I must be getting old

[J_A_B]

So, having replaced some PC components with superior parts scavenged from the wife's computer, I think I might be able to run AH again with playable online performance.  So I update my client from whatever version there was in mid 2004 and I give some of the new and updated planes a try....

....only to find that I can barely read the cockpit instrumentation.  

Am I getting old or something?  Are my eyes that bad?  Were the new cockpits designed by someone running the game at 1600x1200 on a 21-inch monitor?  At 1024x768 on my 17-inch screen the P-51D's instruments look fuzzy and are barely legible.  800x600 is an exercise in futility.  I like the moving control stick and rudder pedals, but the actual playability of the new cockpit art is considerably reduced from the previous version.  

I can "read" them in the sense that I can memorize what the position of the needle means, but the actual numbers are usually too dark and blurry to make out without zooming in and altering my view considerably.  So, shy of buying a brand-new computer and monitor, or paying for laser eye surgery, what can I do to make those instruments more legible?  

Also, is there an option to turn off the smoke when you shoot your guns (not tracers, but the firing smoke)?  It kills my already marginal framerate.

Is the instrument issue common, or am I just getting old?

J_A_B

[NoBaddy]

One thing that doesn't help is that all of the new gauges also now have a 'glass' layer added. This, added to the much smaller text on the gauges now, makes it impossible to read them. I generally zoom in during takeoff to get some clues on the gauges and then must make educated guesses for the rest of the flight.

This same 'glass' layer is now use on all the gunsights. I simply cannot see through it effectively. Which is why I usually only fly in planes that I can push my head above the sight....sux but such is the virtual world we live in. I guess Nate and Fly have much better eyesight than I do. But, I guarantee it won't stay that way if they play the game.

[Sandman]

Originally posted by J_A_B
Is the instrument issue common, or am I just getting old?

J_A_B

It's not you.

[doc1kelley]

Absolutely Bogus!  The moving sticks aren't worth not being able to frigging see the various gauges that they block now.  On some planes your ammo counters are concealed behind the blasted sticks.  Who in here really wanted such incredible detailed cockpits as compared to detailed gameplay?  I'm sure it wasn't many, or at least not many who really play the game on a regular basis.  Fix the real problems of the game instead of covering it with eye candy that screws up the exprience even more.

Just my 2 cents worth...

Jay
awDoc1
BOPS

[Alky]

I'm old and whined about the guages before the latest graphics. Suggestions were made to make this cockpit realism stuff optional in a menu, but that didn't happen, it only gets worse for playability
Not knocking the artists, great work, it's just not that playable.

[MachNix]

I too don't like the fact that the stick or yoke cover some of the instruments.  I also don't like having the canopy frame block some of the view.  In real life, you would be bobbing and weaving your head to see around the obstructions.  AH does give you the ability to move your head position but it is not practical to use while in a fight – at least not at this time.   I'm sure in the future of game-play we will all be wearing goggles and have the ability to bob and weave to see around any obstructions.

The work-around I'm using to read gages is to program the KYP-8 key:  Hold down KYP-8 key, move your head position so you can read/see instruments you can't see in the default view, and then hit F10 to save.  Like everyone else, I have a Forward (KYP-8) programmed to a hat switch on the stick that is easy to use to get a better view of the instruments.

Now if I could just do something about the warps and only having a frame rate of 7 in the big fights…

[BigR]

How bout a window simalr to the E6B that is transparent and you can toggle it on and off. It would have your speed, alt, gas level and ammo. The user would be able to scale it as small or as large as they would like, or turn it off completely.

[jpeg]

J_A_B: It is def. not just you.

Every new cockpit has this problem for me and plenty of others. It is very frustrating.

The thing is I don't see why we can't have both: great new artwork, but also readable.

[Sandman]

Originally posted by MachNix
I too don't like the fact that the stick or yoke cover some of the instruments.  I also don't like having the canopy frame block some of the view.  In real life, you would be bobbing and weaving your head to see around the obstructions.  AH does give you the ability to move your head position but it is not practical to use while in a fight – at least not at this time.   I'm sure in the future of game-play we will all be wearing goggles and have the ability to bob and weave to see around any obstructions.

The work-around I'm using to read gages is to program the KYP-8 key:  Hold down KYP-8 key, move your head position so you can read/see instruments you can't see in the default view, and then hit F10 to save.  Like everyone else, I have a Forward (KYP-8) programmed to a hat switch on the stick that is easy to use to get a better view of the instruments.

Now if I could just do something about the warps and only having a frame rate of 7 in the big fights…

I've come to the realization, that the only way to get around the lack of visibility is TrackIR.

[T0J0]

Ditto... But I dont fly enough to count my opinion!

TJ