Community Feedback Thread - TOH:CP

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Some issues I've forgotten to report earlier:

* When opening up a dialog (i.e. Gaia's debug interface), I'm automatically giving 50% collective, forcing a takeoff. Really annoying.

* Same bug as in OA, when opening a dialog (actually, only need to hit ESC several times to "show the mouse pointer"), the mouse is positioned doubled the distance it has from center. A couple of openings, and the game looses focus as the mouse jumps out of the game (windowed mode). If mouse is 10% from the center, it will jump to 20% from the center. Also really annoying. In all my own dialog work, I do a setMouse [0.5,0.5] just to get rid of it, but I'm not making all the dialogs... But it shouldn't be needed.

* Improve the getin/getout animations to something more immersive, depending on position (and chopper). Switch the sound with something more appropriate for getting in and out, and connect the current door sound to the actual opening and closing of doors. If nothing else, then use the Shacktac/ACE approach where a camera is used to show better how you get out, illustrating better the direction.

Edit:

* Nitpicking here, but ADI is fully working without power. It should drop dead on it's side until power is applied. I notice there is a Gyro circuit breaker there, so I'm guessing electrically driven (rather than vacuum). It should

when you apply battery power (this wouldn't be on the avionics bus would it?). If partial panels and instrument failures are considered, remember that ADI's tend to have violent deaths (something MSFS never got right imo) :D Edited July 29, 2011 by CarlGustaffa

[-DirTyDeeDs--Ziggy- 0]

thought I'd share, the HUD is looking good.

Veteran difficulty

[OMAC 254]

Since mouse wheel is currently occupied by the action menu, are there any thoughts on how to approach knob twisting? Like setting an OBS course or dialing in a radio frequency etc? I always thought MSFS approach to 3D cockpit interaction to be pretty slick, but the action menu kind of interferes with that kind of design.

Interesting about knob twisting. What about right-click and hold on the knob, then graphic of knob appears, and setting can be selected by rotational marker which moves with mouse movement. When mouse 2 (right button) is released, selected setting is applied. Just an idea, don't know for sure if knob twisting is required on instrument panel to operate heli. What about for selecting radio frequency?

[4 IN 1 0]

Or they can just ditch action menu only in TakOH, or let people to choose using keybroad to engage action menu while the mouse wheel reserve for cockpit interaction?

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Thx for the image Ziggy, need it for what I'm about to take up now :)

How about wind indication? For those flying with HUD, I suggest the following values:

0 m/s (0 kts): No indication

2.572222 (5 kts): 1 half

5.144444 (10 kts): 1 full

7.716667 (15 kts): 1 full 1 half

10.28889 (20 kts): 2 full

12.86111 (25 kts): 2 full 1 half

15.43333 (30 kts): 3 full

18.00556 (35 kts): 3 full 1 half

20.57778 (40 kts): 4 full

23.15000 (45 kts): 4 full 1 half

25.72222 (>50 kts): solid triangle

Do we want the -2 kts routine, like shown here? With half, I mean only one side of the indication is drawn.

What about us non HUD pilots (not available on veteran and expert difficulty modes)?

* Windsockets are pretty much a requirement for normal landing spots.

* Trees are of limited use. You can tell it's (very) windy but not much more than that. Direction is bidirectional and hard to see.

* Bushes and grass are better than trees, but even more difficult to see, limiting their use.

* Sea waves are connected to overcast rather than wind conditions, and then only shows big waves (indicating current rather than wind) rather than small ripples which you could pick up as a wind indication. Also, for bigger winds, there are (currently) no foaming particles going on.

* Smoke stacks and chimneys are a great visual tool to pick up on wind information, but requires effects to be in place. I would expect less smoke activity in the late night hours.

* ATC wind reports that you can ask for, and/or some kind of ATIS service you can listen in on (even if just textual). Seattle area would have several, but I don't expect "local weather" (AI and locality reasons).

[dragon01 902]

I've played the preview, and I must say I'm amazed.

As for any problems, perhaps the biggest one is the lack of fully interactive cockpit with working instruments. HUD does a good job, but it'd be more realistic to have these indicators on instrument panel, especially that they're modelled already. Most simulators I played have this feature. Also, a tutorial would be helpfull, even in PDF format, since flying a heli is very difficult, as I managed to find out.

[-DirTyDeeDs--Ziggy- 0]

my instrument panel features working instruments ... :rolleyes:

[nightsta1ker 10]

-Ziggy-;1994140']my instrument panel features working instruments ... :rolleyes:

I think what he meant is things like knobs on the altimiter have no effect on the indication etc. The gauges "work" but only to a limited degree.

Dragon: Keep in mind that restrictions of ArmA OA are limiting what can be demonstrated in the preview and some of these issues may not be present in the final version of the game.

[rok 0]

I think "Glance at dashboard" button (as in IL-2:CloD) would be handy. Just hold the button and the view centers and zooms to instruments panel. Sure we can now use mouse and RMB-zoom but single button bind to joystick would make instruments reading so much easier.

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Doesn't num-2 do that? Or hatswitch down while freelook is disabled? Other than that, you now also have the ability to move your head relatively freely within the cockpit. I have assigned one joystick button to reset view orientation, and right ctrl+5 to reset also view position. For cockpit movement I use the arrow keys.

[jumpinghubert 48]

-no stutter anymore

-still low fps

-very very good solution with new sensitivity and deathzone options; now i have 100 step resolution ingame x and y axis plus full range

Edited August 2, 2011 by JumpingHubert

[OMAC 254]

I agree that fps is lower than expected, but preview is stable and very playable. FPS is significantly slower than in OA, even when heli engine is off. Possibly view/object distance?

