Channel Map. First impressions.

Flying the Spit in instant , with same settings as in Caucasus.

Frame rate in low 20s due to so many houses.

Wait a minuit. Is this WW2? Why so many houses?

It soon became apparant that this is not 1940's but 1990's at the earliest.

Approaching Eastbourne, I spied a harbour ahead. Sovereign Marina, built in the 80's and surrounded by huge estates, built in the housing boom of the same period.

Estates like this are all over the map.

Newhaven Harbour, is missing it's most noticable feature, the fort, built on top of cliffs, heavily used in WW2 and prominant on D Day, but it has modern industrial estates and houses built in this century, where there shouldn't be. It was a railway town during the war. Tracks were the big feature.

Dungeness has an industrial area on the beach (Nuclear power station), where there should be nothing.

Three quarters of the buildings on this map shouldn't be there.

Reservoirs built in the 70's.

The makers have made unnecessary hard work for themselves, if this is supposed to be WW2.

This is a map suitable for people who don't know the area.

To be continued.

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Frame rate in low 20s due to so many houses.

 

 

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Dubai has thousands of buildings rendered at the same time and no fps issues, but that's probably because it doesn't render bicycles. Someone at ED forgot about LOD optimisation:thumbup:. If the engine can handle Dubai, WWII era cities should be even easier. Yet, here we are.

I don't know what this map is supposed to be, certainly not WW2.

It's too heavily populated by stuff that shouldn't be there.

Frame killers, that we don't need.

GPU and RAM at max.

Commit Charge at 50% over max, something I've never seen before.

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I don't know what this map is supposed to be, certainly not WW2.

 

 

It's too heavily populated by stuff that shouldn't be there.

 

 

Frame killers, that we don't need.

 

GPU and RAM at max.

Commit Charge at 50% over max, something I've never seen before.

 

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I've just tested some settings and it apears the shadows are the biggest fps eater. Try to set terrain object shadows to flat. It's gonna look a little worse but it made the low pases playable for me.

You know what? I'm a SP player, not a historian, or some type of person looking to relive a previous life.

I spent much of this afternoon flying around the map just sightseeing in the spitfire. It is so beautiful. If you can't see beauty without dissecting it, maybe you should realise you are not a true aeronaut and take up another pastime instead. Get some romance in your souls for chrisakes.

I don't care a jot if a house on beechyhead had pink curtains in 1944, if it looks realistic between now and the crimean war, I'll take it.

I can see the hard work that has gone into this map, the really hard work. It is far easier to pick fault in two sentences than the guys that made it with 1 million lines of code.

Sorry guys. But take a very good look at yourselves.

Its time for you to leave DCS and write your own flight sim. If you can do better, I'll buy it.

No map has ever been a faithful reproduction of what is, or intended to be 100% historically accurate. DCS never claimed it to be a fully 100% historically accurate map.

If you want historically accurate placement of all objects you will have to make your own map from sourcing many 1000s of second world war reccy photos, make the 3D models, plant the trees and place everything in its historic location on a high resolution terrain.

Then sell it for less than $50.

By all means report stuff, but do it through correct channels on the bugs forum. Then ED are aware and have the choice to do something about it.

You know what? I'm a SP player, not a historian, or some type of person looking to relive a previous life.

 

... If you can't see beauty without dissecting it, maybe you should realise you are not a true aeronaut and take up another pastime instead.

 

... It is far easier to pick fault in two sentences than the guys that made it with 1 million lines of code.

...

Its time for you to leave DCS and write your own flight sim. If you can do better, I'll buy it.

+1 Could not have said it better :thumbup:

This map is average at best. Cash me ousside, how bout dah ?

This map is average at best. Cash me ousside, how bout dah ?

Avarage compared to what? This is objectively the best looking and most detailed map in DCS. The only maps better than this are in MSFS 2020 and that's not even out yet.

...This is a map suitable for people who don't know the area...

Here! I love the map. It has enough variation to not look like a copy and paste map like Normandy(or extreme Rheinland in another game). ED really did a good job with this. It is problematic to fly in VR because of the poor performance, but I'm sure ED will optimise it.

