For me I lose about a third of my FPS in Normandy in VR. I don’t play it anymore although have updated my PC so will try again.
It came out at an unlucky time where the Caucasus 2.5 free map got the more efficient SpeedTree update, and Normandy uses a lot of trees for hedgerows.
I’m sure ED would like Ugra to update it, but they probably didn’t anticipate the DCS engine and tech moving on and, something that already shipped, needing more work put in to it again.
I hope after they offer the Syria map that they do go back to it.
Well, I guess there are nuances.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Ugra Media was hired by ED to do the WWII map that was needed to fulfill the DCS:WWII pledges.
Or did Ugra contact ED with a proposition to make the map, just like Heatblur wanting to make a Viggen or Tomcat?
If it’s the latter, ok. It’s Ugras decision to update their map.
If it’s the former, I’m guessing Ugra considers their contract with ED to be fulfilled.
Eigher way, I hope ED lets Ugra in on their discovery of what was hampering VR performance, in the maps, so they can implement the same enhancement of their own map.
Now, I don’t expect people to work for free…
Since this is primarily a VR update, I would pay for a DCS: Normandy VR.
I fly Normandy all the time, every time I start the game I do the spitfire dogfight mission to loosen up. Apart from shimmering in VR I don’t find the map anymore taxing for my PC than the others
If I am alone with the Normandy map, it’s fine. But add a few units and it bogs down quickly on my rig (VR). I stopped using it and WW2 stuff in general when it was clear that I would never clear the performance hurdle.
I’ve deleted Normandy from my install as well. It just didnt live up to the hype and performance is dismal on a high end system. Without it being mentioned, it appears they’ve dropped its support too.
I fly the Normandy map whenever I’m joyriding, need a break from the other theaters, or flying WW2 aircraft. I don’t find it any more taxing than the BoX maps. Both give occasional stutters, but nothing deal breaking. In fact, I find the object density and detail at low altitude amazing compared to other sims. My only wish is that they would develop the England side of the channel more. That’s low hanging fruit for a whole bunch of scenarios, and not just BoB, IMO. I’d gladly pay for an updated Normandy map. 2D shots, but I fly it in VR no problem. I guess that my perspective is from an RTX2080ti user, so perhaps my impression is the exception.
No offense, but we’ve already paid once. Shouldnt have to again for something that wasnt properly optimized.
Or upgrade to a 2080ti to compensate for the lack of support. My 1080ti cost enough.
A question that follows such reasoning is for how long?
One can argue that the Normandy wasn’t optimized, on release. OTOH, it has a lot more trees than other maps, and SpeedTrees wasn’t implemented when they started on Normandy.
So, given the DCS technology that existed back then, it was probably as optimized as it could be.
And then DCS evolves… ED finds new ways of doing things smarter.
For how long can we expect a 3rd party developer to continue supporting their product? Optimization is a moving target, in DCS.
Sure, we should expect some support. But not forever, and we have to expect that it will cost money, somewhere down the road.
I think this is a point that many people don’t think about. You buy the product just once. There has to be a realistic time limit for support and continued development of that product.
X-Plane for example, has evolved over many years, but they have drawn the line on 11 occasions now where you have had to re-buy the product for continued support. If they hadn’t done that, there would be no X-Plane. So, if the Normandy Map has achieved all of the original development goals, then I think it reasonable to be expected to pay for a version 2.
Just another way to put it - if you aren’t paying a subscription for ongoing up-keep, similar to say Office365 or Adobe Creative Cloud then you are stuck having to re-pay the purchase price on updates like Microsoft Office 20XX, Adobe CSX, or Windows.
It should also be mentioned that this is a niche product. Sales will not be that high in the grand scheme of things, even if the product is considered successful. That means the returns won’t be all that great, and by the time expenses are taken out, I can’t imagine anyone was getting rich for their work on the Normandy map.
Offer a new map called ‘Battle of Britain’ that extended the existing map up till about the Midlands (or whatever is technically possible for map size) in the UK. Normandy is one of the smallest maps currently on offer (say compared to Persian Gulf etc).
Use the existing assets in the Normandy map as a starting point, as it includes this region.
As reworking things, do the SpeedTree rework plus VR optimization of LOD stuff at the same time.
Sell the new map for $50. Offer an upgrade for ‘Normandy’ map owners for $25.
Ugra get new work and money, customers get a better map, plus existing owners feel they are better off as Normandy is now optimized plus they ‘upgraded’ while feeling they are getting something new and of value. Overall DCS WWII gets a nice kick, leading on to period modules increased sales. We all win.
