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Pinetree
06-04-07, 08:29 AM
Here's some cool BoB2 gameplay videos to get you in the mood :cool:

BoB2 In Dulce Decorum (7 mins):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TCHk9CFgE-U

Manta's Convoy Phase I Attack (30 mins):
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2620895706775831673&hl=en

Track IR Demos:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2051208934938168866&hl=en

Track IR Demo2 + barrage Balloons:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3888866243525949539&hl=en

Dowly
06-04-07, 08:51 AM
I got my copy today, installing atm. Cant wait!! :rock:

Kratos
06-04-07, 08:56 AM
awesome vids :up: me raids piggy bank to go get copy :p

Rose
06-04-07, 09:02 AM
Nice vids. Let us know how it is Dowly! Also, what is Track IR and Vector Expansion?

HunterICX
06-04-07, 09:46 AM
:o wow, the voices the sounds are amazing!
:rock: I need to get this one

Dowly
06-04-07, 09:56 AM
Nice vids. Let us know how it is Dowly! Also, what is Track IR and Vector Expansion?

Just gave it a quick try and I got lots of CTDs. Tho, I read that patching it up to the 2.06, 95% of the CTDs are gone.

+ Sounds are just plain awesome! You hear the über cool flyby sound when someone passes you and can immediatly identify it as Luftwaffe or RAF plane by the sound. The weapon SFXs are perfect to my taste. If you dive, your engine starts to stutter, nice touch. The flak sounds quite good too, scary kind of as it should be.

+/- Campaign. AFAIK, you can only play as strategic commander in the campaign, designing sorties etc. You can however jump to a plane that is on the mission to fly. But it seems there's no pilot campaign (need to check the manual).

+ Scale. The combat can get abit chaotic at times. Had 30+ & 70+ german bomber&escort flights coming my way on the campaign. At times, the skies are black with planes. Really.

+ AI!!! In BoBII the AI really flies the plane. It doesnt do same things over and over again like in IL2 for example. Every fight is different and the enemy is quite lifelike.

+ Ability to save recordings from the missions like in IL2. Tho, the recording goes out of sync quite often. Lots of times I've seen my plane shoot nothing while watching the recording.

+ Radio traffic is very good and has much more variety than in IL2. You hear chatters like "This is 2. I'm losing power! I think my engine had it!". Very immersive.

+ Good training missions where you get to practice take offs, landings, formation flying etc.

- Engine. IL2 looks better for most parts, but still I get crappy performance when near fires & smokes. I think I need to test other drivers first to be sure if it's the game or my drivers.

-/+ Difficulty. The AI is ruthless and shows no mercy. They gang up on you if they get the change and are quite hard to get out of your tail. I think this is one of them flightsims where TrackIR is very helpfull. When the air is black with planes, you cant let your guard down until you are safely landed. I like the difficulty on this one, but for newbies it might be a tad too hard.

Cant say much more at this point. I really wasnt expecting TOO much of this, but I'm glad to say I was very happily surprised by it. The graphics are abit oldish on some parts, like the terrain, but IIRC there's High res terrain mod out there.

Now, all I need is tons of BoB documentaries. :know:

Jimbuna
06-04-07, 10:54 AM
Nice one Pinetree :rock: :up:

CCIP
06-04-07, 11:22 AM
Since I got my PC back now, I may grab this one in the next day or so.

I thought the download version comes with 2.06?

Oh, and Dowly - one question about AI if you noticed it at all: do enemy planes disengage often?
One thing that always bugged me in IL-2 is the tendency of enemy fighters to never avoid or try to escape a fight except when damaged. Ended up with some really stupid situations and overly-decimating furballs. I was wondering if this game handles it a little better.

morgul001
06-04-07, 11:39 AM
Dowly,

I presume you picked up a CD version as the download version from Shockwave comes patched to 2.06 as CCIP says. Do make sure you patch it up to 2.06 as that really has corrected the majority of the problems people were having in the original release. Also, make sure you have the latest version of DirectX9C which was released in April this year.

A link to the Shockwave general BoB/WoV forum in case you need it.
http://shockwaveproductions.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=10

Patch 2.06 is a really great piece of work in my opinion with major advances in the code, graphics, feel and performance of the game. I've always been a fan and am very happy to see this sim continuing to improve by leaps and bounds. This is a link to the original release notes for 2.06 which is worth a look.

http://www.shockwaveproductions.com/bob/bob206.htm

Hope you enjoy. :up:

Dowly
06-04-07, 01:13 PM
@morgul001

Yes, I found the CD version from my local gameshop, so decided to pick that up (I like to have my games on CD instead of downloading them). And yes, I patched to 2.06 and the game is much stable now. Gotta double-check that I have the newest DirectX. Thanks for the link to the forum, btw! :up:

@CCIP

Mate, with hundreds of planes all around me, do you really think I have time to check when the planes flee/RTB?? :rotfl:

But I've noticed from the strategic map that the RAF usually dont follow the Luftwaffe planes too far out to the channel, so yes, I think they give up the chase more 'realisticly' than in IL2.

