Why GFX card with more RAM?

[Ataros]

I do hope that optimisation is still possible but say when I set land detail on low or even medium landscape already looks very low-res beyond the high detail square surrounding the aircraft.

Bohemia Interactive is an indi studio that made ArmA1/2/3 and VBS. They work for the US government and are 2-4 times bigger than MG (140 people) but they still do not have resources/capabilities to make ArmA2 decently run with 10km visibility radius. This means to me that optimisation has its limits or becomes prohibitively expensive at some point.

For instance I remember the first time I learned about using RAM-drive to ran a game from it. This was a solution to fix stutters in MSFS in 2000 or 2004. The problem was also the visibility distance because other games could run fine on similar hardware. In 2008/2010 the same solution was used by ArmA1/ArmA2 players to fix stutters in ArmA. Now with nextgen videocards it runs faster.

[FS~Phat]

I'd love to see if there is a developer or programmer that can do the maths on this so that it can be put into perspective. I always new people were expecting too much from current gen hardware for this game.

Originally Posted by FS~Phat

I'd love to see if there is a developer or programmer that can do the maths on this so that it can be put into perspective. I always new people were expecting too much from current gen hardware for this game.

In truth though phat, the dev's did tell us that it would run perfectly well on low/medium spec PC's. Luthier always said that all is screen shots/video's were done on a poor quality PC, I even offered to build him a top spec PC so he could show us images with FSAA on because at the time he said his PC wasn't powerful enough to show FSAA, I also said a better spec PC would allow him to show video's with 'true' in game footage. The offer was declined.

[FS~Phat]

Originally Posted by Tree_UK

In truth though phat, the dev's did tell us that it would run perfectly well on low/medium spec PC's. Luthier always said that all is screen shots/video's were done on a poor quality PC, I even offered to build him a top spec PC so he could show us images with FSAA on because at the time he said his PC wasn't powerful enough to show FSAA, I also said a better spec PC would allow him to show video's with 'true' in game footage. The offer was declined.

Yes we all know that.. Im only speculating here, but somewhere along the line something significant changed in the game engine development, maybe it was the switch from opengl to directx to enable support across more platforms for the game engine? Oleg was quite disappointed about having to make this change so late in the development. That combined with other changes like the anti-epilepsy definitely broke something. Im sure with time it will be fixed though.

Remember how good the promo videos looked with AA working too? Im pretty confident they will get back to that, the quality is in there, they just have to tweak it to get it back.

Originally Posted by Oleg Maddox

Yes. Unfortunately.
And this is done also becasue of future possible portings. It is more easy from DX...
However to make better is still better in OpenGl... even it is harder now. But the life dictate us DX...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPTYO...6&feature=plcp

BTW I can play it just fine with 1 or 2 of my 1.5GB GTX 580s running at 50FPS+ without any driver tweaks, but I need to run in split frame rendering at a lower frame rate with tri or quad SLI running to keep it smooth. With settings on Ultra I can still play in surround mode 6040x1080 with AA off and I only have 1.5GB cards. More GPU memory helps but its not the whole story, the graphics engine still needs major work and hopefully the next patch that Luthier mentioned will be the main fix we've all been waiting for.

[Ataros]

Originally Posted by Tree_UK

In truth though phat, the dev's did tell us that it would run perfectly well on low/medium spec PC's.

Never happened. Sorry.

18. Dissemination of false information is prohibited regardless of the poster's awareness.

Users who violated this rule will be banned from the section in the following pattern:
1st violation - 3 day
2nd violation - 7 day ban
3rd violation - 30 day ban

I do not report it. Just for your information.

[FS~Phat]

Originally Posted by Ataros

Never happened. Sorry.

I do not report it. Just for your information.

Yes perhaps Tree should have said "...would run perfectly well on low/medium spec PC's at lower quality settings."

It was never promised to run max quality on midrange rigs. In fact it was quite the opposite, saying it would take a few years for the hardware to catch up and be able to turn all the features on.

[Skoshi Tiger]

Originally Posted by Tree_UK

In truth though phat, the dev's did tell us that it would run perfectly well on low/medium spec PC's.

I can't remember any of them actually saying that, could you please post a link.

[FS~Phat]

Originally Posted by Skoshi Tiger

I can't remember any of them actually saying that, could you please post a link.

Sorry Skoshi, Tree is taking a break from the forums so he wont be able to respond. I have already responded to this above somewhere just below his statement. I think he was well intent but left out the vital, " on lower quality settings" Oleg had always planned for the sim to be playable on a broad range of hardware, but that means turning off features and using lower resolution. The game was always meant to be a challenge for hardware for the next 10 years just like the original IL2, with new features being turned on as hardware became more capable.

[Flanker35M]

S!

Making a graphics engine for next 10 years just does not mean you need a supercomputer to run them. Rather well done base engine that runs well on today's high end machines, playable and still good looking on medium range and playable with low end machines even the details have to be reduced.

This same base engine could be updated over time with new features as hardware progresses. Sure sounds a bit oversimplified, but would it not be better if the game engines would be done better and more optimized from the start with flexibility rather than slap together a gargantuan heap of code no system can handle and that is a nightmare for the devs to handle?

Just my opinion. Eagerly waiting for the patch.

[JG301_HaJa]

I don't really know what would classify as midrange but my setup
with 3.4 GHz Athlon II BE and 8 GB RAM, SSD together with a
crossfirex setup, HD6870, don't run well.

I have set almost everything on medium or low except some kept
at high and the FPS drops to 10 or 20 over cities.

So I'm eagerly awaiting the patch becasue a new GPU isn't on the
horizon for me