SPzAbt 503 seeks volunteers.

[sztartur2]

ORIGINAL: Rick


I finished 2nd Scenario. This one was more straightforward and allowed me to collecxt some medals, including an Iron Cross 1st Class. I sustained some damage, but no losses, and all were repaired before leaving Mezotur the next morning.

Thanks
rick

Regarding damage that was the situation in the real events too. Medals are given in PCO a bit more frequently than IRL but I suppose we can live with that [:)]

[eniced73]

I am playing the 'rear guard' scenario.  To start the map looks nice and the scenario briefing gives sufficient information.  Do a spell check though as you have some minor grammatical and spelling errors.  I am far from an expert on this I just used Word spell check after I noticed an error.  I am only around 4 minutes in but can tell you this scenario or map is taxing my system.  I usually can run the game on high settings but not on this one.  I toned it down to med and still am only around high teens on the FPS.  Turning off grass and shadows has no real effect but turning off trees helped.  I cannot play without them so I leave them on and take the FPS hit.  I did not really like the setup at the beginning of the game but I am assuming those front line static units are on the move retreating while my armor is covering their butts.  If this is the assumed approach and then it will work.  The weather looked rainy and foggy.  I am not sure if this is due to the weather effect but my units were spotting and shooting at the enemy before I could see them (see first pic).  I had to scroll forward a bit until the enemy unit popped into view (see second pic).  Is there a setting somewhere where you can set the view distance to unlimited that way if they spot an enemy I dont have to scroll forward to see what they can see?  As you can see I had to zoom up to that tree line before that unit popped up. 

[sztartur2]

This is a feature of PCO. I believe due to performance reasons you(human player) cannot see objects farther than 500m(they are not drawn), but the units see things and fight them.

If there is any way to increase this I would like to know.

When everything is in place I'll recheck the briefings.
 

[rickier65]

zFar is a setting that is made in Map maker, (or you can edit the xxxScene.xml). This setting affects both the LOS distance as well as the rendering, or clipping distance, if I recall. NOTE I beleive this value is in GSUs not meters. To get meters I think multiply GSUs by 2.54.

I think this is in the Map maker manual.

NOTE: there are a lot of other things that affect actual LOS distance though, that reduce it well below the max from zFar.

Thanks
Rick

[eniced73]

You may want to check this on your maps. Just thinking that my units may be able to spot an enemy unit but i would never know unless I pan forward a bit to see what enemy icons pop up. Not sure of the impact on the frames though. I will try increasing it tonight as you state above if possible. I know the frame rate I get right now on this scenario is not that good. So I am assuming that if I increase this it will probably get worse.

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: eniced73

You may want to check this on your maps. Just thinking that my units may be able to spot an enemy unit but i would never know unless I pan forward a bit to see what enemy icons pop up. Not sure of the impact on the frames though. I will try increasing it tonight as you state above if possible. I know the frame rate I get right now on this scenario is not that good. So I am assuming that if I increase this it will probably get worse.

Changing this could affect play balance in a scenario. A map maker might have set this to reflect the existance of fog or rain or snow and use this to limit the LOS. Increasing it might affect frame rate.

As far as sighting enemy units, but not realizing it, checking the mini-map is one way to monitor this. If you see enemy unit blip appear on the minimpat you can then pan to that area of the map.

You might check to see if weather affects are turned on or off and try toggling that, that setting only affects the appearance not the gameplay. That might improve your framerate.

Thanks
Rick

[eniced73]

ORIGINAL: Rick

zFar is a setting that is made in Map maker, (or you can edit the xxxScene.xml). This setting affects both the LOS distance as well as the rendering, or clipping distance, if I recall. NOTE I beleive this value is in GSUs not meters. To get meters I think multiply GSUs by 2.54.

I think this is in the Map maker manual.

NOTE: there are a lot of other things that affect actual LOS distance though, that reduce it well below the max from zFar.

Thanks
Rick

A little confused. zFar affects both the LOS and rendering or clipping distance. I understand a map maker setting this value to reflect weather but what controls the rendering clipping? Is Sztartur right that the game only renders out to 500m?

[eniced73]

You might check to see if weather affects are turned on or off and try toggling that, that setting only affects the appearance not the gameplay. That might improve your framerate.

Can you (sztartur, rick, junk) guys load this one up and let me know what type of frames you are getting? Let me know your settings too. I am just curious. Appreciated.

[sztartur2]

Options: everything set to max resolution 1920X108.

High view around 15-20 very min 10. On better views 20-30-40. On the ground a bit higher.
 

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: eniced73

You might check to see if weather affects are turned on or off and try toggling that, that setting only affects the appearance not the gameplay. That might improve your framerate.

Can you (sztartur, rick, junk) guys load this one up and let me know what type of frames you are getting? Let me know your settings too. I am just curious. Appreciated.

I initially had my setting set to High texture, and Medium LOD.

Selecting the first tank in HUD at level 2 view I had FPS of 15-17 issuing orders and 9-11 playing back.

I changed settings to LOD High and my FPS dropped to around 10-11 issueing orders and 6-7 playing back. I also tried toggling weather on and off and was surprised that this didn't seem to impact much.

This map is fairly demanding on the system.

Thanks
rick

[eniced73]

ORIGINAL: eniced73

You may want to check this on your maps. Just thinking that my units may be able to spot an enemy unit but i would never know unless I pan forward a bit to see what enemy icons pop up. Not sure of the impact on the frames though. I will try increasing it tonight as you state above if possible. I know the frame rate I get right now on this scenario is not that good. So I am assuming that if I increase this it will probably get worse.

I figured this out. The problem was with my settings. I could of swore I set my resolution the same as my desktop but for some reason it changed. It was set at a lower ressy than what I wanted. For some reason this cut down on the distance I could spot units. I set the resolution up to what my desktop was and there you go I had much further sight than previous. Not sure if this is a bug or what but I would not think that playing at different resolutions would give different results. I will have to test this again.

[rickier65]

The 503rd had a hard fought battle as we departed Mezotur. The farmstead changed hands several times. We finally secured the farmstead and cleared the road for the advance to Turkeve. One of my Tigers was knocked out, but was repaired overnight and is able to take part in the assault on turkeve.

Thanks!
rick

[sztartur2]

Well done!

How is your core force now?

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: sztartur

Well done!

How is your core force now?

My core force is intact. I've had some damage and a losses, but they have all been recovered at end of battles so far. I have several medals. I enjoyed the play around the farmstead. I ended up committing two infantry platoons with support from 1 HT. At one point I had to divert a Tiger to come back and provide support.\

Thanks
rick

[sztartur2]

Keep up the good work [:)]

[sztartur2]

Anybody playing this?

[junk2drive]

I started the first battle before the campaign. Then I started the campaign. Then I played the first battle not with the campaign all the way through. During this time we had a lot of testing and updates that required me to start over, delete files, reinstall, etc.

The first battle was tedious and took a lot of turns to complete. I don't know if I have the patience to play the first battle again just to continue the campaign.

[JMass]

ORIGINAL: sztartur

Anybody playing this?

Your campaign seems interesting but I play almost only pbem...

[junk2drive]

I started this again. Two days and 57 turns to get through the first battle. I have commented before on this one.

[junk2drive]

Second battle was fairly easy. No losses. On to the mud.