will keep adding to this fantastic new world they've created.
Here's my wishlist:
When I'm sitting in the cockpit I feel like there's no barrier keeping me from the elements. Some additional detail on the glass and acrylic canopies wouldn't go a miss. Reflections, a scratch here and there, maybe even a little spec of dirt in the corners where the glass/acrylic meet the metal of the airframe would be awesome!
The sky could do with some attention, in contrast to the new ground it looks rather bland and after all it's where I spend 99% of my time. Some new clouds which cast dynamic shadows on the ground would also be mind blowing. They have this in Wings of Prey and it really adds to depth perception of the virtual world. Hell, maybe even some water drops on the conopie when entering a cloud?
Anyone else have ideas?
This effect is called HDR, it's been around for a while and a lot of games have it, I don't think we'll see it in AH any time soon though.
The canopies wish would be pure eye candy, of course, but it would be very immersive. I think that canopy reflections could be useful if they were visible to others. For instance, seeing the flash of the sun on a fast-moving canopy or polished bit of metal. So, I'd also like to see reflection of the sun on other planes' canopies and bright specular points on glass/polished metal. As an example, have you ever noticed how brightly cars' windshields and chrome can reflect the sun as they zoom past you, or even from far away?
Technical hurdles notwithstanding (and there are, of course), I think these are both good ideas for the wishlist.
Volumetric clouds are more than just eye candy, IMO, if they can be implemented in a way that icons are occluded while in a cloud. Then they became tactical tools for attack and evasion.
The canopies wish would be pure eye candy, of course, but it would be very immersive. I think that canopy reflections could be useful if they were visible to others. For instance, seeing the flash of the sun on a fast-moving canopy or polished bit of metal. So, I'd also like to see reflection of the sun on other planes' canopies and bright specular points on glass/polished metal. As an example, have you ever noticed how brightly cars' windshields and chrome can reflect the sun as they zoom past you, or even from far away?
But there are technical issues with doing all this and not killing lower end machines, I suppose. It's the "wish" list, so there you go. I hope they can do it one day....
FWIW,
and the sounds system overhauled...
FYI, the sound system is currently getting overhauled... or at least the "base coad" of it is, which I'm sure will allow changes to the audio system. Not sure what's planned for the future but the foundation's definitely being changed over.I noticed that in the 2.19.0 release notes... I'm... cautiously excited :)
here....Kazan's picture is just one example of why we don't need to worry too much about more eye candy just yetThey have made their terrain alot better but, they haven't done anything to the sky...
(http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/3428/revange.jpg)
For those who have seen how far the eyecandy has imporved since AH 1.0 to now, I don't crave anymore yet
:cheers: HTC for what the game looks like right now.
That looks great for an overcast day. I don't think constant grey overcast would be any better than constant blue sunny day. More dynamic lighting and weather conditions would be nice but again I think they have done alot for the visuals lately and am still enjoying the recent graphical enhancements.Gotta start somewhere. :)
Here are some screenshots from the new, up and coming WW2 flight combat sim title called Storm of War.
Note the awesome looking cloud and sky textures, our game would benerfit imensely from having anything on par with this. I'm sure you GVers would want some grass/plants to crush under you tank's treads.
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/daniel.clarke17/SoW/shot_20100525_133213.jpg)
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/daniel.clarke17/SoW/shot_20100525_133429.jpg)
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/daniel.clarke17/SoW/shot_20100525_134727.jpg)
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/daniel.clarke17/SoW/shot_20100525_134922.jpg)
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/daniel.clarke17/SoW/shot_20100531_141445.jpg)
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/daniel.clarke17/SoW/shot_20100531_142008.jpg)
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/daniel.clarke17/SoW/shot_20100531_142740.jpg)
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/daniel.clarke17/SoW/shot_20100601_181613.jpg)
I'm wishing for a new addition to the graphics engine every now and again to keep the game looking fresh. Last time we had to wait 3 years.
The thing about graphics is that a screenshot can capture a moment and make them look amazing, like the cockpit glass of that HE111 for instance.