Tho, there's one thing I absolutely HATE about BoBII!! At times, the game feels like that I'm playing online with huge ping! At one moment the plane infront of me is banking left, but in a 0,0000001 second it somehow manages to transfer to the right side of my screen, sort of like warping you see if you are playing online and there's big lag. But fortunately I have only encountered it few times.

But overall, it's a great game to own if you are interested in Battle of Britain. :up:

Now, let the picture do the talking. :yep:

One convoy leader's day will turn helluva lot worse soon. :p
http://img182.imagevenue.com/loc548/th_80671_Stukas_122_548lo.jpg (http://img182.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=80671_Stukas_122_548lo.jpg)

Rose
06-04-07, 03:38 PM
One convoy leader's day will turn helluva lot worse soon. :p
http://img182.imagevenue.com/loc548/th_80671_Stukas_122_548lo.jpg (http://img182.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=80671_Stukas_122_548lo.jpg)

Holy ****!

Jimbuna
06-04-07, 03:42 PM
@morgul001

Yes, I found the CD version from my local gameshop, so decided to pick that up (I like to have my games on CD instead of downloading them). And yes, I patched to 2.06 and the game is much stable now. Gotta double-check that I have the newest DirectX. Thanks for the link to the forum, btw! :up:

@CCIP

Mate, with hundreds of planes all around me, do you really think I have time to check when the planes flee/RTB?? :rotfl:

But I've noticed from the strategic map that the RAF usually dont follow the Luftwaffe planes too far out to the channel, so yes, I think they give up the chase more 'realisticly' than in IL2.

Tho, there's one thing I absolutely HATE about BoBII!! At times, the game feels like that I'm playing online with huge ping! At one moment the plane infront of me is banking left, but in a 0,0000001 second it somehow manages to transfer to the right side of my screen, sort of like warping you see if you are playing online and there's big lag. But fortunately I have only encountered it few times.

But overall, it's a great game to own if you are interested in Battle of Britain. :up:

Now, let the picture do the talking. :yep:

One convoy leader's day will turn helluva lot worse soon. :p
http://img182.imagevenue.com/loc548/th_80671_Stukas_122_548lo.jpg (http://img182.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=80671_Stukas_122_548lo.jpg)

:roll: :hmm: :lol:

Pinetree
06-04-07, 08:05 PM
+/- Campaign. AFAIK, you can only play as strategic commander in the campaign, designing sorties etc. You can however jump to a plane that is on the mission to fly. But it seems there's no pilot campaign (need to check the manual).
There is a sort of single pilot campaign, you can set up the AI to run the campaign and then select a single squadron to fly for. Details in this thread (http://shockwaveproductions.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8103)
- Engine. IL2 looks better for most parts, but still I get crappy performance when near fires & smokes. I think I need to test other drivers first to be sure if it's the game or my drivers.
make sure you have Particle Density set to MEDIUM as this is what the game is designed for(High is for future use)
Tho, there's one thing I absolutely HATE about BoBII!! At times, the game feels like that I'm playing online with huge ping! At one moment the plane infront of me is banking left, but in a 0,0000001 second it somehow manages to transfer to the right side of my screen, sort of like warping you see if you are playing online and there's big lag. But fortunately I have only encountered it few times.
Was this with the 2.06 patch?I'm pretty sure this was supposed to be fixed with 2.06....

PeriscopeDepth
06-04-07, 11:28 PM
\

Oh, and Dowly - one question about AI if you noticed it at all: do enemy planes disengage often?
One thing that always bugged me in IL-2 is the tendency of enemy fighters to never avoid or try to escape a fight except when damaged. Ended up with some really stupid situations and overly-decimating furballs. I was wondering if this game handles it a little better.

Yes, they do. And it's definitely a critical part to get right for a BoB game, as the 109s had to disengage often due to fuel. Aircraft will also disengage because of damage, or just because a noob pilot is scared.

