posted 03-12- 05:56 AM               

Hi guys just looking at some b17 2 screens and i must say i'm not all that impressed.

Is it just me or does everything look like gloomy toy land? It looks too dark and like a train set world.

And the planes. They look good but not that much better then the SDOE planes. Except for the Skins. Those look really good. But its only cause they are in a hight resolution then ours.

the B17 doesn't really look at that great.
and the terrain sure it flat. Look at the engines. The windows DO look good though.

The damage effects are decent but certainly not surpasing what this engine could do if we had the sorce code to SDOE. and maybe even with out it. The clouds are pretty bad also. I hope this is just cause its beta.

There is a couple places where the sim seems to be shinning.

The Cockpit and interiors.
We could do this also if we could use more texures ram or somthing.

I was going to say the explosions but on closer look i'm not as impressed with them anymore.

I know everyone is going to say

"but its beta man you can't really evaluate it yet."

Well sorry I am and you know everyone always says their screen shots are beta and that it will be polished before it comes out and that never happens or it doesn't happen to the level we would expect.

I am not putting the game down. its looking and sounding cool and the sound engine is sounding REALLY cool. But i'm just stating my disapointment with what i have seen so far. For a next generation WW2 sim it sure doesn't look as good as i was hopeing.

I will play it and it will be pretty good i'm sure.

One thing is for sure. MH and his team will have their work cut out for them to attract people after they play this.

I read you probly can't even do your own skins. Which really sucks. I personally think an openended game like SDOE is the future. THen people can make the planes they want to fly. This game won't do anything for the guy who wants to fly a B29 will it?

Just think of Quake without all the mods? How many people would still be playing it?

posted 03-12- 06:22 AM               

I think B-17 will be very cool, but for VERY different reasons than SDOE/OpenPlane. At least for me. I think the missions and role-playing will be the best aspect. It is my prediction (guess) that the FM/DM will look good but will seem game-like compared with SDOE. There are just so many aspects of SDOE that make it feel like a real world. From the screen shots and what not I get the feeling that B17II has a feeling very close to EAW, just much much better. Imagine if (when) there is a SDOE II... a much much better version of SDOE... that would be amazing

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-Sv =FC=

WWI in SDOE!

posted 03-12- 07:01 AM               

Cool i was hoping people wouldn't think i was bashing B17 2. I was just expressing my thoughts.

posted 03-12- 07:01 AM               

Go to www.bombs-away.net and read about AJK and lancer's visit to Wayward Designs studio for a hands-on preview - it made the hairs on the back on my neck stand up just reading about it.

I don't think you appreciate the amount of work that is needed to go into creating a simulation of this calibre.

Just look at that cockpit - ouch!

Cheers, Jet.

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Jagdverband 44

posted 03-12- 07:06 AM               

Hi Jet. Yep i read the reviews and i went one of they guys page on the game. thats where i got all the pics.

Don't get me wrong It will be the best sim out when it hits the shelves and i will play it. I'm just saying it doesn't raise the bar as much as i though it was going to.

I'm sure it looks better in motion but so does SDOE compared to a Screen shot. It doesn't change the fact that the ground looks like a toy set and the planes arn't much better then ours except the hi res skins.

The cockpits do look good but we could do those in SDOE if we didn't have the texture limits we do right now.

posted 03-12- 07:44 AM               

Well buddy I have to disagree with you just a little here. I gather from your posts you think the primary difference is going to be hi-res graphics. That my friend is only part of it.

B17II will also allow you to start-up your plane (any plane) in a real manner. i.e. click every switch in sequence etc.
Then you have to functioning crew members. No sim to date has ever had this. Compare SDOE's Viagra bailout pilot to the full motion crew on the B17.
Add to that the Sun, flying home and watching it get gradually darker, a real working Norden bombsite!!!!

Those are big things! And I know I have missed some.

Now, in fairness, let me tell you where it will fall short for many people.

It has little chance of ever becoming more than what it will be released as. SDOE, on the other hand is almost unregonisible from the game that came in the box. I mean, look at what we have today, and what it continues to evole into. Greatness!

B17II has, what....8 planes. No British planes, no German bombers, etc.

The developers will tell you (and I agree) that it is a game about the "B17" and to put in all the other planes, with all the other situations needed, with the same high degree of modelling, would be impossible. That said however, many guys will grow bored quickly with the limited aircraft and types of missions availible in the game.

So, will it be a ground breaking game? YES!
Will it be the game that makes everyone (including me) put SDOE, and EAW, and the rest on the shelf? No, not unless flying or escorting a B17 is all you want to do.

