1CGS’ latest developer diary is out and the focus this time is on some of the other things that help support the various aircraft that we’ve been seeing over the last few weeks. I’m talking about the map, cities, airfields, vehicles and features like render distance. Let’s have a look!
The map and render distance
One of the key elements to the Bodenplatte release is the massive Rhineland map. According to 1CGS, the map has some record breaking numbers:
- 130 000 square kilometers of reachable terrain (401 x 324 km)
- 176 000 square kilometers total size (461 x 384 km)
- 225 cities and towns – a record number of big cities,
- 70 airfields – 67 of them have historically correct layout recreated using archive documents.
Special note is also made that the airbases on the map feature everything from steel matting, to dirt strips to concrete and grass fields.
It’s interesting that 3 are not historically correct layouts. Presumably because information just could not be found on these bases. I suspect that 1CGS will do a best guess using other airfields in the area as reference so even if they aren’t completely accurate, without further details, it would be hard to tell the difference anyways.
Render distance is a new feature too. Buildings will be able to be rendered at further distances than ever before and while this isn’t a feature announcement (we’ve known for a while), it is cool to see it in operation.
Note how much detail there is in the background of these images. The improved rendering does come with a performance cost however. 1CGS says that this is an optional feature for people with strong multi-core processors.
Also mentioned are the various map features from the deep river valleys to the urban areas and the small quaint villages.
Vehicles!
One thing I wrote about a few weeks ago was what we needed for Bodenplatte to truly feel finished and that was the supplemental things such as vehicles and flak batteries. Bodenplatte will apparently come with 13 new vehicles done at higher detail levels than before.
As you can see, there’s far more detail here with these objects and they help fill out the details for these. Conspicuously absent at this point are new tanks though you can spot what appears to be a StuG III or IV in the background of the second image. Will 1944/1945 versions of the Sherman, or other tanks such as the Churchill come with this release?
We may need to wait to find out.
Optimistic tones on release
Patch 3.201 isn’t far away – that’s the message from 1CGS on their next patch. With three new flyable aircraft, the Rhineland map, an AI bomber, and all new objects and vehicles as detailed above, its clear that this massive patch will put us very close to the finish line on Bodenplatte.
Not yet mentioned is the career which may take several more weeks to hammer out. We also haven’t seen the other three seasons for the Rhineland map yet so those may yet be coming. That all puts the final release of Bodenplatte potentially sometime late in the autumn.
Stormbirds 
It’s not a stug in the background. “Smart-ass mode on.” The vehicle is a “Jagdpanzer IV” or Guderian Ente called. A later development than the Stug’s comparable to the Jagdpanzer 38t Hetzer. “Smart-ass mode off”
I did not yet know whether the object range for buildings would also be extended. And a visibility of ~ 30 km is a significant improvement :D. One more thing to look forward to.
And the circumstance that whole 3 airfields are not quite historically accurate would probably have nobody found out. Whereby there is certainly someone who has the energy to find them and then point the finger at the developers.
My tip would be September 30th, let’s see if I’m right 😉 .
LikeLike
I need to get my eyes checked apparently!
If someone does find the appropriate resources for those 3 a-historical airfields we can all ask them why they didn’t come forth sooner ☺️
Frankly 3 out of the otherwise huge list is extremely impressive!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those people probably did come forth 😉 I think 1C devs were already overwhelmed with the amount of work when Jason asked for help on the airfields. He obviously couldn’t even read all the answers and had to ask for a volunteer to do it (not even sure if that eventually happened).
As many others, I submitted a list of corrections and answers on local airfields, and offered to give more information on a few of them (including one they entirely missed). But I never got any answer on that, and the corrections were never acknowledged, which was also the case for other people. So I’m pretty sure there will be inputs from users once the map is released, and perhaps they’ll have more time to process that then, once most of the work is behind them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hate to be “that guy”, but it’s actually a Panzer IV/70(V), which mounted the same 7.5cm L/70 gun the Panther used.
LikeLike
You’re the second “that guy” today. ☺️
LikeLike
(Also, thanks for the corrections! I do appreciate it)
LikeLike
From the DD:
“To populate the map with European buildings on such a large scale new ‘construction kit’ of European city blocks was created – this allowed to represent highly populated cities while keeping the general layout of the city where they belong. There are new models for big factories and many unique buildings and we also actively used the bridges ‘construction kit’ which has been developed previously.”
I find this really interesting. Partly because it will be great to see how it works out in-game, but also because now that the devs have developed that tech they can use it to build other high density European maps. I already feel that the next expansion will be in the ETO but this ‘construction kit’ makes it seem more likely (in my mind at least) as it would be something of a waste of dev time and resources to make something only for it to be used once.
Other than that, I’m starting to feel a bit hyped about this patch and I can’t wait to get into the Tempest 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed! Going to be interesting to see where they use the tech next!
Can’t wait for the Tempest!
LikeLike
It’s huge!
I wonder how this will affect navigation, I expect it will be easier with more cities and landmarks, in comparison to what we had in the first great campaigns, even with such a big map. I was easily lost in the Moscow and Stalingrad maps in winter, when the rivers were barely visible 😀
Oh, and this Lightning… agonizing wait 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would like if we can change the cities to their real look, there are ton’s of pictures available of the region. I would find it strange if i couldn’t recognize the cities by their streets and look.
LikeLike
I’m not sure how you’d do that but hopefully 1CGS was able to do at least an approximation of the layout.
For a more true representation you’d have to check out X-Plane or P3D which are pulling in road maps into their maps. Of course, those are modern and 1CGS is doing their best to approximate the cities as they were.
Will be interesting to compare.
LikeLike