Waiting time

We can only guess the real reason for the next patch delay, be it that bugs are not fixed yet (and if not all of them, don't the developers have anything fixed?), or waiting for the USA release, or something else.

In any case, this delay is bad for the "moral".
Personally I haven't launched the game since the release of the beta patch, waiting to see what this beta patch brings to us, but to no joy. It feels like, being stuck in beta patch is worse than being in a previous release version, as a beta patch means that we're close to fixing problems, thus it's like shouting "wait a minute, game will become better shortly". And this "minute" has taken long :-(

Where is the next patch, we're bored to death...

Amazing detail!

Well, I flew a bit over London and crashed my BF on some buildings and here it was this picture, a random building (maybe a pub?), with a poster on it!

Amazing level of detail!

What I also noticed is that flying (alone) over London, wasn't that bad in terms of performance.
Let's see how it'll work with more planes in the air.

Understanding propellers

Here is an excellent video, that I found in 1C's forum, explaining the use of propellers.

Benchmarking 1.00.14101

OK, here we are back from Easter holidays, checking patch 1.00.14101.

I did some FPS benchmarking, using ingame's system (fps START SHOW) on following video settings:

Video settings

What I got is Average: 55, Maximum: 129, Minimum: 14, which I consider decent especially to pre-patch situation.

My system is following:
Intel i-2500k at 3.6Ghz
ATI HD6850 1GB
8GB ram
Win 7 64bit

Now waiting for new patch, which will hopefully improve situation (actually the minimum FPS is what needs to be fixed).

Il-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover: Patch 1.00.14072 -ARIL 15

OK, I did spend an hour in this patch and feelings are mixed.
First of all I need to make clear that I'm still setting up the controls and actually I still haven't found the way to do a lot of things.

So, I installed the beta patch and ran the game.
It seems that fps are better and there is much less stuttering, but still, when you're over land you feel like having an old pc. And this comes from me that I just spent 1.000 euros for a new pc, for this game!
So, what do we get here? We spend 1.000 euros for a new pc that can play at max settings any other game (including Crysis 2 and all latest major titles) and we can't play Clod over land even though video settings are not maxed out? That's not good. Not good at all.
Nevertheless, I do hope that developers will rush things and soon we'll be able to play it without problems.

Some other remarks:
- Windmills working...nice :)
- How the heck do we understand that we hit the enemy plane? It seems that you don't see the hits.
- I don't know other people's opinion, but although the graphics from within the cockpit are wonderful, when it comes to external views they are so...medium. They almost feel worse than 1946's ones.

What's the best part?
Some may not agree, but the best part to me is that game is difficult. It's not the game that every fps guy will join and think they can be an ace in a couple of weeks. Simply as that, not all of us will become aces and those who will, will become only after a lot of work and many hours online.



This should be the official hoodie for Clod

Getting back to the beta patch, it is an improvement over past, but still not as good as it must be.
For your info: i-2500k, ati hd6850, 6gb ram.

New patch coming!

Today's update from Ilya was nice :)

First of all he made us feel safer with regards to the mods problem, although his suggested protection is not what we wanted, as it seems that Hyperlobby support may not exist, or be at "our own responsibility".
Something like "if you want to fly in Hyperlobby, then it's your problem to find a solution against cheaters".
Now, considering that Steam is not nearly half as good as Hyperlobby (or at least that what we feel after being there for 10 years...), the question is:
Can Jiri Fojtasek find a solution against cheaters if we use Hyperlobby?
We should consider this as a top priority imho.

Back to the upcoming patch now.

1. Further improvements to framerate in regards to the terrain engine. The improvement promises to be the most drastic yet, but since it’s currently split in half between two different machines we won’t have a more precise idea of the FPS gain until later today or early Friday.
2. SSAO is optional, a checkbox in Video Options.
3. Texture manager split into a separate core, which does wonders for performance on 4+ cores but offers no improvement on two cores.
4. Texture quality slider added to video options.
5. New Steam Lobby feature as an alternative to existing Server search.
6. Improvements to the Quick Mission Builder feature.
7. Large number of various changes in aircraft and cockpits

All of these additions sound like that game is coming to a playable condition and most probably we'll be able to move from this hectic status.
Especially this 4+ cores performance boost is the best news I could hear :)
And, if it proves to be a version that 70%-80% of the users play it without problems, then it'll be a huge success for Ilya and the rest of the developing team!
Let's wait and give the congrats when the time comes!



People protesting, asking for Hyperlobby support



Mods already

When I first noticed that core files are packaged with SFS method, I understood that game is "open" to almost anyone. Back in IL-2, when this method was hacked, it was the last nail to the coffin of online wars, as the already damaged trust between members, after some cheaters' exploits, never recovered.

And what do we get now? Well, community member Kegetys has made some performance improvement mods and offered them to the desparate for a playable game community (check here).
This leads us to many thoughts, such as, why wouldn't the developers offer these tweaks to make the game better playable and what's their plan to "protect" online gaming, since mods are here from beta period already! Actually, is there any real plan to protect online gaming? We'll have to wait and see.