[jumpinghubert 48]

thats not what i mean. Its the difference between inside the new heli and inside one of the other heli´s. Have something to do maybe with the mirror, i think its a known issue. For example:

toh, utes, all graphic settings to very high, atoc7, lowest view distance, highest object density:

in ah64: 75fps

in the new heli: 30fps

[liquidpinky 11]

thats not what i mean. Its the difference between inside the new heli and inside one of the other heli´s. Have something to do maybe with the mirror, i think its a known issue. For example:

toh, utes, all graphic settings to very high, atoc7, lowest view distance, highest object density:

in ah64: 75fps

in the new heli: 30fps

Internal and external veiw do not change my FPS in any way that is discernable.

The mirror's resolution is quite low to say the least and it is the victim of a poor GFX card owners witch hunt.

[b101_uk 10]

Internal and external veiw do not change my FPS in any way that is discernable.

The mirror's resolution is quite low to say the least and it is the victim of a poor GFX card owners witch hunt.

I have to say i find that there is a big difference in FPS between internal (~>30fps) and external (~>75fps) views i.e. when you stand by the helicopter looking forwards vs. being in the helicopter looking forwards in the same direction.

[jumpinghubert 48]

yes, mirror maybe the reason or maybe not. I only wanted to give feedback related to the obvious huge difference in performance between new heli and the other helis.

@b101_uk

i noticed the same.

Edited August 3, 2011 by JumpingHubert

[b101_uk 10]

@b101_uk

i noticed the same.

Yes just as per you, inside/outside and vs. default A2/OA helicopters, it’s still smooth though and it’s not taxing any of the CPU cores above ~80% with the other 3 at ~<40% but I haven’t figured out how to get it to work in combined operations mode rather than in just A2OA mode so I can try the A2 terrain.

PC = I7 920 @ 2.66ghz, 6gb ram (3x2gb) @ 2.66ghz, GF 560Ti 2gb @ default, 64bit win7pro.

[liquidpinky 11]

I have to say i find that there is a big difference in FPS between internal (~>30fps) and external (~>75fps) views i.e. when you stand by the helicopter looking forwards vs. being in the helicopter looking forwards in the same direction.

Have you tried just jumping from third person to first while in the heli, that would be the real test.

I probably don't notice any change as I have my settings quite high so I only really see around 30FPS on average anyway.

A reflection detail slider would probably be nice in the settings though, as long as it can go up as well as down.

The more options the merrier so everyone can get the game to an enjoyable level for themselves.

@b101_uk: you could do with speeding that processor up as A2 engine thrives on high processor speeds, that will be your bottleneck right there. ToH will pretty much be in the same boat I would imagine, engine wise.

[b101_uk 10]

There is some mileage in that statement though it’s not the full truth given no single CPU core is being used 100%, the main core is being used >50% <80% the other cores are for the most part >10% <50% use.

I haven’t looked at the GPU loads.

Its most likely to be the detail of the gauges and displays being rendered in real time as well as some aliments of the physics modal being more complex.

[liquidpinky 11]

There is some mileage in that statement though it’s not the full truth given no single CPU core is being used 100%, the main core is being used >50% <80% the other cores are for the most part >10% <50% use.

I haven’t looked at the GPU loads.

Its most likely to be the detail of the gauges and displays being rendered in real time as well as some aliments of the physics modal being more complex.

Look at GPU memory use as that tends to be high in A2, although with 2GB you should be good.

[b101_uk 10]

Well I looked at the GPU loadings,

memory wise it’s getting to use up to <1250mb after a period of play so far (I use “default†for in game video memory setting which I believe uses up to the detected amount in the TKOHPreview.cfg), the GPU utilisation load has the odd spike to 100% but for the most part (99.9% of the time) is between >55% <80% of use.

[OMAC 254]

b101, what are your video settings and system/vcard specs?

---------- Post added at 08:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:09 PM ----------

Extensive testing has confirmed that visibility and obj. view distance have strong effects on fps, much more so than AF and PP settings, etc. Minor changes in 3d render resolution have less fps effect than changes in vis/obj. view distance. With my video settings (see signature - settings are same as A2/CO settings unless otherwise noted) I am getting about 22 fps sitting in heli with engine off at the start. Looking at the instrument panel decreases fps 1-2 fps, and looking at the PiP mirror increases about 6 fps. Exterior view increases about 9 fps from 1st person view - significant. Standing outside the heli looking forward - 38 fps. 3rd person view there - 31 fps. If I decrease vis/obj. view distance, fps goes WAY UP. Obviously the high detail of the heli model decreases fps significantly from being inside A2 choppers.

GPU usage is between 47 and 63% most of the time with some high 99% spikes, and some lows.

Edited August 5, 2011 by OMAC

[-DirTyDeeDs--Ziggy- 0]

I observed about 20-25 fps less inside the Special Heli01 compared to outside. (~35/~60)

[OMAC 254]

-Ziggy-;1997301']I observed about 20-25 fps less inside the Special Heli01 compared to outside. (~35/~60)

Wow, that's a big difference. What are your video settings?

[b101_uk 10]

b101, what are your video settings and system/vcard specs?

PC = I7 920 @ 2.66ghz, 6gb ram (3x2gb) @ 2.66ghz, GF 560Ti 2gb @ default, 64bit win7pro.

A2OA/TKOH settings:

video resolution=1600x900 @ 100% 3d res

visibility=3000m

obj. view distance=1736m (TKOH)

texture detail=very high

vid mem=default

AF=norm

AA=off

terrain detail=norm

object detail=high

shadows=high

HDR=norm

PP=off

vsync=off

benchmark E08 = >54fps <69fps (it never plays threw the same! :rolleyes:)