Reviews...in depth?

[deltahawk2008]

Hi all,

 

Any of our Russian friends or media done an in depth review? Or can any of our bi-lingual friends tell us if anything has been posted on the Russian forums with in depth review? Tried those online translators. Definately something lost in translation.

[Ryujin]

Well, I could take a stab at doing a review.... I usually don't do reviews and things but I don't see anything else posted so I'll try my best :smartass: when I have time.

Edited October 30, 2008 by Ryujin

[Cosmonaut]

It is a little odd that BS feels like a sim that has yet to be released :huh: . In terms of user created media, it's like a ghost town :helpsmilie: .

[Heatseeker2K3]

It is a little odd that BS feels like a sim that has yet to be released :huh: . In terms of user created media, it's like a ghost town :helpsmilie: .

 

Hopefully BS is so good that the russian players cant think about doing anything else other than flying the shark :music_whistling:.

[Koriel]

Not a review, but some quick and early observations

 

Initial impression was very good. Nice slick interface. I won't make a full review, just some observations.

 

At first start I didn't have any sound.. Opened up skype and called a friend, can't remember exactly when, but sound came on (initiating/during/after the call) and has worked ever since.

 

Options: for some reason I expected to have a lot of options to tune. As you can see in the screenshots, there aren't that many, but after thinking about it, they seem to be sufficient.. Graphic options, same , In the lua files you can edit them, something I would have liked to see perhaps under an [ADVANCED] setting. But lua it is. The one thing that's very well thought out are the control/axis options. Takes a little while to figure out, but you can do a lot there.

 

Initial feel when you fly, GOOD. Haven't done any combat, just flown around and did some target practise. Trim takes a little to get used to. Basically you maintain the attitude you want, hit T and let go of any control inputs. That way even hovering can be really easy. One thing that kinda bugs me is the sound. When I fire the gun, I hardly hear anything, or even delayed. explosions, 2 km away are audible though.. When you open the door and fire the cannon, you can hear it fine. I have flown a few times in an F16 fixed based sim, and when you fire the gun in one it's like someone is using a jackhammer next to your head. I was expecting a little more sound in cockpit when firing the gun, and the balance between explosions in the distance ( no time delay btw.. ) and the gun firing a few feet away is way off.

 

Just did some target practise, placed some static targets on an airport and tried picking them off with a vikhr, some trucks blew up fine, some of the permanent vehicules and radar, nice explosions.. but then I fired like 6 vikhrs on a B52.. no damage at all, same with an A-10.. even strafing with guns ( and those large gunpods ), no damage.. Strange.

 

Performance, compared to Lockon it feels more evened out, like it's averaged out more. FPS was around 30 with everything maxed out and water = 1 (lua file) in an single a/c mission low ceilings and rain. feels smooth. I have a feeling that it's performance should be better on my machine. When I launch some flares and I look at them, it's nearly a slideshow. Side note, my wife plays World of Warcraft on a 2006 laptop. She gets much better visuals and performance even on raids, when you see the mayhem there at times, I really wonder how some flares and smoke can bring FPS down so much. Would be nice to be able to tweak it down just a notch.

There is a graphical artifact that is very noticable in the dark on the ground. Looking out of the left window, you see a white band running over the ground. during the day you occasionally see a tear in the same position. Dark is DARK btw, quite an improvement.

 

All in all, I have a feeling BS requires some patching, certainly to the sound, but out of the box it's quit playable, fun and very challenging. It's LockOn with a nice chopper, improved interface, but you can still see the gfx engine from flanker 2.0 in there. I really hope they will make an update to the engine an priority for any future releases.

 

A last note, second monitor is a 15', have not been able to get the shkval running on that. havn't really really tried yet, but heard through the grapevine that it won't work on Vista ( Now that's not very smart is it? )

 

Oh before anyone asks,

E8600 3.33 @ 3.66, 8G Ram, 2x750G in RAID0, 4870x2, Vista x64, 22' (1680x1050) X52Pro with rudders and trackIr4 Pro with the clip.

Edited October 30, 2008 by Koriel
typo's / adjusted text

[EvilBivol-1]

Thanks Koriel.

 

Although I personally tend to agree with your assessment of the sound, I was surprised to find a number of Russian users point out how much they like the sounds, cannon in particular! In fact, one such posters is a real Russian combat helicopter pilot (here). I suppose it may depend on the sound hardware, the sound settings in-game and even personal taste. As I said, I myself tend to agree with you. We should also note here that the individual sounds can also be adjusted in the LUA files.

 

In any case, I do believe ED will be working on a new sound engine soon.

 

Not sure what's going on with your tests against the B-52 and A-10. Possibly bugs.

 

The flares and some of the other special effects (dust cloud) can cause a big FPS hit, depending on your video hardware and drivers. Legacy technology. In general, most users share your experience and report relatively good performance even on high-end settings, especially relative to Lock On. Of course, mileage varies here and some users are experiencing issues, such as stuttering. Performance also depends on mission content.