In any case, we do hope that improvement tweaks will be included in next official patch, so all of the community starts to spend their time on the game and not on how to make it playable.

New mod specially made to get Batros back to the game.

First impressions flying Clod in new PC # v.1.0.13954

Well, yesterday I got my new PC, which is quite good.
It has an Intel i-2500k cpu, an ASUS ATI HD6850 gpu, 6gb of kingston ram pc1600 and an SSD disk.
It's not the "best", but it definetely should be able to play all current games in highest quality.

So, I installed Clod with new patch (1.0.13954) and said to myself "let's try it first in medium settings and then in higher". And so I did.
I ran a couple of single missions, one over sea/land and another with dogfight over sea and here is what I got.
Flying alone over sea is nice. It is smooth, no real problems.
Flying over land it's still not a good idea, as you get stutters.
Being close to other planes is a no-option, as there are stutters again.

So, all we get is that game is still unplayable even in brand new decent systems.

Ilya and the rest of the team has really a lot more job to do in order to offer the game as it should be...

Ilya and team trying to complete Clod

Flying with keyboard

Most probably I'm of the first flight simmers, as I used to play games since first spectrum (when was that, I don't remember anymore!) and then I recall some vector graphs flight sim in Amstrad and so on.



High tech joystick :)


At some point I stopped playing (you know how it goes when you first meet girls) and then I came back when IL-2 was alive.



I was not flying for a good reason!

  On those days I joined a squad and tried to learn how to fly and although in my childhood I used to fly with a joystick, at early IL-2 days I didn't own one.
So, what do you think happened? Some guys in that squad convinced me that I could fly by using the keyboard! And so I spent at least a couple of months of my life for nothing. Or actually there was fun...for those teammates that kept shooting me down like I was a huge zeppelin waiting for enemy bullets to explode :D

I really tried hard to fly with keyboard.

That was when I got my first lesson which was simple: DON'T EVER LISTEN TO IDIOTS WHO TELL YOU THAT YOU CAN FLY WITH KEYBOARD ONLY!

So, if you're new to this game and want to explore more of it, make sure you start with a joystick.
Everything else, even the copy of the game itself comes after this :D

New patch on Friday?

If things go as scheduled, by Friday we'll have a new patch, solving a lot of the current issues.

Ilya promised that he'll do his best to make the game playable, so we can move on to usual whining about FM, DM, AI's etc, that gave us life through the last decade :P

Typical Luftwhiner crying for the lack of BF 109-E4 in Clod

Waiting for my new PC :)

Today I ordered a new pc and hopefully will be ready by the end of the week :)
Then, I'll install game again and will be able to tell more.

Waiting for pc technology to match-up Clod's capabilities

Setting up the controls # version 1.00.13820

What's amazing with this game and gives you a hint of the complexity that comes with it, is the controls' assignment. I think that even the most experienced sim fans won't be able to assign everything at once.
It seems like an ongoing procedure, something to do while game is being prepared by developers ;)

First of all you can assign the Axes.
There you can assign Aileron, Elevator, Rudder, Throttle, Flaps, Breaks, Propellor Pitch, Radiator and Oil Radiator, Supercharger, Carburateur Heat and some more controls. Quite a variety compared to our beloved IL-2:Sturmovik!

Note the "Dead Zone" options!

Then, you can move to the Keys assignment.
Well, here you got infinite options!
First of all, you can assign as many keys as you want to each operation. Just move to an operation, press NEW and you can add one more key for it.
What you definitely need to have set from the beggining are the following:

• Engine initiation
• Guns :-)
• Trim Elevators
• Flaps
• Undercarriage 
• Bail out :P
• Map. Some may disagree, but it's what some of us need to play with ;-) 

Did you notice that you can set the keys of the "Builder" as well? Nice :)

Those who plan to use a hotas control system with custom profile, keep a good note of what keys you assigned and where, so you can add them in the new profile ;)
By the way, you can find good hotas information at http://www.hotas.gr/ .

At this point, just save everything and go and fly a bit. It's nice to play with settings, but it's better to fly!

Activations

Ain't it silly that we're able to activate this game only 3 times, when it's stil in beta mode?
Don't they understand that people will try it in various pc's and change pc parts (i.e. gpu) in their desperate actions to make this game work?

As soon as the beta ends, ok it might be reasonable to restrict many activations, but not before the game is ready.

Friend of mine wondering what to do now that she "burned" her 3 installations

Free copies of Clod!

Raggz, a guy from SimHQ community is offering a couple of Clod licenses for free.
One English and one Russian in particular.
These are unused (not registered with Steam), therefore it's a nice gift for someone who really needs it.

More details about the participation in the lottary here: http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3254927.html#Post3254927



       Well done Raggz!!!

Clod's forum in 1C moved

Clod's forum in 1C has moved to http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/forumdisplay.php?f=189

New categories, well structured, awaits our contribution to mess it up as usual :P

How soon can we make it unreadable?

