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View Full Version : Friday 3/22/13 - Map LOD's, A/C Carrier, Malta



ATAG_Bliss
Mar-22-2013, 16:29
Fellas,

It looks like the patch has been well received by the majority of the people who have tried it. It's very nice reading some of your comments about the improvements.

So with that said, how about some information about some more improvements being worked on?

Everyone knows about the LOD issues in IL2COD, especially with terrible LOD building popup.

Here's a few samples of the LOD building popup from vanilla, and what's being achieved behind closed doors. This is truly a phenomenal 1st step that could make it's way to all the LOD issues.

First a vanilla screen shot of the "yellow" Building LODs we all hate. Yikes!

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/1015/lodbug.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/685/lodbug.jpg/)

Now, how about a shot with some magic hands inside the LOD. :D

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/6996/lodbugfix.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/689/lodbugfix.jpg/)

And now a shot of the country side with the improved Building LOD's:

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7513/lodfixwip.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/4/lodfixwip.jpg/)

The biggest thing to take note here: None of this effects your performance or FPS in any way. There is 0 effect on your PC!



Now if that wasn't enough to wet the appetite, imagine trying to land on this - The HMS Illustrious Carrier! VERY MUCH WORK IN PROGRESS!!!

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/4990/hmsillustriouscarrier.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/41/hmsillustriouscarrier.jpg/)

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/3958/hmsillustriouscarrier2.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/819/hmsillustriouscarrier2.jpg/)

And WAAAAAAAAAY down the road. What do you think of Malta?

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/8908/malta02.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/571/malta02.jpg/)

Doc
Mar-22-2013, 16:33
I don't know what to say. Thank you! This is fantastic!

III/JG53_Don
Mar-22-2013, 16:42
You guys are kidding me........
First ones with the buildings are awesome... and this without a performance hit? hard to believe :thumbsup:

The other screenshots just let my heart stop :stunned::stunned::stunned::stunned::stunned:

edit: looking at the carrier.... are you guys working on a flyable Swordfish or is it just a possible target for the Luftwaffe :recon:

Gorgon14
Mar-22-2013, 16:56
Amazing!

Ohms
Mar-22-2013, 17:00
Please stop my heart can't take anymore

palker
Mar-22-2013, 17:10
This looks to good to be true. I am amazed at what you guys can do.

=BKHZ=Furbs
Mar-22-2013, 17:20
Great stuff! very good news indeed.

Will TF be able to do anything with the aircraft LOD's?

RAF74_Buzzsaw
Mar-22-2013, 17:25
Salute

Important for all to remember: :idea:

These are GOALS.

We hope to achieve them, but no guarantee on timeframe.

All of us are volunteers, working on our own time. Our only compensation is our own satisfaction at improving this sim and doing the work well.

Cheers :salute:

Mastiff
Mar-22-2013, 17:26
whaa :alcohol: awesomeness!!!

ATAG_Lolsav
Mar-22-2013, 17:27
Is this 1st of April? Get ou of here. Theres no such thing as carriers or unlimited LOD visibility ... cmon, evryone knows thats just not possible, like going over 7 k aint possible. Cmon guys get real!!!

Tvrdi
Mar-22-2013, 17:32
Phew, what a bunch of competent ppl they are...:)

seriously, amazing...

ATAG_EvangelusE
Mar-22-2013, 17:37
Absolutely fantastic, so much too look forward to! A carrier too....wow! (not landable surely?)

archer11
Mar-22-2013, 17:42
I fear, I will be really disappointed and rather sad after waking up tomorrow morning and realizing, that this "update" was just a dream. Even if it "only" shows "goals", like Buzzsaw says.

And Bliss' "None of this effects your performance or FPS in any way. There is 0 effect on your PC!"

A dream in a dream in a...
Unbelievable! Thanks! You guys are crazy!

RedBeard
Mar-22-2013, 17:59
TF is respected for this work.

9./ZG26Eicken
Mar-22-2013, 18:05
You guys just went all the way up to 11

ATAG_Naz
Mar-22-2013, 18:14
Absolutely stunning. Good luck guys :thumbsup:

=AN=Apache
Mar-22-2013, 18:20
OW My God... I cant wait

Thaks infinits thanks:-)

Continu0
Mar-22-2013, 18:21
:-)You deserve Holidays first. You have been awesome enough. Take your time. Don`t forget about the burnout-warnings... But still... unbelievable...

71st_AH_Vertigo
Mar-22-2013, 18:31
WOW..!!!

With friends like Team Fusion, who needs superheroes..?

:thumbsup:

V

il_corleone
Mar-22-2013, 18:43
Wow looks incredible thanbks guys! 11/10 MY GOD!

Pato Salvaje
Mar-22-2013, 18:45
Buzzsaw... Bliss

Tell us the truth... there is somebody in TF called Oleg or Ilya?... :D

You guys deserve a MONUMENT!

Borsch
Mar-22-2013, 18:55
Now this is trully "WOW!" If TF sorts LODs out... And Afrika as well!!?! No, I dont believe it :stunned: :)

Shado
Mar-22-2013, 18:59
Truly unbelievable guys, thank you, and the distant cherry on the cake, Malta, yes please, a flyable Gladiator or three wouldnt go a miss :-P j/k

kanishka
Mar-22-2013, 19:08
It look amazing!! thanks for the great work

Royraiden
Mar-22-2013, 19:16
My jaw just hit the floor.The future is bright and prosper.Thanks TF for the superb job and effort.

Archie
Mar-22-2013, 19:17
Just amazing!

DUI
Mar-22-2013, 19:29
Great, a Friday update!

The LOD screenshots truely look amazing.
Bliss, you said that this "1st step could make it's way to all the LOD issues". Might this also lead to a solution that level bomber pilots will be able to spot their targets earlier?

A nice carrier. Meaning nice to sink to the bottom of the channel or Mediterranean!
If you really will be able to make complete new maps, this would be phantastic! And starting with the Malta scenario... :wf:

Unbelievable what you guys are capable of and willing to!

