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Dev Blog #4
Hello everyone!

Today, we would like to expand on a topic we started at the time of "Korea's" announcement — the innovations in the game’s graphics. The graphical game engine of "Korea" is based on the "Great Battles" engine, but represents a significant development of it. About 12 years ago, the "Great Battles" engine began its development based on the base created earlier in "Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War." It is quite difficult to talk about all the changes in the graphics in the condensed format of the Developer Diaries, so we apologize in advance for some "off-format" in this topic. Nevertheless, we will try to describe the most noticeable 22 changes concisely. Some of them are "small but nice", and some of them are "big with far-reaching consequences". But all of them were subordinated to a single goal — to create a fundamentally new level of graphics in the new project "Korea: IL-2 Series":

  1. Transition to PBR (Physical Based Rendering) technology for object texturing and shading (MRR variant of material textures). This is probably the most radical change in the graphics engine — because it required us to create all of the game’s 3D content from scratch. Such a decision required solid foundations, and they were there. Among the most important ones we can list: getting a more modern "picture"; moving to a 3D content production pipeline that is relevant for a modern developer; and getting the opportunity to work with a modern and relevant set of tools for texturing 3D content.
  2. Transition to DirectX 12 API. This is also a big step in development, which was not so easy to decide — because the modern reality is that a game developer nowadays does not receive support like he used to from the API manufacturer, and most of the features and pitfalls have to be found out "by touch", by the "method of elimination" and similar methods of search, analysis, and reverse engineering. The goal of this development is to have the most up-to-date and modern backend in the new project, to protect the project from the possible termination of support for DirectX 11, and to open opportunities to use new techniques provided by the DirectX 12 API in the project.
  3. Atmospheric visualization technology based on a physical model of light scattering in the atmosphere. A fundamental change that brings a new level of depth of space and naturalness of perception of the natural environment to the "picture".
  4. Improvement of the landscape decal system, which allows you to optimally create runway markings and their texture, as well as airfields located on uneven terrain.
  5. Increased the detail density of the landscape mesh by a factor of 4. For a mostly flat landscape, such as the Great Battles maps "Stalingrad", "Moscow", "Rhineland", and "Normandy", the previous resolution of the landscape mesh was quite sufficient. However, on a map where the main part of the country is represented by mountains, foothills, and hills, this is no longer sufficient in modern conditions. Therefore, it was decided to increase the detail of the elevation map. At the same time, it was possible to implement airfields with uneven terrain.
  6. Dynamic shadows from the landscape (from mountains and hills). In summer, closer to morning and evening, and in late fall, early spring, and winter throughout the day — this is an extremely important "feature" for creating a coherent visual image of a mountainous and hilly landscape. It is especially important for the appearance of the landscape when viewed from medium and high altitudes.
  7. Improvement of the system for changing the LOD of buildings, allowing you to change the LOD of individual buildings in the background, rather than an entire block of buildings. This is one of the changes in the graphics engine that has made it possible to significantly improve the quality of building models.
  8. Tiled Blocks technology — placement of dense urban/rural buildings on the map in the form of polygonal landscape decals, on which the blocks themselves and background textures appear. This method of constructing a map scene has significant advantages in terms of performance and practicality for use by landscape artists. This, in turn, made it possible to greatly increase the artistry and variability of the execution of cities.
  9. The technology of tunnels now allows for the movement of ground objects through them. Apart from the fact that it is "just cool", this technology made it possible to connect the road network of mountainous areas into a single whole. This is important for more interesting game scenarios.
  10. Improvement of the water reflection system. On the map of "Korea", there are a lot of sea areas and a lot of rivers, including mountain rivers. Therefore, creating a more flexible reflection system was extremely important for the new project.
  11. Visualization of transparency of river and seawater. Without this "feature," it is impossible to get a modern picture of a floating person (for example, a pilot who landed in the water), an airplane that crashed into the water, or a small craft. Moreover, our future plans include combat operations over the oceans.
  12. Mass airfield and city lights capable of illuminating landscapes and objects. The Korean War is already the 1950s, and we would not have been able to do without airfield lights and city lights.
  13. Improvement of the graphical effects particle system. This is a whole set of changes that will allow you to get effects of much better quality.
  14. Increasing the possible number of road types on one map. A long-awaited dream has become a reality — finally, we can create both country and highway roads on the map. Roads with one lane and oncoming intersections, as well as wide roads with two-way traffic — both can now be displayed on one map.
  15. 3D visualization of railroad tracks and crossings. It seems that airplanes fly high and trains are somewhere below. But for some reason, everyone has always wanted high-quality visualization of railroad tracks and crossings. Probably because everybody loves trains :-)
  16. New tree shading. In addition to applying PBR to the trees (as well as to all other 3D content in the game), a new approach was taken to lighting the tops of the trees, creating the effect of the foliage being transparent to sunlight.
  17. New grass shading. In addition to the new grass shader, a new approach to its visual model was created. In short, this gives a completely new look to ground-level shots.
  18. Bushes. This is a new entity that has not been in the graphics engine before. Bushes create a better sense of speed at low altitudes, a better sense of height, and a better sense of scale. In general, adding bushes to the image of the natural landscape creates a much more complete image.
  19. Volumetric craters from large explosions. Here we can say that it just looks cool. But it also has an important gameplay aspect — hits from large bombs will now be able to "close" runways. Coupled with the fact that we plan to remove the ability to take off in any direction even if there are runways on the airfield, this will be an important new gameplay feature in a multiplayer game.
  20. Telegraph poles and wires. This was an integral part of the road network in the 1950s.
  21. Visualization of the pilot’s body in 1st person view. Many people have been asking us about this for a long time. And now, in the new project, by creating all the content "from scratch" for the reasons described above, it became possible. The "feature" will of course be optional.
  22. A new approach to the production process for creating visual models of aircraft and ground objects, as well as their damage models. For the player — "graphics" is not only the "engine" technology but also how these technologies are applied in practice when artists "draw" models of objects and landscapes. This point can be expanded by another hundred or two points. Moreover, each of the above points can be expanded into a rather interesting story about what it is and how it is implemented. However, we will save these topics for future Developer Diaries. So, follow our updates for more news to come!