ms-kleaneasy
Answers to some of your community posted questions
Dano: How is Cliffs of Dover optimised for multicore systems? Is there an upper limit on the number of cores supported?
We didn’t focus on multicore support while developing the game, but we do run the game in multiple threads. Depending on your CPU, these threads will be split between available cores. There’s no upper limit to the number of supported cores, but you will see little improvement past four cores because additional threads are pretty light.
Lixma: How will the multiplayer aspect work? Will it need Hyperlobby (or a similar 3rd party tool)?
Multiplayer matchmaking is done via steam from inside the game. There’s also LAN mode that doesn’t go through steam. There’s also dedicated servers, of course.
As a client, you’ll simply click Multiplayer – then Client, and go into the Server Search window. Select type (LAN – Internet – Recent – Favorites – etc), and see the server list populate. You’ll have a filters option, where you can filter servers by realism options, ping, map, etc etc etc.
Buzzsaw-: Is the game optimised to support dual video cards?
We do support them; however our tests show that performance increase is minimal. Our game isn’t currently in full compliance with hardware vendor requirements for dual card support, and we are planning to improve on that aspect.
Jules: Can the six head control axes be assigned to by *any* game controller axis, rather than being limited to TrackIR?
Currently you can only control your head with the keyboard, mouse, or a head-tracking device.
Improvements to our in-game camera are high on our list, including smooth panning, axis support, “realistic” shaky-cam, etc.
baronWasteland: Does the game use PhysX or any other new technology supported by recent graphics cards?
No. We played with a lot 3rd-party software SDKs, including most provided by graphic cards, and found them incompatible with our requirements.
Buzzsaw-: Previously you have said Map creation tools and Aircraft/Object creation tools will be released to allow players to work with and modify the game. When will these be available?
Some months after the release. Sorry, we can’t be more specific at this time. Obviously all the tools are ready and working in some capacity today, but they’re not something you would call user-friendly. The biggest challenge is making them accessible, and writing comprehensive documentation. Since the only people who can do that are busy making the actual game, and will be for some time after release, holding off actual game development to write technical documentation is not something we’re willing to do.
j4ck41: Are there any new multiplayer modes such as some kind of virtual war?
The server can run multiple missions consecutively or concurrently while the game is still going – in other words, a new mission can start while a previous one is still playing.
With use of triggers, or manual mission loading, this can mean that a server can easily run a virtual war where new events happen and new sorties are launched into a consistent game world.
NSU: Will we be able to make nightime city bombing runs (e.g. on London) with searchlights, ground fire and flak?
Of course!
Biggs: Are the campaigns specifically tailored to a plane type (fighter or bomber) or will the player be switched from one plane to another as the campaign progresses? And on the same note, can you fly one particular plane throughout an entire campaign?
The campaign missions are built for specific planes. You will not be given a choice of planes before a mission, but you will be able to replay campaign missions in single-mission mode, where you can easily change the plane type, number or loadout for your or any other group in the mission.
C6_Krasno: Have there been any special effort in order to allow a huge number of planes in the same mission ? It would obviously depend on the config, but did you use some tricks to optimise the game for this ?
There’s been some effort, but our focus has been mainly on making the game perfect for each individual plane. Our concepts of tracks (replayable mission recordings) and the ability to instantly switch to any plane in a mission is kind of incompatible with LOD tricks. If we keep far-away groups flying with simpler physics or AI, they’ll look horrible when seen up close, and place a player into all sorts of weird situations when he wants to switch to one of the far-away planes.
NSU: You say in the initial version there will be no dynamic weather. That’s okay, but how soon do you think it will be until we see that in a future version?
Some months after the release. It’s a hard question to answer, because as previously reported, the feature is generally ready but is not optimized at all. We’re shipping what we have in an as-is state for the hardcore fans who want to play with it, and that means we can’t just cut away stuff we don’t want or can’t optimize later. I’d say three months at least, and perhaps six? Don’t hold me to this though please!
Dan: When DirectX 11 is implemented, what advantages will it give graphically over DirectX 10?
First of all, due to DX11 being multicore optimized, the game will get a significant performance boost. HDR will be improved. You’ll also see next-level lighting quality and improvements to various particle and sprite FX.
There’s other things in store, but we’d rather announce them once they’re confirmed to be working.
CamposMIC: Does the game support multi monitors? How is the support for Nvidia Surround or ATI Eyefinity?
The game supports any resolution across any monitor setup, as long as your videocard supports it. We didn’t specifically write any support for Nvidia Surround or ATI Eyefinity into the game however.
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