Graphics engine improvement

[metalcraze 290]

In all honesty, the deciduous speedtrees in Oblivion look better.

You got to be joking. A bunch of sticks with low poly blobs on them look better how?

What good video card isn't expensive? Most likely you will need one for ArmA 3. I'm sure by then it will hit Crysis quality.

Crysis lacks ArmA2 polygonal object detail level. It just compensates with lots of shader effects covering your screen.

Edited January 11, 2011 by metalcraze

[maturin 12]

You got to be joking. A bunch of sticks with low poly blobs on them look better how?

Obviously this tree is nowhere near the graphical quality and complexity of an RV tree, but I think the design does the job better.

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Features/2008/10/Evolution%20of%20the%20tree/UPM105.evol.tree_obliv--article_image.jpg

For a summertime tree in good health, the leaves are thick and it has some substance. Chernarus trees on Medium have all these splintery little polygons floating out in space. They may be detailed, but computers still lack the ability to effectively render every little leaf.

[jackthe®ipper 10]

I have to say that the fps drop i get whenever i zoom in on trees and bushes is really annoying. Even on low settings, i get a big drop. I have a 1gb video card, 3.0 ghz quad core, and 4 gig ram and it still is borderline unplayable with trees, bushes and grass around. My fps though is alright when NOT zoomed in onto trees.

My suggestion would be to completely get rid of the high detailed trees/bushes when on low settings, so they never load even when zoomed on.

[twirly 11]

Chernarus trees on Medium have all these splintery little polygons floating out in space. They may be detailed, but computers still lack the ability to effectively render every little leaf.

Yes...and they look like crap and one of the many things that simply help kill the immersion factor. We simply don't need every leaf modelled...it's a war game not a garden show! I agree that the pic you posted would look way better!

Edited January 18, 2011 by twirly
Added text

[ziiip 1]

...i just think it's a bit silly to expect us to wait a few years until there is hardware available that allows us to run this game at a respectable quality to fps ratio.

I doubt there is another option. Even Arma 1 runs bad on my PC. :D

[JuggernautOfWar 1]

Just crank down the resolution a notch for your aspect ratio and BAM! More fps.

[Uziyahu--IDF 0]

It would be nice if a moving cloud shadow layer were applied on the terrain, so that you can see them moving across the mountains.

I would also like to hear a sound played when a body hits the ground or falls to the ground.

[Callaghan 1]

Why is there no sticky for engine suggestions? Seeing as that seems to be the critical selling point, and ultimate limitation, of this game. As much as I love what you do BIS, it really is time to stop faffing around with the lukewarm DLC aimed at expanding the market, it does nothing to expand on the game in a substancial way and you could maybe get away with one more insipid DLC release before people start getting loud about wanting real engine updates. Arrowhead brought some significant improvements, but it really is high time that we had intergrated texture/render for 3d scopes, more variables added to all forms of ballistics, to allow for better missile and bullet simulation, (perhaps even some gesture towards a comprehensive physics system, but not so important) scalable explosives and explosions - some truly 'new' things you know? Rather than just retextured units and a few altered models that add nothing to the game beyond 10 minutes of eye candy and perhaps a new look for your AI opponents to enjoy while you kill them. Perhaps most importantly, I get the impression you start work on these editor modules, and then abandon them before they are either finished or fully intergrated with the other modules. Editors make the most of what is out there, but really that artillery module should be far more comprehensive and useful for ALL artillery. I have yet to see a working bm-21 since release. So before you go modelling five men and a car from each nato force (I was disappointed that BAF contained neither the new sharpshooter rifle, which is pretty mission critical, nor the challenger 2, and the lack of a bipod on the L96 was rather shortsighted considering the predominance of ACE mod), how about you work on the cohesion of all other content so far? BAF could do with a booster patch, A2 content needs updating to arrowhead standard, and all of the new features need finalisation before we get any new gimmiks.

I don't mean to sound angry, as I said I love BIS's work, but like many of you, I have more invested in this game than just some a desire for instant-gratification, and I would hate to see it ruined by industry trends, which is threatening to happen.

[Mr.Wolf 10]

Guys from Outerra are making their own tree generator and I must say, it looks pretty impressive so far. Check it out...

http://www.outerra.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=234

[maturin 12]

That's still not enough leaves. It's a good solution for a little garden fruit tree.

[neilbrady 10]

Real Virtuality Engine (arma, arma 2) sucks, we need the outerra engine on the next arma, cause if they even think of releasing arma 3 on an this engine there is no hope that I am buying it.

