posted 05-10- 06:54 AM               

Then I went and got the patch and the sky banding was gone! It also fixed many stuttering problems so it runs smoother now. (Still many slow downs however) I'll probably need better processor to run this game the way it should be ran. I have to turn the clouds off, and run in 800x600 16 bit with a few other things turned off (Ground shadows, ground shading, medium detail, and only high texture quality instead of Max) But seeing that many planes in the air at once and indeed an awe. The gunner positions are fun too! And the radio chatter aint bad at all. The plane detail is better that EAW, but the skins are a bit rough around the edges instead of smoothed over. IMO this game would look ALOT better if they had programmed for glide aswell. But oh well.

The interface is pretty neat. The sounds are OK. Seems to me there are a few sound problems, but I'll have to check my card for that. The physics arent real good. You can tell that when you go in for a landing or crash on the ground. There are some pretty good scripts however, like when you crash, but not totally bad and you airplane tumbles on the ground a bit, looses some pieces and explodes. I also like the bail out sequence. And the guy actually HITS the ground and screams and stuff!!

posted 05-10- 12:18 PM               

Your depth of fun and addiction will depend heavily on what you like; being the fan of the Spit and Hurri that I am, my addiction is terrible to behold. Flying the Spit in BoB is a lot like flying the Spit in SDOE...landings and takeoffs, though, all bets are off.

The sim is fraught with little great nobbly bugs, as you will find, particularly the campaign portion, and especially the convoy phase...which, being the glutton for punishment I am, I have entered into for the 10th time.

For me, the graphics are fantastic, as well as the skins...I use no mods, can't see any reason to. Since the mini-patch, I can run in 1024x768x16 with everything on at least high, and it runs fine enough for me. Using FRAPS seems to help with some of the left-over stutter...but anyway, the more you play, the more little hidden nuggets there are. Every once in a while, the radio chatter will leave you laughing. Emptying your 303's into a bomber and having it trundle on, while realistic, is frustrating.

Had it since Christmas, and still discover new bits once or twice a week.

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nealg=FC=

posted 05-10- 12:41 PM               

My system is already tweaked to high hell (I always have my system tweaked for games) but any little extra programs I can get that help is a BIG plus. Also seems to me the sound is causing some stuttering on many peoples systems. Im going to go disable the sound and see what happens... I may even turn the acceleration down a bit.

posted 05-10- 09:47 PM               

It seems to help the stutter because it slows the fps slightly; the stutter has been related to the frame rate ( the higher/better the frame rate, the more stutter you get ). In fact, that is part of the mini patch - a new cardbase line for all video cards, which intends to limit the frame rate to 20 milliseconds, thus slowing down the sim and eliminating most stutter. Some have tried different values to gain success; Voodoo 5 cards seem better at a 25 - 30 setting ( the suggested is 20, which I use with my GeForce2 MX ).

I think you are right, there is some relation to the sound...my SB Live! Value seems to work fine, but others have had probs with SB cards...and associated joystick probs related to using the SB gameport. I have had that, but CTFJ corrects it for me, as it does in SDOE.

In general, pre-patch anyway, it seems that some had success in reducing the 'stutter' by maxing out as much detail as they could, thus slowing frames. I have nearly everything maxed now - I still get occasional frames as low as 10 with clouds and lots of planes, but it is only brief, and generally I am 17 to 30 in cockpit and as high as 60-70 in no cockpit view. My stutter was always worse there...it is nearly gone now.

Now, if they can only fix the campaign, and the tendency of the AI opponent to use afterburners as I am lining up my shots.

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nealg=FC=

posted 05-10- 10:59 PM            

P3 700
256 Ram
Geforce 2 mx..

it stutters some, but is playable

posted 05-14- 10:30 PM               

Of course, you have to have the sim to view them...:-) Presumably, you just DL the .cam file, put it in your BoB Videos folder, run the sim and select Load Replay from the main menu. I presume it will run in whatever configuration you are using, and not the one used by the maker...but of that I am not positive. Just a heads up for anyone who might be interested.

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nealg=FC=

posted 05-14- 10:36 PM               

The things that still bother me are the engine sounds. My Hurricane engine sounds like its just going to crap out on me 80% of the time. Also that stall warning buzz sound is annoying aswell. And did .303s really sound like that? One other thing I dont like is the cockpit head shake, thats annoying!

posted 05-15- 02:33 AM               

Haven't done any of the LW planes at all, gunner or fighter...I can't. It's a thing..hehe. I fly the Spit 90% of the time, and the Hurri 10%. I survive to RTB about 5% of the time.

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nealg=FC=