4.13 development update discussion and feedback

[SPAD-1949]

Originally Posted by Pfeil

I'm not sure what you're referring to here. If you bind the "Toggle Speed Bar" key, you can toggle between Metric/Nautical/Imperial/Off settings for the speedbar.

IL2 should also remember which setting you used last. So if you have it set to imperial in one game, it should start out that way in the next.

Unfortunately, not for me.

[SPAD-1949]

Just found IRL:
When fuel dumps or fuel trains got hit, it would be great if we had some real real great firework like the Dakota train incident:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxkUhVswF5U

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by SPAD-1949

Just found IRL:
When fuel dumps or fuel trains got hit, it would be great if we had some real real great firework like the Dakota train incident

+1

We need an even bigger, denser smoke and fire effect than we currently have in the game. It would be realistic and meaningful for game play, since big smoke columns can be been for miles and can obscure the ability of bombers to bomb accurately.

It would also be nice to have persistent smoke and fire effects linked to specific targets which could be placed by mission builders, possibly with a setting for how long they will last, to simulate things like destroyer smoke screens.

The only drawback is that really huge smoke or flame effects might slow the game to an unacceptable degree.

While the smoke effects from damaged ships are pretty good, in some cases they could be even bigger, to simulate really massive fires like those that engulfed the USS Franklin (skip to 1:16 on the clip):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTAViMX-w6c

or Tirpitz (skip to 0:56):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pv5Aw4WiOg

Smoke and fire for burning oil tanks and cities should be massive!

For example, the bombing of Ploesti (skip to 4:38 to get a sense of the intense smoke):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDLLoAqum3k

Or the bombing of Tokyo (skip to 2:34 to get a sense of the smoke and fire effects):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FD1IXWqKos

[ElAurens]

You do realize that smoke and fire effects like you are asking for would grind most computers to a standstill, yes?

HSFX 7 has "improved" (more and larger) smoke and fire effects, (no where near like real life though) and everyone I know has had to turn down some settings to maintain acceptable frame rates. (usually anti aliasing needs to come down).

Computer "gaming" is still a world of compromise for developers. There are lots of things that have to be balanced to give a good overall experience.
Do you not think that they would give us these things if they could?

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by ElAurens

You do realize that smoke and fire effects like you are asking for would grind most computers to a standstill, yes?

Yes. That's the problem. But, I wonder if there aren't different ways to create large smoke effects.

For example, rather than having smoke from a static source generated by sprites to create dynamic smoke (which kills frame rates if duplicated or enlarged), perhaps it would be possible to create a "static smoke" effect which consists of a simple rectangle or inverted conical polygon which is "skinned" with a series of series of static images to create the illusion of roiling smoke from distance. If done right, it could look good.

At a distance, it might be possible to simulate large fires using 2-d images (like the old smoke trail effects from IL2 4.10 or earlier), changing to 3-d sprite-based dynamic smoke only when planes get close.

For overcast smoke or haze, it would be easy to just change the color of an existing cumulus or light cloud object and allow mission builders to place it at ground level. The option of allowing mission builders to place clouds to recreate cloud conditions over a target or in a dogfight area would also be nice to have.

For haze

[IceFire]

We have some nice new smoke effects in 4.12... Smoke12 is particularly good at simulating large scale smoke effects... the sprites are large but look good enough both at close range and at a distance. They can be seen VERY far away.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by IceFire

We have some nice new smoke effects in 4.12...

Agreed, and thanks to DT for them! I guess if you place enough of them together you can get Ploesti-like effects. Several on a large ship give "close enough" "Franklin-like" effects. I've certainly had trouble targeting certain areas of tank farms or ships due to the thick black smoke, which is quite realistic.

Of course, come to think of it, a lot of the big smoke and explosions on the Franklin were due to secondary ordinance and av-gas explosions from the Franklin's own stores. Giving mission builders the ability to place a delayed explosive, fire or smoke effect on a ship would simulate those things. Realistic for simulating carriers like the Franklin and the Japanese carriers at Midway that got caught with their planes rearming and refueling, as well as tankers and ammo ships.

[SPAD-1949]

Originally Posted by IceFire

We have some nice new smoke effects in 4.12... Smoke12 is particularly good at simulating large scale smoke effects... the sprites are large but look good enough both at close range and at a distance. They can be seen VERY far away.

Not really.
On Approach its just about 4 km until visibility starts.
In vicinity it looks a bit thin.
Departing visibiolity range ist about 9 km.