Four days since release.. ??

[Pyro]

We disabled the cloud layers this morning pending some more work on them.  That should fix the issues that you're having including the disappearing CV.



------------------
Doug "Pyro" Balmos
HiTech Creations

[Westy]

Thank you Pyro!!!

 -Westy

[Nash]

 

[214thCavalier]

Aww hell personally i could forgive all the bugs just for the privilege of fighting in them clouds.
And yes i saw all the same bugs Westy saw apart from unplayable FPS.
Really gonna miss the clouds and hope they return very quickly.

[Moose11]

*sigh*

I strongly disagree with the method of screaming for htc to post...

Do they ever get a break from us sim-junkies? I can see your point Nash, trust me - but to even think that these professionals (yes, professionals) could overlook a bug with the clouds, CVs, etc... kind of insulting.

:gets pom-poms out:

Go HTC!

[AKSeaWulfe]

Neg Nash, the grey wall is kind of annoying.

However, based on past experiences with HTC I could and can say with 100% agreement with myself that they are working extremely hard to fix it. HT, Pyro and the rest of the crew do not pride themselves in something that doesn't look nice or behave properly. Based on this, I am certain they are working on it. Besides, they always come into the arena when they are fixing bugs to let us know what's up.

It's not worth it to me, for them to come and tell me somethings wrong.. we all know when somethings wrong, and we know they'll fix it. :-)
-SW

[AKSeaWulfe]

 

Originally posted by Nash:
Come on. Three weeks in delaying development to say "Yup - it's broken, no - it aint yer graphics card, and yup we're workin' on it"? Pfft cheeeyeah right. If yer used to that kind of efficiency in your lives yer prolly employed by the government.

Hmmm... damn it Nash, how'd you know that?
:-P
-SW

[Wanker]

Lay Jitman.....LOL, that was funny!  

[Westy]

"I strongly disagree with the method of screaming for htc to post..."

 Take a pill Moose. No screaming was done here. Many folks had problems with the new clouds and this release that it made our online time feel anything like "flying" in WWII aircombat. Some couldn't "fly" online at all.
 So after four days of no news or comment on the issues, IMO, a post asking for one was more than warrant.  

 -Westy

[Nash]

Ditto wot Westy said. It wasn't like this was some kind of a huge issue for me... In fact, as bugged as the clouds were - I still enjoyed fighting in them.

It's just that night after night I'd log in and see this massive box... still there... nobody really saying anything...  And I mirrored Westy's question. Simply wondering: What's up?

Didn't really see this as some 'method'... screamin' for HTC to post ...

<shrug>

[Westy]

 <punt>

 Reason? This is extremely ucharacteristic of Pyro or HiTech to be absent for so long after such a major release.

 What's happening guys?  Any word on the cloud bug(s)? What's on your plates right now?

  -Westy

[Skuzzy]

Well Westy....I don't work for HTC, but I got a very good idea about why and how the clouds were the way they were.
First:  It was not a bug.  When I first saw the "grey wall", I immediately went, "What th....", but caught myself before I even finished the sentence.  The programmer side of me kicked in and I knew immediately what was going on.
As most of you are probably aware, HT is very conscious of frame rates.  How many releases have there been where one of the things on the list says something along the lines of, "Improved frame rates for....".  Okay, HT has a penchant for improving frame rates so this sim/game can run on as many systems as possible.
Knowing this, as is eveident from the releases, I am betting the "grey wall" was/is the most efficient way to get the inital onset of a storm front done, without requiring every one to have a GeForce2 Ultra 64MB video card and a 1GHz CPU.
Frame rates still took a hit, as the grey wall was yet another poly to draw on top of the existing frame.  Again, this is my interpretation of the implementation.

Doing weather events, in real time, and making them look real is one heck of a problem.  And doing it without having to sacrifice your first born, to keep frame rates up is even tougher.  Not saying it cannot be done, but it has to be one of the most challenging coding problems there is for a real time sim/game.
The problem is so intriguing to me, that I started working on code to do just that.  Let me tell you....I can fully sympathize with the problem now.

So, back to your original question.  The track record suggests HT/Pyro do not talk about things until they are done.  This complex problem is not a one-nighter to cure.  I am sure when they feel it is done to the point the players would be satisfied with it, they will make the announcement.  HTC took a chance with the last release of the storm fronts, the players were not happy, and they pulled it.  Now they know what to expect from the community and have a good idea of the expectations.   Meeting said expectations is going to be a challenge.
Ever wonder why no other software has done much with atmospheric effects?  Working on the code,..I now fully appreciate the problem.

Just hang in there, when they think they can do it right they will tell us about it.  History has proven this.

------------------
Roy "Skuzzy" Neese
President, AppLink Corp.
http://www.applink.net
skuzzy@applink.net

[AKSeaWulfe]

Skuzzy, what about replacing the grey wall with a dark grey fogging technique (like that used on the horizon)? I'm sure it wouldn't look that bad to most people out there, then again I don't know what, if any, the impact it would have on FPS.

Just a guess. :-)
-SW

[MrSiD]

Funny to say this, but 1.06 is by far the best and fastest working Aces High version for me..

It runs 2-3 fps faster under Windows2000 than 98SE which is very surprising.

My setup is:

Abit BH6 1.2
Celeron667@901
Ram 256 Cas2
Elsa erazor X (geforce 256 sdr)
SB live!
IBM GT 18Gb
Dual boot w2k SP1, W98SE Dx8.0a some tweaks in both.

The patches did no mentionable difference to my system. Actually I was wondering what the heck they were supposed to fix =)

[Westy]

 Thanks Skuzzy.  I should have posted a different topic or punted a different one.  The problem with the cloud layers wasn't so much the gray wall look as it was several other gpaphics problems they caused people. Myself included
 FPS dropping thru the floor for some, disapperaing fleet ships for others as well as the mysterious sudden and unexplainable odd gray rectangles that would grow on the horizon,  in different views at the same time, when there would not be a cloud in sight.
 I do want to say I appreciate VERY much how much effort and thought they put into each release and feature to ensure that the as many players as possible can benefit from it. I do.

 This is the longest period Pyro or HiTech have been out of touch with th AH readers that I can remember. I'm not knocking them but just kind of saying  "HI! Whats happening guys?"  I'm just the dumb shmuck who posts it before thinking if I should. I know form emails and other posts that others have had the same observation and they also though it was odd to not have had any kind of 'news' or a "Hi folks..." post from HTC.

 I think I've gotten spoiled here to be honest.  

   -Westy

[This message has been edited by Westy (edited 03-23-2001).]