 

In regard to options, I'm not sure I agree that they're "crap." As I've posted on simhq, there are a number of options available to ease gameplay besides, the "arcade" FM and radar. You can toggle invulnerability, unlimited fuel, weapons, labels, radio assits, cockpit tooltips, and padlock. IMHO, these are not insignificant.

 

The last point I will take some issue with is the comment that this is "Lock On with a helicopter." I think it's fair to say there are a number of important new features, including the completely redone ME with trigger functionality, additional terrain, new campaign system, new MP interface that includes a server browser, etc. Again, IMHO these are not trivial features.

 

Glad to see you're pleased with the product overall. As we've said in the past, it may not be perfect, but we believe it's a solid product.

Edited October 30, 2008 by EvilBivol-1

[GGTharos]

Koriel, what additions would you suggest for Options?

[Heatseeker2K3]

 

FPS was around 30 with everything maxed out and water = 1 (lua file) in an single a/c mission low ceilings and rain. feels smooth. I have a feeling here that it should be better.. When I launch some flares and I look at them, it's nearly a slideshow.

 

...

 

Oh before anyone asks,

E8600 3.33 @ 3.66, 8G Ram, 2x750G in RAID0, 4870x2, Vista x64, 22' (1680x1050) X52Pro with rudders and trackIr4 Pro with the clip.

 

A system like that and 30 fps only? Im scared :(..

[Squid_DK]

Thank you for the brief Review Koriel...

 

I'm hoping for the possibility to get some manuals soon (ED releasing english versions is the key here :D) and then doing some reading... With christmas coming up, the time for this will be limited anyhow.

 

Staffan

[Koriel]

Koriel, what additions would you suggest for Options?

 

Heh.. not a review remember.. :)

 

A very good question, a remark is easy to make, but now that you ask..

 

I was looking for something that could tune down flares, that's the only one for graphics now, and for sounds I wanted something to turn up the cannon sounds in cockpit. And for axis control something to smooth them down a bit. Options screen is not really lacking all that much, sometimes it's the engine behind it that determins what you can and can't do.

 

But I was under the impression that a lot of items would be configurable, just glancing at the list I felt that there wasn't all that much to choose from. Looking at them again and thinking about it, I can pick out a few things, but not a whole lot. I'll change it.

[GGTharos]

Oh, I just wanted your input to promote to the wish-list :)

 

On the axis control: You need to improve your own control of the aircraft, unless you're experiencing spiking. You should try to avoid tuning the curves if possible.

[RobGordon]

Looks like we need some serious hardware for BS. 30FPS with Koriel's specs and a slideshow when launching flares... doesn't sound too good.

[eurofor]

Thanks for your mini-review Koriel! It sounds like a fair one written after the excitement had calmed down a bit. :)

 

About the performance, it reminds me that I should try to overclock my CPU before I get it. Besides that, my system should be able to handle it since LO runs ok but considering your specs I'm not really sure.

 

I read this thread about multi-monitor support and it looks a bit dark. When you look into it more, could you see if there's any way to set up monitors with different resolutions to have the normal view and ABRIS on different ones?

 

I have set up an old 15" lcd in portrait mode (768x1024px) for the ABRIS which I'll hopefully be able to use for this. #2:

 

[159th_Viper]

A question specifically for the Beta-Testers who have had some mileage in the Sim, specifically, one would assume, In a Combat-Intensive Mission or the like:

 

Would 30FPS for BS (give or take the odd drop) not be adequate? I would have thought so........

 

A Squad-Mate has his LockOn rig capped at 30FPS and no problems re playability whatsoever.

[Ryujin]

EDIT: In reply to above concerns, I get smooth frame rates most of the time at 30 or a tad above. Haven't noticed any problems with flares. Large amounts of ground fire has caused small bumps in performance, but nothing too bad. specs:

Core 2 @ 2.13 Ghz

3gbs RAM

8800 GTS 640mb

XP

 

 

 

 

I have to agree with EvilBivol, from my experience the options were fine and the sounds is quite awesome, I have a subwoofer so the cannon fire is quite impressive. It never struck me as LOMAC: rotary addition, its got a nice array of new features and such. Graphics, sound, and all else has run smoothly for me, no bugs.

 

I've flown combat and practice missions so far and its and excellent sim when your in the cockpit. As a side note while I'm talking about the cockpit, I don't have trackIR, yet I found the 6DOF of freedom to not be too hard to use whit a little rebinding. I don't know what the procedure is, but I land sideways now to make the most out of being able to lean out of the door.

 

 

As for combat, I'm still learning. But while the KA-50 is no Apache, its a tough, agile, chopper with a bit more firepower against soft targets. Handling a single seater like this when try to move AND fire in combat can be a handful, but you can alter your tactics and binds to make the most of it and it gets easier. The helmet mounted sight is invaluable and the shkval isn't all that hard to use while moving once your familiar with flying the aircraft. For those of you who are wondering about using the unusually mounted 30mm cannon, I've been pretty impressed with its performance so far. Mostly the stand-off capability, I've engaged targets at 5-6kms with HE with good results for the most part.

