*If* I remember correctly, DCS didn't support AA + HDR in its initial release.



Yes. Although similar problems develop when I install the 3rd party HDR mod...

The beta version I bought had AA AF and HDR.

"Given the aging performance of my PC, I wasn’t able to experience all the graphics options A-10C Warthog has to offer, but, for folks with more current machines, there’s high dynamic range (HDR), multi-sample aliasing (MSAA), and transparency super sampling anti-aliasing (TSSAA), all offered through the game’s graphics options to further improve the gorgeous visuals. "

Quoted from the beta review on this site.

Black Shark was the first DCS release. Flaming Cliffs 2 was the second. Neither have FSAA built-in. A-10C was the first, BS2 is the second, that did.

However, whether or not there's an in-game setting for it or not is irrelevant. What counts is being able to use it period. CloD won't let you force it on in the drivers, so therefore it doesn't work.



The Jedi Master

Exactly - I don't believe the original DCS:BS had HDR. Isn't the issue here that HDR and FSAA are incompatible prior to the new versions of DirectX? So, until the engine is recoded - they can't be combined (and Oleg's team had to halt development of the DX11 version during release). If CoD didn't support HDR, we probably wouldn't have a problem.

Right now we have an engine that renders in DX9 or DX10 (with some features). This isn't unusual for flight simulators - they always run a couple of versions behind.

Point being... DCS is more complex or as complex as CoD (split hairs over the details if you like) and was in great shape as a beta with full AA AF and HDR. Cod was and is a mess far after its release with none of those options. Warthog wins sim of the year and got great reviews because it is complex and works well. CoD loses and got aweful reviews for obvious reasons.

Yes, but in fairness DCS is a derivative of LOMAC (which is based on the venerable Flanker series)... For CoD they did a total rewrite of all areas. CoD is several times more ambitious than any given iteration of the ED series (from a project management perspective).

"It was eventually decided to launch Black Shark as the first product in a new franchise, citing difficulties in merging design goals with the engine used by Lock On." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Combat_Simulator

And from the DCS website:
Q: Everyone thought that Black Shark was going to be an add-on to Lock On, why did this not happen??
A: As we evaluated the concept of doing a helicopter simulation with a 6 DOF clickable cockpit, new terrain area, very detailed avionics and a new mission and campaign structure, it became clear that we could not use the Lock On code.

Besides none of this excuses the problems that have yet to be fixed in this sim. I just cannot believe they released a sim with no AA (as good as none) AF or HDR even applied by the videocard in this day and age. There is no excuse for that IMO.

It became clear that they couldn't use the existing Lockon code - however, rewrites did not necessarily extend beyond the listed areas. A new franchise is not the same as a new engine (written from scratch).

CoD has HDR (which is one of the issues with AA). I'd also rather have a lot of the other engine features rather than working AA - Anti-aliasing really matters at resolutions below 1024x768... of course that is my personal opinion. But assessing an engine on whether it lacks one minor rendering feature, while ignoring advances in the other rendering capabilities, seems odd to me.

That may be your opinion, but it is nonsense.