[PuFu 4600]

Real Virtuality Engine (arma, arma 2) sucks, we need the outerra engine on the next arma, cause if they even think of releasing arma 3 on an this engine there is no hope that I am buying it.

wait for it, wait for it...

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great post!

sarcasm Off...Love you people who know nothing about game engines, and more so, you are suggesting an untested, unfinished engine, just because some lad over some forums promised this and that will be supported.

[purepassion 22]

Real Virtuality Engine (arma, arma 2) sucks, we need the outerra engine on the next arma, cause if they even think of releasing arma 3 on an this engine there is no hope that I am buying it.

sorry but that was just dumb....

this engine is not even finished i dont see any major points that arma's current engine doesnt have.

You dont really expect BIS to change their complete engine for the next game for an engine thats not even made for FPS shooters, just so you will buy it!?

i could go on all day, telling you how incredible stupid that was, but i wont bother

---------- Post added at 10:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:28 AM ----------

In my opinion you should just tweak the current game with some new features, rework some textures, overwork NV effects and daytime FLIR and FLIR in general and maybe think about game physics for vehicles, or wind ( ballistic is very good!) something that should also be reworked are the sniperscopes: no more just black at the edges. ( I think R3F armes weapons pack had this with one rifle maybe im gonna post a link) and the last thing that should be improved would be muzzle flashes.

and before we even think about Arma 3, new HQ CQB or Iraq maps with new HQ units are enough.

and do you guys even know how goddamm expensive it is to buy a license for an game engine like Cryengine etc.. start thinking and stop talking bllsht

Edited July 6, 2011 by PurePassion

[NeMeSiS 11]

sorry but that was just dumb....

this engine is not even finished completely, looks only good when youre far away and i dont really see any major points that arma's current engine doesnt have, except for physics

Microdetails on terrain, which is what i miss the most.

Physics... Not so much, you fall down when you drive off a roof, which is good enough. But you are right, outterra is nowhere near finished.

[dmarkwick 261]

Real Virtuality Engine (arma, arma 2) sucks, we need the outerra engine on the next arma, cause if they even think of releasing arma 3 on an this engine there is no hope that I am buying it.

The amount of times I've seen people extrapolating perfect gameplay from one video demo of an unreleased non-stressed engine that has no AI or animation going on :) and then compare that hallucination to actual ArmA2 gameplay, and find it wanting.

[Posta 10]

this engine is not even finished completely /...

No doubt. Sometimes it feels like playing an early alpha.

I don't want an Arma 3 in many years. They need to take care of this baby first.

Many things are VERY good in Arma 2 and some things need big improvements.

[Flash Thunder 10]

That is alot of extrapolation!

@Neil you never know RV 4 could be a significant advancement that could put that engine to shame.

[johncage 30]

gentlemen, the future:

http://www.outerra.com/shots/s_apache_sm_03.jpg

[maturin 12]

gentlemen, the future:

http://www.outerra.com/shots/s_apache_sm_03.jpg

What? An extra kilometer of view distance and even more obvious model draw distance?

[Flash Thunder 10]

gentlemen, the future:

http://www.outerra.com/shots/s_apache_sm_03.jpg

actually that looks pretty generic.

tree models look badly even up close when looking at that screenshot.

That viewdistance comprises nothing but a sat map and some basic geometry

[johncage 30]

nothing like a case of the sour grapes ;)

[maddogx 13]

nothing like a case of the sour grapes ;)

Heh. Heh.

Admittedly, Outerra does look like it could one day be an awesome game engine. One day being sometime in 2-3 years.

[Posta 10]

nothing like a case of the sour grapes ;)

Haha, yeah.

But to be honest it doesn't look good. I don't care about 60 000km view distance if everything look pale and flat.

Nice graphics isn't about numbers. Not for me anyway. It's more about design.

Arma 2 (all BIS games) have the same problem in some degree. Focusing on how many leafs a tree has. And not how it actually look or how/if the computer can handle it. My comp for example can't.

[Leon86 13]

Yeah, the trees are awful sometimes and get you a massive fps impact. And the "smoothing" of LOD switching doesnt help either.

[Mr.Wolf 10]

I don't care about 60 000km view distance if everything look pale and flat. Nice graphics isn't about numbers. Not for me anyway. It's more about design.

Well, maybe it's because Outerra is not a game, it's an engine...:rolleyes: