Bridge Command Forum

Development => Development => Topic started by: BobGidden on August 22, 2015, 03:16:56 PM

Title: BC ver 5 alpha4 display
Post by: BobGidden on August 22, 2015, 03:16:56 PM
Hi!

I've just run the new alpha 4 version and wondered if you plan any extra display features to come with the beta or release versions, or if this is near complete at this alpha stage.

I've been hoping for an anti-alias of the horizon through the alpha stages, but the pixellation seems much more noticeable in ver 5 than in 4.7. It looks really weird when the boat is rolling.  It makes the "suspension of disbelief" much more difficult, and this would be a pity. I've no idea how complex the implementation of this is, but I would favour it over quite a lot else. If it is too hard, what about partially 'losing' the horizon in "haze"? Configurable?

Really looking forward to the betas! Well done!

Regards,
Bob.
Title: Re: BC ver 5 alpha4 display
Post by: forum_admin on August 23, 2015, 07:36:24 PM
Hi Bob,

Thanks for the comments. The aim with the alpha versions is to get feedback such as this! I'll certainly explore this more, and agree that the pixellation of the horizon is distracting. There are anti-aliasing options available within the graphics engine, which I will investigate.

James
Title: Re: BC ver 5 alpha4 display
Post by: forum_admin on August 24, 2015, 09:08:00 PM
I've just uploaded a new alpha version, which includes anti-aliasing. This uses OpenGL's anti-aliasing settings, and it will depend on your graphics card/driver if this is supported. Currently Bridge Command is compiled for OpenGL, but it can be compiled for DirectX as well, which has more thorough driver support.

Please let me know how this works for you.
Title: Re: BC ver 5 alpha4 display
Post by: BobGidden on August 25, 2015, 11:27:04 AM
I've attached the info about my graphics below.

Ant-aliasing worked immediately in alpha 5 straight out-of-the-box. Great improvement on realism over a4. Thanks!

Now the new water representation... OK, it looks good, but the boat seems to be rolling a lot for quite a calm visible sea state. I'm doing "Leaving harbour", and weather is down a notch by default. I'd describe the Douglas sea scale state as 'smooth', and yet we seem to be rolling about +/-20degrees. Making the weather worse doesn't seem to make the surface do all that much. Compare this with 4.7, where we would be having waves higher than the boat by that stage. I've been in an Atlantic hurricane (1965), so do know what really big waves look like  :o   Any thoughts on this?

Regards,
Bob.

Speccy v1.28.709 says:
  Graphics
        Intel HD Graphics 4600
   Device ID   8086-0412
   Revision   7
   Subvendor   Gigabyte (1458)
   Current Performance Level   Level 0
   Driver version   10.18.10.3960

Intel HD Graphics Control Panel says:
  Application Optimal Mode: Enabled
  Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing: Use Application Settings
  Conservative Morphological Anti-Aliasing: Turned Off

Geeks3D GPU Caps Viewer 1.25.0.0 says:
  GL_RENDERER   Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
  GL_VERSION   4.3.0 - Build 10.18.10.3960
  GLSL version   4.30 - Build 10.18.10.3960