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Preview: Rowan's Battle of Britain
by Bob "Groucho" MarksGraphic Violence and Optional Blues
Graphically, this newest build of BoB is vastly improved over the early alpha copy I first previewed. The aircraft models are very nicely rendered, and the “reflections” option imparts a gorgeous light-play on the exterior surfaces of the airplanes. Tactically this is a great boon, as glints off of an airplane far below can give up its position. MiG Alley had attempted a similar thing, with the “glint sprite”, but this time around Rowan really got it right.
Diving to meet an Emil- again, check out the reflections on the Spit's skin.
When displayed in its 32-bit glory, the terrain is also well done for the most part. The water looks great, with a dynamic rolling look to the swells. The fields and villages look fine from altitude, but as your viewpoint drops lower so should your expectations. There is a “Town and Forests Raises” option that allows the very weird blocky towns and flats to be toggled on and off. This is a bit of a quandary because while it eliminates the ugly towns it also gets rid of the stunning trees. It’s actually academic, as the trees flown right through with impunity. I’ve got a real problem with phantom ground objects---while it’s a nice touch to surround your airfields with trees, shouldn’t they also present a solid obstacle?
Stay close, but not that close! Lack of a combat spread command leads to many mid-airs.
Which brings me to another odd point. Unlike MiG Alley, which offers a “combat spread” command, BoB has no such wingman command. Therefore, mid-air collisions, particularly between friendlies, happen far too often for my liking, and usually immediately upon entering the mission. Hesitantly, I turned “Mid-Air Collisions” off. The problem is, this also turns the collisions with ground-based objects such as hangars and other buildings off. Shouldn’t buildings and ships be grouped in with “Ground Collisions?”
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