Could This Be Possible

[C3PO]

.... so many possibilities with this map area.

 

Edited April 19, 2021 by C3PO

[Bananabrai]

If it extends enough to the south, Kuwaiti Invasion and the resulting Gulf War.

Also Iran-Iraq... 

 

Not so bad, looks nice. Although I am almost tired of hot areas, as Afghanistan will also become a thing.

I was so relieved that Syria has trees and green stuff on it, and I know Afghanistan can be cold.

But it's still kind of a sand-coloured map and its not somthing lika a baltic map...

Thats why Falklands will be cool (like beeing nice and in a cooler are^^)

 

So I have to say, I am wishing for maps nearer to the poles. 

[draconus]

On 4/19/2021 at 7:52 AM, C3PO said:

.... so many possibilities with this map area.

3500km x 3500km ? Are you serious?

[Silver_Dragon]

 +1TB size of map? actually has very far far away build that "monster.

[Rick50]

Quote

Could This Be Possible

 

Nope, at least not anytime soon it's not!

 

Consider that the map you posted actually covers three map modules right now? The Persian Gulf map, the Syria map, and at least part of the Caucasus map. Which probably together only accounts for about 10% of the area you want.

 

Now, yes, we all see the potential for lots of scenarios on such a map, we'd love it. But there's a few MAJOR limitations for a map that size: that's a LOT of map for a developer to make. It takes years of development to make a map for DCS. The ones of today's sizes. To make your map, would probably take an extra 2 years longer to make, maybe even more than that.

 

The second problem is terrain data storage: you're gonna need a bigger boat! Or a bigger terrabite drive to store it on. The third problem is handling all that extra data running through your computer while flying missions. And with such a large map, you might expect to have jets all over the map doing missions, which could be so many units that the computer can't number crunch fast enough...

 

Personally, I'd love to see maps of that size, and eventually it WILL be possible to do. But it's probably gonna be maybe 10 years before we see that happen. I want to see a similar size map covering Norway Sweden Finland and the north western corner of Russia, that featured in the old EF2000 sim of the 1990's. But in those days the terrain was laughably simple. The entire sim's install was only 89 megs of data, not just for the terrain, but all the vehicles, the Typhoon, the AI Flankers and Fulcrums, the whole "game"! Keep in mind, today's DCS user made skins include some that are LARGER than EF2000's entire install, I just noticed a Tomcat skin/repaint for the Heatblur that is 120megs!! Not exactly typical, and many skins are just 3 to 9 megs, but my point remains: the more detail, the more storage you need, the faster the computer to process that extra data, the longer development time to create and then tweek the map product for good enough framerates... 

 

It WILL happen... eventually. But not anytime soon. Just too many hurdles at this time.  Just imagine the complaining that would result when people with mid-range computers and 5 year old vid cards try such a giant map with VR... you'd never hear the end of it!

(not trying to pick a fight with VR users though)

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by Rick50

[Baaz]

Please, can we take a break from desert sands.  I'm really needing a map with more greenery. 

[spacemishka]

Am 20.4.2021 um 16:26 schrieb Silver_Dragon:

 +1TB size of map? actually has very far far away build that "monster.

Just upgrade to the latest GPU, CPU and RAM to 256GB  

[WRAITH]

I'd rather like most flight simulations develop a world map, it just needs to happen!

 

ED Dev's should just build the frame work and allow for third parties to begin to fill up the landscapes / nations / continents etcetera ....  in either SD or HD or 4K scenery so on.

 

It also does not need to be realistic for military or classified air bases but fictional air bases or approximations would suffice.

 

Got to be realistic in the what we could or allowed to have verses what is high expectations.

 

 

[Killshot0597]

23 hours ago, WRAITH said:

I'd rather like most flight simulations develop a world map, it just needs to happen!

It would be nice but would be completely impractical for DCS. I don't see a point to it honestly. I would love if maps got bigger, for example.

With the maps we have now, Caucasus, Syria and then Persian Gulf. They are all pretty close to each other and at most I'd love to see maybe the 3 maps or at least Syria and Persian Gulf combined. A world map is just too much. I love the detail of the maps that DCS gives us, a world map would entail poor quality for the parts of the world that haven't been developed yet. ED simply doesn't have the resources to take on such a huge undertaking.

[WRAITH]

1 hour ago, KIllshot0597 said:

It would be nice but would be completely impractical for DCS. I don't see a point to it honestly. I would love if maps got bigger, for example.

With the maps we have now, Caucasus, Syria and then Persian Gulf. They are all pretty close to each other and at most I'd love to see maybe the 3 maps or at least Syria and Persian Gulf combined. A world map is just too much. I love the detail of the maps that DCS gives us, a world map would entail poor quality for the parts of the world that haven't been developed yet. ED simply doesn't have the resources to take on such a huge undertaking.

 

yeah, okay..... but did I say that ED had to create all, read my reply post again.

 

I said let ED build the code and frame work for a global map and then let the 3rd party devs fill in the landscape details, yeah!

 

Flight is not merely circling around nearby surrounds but continental global air travel meaning flight is anywhere around the world.

 

FLIGHT - Commercial or Military is GLOBAL, FACT!

 

THINK - INTERDICTION MISSIONS - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_interdiction  ............... long flights

 

This what most serious flight simmers want not short missions like a game and no campaign engine either to add or tactical employment or even flight routes link- https://www.mapsofworld.com/world-airroutes-map.htm

 

However what would be cool to add is saved flight missions then you can continue at later date..... more of that here.....  https://forums.eagle.ru/search/?q=saved missions&quick=1

 

Its a flight sim not a Grand Prix sim with race tracks to develop that would suit the argument of building in blocks per race tracks around the world.