 

Ground targets are much more dangerous now, I've been shot down by TOWs, cut up by 25mm and had 120mm shot at me (I think thats what it was :joystick: ). This where the spectacular as always damage model comes into play, the KA-50 is a pretty tough, just this afternoon I returned to base after some CAS to find I had been flying with with multiple 25mm HE/AP and 12.7mm hits on my aircraft (seemed to be about 6 or 7 25mm HE hits, including a 5 or so inch hole clean through the tail end of the body, from an AP round I think). Stingers can also make quite a mess out of a chopper.

 

Night flying is alright with nods, but actually trying to fight in a KA-50 at night is quite tricky. The ABRIS can be very helpful here, but generally it can be very hard to find anything other than muzzle flashes.

 

Overall, the KA-50 is pretty intuitive in its systems, if your even vaguely familiar with how a helicopter works, most of the switches and buttons will make sense. The weapon systems are also fairly straightforward, but I'm still kind of uncomfortable with the autopilot and auto hover, but I think I'm just missing something., I'm a tank simmer (SB Pro), not a virtual pilot for the most part.

 

I'd certainly recommend this product and I have yet to stumble across any major faults. As EB said its not perfect, but I think they got an extremely solid piece of software here.

 

PS: I think the static aircraft on airports are indestructible, as they seem to be treated like buildings, which was what was referred to in the above impression.

 

Edited October 30, 2008 by Ryujin

[159th_Viper]

 

Is that a 25ML strapped to the Whirly-Bird? :surprise:

[Ryujin]

hehe, yes. I stumbled across it when making a new payload. When you need something dead and it has to extra dead just to be sure, they work great. Also provides a bit more punch vs M1s, but you only have 2 shots.

[EvilBivol-1]

Is that a 25ML strapped to the Whirly-Bird? :surprise:

...and it works quite well for MP buddy lasing...assuming you punch in the correct laser code. ;)

 

Thanks Ryujin.

[GGTharos]

If you drop below 20FPS you'll have some trouble with steering - also keep in mind that Koriel is playing with everything maxed out.

 

And yes, 30FPS is quite adequate.

 

A question specifically for the Beta-Testers who have had some mileage in the Sim, specifically, one would assume, In a Combat-Intensive Mission or the like:

 

Would 30FPS for BS (give or take the odd drop) not be adequate? I would have thought so........

 

A Squad-Mate has his LockOn rig capped at 30FPS and no problems re playability whatsoever.

[GGTharos]

I've engaged targets at 5-6kms with HE with good results for the most part.

 

A grenade launcher is a grenade launcher :D

 

Ground targets are much more dangerous now

 

Ah! So you've noticed ;)

 

The weapon systems are also fairly straightforward, but I'm still kind of uncomfortable with the autopilot and auto hover, but I think I'm just missing something., I'm a tank simmer (SB Pro), not a virtual pilot for the most part.

 

The answer should be in the manual, but for now I'll give you a tip ;) Arrive at the posture you wish to take, then trim to maintain it, THEN engage AP/AH.

 

BTW, I play SB Pro also!

 

As for the KH-25's, there's a reason the real thing doesn't equip them, but I can't recall it. Might have to do with the rather heavy asymmetric loads it can generate, or the rocket exhaust, or something.

 

In general the Kh-25 is not an efficient weapon to use (IMHO) on the Ka-50.

 

You have the S-13's for heavy work (bunker and building busting) and Vikhrs will take care of any ground vehicle out there - you get more shots out of it all as well.

[Skyrat]

Hello, I'm curious as far as options go with the Flight Model/Dynamics. I hate to mention the other helicopter game Enemy Engaged (1/2/DO), but I like that you can enable/disable certain aspects. For example, Blade Stall, Over-Torque, Vortex Ring, Transitional Lift, and a few other helicopter-related dynamics are there for added realism. However, maybe you would like to disable VRS or Blade Stall but you want everything else as realistic as possible? Maybe there's a way in the options to edit these preferences, I don't know yet. I know either way I'll be buying it! Just curious if these options are available? Thanks.

[GGTharos]

No, they are not. You get either the full real flight model, or the arcade :)

 

Yes, it will take a little while to get used to flying properly to avoid those conditions, but I'm confident that you can do it!

[Shepski]

I was looking for something that could tune down flares,

 

This issue was brought up many times in testing but nothing was done.

 

In earlier betas I was able to use the Lock On Flare FPS tweak to help with flare performance when up close and in view. This should still work with the Russian release.

 

Search for the mod on your favorite Lock On website.

[Shepski]

Looks like we need some serious hardware for BS. 30FPS with Koriel's specs and a slideshow when launching flares... doesn't sound too good.

 

You only see this when the full flare and smoke trail dissipation is in view and up close to your viewpoint. 95% of the time it's not an issue.

[deltahawk2008]

Thanks to all who responded. Can't wait for the English lang ver to come out.