Creating or editing Gun Sights?

[heatedpitot]

I would be extremely interested in your "sites" zipped file also if you don't mind.

Email them here :
fouriiii@adelphia.net

Please and TUVMIA

SS10

Originally posted by Kweassa
The problem with the gunsights is that they aren't really "illuminated". You set the basic colors, and use the alpha masking and opacity controls to make it feel "illuminated".

 Therefore, if you make a gunsight with colors you would see in real gunsights, it looks great against a dark, contrasted background such as the sea or land. However, when the sight is aimed up against the light blue sky, since in reality it isn't really emitting any kind of light of its own, it tends to become pale and weak. because it blends in with the sky.

 A work around would be making the gunsight colors firm and contrasted - except if you do this, the colors become soild without any opacity at all, which makes the gunsight more of a nuisance view-blocker rather than an 'aiming reticle'.

 I've made some historic gunsights trying to replicate the feel you'd get in IL2/FB. Particularly I've been trying to find a sort of a 'middle point' where the sight would look historic and cool, but still retain much of its visibility. So far, it's not turning up any satisfactory results.

 Here are some sample pics of the historic gunsights I've made myself. They're pretty excellent, against contrasted background as you'd see in the sample, if I say so myself. The problem is you can't retain this much quality when the sight is set against the blue sky.

 

[mechanic]

Originally posted by SlapShot
Illuminated (alpha) gunsights are the way to go.

The _alpha.bmp is an 8-bit grayscale image.

Pure Black = NO color will bleed-thru

Pure White = FULL color will bleed-thru

Varying shades of gray will allow color bleed-thru depending on how close the shade of gray is towards the black or white end of the scale.


Here are the 2 that I use ...

For fighters ... the 13th TAS Dot 'O Death™

default.bmp



default_alpha.bmp




For JABOs ...

default2.bmp



default2_alpha.bmp



Here is what they look like ...





and if you want them there are here.

Mitsu has a friend called AERO who makes the best alpha sights that I have ever seen. I created mine by cut and pasting from some of the sights that he created. You might want to try the same.

Here is a zip file that contains all of the sights that AERO made before.

hey! i use the 'dot-o-death' also! have done ever since hearing 'Mathman' describe his gunsight in AH1. not realistic but IMO the best sight for ggaming by a mile. 13th TAS

[SlapShot]

Originally posted by Citabria
what is the new max texture size limit for gunsights?

Gunsights are 128 x 128

[SlapShot]

Originally posted by Vudak
Kweassa -

Those are some SWEET sights if I do say so myself...  I particularly like the German Revi one...

Any chance of you sending them to me?  Vudak@yahoo.com

Or is there a place you have them available for downloads?

I'm guessing each "notch" on the Revi indicates amount of lead, and going by your photo I'm guessing each stands for 200 yard increments?

Quoted from Andy Bush in another thread on gunsights ...

"The gunsight designer begins by establishing the scale of the display. This means he sets the dimensions of the display to represent a given range to the target. The simplest reference is the gunsight reticle. The designer intends that the diameter of the reticle is sized such that an enemy aircraft wingspan will equal the reticle diameter at that given range. Other types of display markings (lines, X's, tick marks, etc) all do exactly the same thing. The pilot simply compares target size to his display to estimate range...he knows what range he wants, so he closes on the target until it is the desired size relative to the sight markings."

[Waffle]

Been messing around with a few sights - can check them out in this thread.

http://www.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=137877

[debuman]

SLAPSHOT -

Could you describe a little bit how the lower dot is used for JABO's?  I understand it's probably for bombs or rockets, but what kind of airspeed, dive angle , etc. are they designed to be used with?
I found the single dot one somewhere on these boards a while back and have been using it on all the fighters - I really love the precision aiming that's possible with the small dot. (Now if my aiming skills were up to the task....)
Anyway, Thanks in advance!

[SlapShot]

Originally posted by debuman
SLAPSHOT -

Could you describe a little bit how the lower dot is used for JABO's?  I understand it's probably for bombs or rockets, but what kind of airspeed, dive angle , etc. are they designed to be used with?
I found the single dot one somewhere on these boards a while back and have been using it on all the fighters - I really love the precision aiming that's possible with the small dot. (Now if my aiming skills were up to the task....)
Anyway, Thanks in advance!

The lower dot is basically good in the +/- 45 degree angle. Altitude ... hmmmm ... I usually drop at around 2k. Speed doesn't seem to be a factor when I bomb unless I am in a P-38.