PD

Dowly
06-05-07, 08:33 AM
+/- Campaign. AFAIK, you can only play as strategic commander in the campaign, designing sorties etc. You can however jump to a plane that is on the mission to fly. But it seems there's no pilot campaign (need to check the manual).
There is a sort of single pilot campaign, you can set up the AI to run the campaign and then select a single squadron to fly for. Details in this thread (http://shockwaveproductions.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8103)
- Engine. IL2 looks better for most parts, but still I get crappy performance when near fires & smokes. I think I need to test other drivers first to be sure if it's the game or my drivers.
make sure you have Particle Density set to MEDIUM as this is what the game is designed for(High is for future use)
Tho, there's one thing I absolutely HATE about BoBII!! At times, the game feels like that I'm playing online with huge ping! At one moment the plane infront of me is banking left, but in a 0,0000001 second it somehow manages to transfer to the right side of my screen, sort of like warping you see if you are playing online and there's big lag. But fortunately I have only encountered it few times.
Was this with the 2.06 patch?I'm pretty sure this was supposed to be fixed with 2.06....

Thank you very much, sir!

What comes to the warping enemies, it was way worse in the unpatched version, but it has been reduced ALOT with the 2.06. I get some warping, but it isnt so big anymore, under 0.5m if at all.

CCIP
06-06-07, 02:44 AM
Well, I got it and it looks quite cool. One thing I'm not quite happy about (okay, besides my terrible shooting!) is the performance. Any tips on tweaking this? My frame rate is definitely not where it should be...

PeriscopeDepth
06-06-07, 03:16 AM
Well, I got it and it looks quite cool. One thing I'm not quite happy about (okay, besides my terrible shooting!) is the performance. Any tips on tweaking this? My frame rate is definitely not where it should be...
What are your specs? To start with, unless you have a REALLY sweet rig turn particle density to low and mirrors off. And what are you getting by the way FPS wise? I have a mediocre rig, and have to run at mediocre settings with no AA to get 20-30 FPS in a large battle.

PD

SeaVee
06-06-07, 06:35 AM
@CCIP:

Don't set Particle Density above medium even if you have a very powerful PC. Above medium for PD is for future PCs.

What are your PC's specs? High weather and water have a big FPS impact, especially high weather in Poor and Inclement weather conditions.

BoB2 is generally VERY CPU intensive. Don't expect super high FPS, even with a powerful rig. The newer Intel dual core CPUs make a huge difference as BoB2 is actually mult-threaded code and takes advantage of what those dual cores are capable of. Don't get overly caught up in MAX FPS either, its not so important in this single player game. Try rather to get consistent FPS in the 20s to 30s with smooth gameplay. Even when it drops into the teens in the busy explosion scenes with tons of planes I don't really notice it being anything but smooth on my rig (specs below).

One thing I suggest if your PC can handle it is to set Anti-Aliasing ON in your video drivers. Try 2X or 4X or even higher if you PC is strong enough. BTW, anti-aliasing is NOT an in-game menu selection option but rather has to be done within your video card's driver settings section. Makes a HUGE difference on visual quality, as does forcing Vertical Sync ON.

If anyone gets BoB2 please be sure to patch to 2.06 AND make sure you install DX9.0C from April 2007 or later (yes there are several versions of DX9.0C and Microsoft in its infinite wisdom did not change the names to d,e,f or g, etc). Also be sure to visit the Shockwave Bob2 boards for tips or help. they are THE most active boards on the 'net for that game.

The one single mod I strongly recommend is the summer terrain. It is fantastic and far far superior to the stock terrain. It will likely be the "official terrain" in the next patch. Info and pics here: http://shockwaveproductions.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7843

My PC specs:
Pentium D 950 Dual-Core 3.4 GHZ o/c to 3.7; 2GB DDR2-667 RAM; Asus P5N32-SLI mobo; NVIDIA eVGA 8800GTX; Audigy 2Zs; Westinghouse 42” LCD @ 1920X1080; MS FFB2; TIR 4 Pro; Logitech G7 Lazer Mouse & Z560 5.1 speakers; Buttkicker Gamer

CCIP
06-06-07, 01:11 PM
I think you guys are right about the particle density as my main complaint is when the flak starts hitting; else it's quite tolerable. And yes, I imagine it would be CPU-intensive; my CPU is not that bad but certainly not a high performer (3GHz P4).

I'll also try the new DirectX; the one I have is the one that was installed with SHIV and that would be pre-april.

Otherwise I'm not that demanding on FPS, but what I was getting was below 20 in many situations, especially when there was explosions around.

Thanks! Will report back...

CCIP
06-06-07, 04:27 PM
Gosh, my FPS still drops down to 10 or so in a larger engagement with bombers. Can't quite figure out what's wrong with this; I'm starting to suspect it's not a video but rather a processor issue however. That said, I can't believe a 3 GHz machine wouldn't be enough, so I must be doing something wrong here :hmm: