Mirrors !?!

[Jigster]

Suppose the mirrow was simulated as another view entirely, from the basis you have to look up and focus on the mirror in order for it to be of any use in RL.

[Fariz]

We have them already. They are magnifying and for some reason called zoom.

[funked]

The best impelementation of mirrors I have seen in a sim is Grand Prix Legends.  They look perfect but they are a framerate hog.

I think for AH the frame rate problems would be prohibitive.  Two ways to make it work:
1.  Offer the mirrors as an option for those with uber PC's.
2.  Simplify the graphics used in the mirror.  No icon, no textures, just sky and earth and a low-detail image of any planes in view.

[Westy]

AW has had mirrors on several of thier aircraft for years and years now. F4F, Spitfires, F4U for instance. Why WB's and AH does not actually baffles me. It is not an FPS hole "over there" and I do not see why it should be in Aces High.
 Although it could be an FPS hitter  with this graphics engine and it could be something that HTC does not want to spend time modelling at the expense of other programming needs.
 
-Westy


[This message has been edited by Westy (edited 11-13-2000).]

[miko2d]

 

Originally posted by funked:
1.  Offer the mirrors as an option for those with uber PC's.

 Absolutely not. Those with uber PCs should see things prettier then those without, but they should not see anything extra.
 If you want to buy advantage, you can get a second PC, open a second account and use it for your 6 view like the mirror. At least HTC will benefit.

miko

[This message has been edited by miko2d (edited 11-13-2000).]

[Pyro]

Adding mirrors would cost a good chunk of frame rate ala GPL.  The reason AW's mirrors weren't framerate hitters is because they were just a 2D overlay on the rear view designed to look like a mirror.  Also imagine trying to saddle up on a guy while flying a spit and having that mirror block out a good chunk of your forward-up view.  If we ever do mirrors, it'll be a good while before it would be worth spending the frame-rate and development time on it.



------------------
Doug "Pyro" Balmos
HiTech Creations

[Westy]

 I'll save that for future questions on this subject. Thanks Pyro.  The GPL reference especially drove the point home and I'd not know how AW did it either.

 -Westy

[Rickenbacker]

The "Mirror" in AW was just a rearward facing periscope, replacing the 6 view. The "planes in mirror are closer than they appear" on some planes was pretty damn funny though  .

In AH you could get pretty much the same thing by moving your head up to where a mirror would be placed (as you can literally put your eyeballs against the canopy if you like) for the rear view.

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        Rickenbacker (Ricken)

                -ISAF-
the Independent Swedish Air Force

[Damned CM]

I am sorry for asking about mirrors guys. I didn't know that it would hit the framerate that much. It was just an idea i had cause I remembered this from AW.

I thought a button which you hit when you want to have a look in the mirror instead of view keys would show the six without the rudders or the seat but with a frame around or something like that (more or less like in aw but you still have the real six view).

But thanks for the replies!  



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Damned CM
Damned if we do..No Fun if we don't!!
 www.damned.org

[K West]

for all those who ask about AH getting rearview mirrors.

  Westy

[streakeagle]

I don't know how much they were actually used by pilots in WWII, but even modern aircraft continue to have them.

The F-15 had such good visibility, it was built without mirrors. The first thing Israeli pilots did when the got them was add mirrors. The US pilots quickly made sure they got the same modification.

I don't think vibration would be much of a problem for the mirrors faired into the canopy frame. Any vibration that would have upset a mirror image would have affected the gunsight as well since both were rigidly connected. The ones on a narrow stem with no streamlining would be more likely to oscillate.

If the mirrors were useless, pilots in the field would have removed them to clear their field of view and reduce drag. So, I suspect at least some, if not the majority, of pilots probably used them to some extent.

[SKurj]

Mirrors in AW?!?!?

All i ever saw in AW resembling a mirror was the reversed rearview image when checking 6 in aircraft that were equipped with the things


funked ?? u actually saw stuff in the mirrors in GPL?  who did u ever pass?  +)

But.. i've not played a race game in which mirrors didn't suck resources, but Papy sims have done a decent job of them in their Nascar series as well

SKurj

[fffreeze220]

I real live u wont see watermelon in rear view mirrors.

Some 1 brought up an interview with a real life spitfire pilot.
THe pilot said that he never trusted the mirror.

[Xjazz]

You say mirrors?

Ok. If you have looost of money (I dont), buy second PC set with monitor and get second AH account.

Stack extra monitor above your main monitor. How? Its your, problem, bro. Now login with both accounts and join with your extra Ah account to your old account. Setup mirror-monitor look back wards continiously.

Setup your hotas so it could control both POVs sametime. How? Dunno.

Nice mirror without fps hit and much more

I just wonder how many here really use this kind setup allready

[Creamo]

Take a breath Xjazz. How about they just code the out of the canopy 6 view and put it in a mirror for planes that had them?

Then you'd have a fps hit. Nevermind.