Is it impossible for you to enjoy the "experience" when you pass a area and see a house or industrial area, that wasn't there in 1944? Why? It is still a game only. Enjoy it. Historical accuracy doesn't exist in this environment. And I don't think we (developer and community) should put our emphasis on this. It doesn't change the outcome of a dogfight, or a ground attack. How many aircraft do fight in game against each other vs. what happend in 1944? How many armchair Pilots abuse their sim-aircraft to an extend a real pilot at that time would never even think of, because he wants to get home?

Take a step back and enjoy it. There is no need for frustration(I need to tell this myself in DCS again and again).

I'm not saying that it can't be improved. Provide a historical map and then ED can change it, when recources(time&money) permit it.

Fox

It soon became apparant that this is not 1940's but 1990's at the earliest.

Approaching Eastbourne, I spied a harbour ahead. Sovereign Marina, built in the 80's and surrounded by huge estates, built in the housing boom of the same period.

Estates like this are all over the map.

 

Newhaven Harbour, is missing it's most noticable feature, the fort, built on top of cliffs, heavily used in WW2 and prominant on D Day, but it has modern industrial estates and houses built in this century, where there shouldn't be. It was a railway town during the war. Tracks were the big feature.

 

Dungeness has an industrial area on the beach (Nuclear power station), where there should be nothing.

 

Three quarters of the buildings on this map shouldn't be there.

 

 

Reservoirs built in the 70's.

Although I don't have a particularly strong view on this, it does seem that the OP has a point. I mean this is what ED say on the store page:

'Our map of the South East of England and North Eastern France encompasses historical airfields, urban areas, roads and railways, ports and other features that make it the perfect setting for the World War II air war in Europe between 1940 and 1945.

Key Features:

40,000 square kilometres covering the English Channel region, set in the Second World War era.

Authentic recreations of the ports of Dover, Folkstone, Newhaven in England and Boulogne-Sur-Mer, Calais, and Dunkirk in occupied France.'

This obviously suggests that the map is WWII historically accurate, which doesn't appear to be the case.

Just saying!

It says that keypoints are historically correct. And they are. The rest for sure is made from todays OSM data an such, therefore houses in places where there should be rural area. Its not possible to do a map this size only by pure handywork. It will be tweaked and updated over time. It catches the mood of the english countryside quite well IMHO. Details are nice but way to overrated. The overall picture is very well done. And that counts for me.

 

'Our map of the South East of England and North Eastern France encompasses historical airfields, urban areas, roads and railways, ports and other features that make it the perfect setting for the World War II air war in Europe between 1940 and 1945.

 

 

/QUOTE]

 

 

Exactly that!

 

 

I'm trying to give a first impression from a flight along the South Coast, based on that statement. Nothing else.

 

 

The map itself is decent enough and will make a good sandbox, but is it WW2?

 

There are too many modern items in it to satisfy historic accuracy.

Flying at high altitude dogfight, it doesn't matter, but this map is best used in the weeds, or it's wasted.

 

 

Basically it's a Channel map at around mid 90's, with some WW2 airfields planted.

 

 

I would have prefered a 1940's map which could be used for later dates using the editor.

 

 

So, now it's time to cross the Channel and see what France has to offer.

 

 

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Just had the best WWII immersion ever while flying the spit over channel map. Thanks ED!

I've just bought the map, and as I said earlier, I don't have a strong opinion on this, but I do feel that if ED has said that it is historically accurate for 1940-45, then it should be.

The statement '40,000 square kilometres covering the English Channel region, set in the Second World War era' is pretty clear.

If it is not 19040s accurate, then that is fine, but don't say it is, IMO.

I think this is the most beautiful map I've ever flown over in DCS. I'm sure if there are very obvious points of interest like the castle missing they can be added over time if customers request it. There is tweaking to be done on performance but I'm mostly flying buttery smooth. That 2600k is probably your problem Holbeach. I do agree that if you are going to claim it's period accurate it should be within reason.