 

Planes fly cross continents and countries. point made, I believe.

 

ED CODE AND FRAMEWORK needed for 3rd parties DEVs to take on the task of creating the landscape!

 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2021 by WRAITH

[draconus]

@WRAITH You have mistaken DCS for a FS. Most DCS players fly 1h max missions. Some dedicated simmers will fly longer. And then a minority would like to fly long hours. That's why the details are developed just enough to fit within a few hundred miles. Interdiction type does not dictate that it's a long flight either.

Of course we all want it, ED included, and it will happen some day, but for the time being it is a distant future.

[Killshot0597]

46 minutes ago, WRAITH said:

I said let ED build the code and frame work for a global map

You underestimate the sheer amount of work a world map entails. Easier said then done.

[shagrat]

Am 17.8.2021 um 12:58 schrieb WRAITH:

I'd rather like most flight simulations develop a world map, it just needs to happen!

 

ED Dev's should just build the frame work and allow for third parties to begin to fill up the landscapes / nations / continents etcetera ....  in either SD or HD or 4K scenery so on.

 

It also does not need to be realistic for military or classified air bases but fictional air bases or approximations would suffice.

 

Got to be realistic in the what we could or allowed to have verses what is high expectations.

 

 

My wife would love to get a pony...

Ok, seriously. Have you taken a look at MSFS lately? Are you remotely aware, of the infrastructure involved to provide a world map? It is a giant Azure Cloud stack in the background.

That's possible, because MS owns(!) one of the worlds larger Cloud infrastructures, as a prerequisite.

 

What I personally would hope for, is to enable a transition of some sorts, between the current maps with "blank areas" filling in low detail in between the maps. Even that would have interesting implications for the performance and minimum specifications, as you need to have all involved map areas in memory, as it would be possible to have actions commencing on more than one map at the same time... A simple "If Building A on Persian Gulf Map is destroyed then spawn Group B on Batumi (Caucasus Map)" would be interesting, to say the least... and that is a more simple issue.

Edited August 18, 2021 by shagrat

[shagrat]

vor einer Stunde schrieb WRAITH:

This what most serious flight simmers want not short missions like a game and no campaign engine either

I beg to differ. Actually most serious flight simmers flying DCS want a campaign engine, a better AI to provide a living, breathing conflict in which to participate. Another big group plays single player and enjoys story driven campaigns and a lot of people with something commonly known as "life" often comprised of things like "work" and/or family prefer 1-2 hours mission that they can squeeze into their tight schedule.

The idea of a "save game option" could definitely help here, but not that much for multiplayer.

That's where a dynamic campaign engine would really shine.

[Bananabrai]

On 8/18/2021 at 1:48 PM, draconus said:

@WRAITH You have mistaken DCS for a FS. Most DCS players fly 1h max missions. Some dedicated simmers will fly longer. And then a minority would like to fly long hours. That's why the details are developed just enough to fit within a few hundred miles. Interdiction type does not dictate that it's a long flight either.

Of course we all want it, ED included, and it will happen some day, but for the time being it is a distant future.

 

Maybe they only fly 1h missions because of the map size. And besides, I cannot confirm that estimation. I have not taken part in such a survey.

 

I think it would not be feasable to compare such an idea with the new FS2020. I mean, it doesn't have to be the perfect thing right out of the box.

DCS has been evolving slower than other games, why could it not evolve slowly with such a thing as well.

For a start a world like FSX, XPlane 10, XPlane 11, maybe even FS9 would be enough to test the value of it and if it works.

As a tester I would even go this far and have a blue empty potatoish sphere to test the maps on, then KSP style or whatever.

Edited September 14, 2021 by Bananabrai

[Rick50]

 

MAYBE... maybe they are working on such a plan. No, this is not a hint, I don't "know" anything. But sometimes, when trying something new, early "tests" and "prototypes" get created, not shown to the public.  I'm guessing is making some simple tests to try and determine the best route forward... 

 

Thing is, making a global map needs many resources. FS9 had one of the world's most powerful giants to help develop it. XP10 or 11 is more impressive for the tiny team that makes it... but they depend quite a lot on the community users to help upgrade it's world, especially airport layouts submitted by users, and lots of freeware scenery makers. And despite all that, sometimes XP11 can look amazing... and sometimes look potatoe... it's a monumental task.

 

It all makes the latest MSFS2020 look like an "impossible dream". Not actually impossible, but seeming to require soooo much efforts from data resources, from teams of humans, from AI and photogrametry (requires big number crunching), many manual corrections... and then a truly VAST cloud-based data distributor for the users to syphon from. MS partnered with several other companies to make that all happen. For ED to do similar would likely require several partnerships. I have no idea about the financial needs to do this.

 

 

"proof of concept" is a good term, for when someone has an idea, and wants to see if the idea might be worth trying, they will try testing the concept. I think maybe ED is near this stage for ideas for increasing map coverage. Maybe.

Edited September 14, 2021 by Rick50

[Mab8]

Am 26.4.2021 um 17:48 schrieb Baaz:

Please, can we take a break from desert sands.  I'm really needing a map with more greenery. 

 

 Vietnam 

[Baaz]

On 9/15/2021 at 11:26 AM, Mab8 said:

 

 Vietnam