Hi everyone, I know, you’re thinking…”hang on, it hasn’t been 4-weeks!?” Well, yes I do realise that but work is starting to progress a little faster now as members of team Fusion wave goodbye to the sunshine hand nestle down into their bunker and start getting creative again
So here goes with a selection of what is currently going on.
Today’s update mainly features further work on the landscape texture plates that cover the map of England. The work has been undertaken by one of our guys who is a real-life airline pilot and knows what summer looks like in the UK from all altitudes. This work is still exactly what we always say “Work in Progress” as there are still additions to be made to the plates, but current progress is so good we decided to share it with you.
You’ll see the difference in colour and quality in the comparisons shown in the video and also a comparison between TF v4.312, the Stock ‘un-modded’ Sim. and the new colour plates. It’s quite alarming when you see the original colours!
Today’s Video was due to be set to Tom Jones’s “Green, Green Grass of Home” but as the video was about to go live, Vimeo said it breached copyright and wouldn’t allow me to post it! Tom Jones not only fought Martians in “Mars Attacks” but also shot down this Friday’s update! True Legend!
Anyway, with some quick re-editing, here’s today’s video. The colours are matched to those we would expect to see around July at the start of harvesting time. The examples shown in the video are daytime lighting at 12.00pm and also evening at 7.00pm..
https://vimeo.com/109245223
New texture plate still images:
I’d like to add here a quote from RAF74_Buzzsaw in last-weeks’ thread for any of you who missed it:
“To everyone:
As MP has mentioned, we are working hard on a complex project... there are many, many elements to creating a new Campaign environment.
We have modellers working on 7 new or new versions of aircraft types, 5 new shipping types, 6 new vehicle/gun types, many building types, new map tool, plus all the sound, FM, texture, skins, etc. required to provide players with a complete immersive experience.
But just in aircraft, there are another 5 types which we would like to add and which could still use modellers... >>>> ...who know 3D modelling programs like 3DMax, so if you think you have the skills, or you know someone who does and who might be interested, please contact MP.”
We are on the lookout for 3D modellers to join the team, if you think you have the skillset and want to be part of our community based team, please check out this thread for more details. A knowledge of UV mapping is required though as this makes texturing the objects so much easier:
http://theairtacticalassaultgroup.co...ad.php?t=11129
So you can see, it’s not just a little bit going on, there is A LOT going on and even more than he is indicating of-course. If we told you everything, how on earth would I have updates to give you
Okay, in further news I’d like to explain the situation regarding the Ai and radio Commands.
As many of you know, I bang the drum behind the door at TF for Single players as I am pretty much in that group. I think you can count on one-hand the amount of times I play online, not because I don’t enjoy it, but because I just have fun in Single Player, setting up missions so I can play against Ai opponents. Now there is no denying that the Radio Commands are broken and that the Ai can be a little short in the ‘i’ part of the Ai, but let me explain this for better understanding.
Team Fusion have found around 90% of the code required to change the Ai and Radio Commands as it currently stands. Obviously that’s 10% shy of having a perfect amount but it’s not a simple case of “well just make the Ai do this when you press a button”. Sadly, it’s not like that
At Team Fusion we have to be sure that any modifications we make don’t inherently break the game. Now, the last attempt at fixing Ai flight patterns, worked okay, but then required a hotfix as on occasions the Ai weren’t able to pull out of a dive at certain speeds.
This is because the Ai is tightly integrated with the flight model physics. This is a reason why if you said to the Ai, “If the enemy moves into this quadrant, perform a ‘rolling scissors’ manoeuvre. Now it’s easy to say that to an Ai, but then the Ai has to work out it’s altitude, speed, angle of attack, distance from enemy, if it’s under fire the position of the tracer, the Yaw, Pitch, deflection, etc., etc…….and it has to do this as quickly as you, the player, would to make it seem realistic that you are playing against a real person. Understand too, that it would then have to change its decision depending if all of those variables equal 1: Yes make manoeuvre 2: No don’t – Change routine to next option.
So due to the fact that the Ai is inherently bound into the Flight Model it will be necessary for our guys to open it up completely, strip out the Ai and FM to separate working areas and then rebuild it. Not forgetting that these will need to be the most secure of areas as no-one wants to hear about someone flying at 600 mph in a Stuka, not getting any damage and carrying 600 bombs!
The Ai and Radio Commands will be looked at, but as it stands there is no promise that they can make v5.00. That said our coding guru never ceases to amaze us but I thought I’d best outline the current state of play for the Single players out there!
Next, some work that has been created by another of our talented guys which is the addition of a few more variations in the player’s pilot look. This work has been necessary not only for adding a little more to the variations on which you can select, but also to learn how to change other characters in the Sim. that will allow us to add more accurate clothing to our troops on the ground in the new theatre
Pilot textures WiP:
Work is now steadily increasing here but we are still a long way off as this patch will be a very important one to us. The creation of our Map Tool will make adding new theatres and locations radically easier for us all and this is currently our focus issue to make sure that we have that working perfectly and available to TF members to start adding map-packs which will be a huge advantage to us offering many new areas to fly over
As always I’d like to include the latest news from the Bugtracker, kindly put together by Artist:
From the Team Fusion Bugtracker
The bugtracker (http://tfbt.nuvturais.de/projects/il2clodtf) keeps accumulating data: Since the last published update on September, 25th, 5 new users brought the total up to 776 registered users of which 26 have been active since then. We currently have 119 open issues (90 bugs and 29 feature requests). 2 have already been resolved with patch 4.312 and 11 are currently in progress to be fixed or implemented.
4 new issues have been raised since the last update, among them are (no judgment implied):
- Reported Bug #662: "Blank section of map near Rouen" (Feedback)
- Reported Bug #661: "Wrong tactical marking" (New)
- Reported Bug #660: "Aircraft destructed on entering medium hangar" (New)
The issues with the highest (summary) vote currently are:
- 29: #581: "RAF fighter engines incorrectly start cold in Multiplayer" (New)
- 22: #602: "Defensive AI Gunner Skill Levels Set Too High" (New)
- 20: #614: "Large cloud formations do not appear in replay of track (.TRK) files" (New)
- 19: #610: "Navigational Illumination Functionality: Smudge pots, NAV markers, and landing headlamps." (Feedback)
We invite all pilots to participate in the bugtracker either by reporting bugs, requesting features, and/or vote on issues. But before you do anything, please read the guidelines and FAQ here: http://tfbt.nuvturais.de/projects/il2clodtf/boards/4
I have no idea when the next update will be, but stay tuned as they could appear in another four-weeks...or maybe two-weeks (be sure )
Cheers, MP/TF
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