Of course as always, it's just my opinion.

PR=FC=

posted 03-12- 12:02 PM               

Oh yeah PR the start up will be cool.

I'm mostly talking about graphics cause thats somthing i can compare. I'm sure there is ALOT even A HELL OF ALOT that it will raise the bar in But i don't think it will be as far as some of us want.

The whole thing about 8 planes really sucks ass and you are right that will limit its appeal and time on the ol hard drive.

posted 03-12- 12:40 PM               

Primarily B17-II is a bomber/crew management game - the fighters play second fiddle in the grand scheme of things and were chosen for their role in the air war around the star of the show - Boeing's B17 Flying Fortress. There are other aircraft that could have been included but haven't due to either inappropriateness (?) or time constraints - the game has taken nearly three years to develop so far.

There is great merit in having a 'closed' architecture, look at the problems we have with so many different aircraft and mis-matches - I'm not complaining about this, don't get me wrong. I think SDOE is great and I enjoy flying lots of interesting planes (if I can't make any), but I think this is not the way for B17-II to go.

The little toy towns you refer to in the first picture is the quality of the 'normal' everyday terrain that covers England, Wales, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany in a 1:1 ratio that doesn't repeat or pixellate when viewed up close with realtime dynamic shadowing. How many sims are there where you can *truly* navigate visually across Europe with the MkI Eyeball? There are proper 3d models all over the map for targets, airfields, docks, u-boat pens etc three levels of damage modelling.

I'd be interested to know what you were expecting?

Best, Jet

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Jagdverband 44

posted 03-12- 12:47 PM               

The explosions are all frozen at the peak "WOW" factor frame and don't look as cartoonish as they suggest (according to Graham Davis at Wayward).

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Jagdverband 44

posted 03-12- 12:49 PM               

Its all cool man but to say it doesn't repeat. It might not but i can see the same textures used over and over again.

I'm exactly sure what i expected but i didn't expect to fly over A toy train set.

posted 03-12- 01:40 PM               

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Jagdverband 44

posted 03-12- 02:02 PM            

Spanky - It is pointless to compare B17II game play against SDOE game play as each sim has different playing goals.

As for graphics comparisons, why not wait untill you can actually fly B17II on your PC before passing judgement.

posted 03-12- 02:16 PM               

Jet i mean the same textures are being used just like any other game. Look at the top pick the road is all the same texture always repeating. The grass is the same. There is probly 10 or 20 trees repeating all over europe along with the houses. The set up is different everywhere but it still does repeat.

bobalou We were talking about how many planes were included in the game. Not how many would be in the air our in an online game.

and again i'm not rating the sim. This isn't my review. I'm just showing some screen shots and saying that i don't think the graphics are the shit that everyone is saying they are.

I'm not passing judgement on the sim just the graphics.

posted 03-12- 06:34 PM               

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posted 03-14- 03:45 PM               

Yep Whirl it could be a really good game. In fact i'm sure it will be. I'm just rating it on the graphics.

I just thought they would have been a little more advanced considering how long its been in development.

posted 03-14- 10:47 PM               

What I mean by 8 planes is, that they are modelling 8 planes. Not how many planes can be in the air.

I have to learn to type in English. Wait..thats what this is!

PR=FC=

posted 03-15- 03:57 PM               

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(Kill'em All, Sort'em out Later )
-=BAB=- Gunner

posted 03-16- 12:27 PM               

Oh no, the guys in the planes move about, interact with each other, including, attending each other if wounded, screwing around, tapping their feet to music, etc.

That is something that truely does put this game in a different category.

I also think it will take a dynamite machine to run, and look worth a damn. But, I'll be giving it my best shot!

posted 03-16- 01:52 PM               

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Jagdverband 44

posted 03-16- 02:22 PM               

Mad Dog just got Tiger woods pga tour 2000 to do a review on.

Its recommended specs are.

P3 450
128 megs
400 megs hard drive
8 meg agp vid card.

Finally a game that seems to be telling the truth with the recommended specs.

min on the other hand are a joke. P166 with 32 megs and a 2 meg vid card.

We have a p2 266 with 96 megs and a banshee and we have to put everything on low and at 640x480.

I'm going to take a guess that this game will take a min spec of

p2 300, 96 megs, 16 meg V3 or TnT2

Recommended would be

p3 550, 128 megs or more, V4, v5, Geforce

Actually i think the cpu will be even higher.

Thats nothing i have read. Just my predictions.