However the reality when playing the game is much different. Objects flash past at high speeds. Aircraft look like small black dots or crosses untill very close range no matter what graphics the game has. I would wait to see what SoW actualy looks like when playing it before making any judgements. The screenshots look nice, but what will it loook like in motion?
Would you rather have a paper cutout of <insert your fav female> standing in your room?
Or would you rather have a real woman who cooks, cleans, and loves you?
The first option is pure eye candy, and it brings nothing else to the table.
It has no effect on gameplay, and very quickly gets boring. Leaving you looking for the next cardboard cutout.
The second option has distinct features that have huge effects on gameplay.
Whats more while it may not look as good as the first option, but it will keep you coming back for more.
AH will never have eyecandy the way a boxed sim can.
It simply is not possible to do it in a massive multiplayer environment.
There are too many other things that computer horsepower is needed for to waste on eyecandy.
If you really need eyecandy that badly, then go buy the boxed sim and get that paper cutout in your bedroom.
But if you want to be warm, well fed, and have a warm wiggly body next to you in your bed, don't go looking for eyecandy. Look for features the competition doesn't, can't offer.
Like the best FM, Working on total Damage model update, the best stick and key mapping setup ever.
Now those are features that will keep you warm at night.
.
I wish there was a way to get more variation in airbases. Like a small airstrip that has a single grass strip with some random hangars/fuel tanks around it.
It's like you didn't even read through this thread before posting your useless analogy.
Maybe differing alts in the clouds, and maybe thicker clouds.
after all aces high is a simulation.
I understood the analogy, then again, I'm getting old and I would of responded a lot differently many years ago.
Once again, I never wished HTC for a "visual only updates" or to focus their effort from this point onwards entirely on visuals.
K, it ain't you. It's like a weird contest in here.
Kazaa that looks awesome :aok
Dude it looks terrible. I spent 10 minutes on it at work, 5 minutes of that was finding a half decent backdrop to use.No it dosen't Kazza, it's alot better than I could do. :aok
Kazaa does have a viable point though. The sky is in need of some graphical updates. The flat cloud layer, and the occasional distorted, and pixelated, clouds we have now just dont do AH justice in graphics. Ive been trying to emphasize the importance of having an updated sky for a long time now. With the current terrain, the game would look TREMENDOUSLY better and appealing to the general public, as well as to its current customer base.I'd love new clouds and rain. :D
I would personally like to hear HTC's opion and thoughts on updating the sky.
Dude it looks terrible. I spent 10 minutes on it at work, 5 minutes of that was finding a half decent backdrop to use.
I'll always take game play over graphics. The AC, guns, damage model, aircraft variety all trump scenery. But that just my opinion.
But those pics do look really REALLY good. I like the clouds, the scratches, the raindrops, the vapor trails. I can imagine my frame rate at reduced to frames per minute rather than frames per second with stuff like that. lol So, after the install, I'd fly a sortie or two with all that stuff turned on. "Ohh Ahh", for a minute. Then turn it all off, and go back to fighting cons.
<S> To all you guys with the machines that can keep up with today's graphics.
Isn't there a cloud editor and has anyone ever come up with some better looking clouds?
Would love to see some improvements in this area!
Isn't there a cloud editor and has anyone ever come up with some better looking clouds?
Would love to see some improvements in this area!
My master USRanger knows things covered by AvA development secrets... and I'm his padawan :noid
Good things to come. ;)
I have a mediocre system at best
AMD Athlon, 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+, 2900 MHz
Motherboard TA770 A2+ SE
ATI Radeon HD 4830 1 gig
plus 4 gigs of ram(although xp only recognizes 3.3)
plays wings of prey perfectly, COD, Bad company, RE5, all no problems
I set it up for a bit over $300
I haven't built a new machine in so long I don't recognize some of your specs.
I've got:
- Dell Optiplex GX260 maxed out with two whole gigabytes memory
- Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz
- 512 GB nVidia AGP card
I can't remember what I spent on this setup... But I have FOUR of them... and there are days when, between me and my wife and two kids, all four are occupied and online. They keep running OK, so the money goes for kids clothes and stuff.
I believe your "Pentium 4 2.4 GHZ, is the same as a 2,400 MHZ.??????