It would be interesting to see if they have an Epilepsy Filter Option on the Russain version of the sim. I still believe it was UBISOFT who ran the epilepsy test on COD and refused to release it in the west until it was fixed. Luckily they were finally able to make it an option otherwise the sim would be far worse off than it is now.

Maybe Ataros can answer that question about the Russian version...he stops in here now and then.

Wouldn't the sim with the epilepsy filter turned off (like we all run with) just be the same as the Russian version of the sim where they don't have an epilepsy filter?

I don't think there would be two radical versions of the game, but more something that just 'turned stuff off' in the flicker-thon version.

Here's three posts by Luthier during the Epilepsy problem. This was after the Russian release so the Russian version wouldn't have had the filter unless it was added with a patch. The posts suggests UBISOFT asked for the filter, because they were afraid of being sued. At first they weren't allowed to have it as an option, but apparently UBISOFT relented or found a legal workaround that allowed the developers to just add the Epilepsy Filter as on option instead of having to rewrite the code.

Luthier

I want to confirm that everything said here is true, we have implemented some drastic features for anti-epilepsy protection which are affecting FPS and killing SLI support.

We CANNOT make these optional. That will allow an opportunistic or an unfortunate person suffering from epilepsy to sue Ubisoft for damages and literally close down the studio for good.

This was a stop-gap measure to make sure the game gets released. As I explained in the clumsily-translated Russian article, everything in our game causes seizures - gunfire, explosions, fire, sun passing behind canopy framework, etc. Basically flight sims are an epileptic's nightmare.

We'll work to improve the framerate and perhaps address individual issues individually as opposed to applying a single rough post-effect filter, but it is basically a very sad situation. Something completely unrelated and unexpected came to our sim with a giant axe and whacked at it at the last moment. We just didn't have time to properly address it.
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Hi everyone,

The team could never in a million years imagine that a post on a Russian-language forum would so quickly make the rounds and spread around the internet.

The information there is not accurate, especially the placing of the blame on Ubisoft.

I feel that I need to describe this in more detail.

Our game did cause wide-scale epilepsy failures when tested. Propellers, muzzle flashes, smoke puffs, explosions, falling bombs, flying or taxiing between buildings, sun shining through canopy framework, etc, they were all causing potentially seizure-inducing flashes.

We worked hard to address all these issues individually, but since a flight sim is all about fast-moving large objects, there were just too many instances of things causing high-contrast flashes.

So, as we were running out of time, WE decided to implement this epilepsy filter as a stop-gap measure.

The filter sits on top of the game's graphics wrapper. It saves a previous frame, and then compares it pixel-by-pixel to the new frame. When two pixels are found with a high degree of contrast between them, the new pixel is toned down to make the change less drastic.

This causes a visual effect somewhere between bloom and motion-blur that removes virtually all instances of high-contrast flashes.

However this pixel-by-pixel frame analysis and modification takes up additional resources, it in fact delays the showing of each new frame until each pixel of it checked, and therefore the filter is causing deteriorated performance that is especially notable on lower-end machines.

We are continuing to work to optimize the game and to increase its framerate. Ubisoft has been very patient and understanding with us throughout the entire process, and we are continuing to work with them very closely to find the best solution to epilepsy issues.

In summary, I want to stress that it is OUR code and OUR game engine that is causing performance issues. And it US who has to make it better, and that's exactly what we pledge to do.

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Hello everyone,

Once again I want to point out that a lot of your earlier anger was misplaced. Actually, our colleagues at Ubisoft are extremely interested in making this game a success, they care about our opinion and yours, and everyone we work with there is understanding and cordial and more than willing to listen and change their mind.

Having said that, I'm glad to announce that the debacle has been resolved.

We will be making the filter optional, however turned on by default. And we will be adding a large epilepsy warning to our splash screen. I am almost certain that this update will hit the steam servers on March 30th and thus seamlessly make it onto everyone's machines when the game is installed on the 31st.

The March 30th update will also address some of the issues reported with the Russian version, but we'll provide more details with the patch notes once we know for sure what it'll contain. Obviously, we need to test the heck out of all the changes to make sure we don't introduce any new bugs while fixing the old ones (the team's favorite past time lately as it seems).

So there! Do a happy dance, I know I did.

Both sims are the exactly the same. The Epilepsy filter is just an option, added after the Russain release, but before the release in the West. The filter could have been added to the Russian version after a patch, but like you suggest, 99% of us would have it turned off anyway.

That's the way it works. The developer had a list of bugs before the major rewrite to gain performance, after the rewrite, the performance was gained, with some bugs fixed, some others stayed the same, and new ones created. You fix three bugs, but create two. You just keeping fixing until you have none left, or those that are left you can live with, to fix at another time. This is nothing new, its just how it works.

If and when its done the tools and the performance should be there for the community to build all the historical missions and campaigns you would like. You won't be able to play as the overall Commander like BOB WOV, but that was never in the plan, but most everything else should be better with time, just as BOB WOV continues to get better with time, thanks to the mod community.

Biggest mistake Oleg ever did was put Luthier in charge. I remember the clusterf**k that Pacific fighters was, when Oleg had to bail him out. Now he's in charge of this mess. They release a pre-alpha, and they are just getting into actually coding the game and calling it a "re-write". Suuuure, whatever you say. To many things point to the release version being a heavily modified IL2FB with the same bugs, engine limitations etc. What was Luthier doing for 6 years. Having them code trucks and buildings and making little movies, that's what he was doing. The guy is in over his head, the extreme lack of any real progress over 6 years is proof enough.

Nobody was more pissed than I was when Oleg put SOW on hold to help Luthier finish Pacific Fighters. I realize now that it was the right decision, as the average computer in 2005 would never be able to handle the complexity they wanted to put into SOW.

In Luthier's defense, he was just doing a few mods, starting with an aircraft carrier, that ballooned into a stand alone sim that required all of Oleg's crew to finish. At this time Oleg must have realized that SOW had to be put on hold while they continued to make monies with the original IL-2 addons. Although he still had a skeleton crew working on SOW.

Oleg couldn't get SOW working like he wanted, and he was either pushed out, or made Luthier the lead developer for Maddox Games. Again I don't put the blame on Luthier, he's doing the best he can in the situation. Not that long ago the developers were getting 1 fps, now I can play the sim at between 30fps to well over 100 fps. After the patch everyone should get atleast that. Sure there are alot of bugs and unworking features, but you can't forget there is alot more that is working. There have been dozens of conspiracy theories over the last few years, but few have more than an ounce of credibility. Its just a group of combat flight simmers trying to develop a very complex sim, with hard work, a few laughs, some victories, and alot of setbacks. Anyone who has been part of complex projects fully understand how setbacks continually come out of left field.

You're off the rails in more than one regard
Stick to what you know.

I wouldn't expect the full-blown RAF/LW commander option from Rowan's BoB but having the campaign play out under computer control and then jumping in to individual contact sorties would be my idea of heaven, especially if your direct action influences the overall outcome of that days fighting albeit on a minor scale.

I know it's a lot to expect anyone to invest time/money into a 'released' title but at the very least you'd expect some of the money that was garnered from releasing early would be ploughed back into development to produce a title that lives up to it's expectations.