DCS World 2.0 and New Maps Discussion Thread

[BRooDJeRo]

Back when the beta first came out and I was learning, it would have been great to have Nevada as a training area. But now, I could take it or leave it. I get it for free, so I can't complain too much.. Maybe someone will build an "Invasion USA" styled mission for it.. Wolverine!

 

Or contain a huge jailraid by bombing the megajail with high altitude bombdrops... :huh: :D

[Laud]

The most disappointing thing is, that things seem to look not too promising when it comes to scenery addons in general...

[Weta43]

I wouldn't get too pessimistic about future terrain addons - there was an SDK and people were building them before EDGE was announced - that's where the Nevada map had it's origins.

At present it seems to me (personal and uninformed opinion :)) that if Edge is the coming graphic engine for DCS, and the Nevada terrain is being developed for that engine, there's really no point in releasing an SDK for Edge terrain until both are ready to be rolled out in a fairly stable form.

Once Edge is in use, and an SDK released, I'm sure we'll see new maps being developed. (Again - personal and uninformed opinion, but I'd have thought with the new business model E.D. is using that would happen fairly quickly ... )

[Ham Sandwich]

6 months since we've heard anything about nevada.

[NineLine]

6 months since we've heard anything about nevada.

 

The team working on Nevada was taken away by men in black suits when they started modeling Area 51... :)

[EtherealN]

are they seriously saying they can't get this achieved and instead pump resources into other projects? IT's like watching and listening to the delays on the A380 at least that was finally released!

 

Get what achieved? Developing an entirely new terrain engine? I hope you donn't think this is a small job. ;)

 

The Nevada terrain that existed in early betas does not exist anymore. It was being developed by a third party which ceased to exist, using the old terrain engine. Eagle Dynamics then made the choice of instead of allowing Nevada to simply die off, it would take what data it could from this and implement it on it's own.

 

This is some really important points to consider.

[tobaschi]

Get what achieved? Developing an entirely new terrain engine? I hope you donn't think this is a small job. ;)

 

The Nevada terrain that existed in early betas does not exist anymore. It was being developed by a third party which ceased to exist, using the old terrain engine. Eagle Dynamics then made the choice of instead of allowing Nevada to simply die off, it would take what data it could from this and implement it on it's own.

 

This is some really important points to consider.

 

 

that's don't change the fact that continuously updates about the progress (even if it's just eyecandy) would be nice... but thats just my consumerview

[roob]

that's don't change the fact that continuously updates about the progress (even if it's just eyecandy) would be nice... but thats just my consumerview

 

Well, a lot seems to have been happening instead of the terrain this past year so the lack of eye candy seems natural to me. There was the release of DCS World, the P-51, CA, FC3 and I bet there's been A LOT of work with all these new third party developers. Not to forget all the patches that has come out before and after DCS World.

 

Why tease with something that's not going to make it well before all these other things?

 

My humble opinion :)

[Ralph2]

Waiting patiently (well trying to)

 

It looks to me like ED have taken the only route that will keep them alive and us in the air. It may seem 'slow', but their market base dictates their staff levels and accordingly their development speed. Nice work ED, shame about the original Nevada going belly up - dare say it hurt you more than us :cry:. We obviously can't wait to buy it (especially in EDGE), but it would be nice if we could wait with due respect of the risk and work you continue to endure/apply. Before I get bashed by the impatient faction, it seems pretty apparent that the real world view from the ED seats resembles the below:

 

STEP ONE: It makes sense for ED's number one priority to be getting everyone onto a single common framework, optimising the MP experience/customer base given the small size of our community, and more importantly allowing ED to focus their resources and knowledge against a single framework. Completed.

 

STEP TWO: The expense of getting everyone on a single framework has to be paid for somehow, the only way to fund those devs is releasing more aircraft. That takes time, so why not get 1st, 2nd and 3rd party devs to do that (shared risk, shared profit). First delivery phase almost complete (Huey, and of course the buy-in cost to FC3).

 

STEP THREE: Having invested all that money and built the best sim money can buy (for a very low price to us), time to actually try and make a profit after a decade of high risk investment. The best way is to make an even higher quality product, exploiting investment to date and retaining/growing the small customer base. EDGE dev well underway (for completion ASAP, but this new road will be full of walls that will take unknown periods of time to plan and code through).

 

Good work ED :thumbup: We can't wait, but it would be nice if we did so with due respect.

And good luck.

Edited November 22, 2012 by Ralph2
Forgot to mention FC3

[jmod]

The Channel Map is in final stage, what stage is the Nevada Map in?

[ishtmail]

The Channel Map is in final stage, what stage is the Nevada Map in?

 

What does Rise of Flight / Channel Map have to do with DCS World / Nevada Map? Nothing? Then why bring it up?

[Weta43]

The Channel Map is in final stage, what stage is the Nevada Map in?

 

Slightly different scale of project though - the channel map is - looks like - 60km x 100km, of which half is water ?