What will happen to the Normandy map and those of us who already have that map? Seems a little pointless buying another "same" map :dunno:

What will happen to the Normandy map and those of us who already have that map? Seems a little pointless buying another "same" map :dunno:

Sorry, but in what way are these the 'same' map? And, why should the Channel map affect the Normany map (or the people who purchased it) at all?

Oh no, a "frankenmap monster"! How is this possible in DCS? :megalol:

Sorry, but in what way are these the 'same' map? And, why should the Channel map affect the Normany map (or the people who purchased it) at all?

Oh, I thought the Channel map would contain Normandy as well, just be a bigger map of the area :)

I love this map!

I'd love to have a few more FPS, but I love this map.

Make more maps!

Holbeach you are well wide of the mark; there are plenty of areas that reasonably accurately the layout and extents of the urban areas referenced against a 1940's timeframe. You have taken one town, towards the edge of the map that has not yet been trimmed to prototypical limits and made that a measure of the entirety; that's not only lazy but to then post with as much vitriol as you did we can only assume that you have some sort of pre-formed issue with this map or ED.

I lived in the SE in the 1950's - 60's living in Bexhill and Margate, and I spent time in the military at Deal. I also worked at Dover port in the 1980's. I bought the map assuming it would be reasonably accurate historically, and I have to say I would be hard pressed to say it was a map of Kent in the war years. It's more like the Kent I remember in the 1980's. That said it's a damn sight better than Normandy, in many respects, so I can live with the errors. Its only a game after all, not real life !

Holbeach you are well wide of the mark; there are plenty of areas that reasonably accurately the layout and extents of the urban areas referenced against a 1940's timeframe. You have taken one town, towards the edge of the map that has not yet been trimmed to prototypical limits and made that a measure of the entirety; that's not only lazy but to then post with as much vitriol as you did we can only assume that you have some sort of pre-formed issue with this map or ED.

Vitriol? Didn't read that way to me. He was/is just pointing out the inaccuracies of a map supposedly set in the 40s.

Nothing wrong with that, IMO.

I've just tested some settings and it apears the shadows are the biggest fps eater. Try to set terrain object shadows to flat. It's gonna look a little worse but it made the low pases playable for me.

I set shadows to flat and it made a big difference.

Edit: I found I had MSAA set to X4 instead of my usual X2.

Low level is now OK for me with a minimum of 30 fps over towns, (200' AGL Harrier).

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No, imacken. He's here to vent, p*** & moan.

How do i tell this?

1. No supporting data - no screenies of current map vs. historic map of own extents; you know, an effort to educate the devs in their error and assist them in referencing appropriate sources to correct it.

2. No reference to any other areas that may or may not reflect similar issues

3. Only too ready to assume that since one tiny fraction of the map he is familiar is not 100% spot on that, therefore, the entire map is a slap-dash, rushed, perfunctory effort thrown out the door to keep us quiet.

I'm not denying there are problem areas; I am part of a group going through the map finding issues and Eastbourne is certainly one of them.

However, I live in Kent and have been on the whole remarkably surprised at the level of accuracy in some parts.

For example, let's take the town of Maidstone; prior to 1977 a series of paper mills occupied the south bank of the Medway on the Southern edge of the town in an area known as Tovil. These had been in existence since the late 1800s. The main railway line to feed wood, coal and other assorted goods to these mills was on the North bank of the river, therefore a spur line was required bridging the river to access the mills.

In 1977 the mills disappeared along with the siding, and the bridge across the river.

So go look at the DCS map and tell me whether it's there or not.

I wonder how many people here could tell me the extents of the town of Obinsk in Russia was in 1944 and how that relates to the area today?

Given that the developers are not locals, is it surprising that somethings are incorrect or that the wrong data is referenced?

I would suspect that the underlying terrain data is satellite based and that in order to reach prototypical layouts they are progressing through towns one at a time, deleting the areas that represent developments made post-war.

Perhaps they didn't get to *insert your pet peeve town name here* yet. Did that ever cross your mind?