Normandy Map Discussion

Well after finally getting everything installed.... I like it. I really like it. Yes there are a few foibles and graphical issues and my FPS is only at 20 over towns and cities but who cares? The trees are full and rounded (and collidable. Oops), there are some birds (more needed please), the buildings look miles better, the whole thing - it just looks much more realistic.

I did what I set out to do and that was fly my Spit from France to England at dusk with a beer and I was very, very happy. I've yet to test the different settings so maybe I'll make it better still.

Cheers ED, have one on me.

I was surprised too to see the water had no depth/movement at all when I got all working finally. So unless you set high wind the ocean is basically at a 'glass' setting by default it appears.

 

Would be nice if ED made a change to make it have some minimum movement by default, so that it was not like a solid plane surface by default as it is now currently or rely on the user to set it up. I flew a couple quick missions and the mission creators appeared to leave it at wind 0 instead changing it so mission creators need to consider this as well it appears.

Yes, there is plenty of work to do. Flat calm seas are possible, but very rare, especially in a tidal waterway like the channel.

No doubt there will be a lot of tweaks made in the light of our feedback.

I attached here my settings.

When i fly over the fields ( no buildings, only trees, etc ) i have about 40 fps - average

When i fly over buildings, houses, i have 30 - 33 fps

Do you have any wind in the mission so that there is some chop to the water?

Wasn't there supposed to be WWII AAA, in the assets pack? Chose Third Reich and no anti air option...? Am I looking in the wrong place or is the AAA not out yet?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

... is the AAA not out yet?

That.

That.

So I missed a post somewhere, not an option. :) Cool, thanks cichlidfan.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Alot still to come

Well, to be brutally honest, it can't come soon enough.

I know it is 'early release' and there was a release date commitment but I would have expected it to be substantially complete and more in the way of needing community testing. There are significant shortfalls. No AAA, roads that go nowhere, missing roads (Normandy not England) and we've only just scratched the surface.

However I'm generally pleased with what we do have excepting the overly bright washed out graphics/lighting (what happened there?) and overly contrasted hedgerows seen from the air, so all together it seems there's still much work to do.

I'm afraid a few of my squad-mates have shelved it for now, disappointed on those shortfalls and making worried comparisons to 'the release of CoD' (not warranted in my own opinion).

Don't misunderstand me, I'm very glad we have it and it is generally very good but we've waited a long time and I hope ED can fill in the gaps very soon.

England wasn't part of the original plan, a few airfields were added for more mission options.

 

All I can say on the rest is that it's early access, ED is trying to build a WWII environment, the only other option is not to have released it all and wait till it was complete. Shelving it is probably best if early access isn't for you.

I don't have a problem with England, we got more than I expected. I just would have expected more complete content in Normandy even in early access.

I am not shelving it, I am working with it preparing a campaign to see how Normandy copes with it. A friend tried to create a simple mission and was so disappointed with the lack of Normandy roads and inability to place and route vehicles and a complete lack of WWII AAA, roads that go nowhere and roads that are only loops that he has shelved it, as have a couple of others. Call it feedback if you like.

EDIT: I wish WAGS email with this link had actually arrived last night before I wrote all of this:

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=188118

On a side note.

Im missing a lot some villages and towns that were historically important, for example in the American breakthrough like Coutances, Avranches and Mortain.

They are inside the modelled part of the map and there are towns and villages around less important or smaller modelled, but this three for example are key for the allied advance and are missing.

Generally happy with Normandy map but the general consensus among my squad mates wasn't the brightest either. Critical in my eyes are the things that demolish the scenario right now, namely the B-17 Damage Model and the lack of AAA, as many have stated. Rendering anomalies and missing roads aside, it's the scenario braking stuff that needs attention quickly. People were giddy to create big packs of B-17s to escort through enemy fighters and flak going off all around. Right now we have no flak and the B-17 fall apart when you sneeze at them:) So... keep calm and carry on I guess.

Normandy Feedback

I, and some squad-mates, have done some testing and have found the following:

NOTE: For graphics issues we are using VIVE VR and we also compared it to how it looks on a monitor. So the following mainly refers to VR use.

NOTE 2: By deleting User\Name\Saved Games\DCS.openalpha, to allow the version to make a new copy, very little difference was noticed.

Roads:

On the Map, in the Mission Builder, the road layout has some roads that are just closed loops, no way to get to them apart from going off-road.

The road network doesn't follow the actual (1944) road network, this makes it hard to do an accurate "Rommel Ambush" when Vimoutiers itself, and the road in from the North, doesn't exist on the map.

Looking at other aircraft from outside, their cockpit perspex appears fluorescent. Eliminated by turning "Deferred Shading to OFF".

