If you think you know WB very well...

Switch your FHL into Software Rendering and you'll see wonders ;-)))

- three different hit effects (size) for small caliber guns, 20mm and 30mm cannons

- ground/water hits are more spectacular and visible from longer range

- fuel leak smoke drops down when compared to usual smoke as fuel is heavier than ordinary smoke

- oil leak smoke has a bit longer trail than in the '3D mode'

- great frame rate increase - HO planes now go like hell when you pass them by.

- tracers are less misleading

- dots are visible from further distance

- ground targets and hmacks better visible

- trees are in full 3D not just flat bitmaps as in the '3D mode'

- aircraft textures have no '3Dfx soap dithering' effect, now they are sharp and perfectly visible from a distance. Also colours are better (compare Spitfire MkIX in two modes - the difference is striking)

- gun smoke puffs from p39's and other planes Big Cannons are better visible

- beautiful sunsets with a taste of vintage vector graphics simulations

And now the best cookies ;-)

- firing rockets is visible through mountains and literally through everything else!!!

- rockets are visible on rdr in flight!!!

OMG I've switched to 2D mode permanently now.

Salute!
Daedal

 

I love to see the 37mms puffs from a p39 while sneaking on his 6

 

but also:
- you can only guess where's the ground surface when dogfighting at sea level. Good luck with furballing in valleys!

 

.

daedal <====== blasted

i try 2d for a moment... feel a little like ufo in air and still asking myself : "where the fuck i'am"

 

I use 2D-mode since beginning my WB adventure, till now ... maybe thats why I dont like furballing in valleys ...
But yea ! visibility in 2D-mode is just great !

 

I have no choice (no 3D card), but don't want to switch

 

When I start FH Launcher, "Options", I can choose on "Warbirds Video Mode": Software or Direct 3D. Is this what you mean?

If I check Direct 3D, then I can choose "primary Display driver" only in "Setup" --> "Video".

I don`t find something like "Software Rendering".

 

>>>When I start FH Launcher, "Options", I can choose on "Warbirds Video Mode": Software or Direct 3D. Is this what you mean?

Yes, this is exactly what I meant ;-)

Greetengs,
Daedal

 

ive used 2d since my start.
about 5 months ago i bought 3d card, and can run not only 3d, but hi resolution as well!

well.. 20 minutes later i was back to good ol 2d low res!
how do you guys survive with hi-res 3d?!

 

3D is the only way to fly.......that 2D looks a bit like asteriods or pacman to me.

 

but 2D is easier

 

I lie 2d better, but cant stand the sky color

 

so, you guys, ask for realism, and then play in a video mode which allows to see ground targets, dots..... better, even having the possibility of playing in 3D (harder, as you all say)

Sounds weird for me

 

Yeah ! Ban all 2D-cheaters !

 

I love 3d mode, and use it always. But I must admit that 2d is better for early morning/late afternoon arena time. As the light changes (sun position) it get very difficult to see objects against the darkness of the ground texture, particularly when flying into the sun.

I prefer the smoke/explosion effects in 3d as they are more realistic (IMO) than in 2d - actual smokey looking stuff instead of really big asterisks.

Regards, Oz

 

Oh, by the way, there was a discussion about night in 2D.

Some people posted screenshots of black to ensure others that you cannot see anything during 2D night.

This is not true. The night in 2D is not a bit darker than that in 3D.
I've flown some midnight sorties off-line and successfully took off, shot some drones and landed (even on runway ;-) It was dark but
not as dark as some ppl said.

Salute!
Daedal

 

3D über alles, we've got an additional element of spotting the enemy before he spots us... that adds up much actually ... sometimes the runway is nearly invisible though... I hate it when that happens...

greetze, Zembla

 

Thanks to having textures on the ground, 3D lets you better judge your altitude at a glance. The sky texture lets you more easily judge your attitude, but I usually turn it off anyway (alt-k)

Smoke effects in 3D are a lot more discernable, especially at range. You can easily spot, and easily tell the difference between a lost wing, dead engine, an oil leak and a fuel leak, even well past D30 (at high res too). They just plain look better too, the 2D stick poofs suck.

The textures make things look quite better in general, but it makes dots a lot harder to spot against the ground, and there's a bug that occasionally causes them, and their icon, to be drawn *behind* the ground (and thus invisible, icon included. Happens especially if you're looking sharply down at them) -- fortunately this doesn't last for more than a few seconds at a time, but when it happens it's quite annoying.

High-res vs low-res, high-res makes the dots respectively smaller (one pixel is more screen space at low-res) but lets you more easily judge the attitude of other aircraft and the fall of your tracers. It's still mostly icon wars, though, since 1024x768 with a 90 degree FOV is nowhere near average human vision. For a 90 degree FOV you'd need a 5000x5000 resolution display to match the average eyeball, heh

The cockpits look rather better in high-res

Basically it's tradeoffs. 2D does make it a LOT easier to spot dots against the ground, but makes it pretty much impossible to judge your altitude by eye. Low-res makes it easier to spot dots, but harder to see details of anything.

All said, I don't really see a lot of reason to play in anything other than high-res 3D if you have the option to. The dots can be gotten used to with practice, and it's not a terribly big deal anyway since Warbirds revolves so heavily around icons. It's well worth the better spatial awareness and just plain better graphics in general

 

happens in 2d too.

an advantage of 2d are the map's tiles. you can see them, and compare it with the map to make perfect bombing paths.

i was completly lost with the small high-res gunsight. just a matter of getting used to, tho. something i didnt have the patience to do

 

Sensation of the day! ;-)

I was flying off-line in a p38F and a zeke shot my pilot armour.
I turned to external view of my fork-tailed devil and what I saw?
My back looking like it had a sticker with 'Kick me please' on it ;-)

Then I made some screenshots and took another p38F. This time the armour plate was on its place.

I wonder if other planes also have armour plate removable in their graphic models...

Salute!
Daedal