That's 6000km^2, maybe 3,000km^2 of land

The current DCS map is ~ 330,000 km^2, maybe 220,000km^2 of land

So 55 times bigger & 70 times more land...

[71st_Mastiff]

because they started this map 1 year ago and almost finished, in other words we got more information from them about this map then Nevada... :joystick:

 

and the section of nevada is much smaller..

[lokitexas]

The Channel Map is in final stage, what stage is the Nevada Map in?

 

Channel map for RoF is also based on the same engine and area (small) that RoF has been using. Throw in lack of ground object (i.e. no infantry, severe lack of vehicles, empty airfields), and it shoud not take much time to make.

 

Trying to compare the simplistic landscape of RoF to DCS is silly.

[mmaruda]

in other words we got more information from them about this map then Nevada...

 

I think this is what is on everyone's mind. For some reason ED fails in the communication with customers department. We get bits of info from time to time, but not really enough to keep the hype going and for us to have a clear picture as to what and when to expect stuff.

 

There are things the community has been waiting for a long time - Nevada, new fast mover, but all we got recently from ED was FC3 at full price. Such policy causes scepticism to grow on people.

[Weta43]

because they started this map 1 year ago and almost finished

 

Say Nevada has 1/4 the area of the current map, then it's still 17 times bigger than the channel map, and it's taken a year to do the channel map to it's currrent nearly finished state.

[Sundowner.pl]

Hang on... we have to make one thing clear first "DCS: Nevada" will be the whole state of Nevada + part of California (Nevada is not a rectangle ;) ), or only "Nevada Test and Training Range" ? There is a BIG difference. Especially compared to the current map, which is mostly water.

[sobek]

You should still be able to find some screens with the dimensions of the old Nevada, but whether that is anything to go by we don't know.

[alexiao73]

hello guys :),

can someone (hope from ED) update me on the Nevada map status?

When I purchased A10C beta, many many months ago, I've been told that I would have got the Nevada map for free when released.

As far as I can see now it's not clear when it will be released and if I shall pay for it...

 

thanks

Alessandro

[EtherealN]

Nothing has changed, afaik.

[Cedaway]

Is that reality?

 

Before: Many time spent on developing, not that much on debugging/patching (always as 'continued development')

 

Now, I feel there is a lot of work and time spent on debugging and patching the existing product, also adding features but where are the 'great projects' like EDGE, Nevada terrain, 'DCS: US Fixed Wing'? Are those projects considered as 'second zone' or 'too-complicated-by-now-because-there-is-so-much-work-to-do-to-make-DCSW-flawless-and-we-don't-have-time/ressource-enough...'

 

There was an announce that Nevada terrain was/is produced by another team, we've seen many screenshots (awsome btw) but what's the state now?

Is Nevada terrain finished but new graphic engine still in dev?

Are both ready and outstandingly beautiful but for the next GPU generation?

Is Nevada terrain not ready?

Is the team preparing a surprise map?

Do they play LAN the new CoD?

Is the cake a lie?

 

So much questions, so much time without even a screenshot. :cry: :helpsmilie:

(OK, that makes a little crybaby but I took bad habits in the 'FC3 announcement' thread:D )

[upupandaway]

The cake is always a lie. That´s not subject to change. ;)

Good luck getting answers...

Anybody remember the newsletter from late 2011 where it said that Nevada was due for release during summer 2012?

[Wags]

hello guys :),

can someone (hope from ED) update me on the Nevada map status?

When I purchased A10C beta, many many months ago, I've been told that I would have got the Nevada map for free when released.

As far as I can see now it's not clear when it will be released and if I shall pay for it...

 

thanks

Alessandro

 

As has been stated several times before, the map itself is almost done. The long delay is due to development of a new rendering engine that is capable of rending the this map and its very high level of detail at acceptable frame rates. Developing a new rendering engine is a very long and complex matter. There have also been some delays due to some changes in staffing and the team having to work on some other projects in parallel. When there is new news, there will be an announcement. At this time, given the work on the engine, it is not even possible to run the map to take screen shots.

[upupandaway]

I must have missed those posts, but thanks again then.

(Thought EDGE and Nevada were still undergoing parallel development at similar points in the process)

Edited November 23, 2012 by upupandaway

[Turuk_Makto]

As has been stated several times before, the map itself is almost done. The long delay is due to development of a new rendering engine that is capable of rending the this map and its very high level of detail at acceptable frame rates. Developing a new rendering engine is a very long and complex matter. There have also been some delays due to some changes in staffing and the team having to work on some other projects in parallel. When there is new news, there will be an announcement. At this time, given the work on the engine, it is not even possible to run the map to take screen shots.

 

Thanks for the update Wags, but honestly, the community is lacerating themselves about the map, wasn´t it possible to tell us a little before?

 

I haven't known that the map is almost done. The last news were made in may, half a year ago.

 

I must have missed those posts