From Inside, the Spitfire canopy has a similar "shine" in a strip when looking directly to the side 90'.

Some ammunition (definitely .50 Cal not Spitfire cannons & MG's) has black smoke that is very noticeable up to long ranges.

The spitfire cockpit, everything seems to be covered in fluorescent radioactive dust, not so in the 109, 190 and Pony. Not so much on a monitor. Eliminated by turning "Deferred Shading to OFF".

All aircraft Cockpit instruments are easier to read.

Normandy (and Nevada BTW) seem VERY bright. Eliminated by turning "Deferred Shading to OFF".

The sea is fairly featureless and very blue.

The sea turns to black at low level with no height reference, it really is a flat black surface (no, or low, wind set in mission).

Spitfire seems more stable on the ground.

The only way to get a B-17 bomber formation is through extensive work and testing, this really should be a simple process to add to a map. Doing this 4 planes at a time is, well, not good!

B-17's are very fragile.

The Normandy Terrain is very natural looking, gentle slopes and curves in hilly areas.

The houses look unrealistic, and the way towns "join" the countryside.

Crashes frequently when leaving a mission online and offline.

This testing was done in VR by 2 of us as well as on screen.

2 pictures to illustrate effects - Eliminated by turning "Deferred Shading to OFF".

[/img]

My PC:

Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 15063) (15063.rs2_release.170317-1834)

Language: English (Regional Setting: English)

System Manufacturer: System manufacturer

System Model: System Product Name

BIOS: 1904

Processor: Intel® Core i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz (8 CPUs), ~4.0GHz

Memory: 16384MB RAM

Available OS Memory: 16324MB RAM

Page File: 6336MB used, 12418MB available

Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS

DirectX Version: DirectX 12

DX Setup Parameters: Not found

User DPI Setting: Using System DPI

System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)

DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled

Miracast: Available, with HDCP

Microsoft Graphics Hybrid: Not Supported

DxDiag Version: 10.00.15063.0000 64bit Unicode

Display Device:

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti

Manufacturer: NVIDIA

Chip type: GeForce GTX 980 Ti

Display Memory: 14265 MB

Dedicated Memory: 6103 MB

Shared Memory: 8161 MB

Current Mode: 2560 x 1440 (32 bit) (59Hz)

Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor

Monitor Model: XB270HU

Monitor Id: ACR0408

Native Mode: 2560 x 1440(p) (59.951Hz)

One thing I discovered that, at least for me, needed to be done was to actually go into settings and look at the graphical settings, even if you don't change a thing. Initially I wasn't understanding what some people were complaining about with the gun flash effect being too big/bright as they looked fine to me in the first flight I took. The next 4 attempts to fly crashed the program each and every time. Went into settings and only changed the civilian traffic to low and then the game runs without crashing at all and I now see a big visual difference on the map and the gun flash that some were talking about. Evidently, none of the new settings were taking affect as I hadn't gone into settings to "enable" them. Learned my lesson.

so finally flew some flights over normanyd. First with the F5E, then secondly flight busted some panzers with A10C.

then finally flew a p51 XD

I have to say spotting heat sources from tanks in the Lightening TPG is easier here than on the Caucasus map. Which is great.

I like the concept of the introduction of a new lighting system , but as already noted here by a few other users : this needs major improvement. I know this is still an alpha, but imo everything looks too bright, in some instances washed out, and too much glare on the HUD.i was not even flying in the direction of the sun, when compared to the Old lighting system.

I know we are having problems with Normandy release and all, but I would like to comment some feature I didn't see anybody talk about.

Did anybody notice now aerodromes, even outside metal runways, can be used as grass runways and that can be felt in the aircraft handling? Quite easier now, even that times when having mastered the beasts nobody knows why :music_whistling: she gets indomitable, but grass runway gives that extra grip and room enough to take off or land safely. We can of course take off or land amid countryside in Georgia but it is a bit rougher I think. IMO it's quite a pleasant extra, very useful, not to mention realistic.

S!

Well this happens more with some cockpits than others.

Mig-15 F-86 are excellent examples of perfect integration. A-10C or Ka-50 the opposite.

So i think is more a module adaptation work than the new light system itself.

Yes, some cockpits have not been converted yet.

It's only getting better from now on... ;) Btw, been enjoying a lot the 2.1. :thumbup:

Pegasus Bridge

Hi, dunno where else to post this but are there any plans to put accurate model of the bridge at Benouville in the map? Seems a rather big omission from a Normandy 1944 map.

At present (alpha I know) its very poorly represented by the generic metal rail bridge in the map (I hope a few variations on bridge will come in time too) which also results in the map having to contrive a narrowing of the canal. The rather well known immediate surroundings are also absent.

Thanks

BOO