Alice
Mar-22-2013, 19:44
11/10 would fly again and again and again.

We can't thank TF and ATAG enough, but I found this for you. It's got a bomb on it, like the old ATAG logo, and a blonde. I figure that should cover some ground.

2387

ATAG_JTDawg
Mar-22-2013, 19:46
:thumbsup: great stufffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff fffff

ATAG_Snapper
Mar-22-2013, 20:06
I'm.......gobsmacked!!!!! :stunned:

92 Sqn. Philstyle (QJ-P)
Mar-22-2013, 20:15
amazing...

Dutch
Mar-22-2013, 20:17
:)

No more to be said.

Blitzen
Mar-22-2013, 20:28
Stukas over Malta? Goody!:thumbsup:

[URU]Fox
Mar-22-2013, 21:12
I'm speechless...

Just make sure you take your time to enjoy what you have already created guys. You deserve paid vacations from the community for all you have already achieved!

Mar28
Mar-22-2013, 21:46
It is very "interesting" what You guys in your freetime work are showing us!!!
The question is ? Are you so uber in coding or were the people at 1c full time workers so bad!
Or what Mastiff says above Sabotage, and the words "the knife behind clod" were that so serios.:(
But anyway Thanks a Lot for Your hard work! I think Clod deserves a well done work!
Have a nice weekend!:salute:
And sory for my poor english!

Goanna1
Mar-22-2013, 21:55
Bloody amazing stuff and thanks for all the hard work.
It looks and feels fantastic, although I haven't had a long time to play with it.
Feel like a kid at christmas with a newer bike!!
I had decided to put CLOD to rest due to all its previus problems and dilemmaa but NOW a new lease of life to what is the best sim available.
All it seems to have taken is people with a passion (and plenty of talent needless to say) and we seem to have a program that is approaching the level of detail and complexity that should have been available to us when FIRST released.
Hats off to all the TEAM

Manoxerox
Mar-23-2013, 01:51
Just amazing!! You truly keep the dream alive!!

Broodwich
Mar-23-2013, 04:21
Buzzsaw... Bliss

Tell us the truth... there is somebody in TF called Oleg or Ilya?... :D

You guys deserve a MONUMENT!

The monument is my wang after seeing those pics

Keep it up guys! I can't wait for new theaters :D

Ctrl e
Mar-23-2013, 05:38
Unbelievable. You guys are champs.

56RAF_klem
Mar-23-2013, 08:41
It is very "interesting" what You guys in your freetime work are showing us!!!
The question is ? Are you so uber in coding or were the people at 1c full time workers so bad!
.........................

You might like to think about an article in the BBC's "Formula 1 Preview Magazine" which looked at the development of ever more realistic Formula 1 games for PCs. It immediately struck a bell with me.

Highly realistic Formula 1 PC games are very similar to Flight Sim/combat flight sim games in that, whilst they are also now developed for games consoles which is a multi-million user market, the most realistic versions or gamer environments are PC based which is a much narrower market. Consoles do not have the flexibility to incorporate the range of controls we use in flight sims and to some extent and therefore deny access to some physical aspects of realism. Also most console games are relatively simple to play, not requiring the learning curve and range of game knowledge needed in a full switch flight simulator. They are aimed at a much more general audience. Top air combat flight sims and to a large extent top racing PC games call for much deeper involvement and complexity.

The path the PC racing games development trod was almost identical to the development of Air Combat Simulations that were also reaching for maximum realism on current hardware. Both are narrow markets, although game console versions of the racers probably recoup the development costs which is where Oleg was trying to go with IL-2 1946 spin-offs and I believe with CoD/SoW**. Both games take a massive amount of development hours, more so with air combat sims, so after the changes of direction in the development of CoD along with (AFAIK) the subsequent loss of some of its most experienced developers its not surprising that 1CMG ran out of financial road and were not able to get back on track.

At the end of the BBC magazine article, having outlined the history and trends in racing game development which rang such a bell with me, they touched on the modern practice of the racing game developers involving the community in the development of the game and asking what the gamers want from the game. The gamers may not be involved in actual programming or graphics work (although that isn't clear) but I think 1CMG missed the boat when, during the eighteen months patching-up period, they didn't listen to the community's repeated calls to let the community help.

I think it would have been a great opportunity for 1CMG to get the SoW/CoD development back on track with the help of the community which has demonstrated what progress can be made but in all probability their JV with 777 studios will prevent that now which is a shame because we can see that CoD is on a different level to 777's RoF and probably BoS.

As a footnote I would also say that I don't think the development of CoD by the community in any way challenges the future of BoS because from what we have heard in reply to some CoD-like game-play requests for BoS it seems it will be a different kind of game and certainly a different business model from what SoW would have been. In any case flight simmers are an addicted bunch and tend to buy any flight sim release that comes along. If BoS turns out to be a good combat sim I'll buy it. I have had eleven flight sims over the years including FS98, FS2004, FSX, MS Flight, BoB, Air Warrior (I and II), Aces High, 'One' which was the entire IL-2 sturmovik range from Original to 1946, RoF, X-Plane and DCS. Plus add-ons.

** For those that don't know, SoW was to have been a whole series (like the previous IL-2 Sturmovik series) of which CoD was to have been the first release.

BalDaddy
Mar-23-2013, 09:44
'to whet your appetite'
never mind that, I'm whetting my knickers. Tremendous stuff by talented people giving their precious time to make this sim what and more than it should be. Thankyou

[URU]Aker
Mar-23-2013, 10:01
OMG the picture with LOD fixed is sooo beautifull!!!
And Malta!!!

THANKS!!

III/JG53_Don
Mar-23-2013, 10:28
You might like to think about an article in the BBC's "Formula 1 Preview Magazine" which looked at the development of ever more realistic Formula 1 games for PCs. It immediately struck a bell with me.

Highly realistic Formula 1 PC games are very similar to Flight Sim/combat flight sim games in that, whilst they are also now developed for games consoles which is a multi-million user market, the most realistic versions or gamer environments are PC based which is a much narrower market. Consoles do not have the flexibility to incorporate the range of controls we use in flight sims and to some extent and therefore deny access to some physical aspects of realism. Also most console games are relatively simple to play, not requiring the learning curve and range of game knowledge needed in a full switch flight simulator. They are aimed at a much more general audience. Top air combat flight sims and to a large extent top racing PC games call for much deeper involvement and complexity.

The path the PC racing games development trod was almost identical to the development of Air Combat Simulations that were also reaching for maximum realism on current hardware. Both are narrow markets, although game console versions of the racers probably recoup the development costs which is where Oleg was trying to go with IL-2 1946 spin-offs and I believe with CoD/SoW**. Both games take a massive amount of development hours, more so with air combat sims, so after the changes of direction in the development of CoD along with (AFAIK) the subsequent loss of some of its most experienced developers its not surprising that 1CMG ran out of financial road and were not able to get back on track.

At the end of the BBC magazine article, having outlined the history and trends in racing game development which rang such a bell with me, they touched on the modern practice of the racing game developers involving the community in the development of the game and asking what the gamers want from the game. The gamers may not be involved in actual programming or graphics work (although that isn't clear) but I think 1CMG missed the boat when, during the eighteen months patching-up period, they didn't listen to the community's repeated calls to let the community help.

I think it would have been a great opportunity for 1CMG to get the SoW/CoD development back on track with the help of the community which has demonstrated what progress can be made but in all probability their JV with 777 studios will prevent that now which is a shame because we can see that CoD is on a different level to 777's RoF and probably BoS.

As a footnote I would also say that I don't think the development of CoD by the community in any way challenges the future of BoS because from what we have heard in reply to some CoD-like game-play requests for BoS it seems it will be a different kind of game and certainly a different business model from what SoW would have been. In any case flight simmers are an addicted bunch and tend to buy any flight sim release that comes along. If BoS turns out to be a good combat sim I'll buy it. I have had eleven flight sims over the years including FS98, FS2004, FSX, MS Flight, BoB, Air Warrior (I and II), Aces High, 'One' which was the entire IL-2 sturmovik range from Original to 1946, RoF, X-Plane and DCS. Plus add-ons.

** For those that don't know, SoW was to have been a whole series (like the previous IL-2 Sturmovik series) of which CoD was to have been the first release.

Guess It's worth a thought thinking of what would have happened if you guys were involved in the development after Day 1 of Release. You could have saved us from endless months of waiting, CLoD wouldn't have been such a commercial disaster (considering that e.g. the US release was not until late summer of that year) and most probable BoM had never been cancelled.
Anyway considering the last 3 months I am not too unhappy with the course of events to be honest.

Without putting pressure to you guys, just a question: Is a successfull creation and implementation of new maps/planes/objects, esp. big ones like Malta would be, already doable at all points? Or is there a possibility that at some point of development you experience limits you can't exceed.

6./JG26_Warjunkie
Mar-23-2013, 10:44
:thumbsup: fantastic

Avatar
Mar-23-2013, 10:45
Wow! I just had to pop on and say thanks for all this work you gents are doing. I haven't played this game in many months (real life issues...) nor have I even installed your first released patch yet to try out, but this is just amazing what you're doing. Heart felt thanks to all involved and it just wets my appetite more to the hopeful day when I can return to flying this game again. S! :salute:

buster_dee
Mar-23-2013, 11:42
Though I'm an eye-candy guy, the pop-ups never bothered me much because I was so encouraged by the sheer number and variety of objects rendered. I figured that is the holy grail that portents all other improvements since I could think of nothing else that sucks GPU/CPU power like that (particle effects excepted). Boy, I am blown away that TF managed this feat. I thought that would be a couple of hardware generations away.

I'm not inclined to throw a shadow on Maddox team because TF is managing what they did not. Granted that developer management may have faultered, but outside pressures can also be very disruptive, and creators are sometimes left saving their pride and love for a subject against efforts to prevent it--or at least distract it. I can't add a dot of fact to this. My prefered view: it can't be made better if something good wasn't already under the hood and, happily, there are talented people who, challenged and inspired by what they find, are happy to share it with us.

Thank you.

vranac
Mar-23-2013, 11:45
Fantastic news !!! :thumbsup:

Thank you guys!

Wolfskid
Mar-23-2013, 11:59
Hello,

THIS IS AMAZING, and I have no more words. I can´t say anything more as AMAZING.:):):stunned::stunned::):)....

Guys ...WELL DONE:)



And one more........



T H A N K Y O U :ilike:


Wolfskid

priller26
Mar-23-2013, 12:48
Thanks for the update, good stuff!

mazex
Mar-23-2013, 13:06
Well, awesome work - and as Klem says, it would really be nice if 1C could stretch the hand to let this game live on in some way... It's really a pity that they have done that deal with 777 to carry on the IL2 franchise in BoS. The best thing for the community would have been if 777 had done a WWII sim themselves without any deal with 1C (they sure where thinking of that!). Then 1C would have allowed the community to patch CloD and maybe release a paid Malta DLC for $25 or so where 1C got half of the money and TF got the other half. And then maybe a deal with TF to continue developing CloD with some financial model that worked for both parties :)

But - I am pretty sure that TF have poured in thousands of hours into this patch so lets not discredit MG to much with "if these guys did it in some months, how come they could not do it?". The TF guys have probably put down as many hours into this patch as MG did in the patches that final year trying to fix the game while focusing mainly on BoS...

It really would be nice if TF could get hold of the final MG CloD/BoS code base that probably is a lot better than the CloD one and work from there... If 1C had not done the deal with 777 there really would be nothing to loose on doing a deal with TF to continue fixing the game and release some commercial DLC?

And - thanks a lot again for all your efforts. Those screenies in this thread really start to look like what Oleg must have dream't about... "Like a movie".

Zappatime
Mar-23-2013, 13:58
That 3rd Lod landscape shot looks fantastic, I hope you can show equally impressive improvements with the cloud and smoke particle system, which does affect fps very badly. Impressive stuff TF, thanks to all who devote their skill and time to rescuing this wonderful sim.:thumbsup:

Meusli
Mar-23-2013, 14:56
I would give my right arm to look in the hidden forum, I bet it is filled with the most wondrous of sights. Good luck guys.

jctrnacty
Mar-23-2013, 15:04
Ok guys , you got me iam all yours!
Thank you soooo much for all this hard work you do

I dont have enough words to thank you

III./ZG76_Saipan
Mar-23-2013, 16:50
how about the AI gunner bug? any chance that will be fixed if possible? I appreciate the work you guys do and the game has been saved because of it. Adding a carrier would be cool, but lets get the core problems fixed.

Mysticpuma
Mar-23-2013, 17:59
I would give my right arm to look in the hidden forum, I bet it is filled with the most wondrous of sights. Good luck guys.

This is the current Team Fusion warehouse of goodies ;)

2410

Uwe
Mar-23-2013, 18:08
how about the AI gunner bug? any chance that will be fixed if possible? I appreciate the work you guys do and the game has been saved because of it. Adding a carrier would be cool, but lets get the core problems fixed.

Im sure they will, but dabbling in any and all other areas is a good thing.
Attracts more talent to the project.

DUI
Mar-23-2013, 18:43
Adding a carrier would be cool, but lets get the core problems fixed.
For sure, Team Fusion does have an enthusiastic "seaman" in their team who took care of the additional ship(s) in the last patch and is now focusing on the carrier. He surely has great skills to model ships but probably poor skills to change any gunner coding. So no use in not allowing him to create great new ships... :salute:

finchOU
Mar-23-2013, 20:33
New here.....

What exactly is LOD???

LizLemon
Mar-23-2013, 21:22
New here.....

What exactly is LOD???

Level of detail

It controls how objects change in appearance the closer you get to them. Compare the two screenshots posted at the beginning of this thread to see how LOD has been improved.

finchOU
Mar-23-2013, 22:56
So Liz...how do I get a Lady to dance all funky like for my sig?? Thanks

=BKHZ=Furbs
Mar-24-2013, 08:09
The LOD shot is fantastic, but what really gets me thinking is, if TF can do all this in the last 3 months, how far can they take the mod in the next year?

Just what is possible? I thought some parts of the code were out of reach and they could only tinker around the edges of COD?
Can TF mod everything in COD?
AI, AI commands, can they fix the FSAA? add better fire and smoke affects?

If they can we sure are in for a great time. :D

The last few days on the ATAG server have been the best ive had in the last 2 years playing COD, flying is back being a joy and what i hoped COD would of been from release.

A very happy bunny here. :)

Skoshi_Tiger
Mar-24-2013, 09:19
Thanks for the update!

Is it true you will be able to model every operational WWII German aircraft carrier with zero hit to the frame rates as well?



;)

Uwe
Mar-24-2013, 11:05
Thanks for the update!

Is it true you will be able to model every operational WWII German aircraft carrier with zero hit to the frame rates as well?



;)

Actually I think they are already in game.

Kling
Mar-24-2013, 13:11
The LOD shot is fantastic, but what really gets me thinking is, if TF can do all this in the last 3 months, how far can they take the mod in the next year?

Just what is possible? I thought some parts of the code were out of reach and they could only tinker around the edges of COD?
Can TF mod everything in COD?
AI, AI commands, can they fix the FSAA? add better fire and smoke affects?

If they can we sure are in for a great time. :D

The last few days on the ATAG server have been the best ive had in the last 2 years playing COD, flying is back being a joy and what i hoped COD would of been from release.

A very happy bunny here. :)

Holygrail, the initial smoke and fire modder for il2 1946 has already told me that if you think that the modded fire and smoke effects for il21946 were good then you havent seen anything yet.. He was hinting that he has already started modding the smoke and fire effect and that they will be better than anything we have seen in any flightsim so far...
Good times ahead!!:thumbsup:

Zappatime
Mar-24-2013, 13:50
It's good to hear Holygrail is on the case with fire and smoke effects, I still marvel at the stuff he did (with others) on il-2 1946, I like a nice explosive effect :thumbsup:

They turned off so many fire effects on planes as the patches went on in Cod, I remember in an earlier Cod version my Hurricane getting all shot in the the tail end and the fire propagating along the fuselage, now youre lucky if you see anything more than a tiny puff of smoke, hope that level of effect can be turned back on - without the current hit on fps, obviously, looking forward to seeing this side of things progress.

=BKHZ=Furbs
Mar-24-2013, 15:29
Holygrail, the initial smoke and fire modder for il2 1946 has already told me that if you think that the modded fire and smoke effects for il21946 were good then you havent seen anything yet.. He was hinting that he has already started modding the smoke and fire effect and that they will be better than anything we have seen in any flightsim so far...
Good times ahead!!:thumbsup:


Now that is GREAT news! cant wait to see it, is he on the TF team?

BlitzPig_EL
Mar-24-2013, 15:58
Fantastic work on the LODs.

Of course you realize we will need flyable Gladiators for Malta.

Keep plugging away at that "Illustrious" model.

2415

Mysticpuma
Mar-24-2013, 16:03
Now that is GREAT news! cant wait to see it, is he on the TF team?

Yes he is on the team Furbs ;)

BlitzPig_EL
Mar-24-2013, 16:16
I jsut hope I can run them on my compter.

The modded ones for '46 I have to turn off.

Mysticpuma
Mar-24-2013, 17:55
I jsut hope I can run them on my compter.

The modded ones for '46 I have to turn off.

Hi Blitzpig.

To put it bluntly the effects coding is not nice to wrok with at-all. It would appear that many effects share resources and so fixing something, breaks something! :doh:

Currently (unless you are the only person on the planet who has no issues with slowdown!?) many of the effects that are in the simulation 'destroy' fps. Easiest example is to get your aircraft behind an enemy (or friendly), set an engine on fire. Choose the 30-degrees angle of view (narrowest angle) and fly into the smoke. LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YYYYY!!!!!

Other effects such as water spray when the aircraft hits the sea also cause issues. The Cliffs of Dover coding is hugely different to 1946 and it's pain in the butt working out, what does and doesn't improve fps. However FPS is the most important factor BUT this doesn't mean the 'candy' needs to go, it just needs to be highly optomised.

Without giving anything away and not to do with effects as such, some of the textures that were re-worked to approx. 1mb (after TF work), started off in the Vanilla game at around approx. 32mb! Now you would not notice the difference visually....but your PC certainly will!

I'd like to point out again that everyone on TF is an enthusiast of Flight Sims, we have been there through the difficult early days of CloD, we've seen all the requests on the Banana Forums, we've also seen the flame wars started too!

Our passion and interest is to make Cliffs of Dover THE flight sim it should have been (even at the last official patch) but we can't promise all things to all players. We are a team dedicated to improving the flight experience, we want to play it as much as you do, we want it to have the features that the community does, but let's be realistic. A paid for team (1C) put the software together and even with funding they were still unable to please all of the community.

We are not paid, this is a hobby, a passion and a personal endeavour that we hope fixes most of the stuff we (and the community) considered broken. It's not going to happen overnight, it's not going to happy in a month, but please understand, whatever we do, it is done so that more players (even with lower end machines) can enjoy the best WW2 combate flight sim currently available.

Yes we want it done, yes we want it done now! But compared to the way the sim was left after the final official patch, I hope you will agree, we are moving forward at a good pace and so-far the community seems impressed and interested in what the future now holds for CloD.

It has been amazing to watch the tidal wave of interest swell as news has spread about the latest patch. I read many forums where it was thought we would break many things and 'could we really make a difference?'.

I hope you will see, yes we can make a difference and we intend to carry on this way. But we aren't a paid for team sat in an office all working day-in, day-out on this, we, like you have real lives and real commitments and as much as we would like to give you a patch every month, that is certainly unrealistic.

I read on one post about players being 'bored' with the current map. It's a fair point, but would players rather have had CloD finish at the last official patch, or would they have Team Fusion come in and give them a new map....and then complain that the FM's are still porked and we can't fly at altitude properly. The CEM is broke, the AI is....etc, etc..?

These are stepping stones for a dedicated and (IMHO) talented team of individuals, all from your flight sime community who have a dedication and passion to make this Sim work. Just give us time and let us prove that any fixes/additions that we do, really are intended to help and benefit all mebers of the (growing once again) CloD community ;)

Our motto "Keeping the dream alive", really is what it's all about for us ;)

Cheers, MP/TF

BlitzPig_EL
Mar-24-2013, 18:43
Thanks for the explanation MP. I am most decidedly not a "computer person". I just like airplanes, so here I am.

I think somewhere along the line folks have gotten the idea that I'm asking for the world, and wanting it yesterday. This is far from the truth. In my job, I am used to difficult, long term projects that often (usually) have very stringent customer
limited budgets, and very high customer expectations. So believe me, I fell your pain, and appreciate everything being done by the guys here, as well as the DT crew working over at the yellow place.

Just today one of the members of the JaVa squad and I were on comms speaking about developments here. We do understand that nothing done for CloD will happen at the pace that modding happened in IL2/46. The complexity of the models alone precludes this. And I do understand that all you guys are doing this on your own dime. I have done a small bit of research for the next patch for '46 and know that balancing our real life obligations, and things we want to do "for fun" is
often a near impossible task.

I want you all to succeed in making this the sim we all thought it would be. All I can do is offer my thanks to you all.

=BKHZ=Furbs
Mar-24-2013, 18:49
Nice post MP, il admit i was very disappointed with how CLOD was released and patched over the 2 years, many times i voiced it on the forums, but you will never hear me say a bad thing about TF or ATAG, not matter how long it takes or if any mistakes are made or bugs introduced.

What a fantastic job you guys are doing.

Biggles07
Mar-24-2013, 18:56
Colour me highly impressed thus far with the level of work done and obvious passion and ambition for the future. I downloaded and played the first patch the day it came out for a few hours, but have not been able to have much time on it since because of RL. There was a very immediate and large improvement noticed, best of all for me personally being that viewing England no longer makes me want to gouge my eyes out with a spoon (still room for improvement though I'd respectfully say. Very early days and WIP, I know.) Clouds are much better, thank God that crappy icing has been removed too (at least for the BOB scenario at present) and I like the canopy and frame reflections. The factory fresh Spits etc are now a joy to look at in externals again. All bodes well. Would personally love to see AA sorted out too, hope you can manage it and best of luck.

One question I have is do TF intend to return the individual bullet hits decal damage and Beobachtung-DeWilde hit flashes in future? They were a real high point for me, and I don't understand why they were removed as they caused no issues whatsoever on my rig personally. Maybe they actually have been returned already and for some reason are not appearing in my install? I doubt that though since the install went very well I think with all the correct procedures followed etc, getting very good FPS and very few stutters (just the odd one, for some reason only happening in close proximity to clouds).

The possibility of Malta in the future is music to my ears, great stuff. Love that you are working on Ships too, particularly HMS Illustrious! My Dad was a Shipwright who worked on Her much later 'R06' Incarnation at Wallsends Swan Hunter Shipyard called 'Lusty' (late 70's to early 80's), there have been quite a few to bear that famous name. Love it!

Haven't been able to play long enough yet to comment extensively on the FM revisions, but initial impressions are good.

Been lurking a lot as my post count would suggest, but will continue to watch developments and say 'keep up the good work chaps'. *buys Team Fusion a Cyber-Pint* Carry on! :salute:

DUI
Mar-24-2013, 21:43
...or if any mistakes are made or bugs introduced.
For me this aspect belongs to the best of the first TF patch: Team Fusion improved so much complex stuff without introducing a single bug. This also differentiates their work from the official patches I was used from 1C. These patches always fixed some parts of the game but broke other parts that worked before.

Really amazing how TF focuses on quality and performance!

Ohms
Mar-24-2013, 22:35
Very good point DUI, I believe they tested as many as 6 or 7 versions before we got our hands on it. That tells you how much they want it as correct as possible! Many guys spent countless hours flying specific flt profiles so we can have fun. But the real hero's if I can use that word are the group who got the code corrected in such a short space of time.


Salute Ohmie

71st_AH_Eagle
Mar-24-2013, 22:40
Real cool stuff Team Fusion. I have a general comment and a few specific questions for you.

Comment: Thanks for all the hard dedicated work in building this sim to it's prime. There are pretty much 3 things that you have for flight sim devolpment: optimization (like average FPS), quality content, or speed of release. You can only choose two of those which in my perspective is optimization and quality content. I don't care too much about speed of the releases since I can be patient but it has been nothing but good stuff that I've seen.

Questions: Is the map you cut out what is planned to be or might it be a little larger to have more land to an extent?

What kind of battles were fought in this area?

Is there any way we can get a list of aircraft that are in any shape or form in devolpment so us the community can try to help you guys out with stuff?

Is there a freeware 3D modeling software avaliable somewhere where I can help make simple things like buildings for you guys or are you good with 3D devolpment?

Thanks for keeping the dream alive. I can't wait for this sim to mature in the hands of a dilligent community and Bliss, I may have a small favor to ask of you to do for me but it will be private due to the thing it pertains to something close to me. Sorry if I seem annoying with all the questions Bliss but hopefully this will be the last personal one request of mine.

Thanks,

Eagle

II./JG1_Baron
Mar-25-2013, 08:02
Respect guys... You doing fantastic job :dthumb:

Flanker35M
Mar-25-2013, 11:45
S!

I have only this to say to TF members: Thank You!

Oersted
Mar-25-2013, 13:52
Very impressive update!

I was very surprised to see the size of the Malta map: All of Sicily! - Wauw. I expected a much smaller map with just a small corner of Sicily and Tunisia included. I hope the map makers are not biting off more than they can chew. The Sicily geography is extremely complex, Malta's as well actually, and if we are getting a map with the fidelity of the Channel map it will be a momentous undertaking. I would love it, of course. I wonder where the Luftwaffe was stationed, because if it would be possible to avoid modelling big cities like Syracuse, Palermo, Messina, etc, along with complex geographical features like Etna, it would be a bit easier to do the map.

Itkovian
Mar-25-2013, 14:22
Malta?

MALTA?

I WANT. Pretty please, that'd be bloody awesome. :)

RAF74_Buzzsaw
Mar-25-2013, 14:34
Very impressive update!

I was very surprised to see the size of the Malta map: All of Sicily! - Wauw. I expected a much smaller map with just a small corner of Sicily and Tunisia included. I hope the map makers are not biting off more than they can chew. The Sicily geography is extremely complex, Malta's as well actually, and if we are getting a map with the fidelity of the Channel map it will be a momentous undertaking. I would love it, of course. I wonder where the Luftwaffe was stationed, because if it would be possible to avoid modelling big cities like Syracuse, Palermo, Messina, etc, along with complex geographical features like Etna, it would be a bit easier to do the map.

There has been a misunderstanding created with the post of the shot of the "Malta Map".

In fact, we are a very long time away from creating a Malta map, what was seen is simply a hi level GUI image whereby a prospective map creator was looking at the game's map files, and determining how much of the Malta/Sicily area could be included in the maximum size map area allowable by the CoD engine. None of the terrain modelling has started yet.

The actual size of the map is yet to be determined, much of Sicily may not be included, we may very likely go for the 'small solution', of having just the southeast corner of Sicily, Malta's islands, and the rest being mostly ocean.

We are having to create tools to allow us to import/export, and getting these to work well with game is proving to be a long and complicated task. (like modding everything else in the game)

We will need to create all the new objects required to do a Valetta city properly, churches, buildings, etc. and therefore need these tools to add them.

So all of this is at least six months away.

We will be releasing new versions of the existing map, (autumn, winter, satellite photo based versions) long before we release any new maps.

Thanks for your patience

56RAF_klem
Mar-25-2013, 15:52
Very impressive update!

I was very surprised to see the size of the Malta map: All of Sicily! - Wauw. I expected a much smaller map with just a small corner of Sicily and Tunisia included. I hope the map makers are not biting off more than they can chew. The Sicily geography is extremely complex, Malta's as well actually, and if we are getting a map with the fidelity of the Channel map it will be a momentous undertaking. I would love it, of course. I wonder where the Luftwaffe was stationed, because if it would be possible to avoid modelling big cities like Syracuse, Palermo, Messina, etc, along with complex geographical features like Etna, it would be a bit easier to do the map.

BuzzSaw has got our feet back on the ground but if you want to know about the Luftwaffe in Sicily I highly recommend Mackie Steinhoff's autobigraphy "Messersmitts over Sicily". Its a very good read and interesting background info. It's ridiculously cheap too:
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?an=Steinhoff%2C+Johannes&ltrec=t&paratrk=16329&sortby=3&tn=Messerschmitts+over+Sicily

Oersted
Mar-25-2013, 18:20
Klem, I have it and have read it, though in another language version, "Die Strasse von Messina. Tagebuch des Kommodore"... :) But Steinhoff was there in June-July -43, not back in the early days.

OK, Buzzsaw, got it. Yeah, sounds much more feasible to do a corner of Sicily and a good map of Malta. Would be a fabulous map with the plane set we have.

