Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory by Shockwave Productions - retail v2.04 patch

Battle of Britain 2 Update v.2.04
July 17th, 2006

Changes from v2.03 to 2.03

(all previous updates are included in the 2.03 update)

No details available.


Battle of Britain 2 Update v.2.03
November 17th, 2005

Changes from v2.02 to 2.03

(all previous updates are included in the 2.03 update)

******** Bug Fixes ********

- The Win98 Alt-x error fixed (DDRAW error).

- Ju 52 error completely fixed.

- Memory leak fixed. This is at least one if not the major cause for people running out of main memory (error message ~ "Can not alloc 16MB")

- "Next waypoint" crash workaround again :-/

- Bug in runtime optimizers fixed that might have lead to crashes.

- Udet Buoy mission fixed.

- Reduced VRAM usage a bit, this should help 64MB card owners.

- Robustness (technical: Init imagemapfile, delete [] instead of delete, MSVC 8 warnings, Wrong index range fixed)

- Improved debug code (technical: for example Texture fn versus generic fn, Fix to a broken assert, Added assert, added version + build date to crashlog output to be able to differentiate "new" from "old" bugs)

******** Other Improvements for users: ********

- Reactivated Rain. You need to have the worst weather setting to see it. (technical: In the bdg.txt, with RAIN_FACTOR you can in- or decrease the number of "rain threads". 32 is default, 0 is no rain.)

- Minor performance optimizations.

- Separate quality setting for WATER in OPTIONS (mostly for GeForce 4200-4800 users)

- Contrails (Should appear at 16,500 ft and above).

- Player aircraft bullet hit sounds improved.

- "No Spinning Death" - not completely polished yet, but instead of the spinning death camera you get a red screen. You need to activate it via the bdg.txt variable "No_Spinning_Death" to ON. This new effect comes thanks to Buddye

- Improved prop looks at low rpm.

- Use the bdg.txt variable DRAW_MENU_ON_3D_SCREEN to disable the "radio menu". Nice for users using voice input.

- FPS readout colour now same as infoline colour.

- PERFORMANCE_TEST_MODE implemented.

- Coords.txt now also contains pitch info.

- Water shimmer reduced, thanks to Mauser at SimHQ

******** Modder Features: ********

- You can now have 16 fresnel files depending on time of day and weather.

- First version of Multiskin means Skinners can get acquainted and already create some of the data.

- Shaders (one can use Shaders instead of textures). This is an extremely powerful technology, for example the Farcry people boast every pixel goes through a shader. However, it is the absolute, bleeding edge of technology for modders ;). Read technique from file. Use one the hardware supports.

- When BoB is minimized, it now uses almost no (CPU etc) resources. Ignores keystrokes.

- AutoTextureChange partly fixed. Works sometimes now :-/. Supports DDS. Looks for new textures when un-minimizing now.

- DISABLE_ALL_2D_ELEMENTS in the bdg.txt is a nice feature for video makers / screenshot makers. Might also be of interest to pure users.


Battle of Britain 2 Update v.2.02
October 2nd, 2005

Changes from v2.01 to 2.02

- Improved framerate (fps). The effect is most marked with weather low and on computers that suffer from low fps.
- New bdg.txt variable INVERT_EXTERNAL_PAN - inverts pan direction in external view
- New bdg.txt variable NO_FOV_RESET - disables resetting of FOV in when resetting the view (via ROTRESET/ROTRESET2/AROTRESET)
- TrackIR 6dof z-axis overrides any analog axis setting.
- Made stick POV hat user mappable
- Ju88 engine texture fix.
- In the OPTIONS screen, changed the name REFLECTIONS to MIRROR
- Enhanced explosion and flak sounds.
- More realistic Browning .303 sounds (increased rate of fire).


Battle of Britain 2 Update v.2.01
September 20th, 2005

Changes from boxed version v2.00 to v2.01

* Bug fixes:
- Several bugs have been fixed that can lead to CTDs (Crashes To Desktop).
- In-game / Windows resolution is automatically synchronized for increased stability with background applications running.
- If TrackIR or Newview (et al) are detected but not enabled, the program will revert back to mouse/keyboard/POV view control.
- Fix for vanishing replay-buttons.
- Some lines, for example those of the Enemy Position Indicator, used wrong colour(s).
- Correct handling of dummy anims (possibly caused a crash).
- Do17 skin adjusted (main wing bottom).
- Ju88 engine texture fix.

* Other Improvements:
- SmoothenFrameRate changed to SmoothenFramerateMode and reworked. The default smoothens but does not limit fps.
- New bdg.txt variable "NO_OUTSIDE_TRACKIR"
- The bdg.txt variable OPTIMISE_OBJECTS_AT_RUNTIME changed to DISABLE_OPTIMISE_OBJECTS_AT_RUNTIME so that the old setting is ignored. The new default is to optimise.
- In OPTIONS, "reflections" has been renamed to "mirror."
- Optimised for framerate (mainly by going to a 32 bit FVF). Unfortunately the effect seems to be very small.
- Reduced usage of video memory on 64 MB cards a bit.
- Improved debug code/warnings in a lot of places.
- Better lighting on individual trees.
- Smoke trails further tuned.
- Cannon smoke more subtle.
- Engine sputter sound re-worked.
- Throttle off warning sound reduced.
- Brighton and Cathedral texture reduced in size.

How to install:
- Unzip the BOB2_Update_util_v101
- Double-click the BOB2_Update_util_v101.exe
- Follow on-screen instructions

Welcome to the BOB2 Configuration Utility v2.01.

This is a 2-in-1 utility that will update Battle of Britain to the latest version, and also serve to re-configure the game now or at a later time.