Poll

I made a poll among people I know, to see what PC specs they have and the answers were interesting.

• 1% of them has latest, state of the art, PCs
• 4% owns technology of the last year
• 30% plays in 2 to 3 year old PCs  
• 50% stll uses their 3 to 6 years old PC and can play decently even latest games
• 15% answered "what's a PC?"

None of them can play Clod at all :)

Obama wonders whether his PC can run Clod

Setting up the game (1) # version 1.00.13820

So, here we are the game loaded!

We see dark colours in the whole design, something different from what we were used to in IL-2. It also feels like a very simple and modern design.

First thing you got to do in each game is going to the options, right? :)

And since everyone experiences problems with the performance of the game, let's move straight forward to Video Options and do some tweaking.

First thing to do, if you're sure that you don't suffer from epilepsy (neither anyone who watches you playing over your shoulder), is to uncheck the Anti-Epilepsy Filter.
Then, it's best to uncheck the Grass/Shadow/Roads tabs and set the Detail Mode to Medium or Low, depending on your system.
It's wiser to set your pc at lower settings and then move higher if possible, than start with high settings, crash to desktop and curse your wife when she asks you why your face is red :P
If you aim high, your best bet is that game won't load ;)
Setting a lower resolution, if it's supported by your screen/VGA, might help if you experience more problems.

So, you press ok and let's have a quick look at the Audio Options.

Nothing special here, neither in Network Options.

One last look at the Realism settings, which are by default set to easiest level.

Keep them like this while you're setting the game, but don't forget to instantly change them when you start the real "flights". You wouldn't want to get used to such unrealistic settings, would you? ;)



To be continued...

Installation

The original download was a 3.86gb folder, named "il-2_sturmovik_cod".
In there we have the "setup.exe" file which we run in order to start things up.

Of course Steam wouldn't make things easy and the moment the setup started it just could not connect to Steam!!!
I spend half an hour trying to connect, changed my password, locked my kids to their room and still nothing.
Steam would recognize a wrong password, but when I inserted the right one it would just get me back to the login screen requesting the password again.
In the end it popped a message that for security reasons (or something like that) I'd had to get a code from an email that they sent me and insert it before I move on. At last it worked, but yes I had to spend half an hour for no reason. Steam it is :)

And then the installation started and to be honest I was amazed to realise that it took shorter time than what IL-2/1946 takes to install!
Was it a good sign or not, that was the real question :)
A rather small file of 3.8gb and a short installation time made me think whether this game is not that "big" as we always hoped and believed.
You know, most of us who are in this community since forever think of this game as the Holy Graal and seeing it "small" can make you wonder if there's gold here or not.
On the other hand, programming is not about size. Good programming should be as short as possible and for such a game the "core" folder with only 400mb seems like good work.
One more thing. Clod has less maps and planes than 1946, therefore much less big files that come with maps and planes ;-)

During the installation it also checks/installs the typical DirectX and Microsoft's Client Redistr. parts, so we can run the game.
Of course this means that you have to restart the game when the installation finishes, so you can have these, and eventually the game, working!!! So...please don't cry if the game won't start if you didn't restart.

Right after the restart Steam should update the game automatically (thank God they have fast servers, so no big wait) and that's all, you're good to go!

Just installed it and...

...I totally agree that game is unplayable.

But first of all let me confess that my current system is outdated :)
Win XP SP3
CPU: AMD 3800XP (single core)
GPU: NVidia 9800GT
RAM: 2GB

So, I never expected much from it.
Still, I'm impressed that even in "Very Low" video settings it's just horrible, EXCEPT from the cockpit and the water.
I will discuss this again later, but no matter how the rest of the game is and looks like, the Cockpit and the Water/Sea are marvelous even at lowest graphic settings!

Will get back soon with more about my first impressions and the whole setup.

Youtube: Adolf H. and IL2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover

A nice one here :D

We're all equal!

[Humour mode ON]
It seems that Oleg is a good communist and offered a game that we're all equal. No matter what PC you have, you get same bad performance :D
[Humour mode always ON :)]

Party upon release of the game

Best price (?)

Haven't checked every online shop, but from the research that I've made the best price is at direct2drive.
They offer it at £29.95 (minus some promo code) compared to Ubi's or Steam's price of €49.99.

What's amazing though is that Amazon.co.uk and Play.com still don't offer the game!

New subforum for technical threads

A very useful addition in 1C's forum for technical threads, hopefully freeing the main forum for Clod-related threads.

Thanks nearmiss or whoever took the initiative :)

Unplayable

Reading all forums and everybody agrees that game is unplayable at this moment.
What they don't understand though is that currently game is in beta mode and we shouldn't expect to see it working as IL-2:Sturmovik.

Download day

At last there came the day when Clod is available for download.
March 31st from 00:01 GMT and as soon as I woke up I started the download so I can find the file ready when I get back from work.