Here's a Malta photo album from a trip I did down there a few years ago... - As you can see it won't be easy!

http://dalsgaard.eu/2009-08.Malta/2009-08.01.Malta.html

Oersted
Mar-25-2013, 18:27
Here I'm standing in front of what would be a fun challenge in a Spittie or 109! (The northern island of Malta, called Gozo)

http://dalsgaard.eu/2009-08.Malta/2009-08-28.323.Malta.Gozo.Dwejra.Azure.window.SD.PS1.jpg

RAF74_Buzzsaw
Mar-25-2013, 18:37
Klem, I have it and have read it, though in another language version, "Die Strasse von Messina. Tagebuch des Kommodore"... :) But Steinhoff was there in June-July -43, not back in the early days.

OK, Buzzsaw, got it. Yeah, sounds much more feasible to do a corner of Sicily and a good map of Malta. Would be a fabulous map with the plane set we have.

Here's a Malta photo album from a trip I did down there a few years ago... - As you can see it won't be easy!

http://dalsgaard.eu/2009-08.Malta/2009-08.01.Malta.html

Nice pics Oerstad :thumbsup:

I've been meaning to get a chance to visit Malta, along with the rest of the Med, your photos have encouraged me to speed up my timetable. :salute:

Oersted
Mar-26-2013, 04:34
Yes, you should definitely go, it is well worth it: England with sun and beaches!

I have lots of ideas for how to do a good Malta map. First of all I wouldn't go for individual house objects to populate the towns and cities. As you can see in my pics most of Maltese built-up areas are composed of contiguous houses. It would be a very good idea to make house blocks with maybe twenty houses in each. A couple of square ones, then some triangular ones and some in other wedge-shaped configurations. The blocks in various versions (mirrored and with different textures) will quickly lead to a good collection of "legos" with which to build convincing cities. Same would go for fortifications and coastal cliffs.

After creating that and getting a good altitude-map mesh it should be pretty plain sailing, since the countryside is quite samey-samey: arid yellow, light grey and ochre land with a sprinkling of olive trees and bushes. Sicily wouldn't be too different.

Hessle
Mar-27-2013, 08:56
Thumbs up guys!

NLS61
Mar-28-2013, 12:05
I've have only the same reaction as last time.

Oh My COD!

Ekko
Mar-29-2013, 15:10
Take all the time you need Team F.

What you done so far,is :recon: over the Borderline
You gents.and sisterbliss are proving that to make a (not working/crash/stutter/madnes:P/insanity/bloodpressure/grayhair)
game better

You need a heart with you

Wolf
Mar-29-2013, 18:33
For sure, Team Fusion does have an enthusiastic "seaman" in their team who took care of the additional ship(s) in the last patch and is now focusing on the carrier. He surely has great skills to model ships but probably poor skills to change any gunner coding. So no use in not allowing him to create great new ships... :salute:

Want to bet DUI? The gun coding was limited to minimal amounts for each ship..... Well It was;) it needed an upgrade so multiple guns of a worthy amount were possible ;)

Wolf
Mar-29-2013, 18:38
I jsut hope I can run them on my compter.

The modded ones for '46 I have to turn off.

The carrier has less polygons than the current courvett in game and has less fPS drop than the courvett. Oh and can be seen from 4-6000m away.

DUI
Mar-29-2013, 18:51
Want to bet DUI? The gun coding was limited to minimal amounts for each ship..... Well It was;) it needed an upgrade so multiple guns of a worthy amount were possible ;)
I was referring to the AI aircraft gunner bug, not to the limited amount of guns on a ship. So no reason to bet against you - especially, as I would bet that you would win... :doh:
Sounds great to have ships in the future which will be a challenge to sink! Looking forward to it! :stunned:

Wolf
Mar-29-2013, 19:03
I was referring to the AI aircraft gunner bug, not to the limited amount of guns on a ship. So no reason to bet against you - especially, as I would bet that you would win... :doh:
Sounds great to have ships in the future which will be a challenge to sink! Looking forward to it! :stunned:

What's the AI gunner bug? I have not played the game online in months. Not aware of the ai gunner bug. Is it related to ships or planes or all? Oh and all good DUI. Not challenging, just saying things are possible :)

:salute:

71st_AH_Eagle
Mar-30-2013, 19:08
What's the AI gunner bug? I have not played the game online in months. Not aware of the ai gunner bug. Is it related to ships or planes or all? Oh and all good DUI. Not challenging, just saying things are possible :)

:salute:

I believe he is referring to the bug where your tail gunner won't fire when you a maneuvering outside a certain envolope. Don't know if Team Fusion has fixed it or not but it sure is a little sad to evade and have no tail gunner firing during perfect shots.

If all things are possible, can I have my Cobra please? :recon:

Eagle

III./ZG76_Saipan
Mar-30-2013, 19:13
ive found it doesn't matter if your doing extreme turns, ive been level and had a blenny sit on six.

palker
Mar-31-2013, 04:37
I believe he is referring to the bug where your tail gunner won't fire when you a maneuvering outside a certain envolope. Don't know if Team Fusion has fixed it or not but it sure is a little sad to evade and have no tail gunner firing during perfect shots.

If all things are possible, can I have my Cobra please? :recon:

Eagle

Well even if you fly in super straight line he will simply stare at the enemy while you are getting filled with bullets

DUI
Mar-31-2013, 07:14
The same issue if a human player is manning the gunner position: as soon as you have an enemy plane in your crosshair (in nearly all cases) pushing the trigger does not have any effect.

Btw: This seems to be the wrong thread for this topic I suppose.

Stigler
Apr-01-2013, 11:28
I feel like its the Banana Forums.

Wheres our update? Lol just kidding, you just made us all excited about Clod again so yes we come looking for more good stuff.

And off topic, the AI Default Player Gunner settings are hard coded to the lowest skill level, hence they never hit or spot well. Plus the G factor. Whereas in missions or AI flown aircraft (like AI bomber squadrons on ATAG) the gunner skill level can be adjusted.

For MP spawned aircraft all live players get lowest skill AI gunners. They will not even hit a guy sitting on 6, never mind someone attacking from bad angles/speed. I admit the IL-2 gunners were a bit to good, but now we have no gunners in MP. Test it out yourself in sp, make a mission with 1-2 (any plane with gunners) set skill levels to 1 and attack from rear.

Foul Ole Ron
Apr-02-2013, 05:24
On the AI gunner one thing I've noticed on ATAG is that for some reason the BR.20M gunners seem to be noticeably more effective than any other group of bomber gunners. They also seem to put out a greater volume of fire.

steeldelete
Apr-08-2013, 02:59
Awsome, thanks quys!

FAI
Apr-10-2013, 07:47
Thank you TF for your awesome work. I would like to point to a few things that I think need to get some attention and fixes. This game is a great flight simulator and you guys keep making it better. However I have some big issues with the fact that zooming in and out is very poor. It is at preset values that you jump to, this is in my opinion a poor excuse of a zoom function. I am currently using JoyToKey to be able to zoom but it has no limits set. It keeps zooming out or in and is therefore almost impossible to use (btw if anyone knows how to fix this please tell me). Such a simulator when played professionally needs a good zoom function ingame. Even Warthunder has a good zoom function in the game. Currently every pilot has to tackle this problem in his own way, either ignoring the problem completely or using workarounds with different programs (like I do with JoyToKey, some might use FreeTrack, etc).

More issues; On the airfield when you spawn the plane turns away by himself, the pp also turns by itself if not turned off, and many more small but vital issues which hinder this simulator from living up to its true potential as an excellent flight simulator.

I am writing this because TF is making great things for the game, which is why I was hoping you guys could also look into these issues and come up with good solutions for it.

Again thank you for the great work you keep doing.

p.s: My joy is Thrustmaster T16000 and use TrackIR 5, via JoyToKey I have set the zoom but it has no set limits for max zooming in and out. If anyone knows how to fix this please contact me about it.

=DRACO=
Apr-10-2013, 08:53
You want to use the HMS Ark Royal (1950) in Malta convoys in 1940 with Seafire Mk.I (II) on board? )))
If you want to play the defense of Malta in 1941-42 it is very necessary Bf.109F opponents from Sicily.
P S HMS Ark Royal (1937) with the aircraft Swordfish:
http://s1.ipicture.ru/uploads/20130410/45DVyy6Y.jpg

56RAF_klem
Apr-10-2013, 10:49
Thank you TF for your awesome work. I would like to point to a few things that I think need to get some attention and fixes. This game is a great flight simulator and you guys keep making it better. However I have some big issues with the fact that zooming in and out is very poor. It is at preset values that you jump to, this is in my opinion a poor excuse of a zoom function. I am currently using JoyToKey to be able to zoom but it has no limits set. It keeps zooming out or in and is therefore almost impossible to use (btw if anyone knows how to fix this please tell me). Such a simulator when played professionally needs a good zoom function ingame. Even Warthunder has a good zoom function in the game. Currently every pilot has to tackle this problem in his own way, either ignoring the problem completely or using workarounds with different programs (like I do with JoyToKey, some might use FreeTrack, etc).

More issues; On the airfield when you spawn the plane turns away by himself, the pp also turns by itself if not turned off, and many more small but vital issues which hinder this simulator from living up to its true potential as an excellent flight simulator.

I am writing this because TF is making great things for the game, which is why I was hoping you guys could also look into these issues and come up with good solutions for it.

Again thank you for the great work you keep doing.

p.s: My joy is Thrustmaster T16000 and use TrackIR 5, via JoyToKey I have set the zoom but it has no set limits for max zooming in and out. If anyone knows how to fix this please contact me about it.

FAI I also use JoyToKey for zoom and have it set as Mouse function ( Value -26) on my Hat switch Up/Down. It works well and stops as soon as I release the Hat. I also have a button set for default view/zoom.

FAI
Apr-10-2013, 11:47
FAI I also use JoyToKey for zoom and have it set as Mouse function ( Value -26) on my Hat switch Up/Down. It works well and stops as soon as I release the Hat. I also have a button set for default view/zoom.

Thanks mate, but the problem is not getting it to work. My problem is that I want it to stop zooming in at a set distance even if I keep pressing the joy button, but can't find a way to do that. For going from 90 to 30 and that it stops at 30 even if I keep pressing the button. When I push the other button that it goes back to 90 and again does not go farther than 90 even if I keep pressing. Do you know how I can do that? This is very important for accurate shooting in fast dogfights and so I don't lose contact with targets on big maps.

56RAF_klem
Apr-10-2013, 18:05
Thanks mate, but the problem is not getting it to work. My problem is that I want it to stop zooming in at a set distance even if I keep pressing the joy button, but can't find a way to do that. For going from 90 to 30 and that it stops at 30 even if I keep pressing the button. When I push the other button that it goes back to 90 and again does not go farther than 90 even if I keep pressing. Do you know how I can do that? This is very important for accurate shooting in fast dogfights and so I don't lose contact with targets on big maps.

I don't know the answer to that unless you can programme your button to give a keypress output for a limited time period like 1.5 seconds and juggle the value until you get near what you want. Personally I prefer it on my hat because I can stop and reverse easily at will but if you are using two buttons its harder than rocking a Hat switch. Anyway I suggest you post separately in a titled thread if you are going to try to find answers to this particular question, you'll get a wider audience.

pjmack15
Oct-24-2014, 00:05
Great stuff in the works! Thank you.

Blitzen
Oct-25-2014, 12:02
Any "new" News?:-)

RAF74_Buzzsaw
Oct-25-2014, 13:48
Any "new" News?:-)

I believe MP is planning a big update for November 7th.

Mysticpuma
Oct-25-2014, 15:53
But no news on a release date (months) or theatre (this was so long ago much has changed!)

Cheers, MP