Remove no tracers option?

[FBplmmr]

I like them on when I fly a plane I am not familiar with. (although it FUBARS my frame rate)

I would like it to be an individual setting for each plane, because I often find myself on the runway and have to exit to change it .. if I remember.

[croduh]

I always kept my tracers off, even after becoming a good shot, guess i was afraid of becoming worse at aiming.

Or was it because THEY LOOK SO ARCADISH?

[Ghosth]

I agree with VonMessa 100%

Compared to the things the average new pilot to AH has to adjust to. No tracers takes moments. Its part of what I teach every new pilot when we are up in the Val. Forget about looking for my tracers, you won't see them. Concentrate instead on watching me. If you see I'm going to line up, kick rudder, change pitch to wiggle and spoil my shot.

Forget about trying to learn to shoot by watching your tracers. Get behind the enemy, put the cross hairs on him, and pull lead in the direction he's moving.
Continue to hold down the trigger and pull lead until you see hit flashes.

Tracers just obstruct the view, and distract the eye from what it should be doing.  (I think the same about most gunsights)

Teach your eye and brain to calculate, to learn what the right lead is for a given situation. Don't aim at the whole plane, (like aiming at a flock of ducks) Aim at 1 point and HIT  that point till it breaks.

The secret to quick kills in AH is to keep your fire concentrated in the same place. Not scatter it all over from left wing to right, or down the fuse from front to back. Put your fire in one place, and HOLD it there till something breaks or he goes boom.

As for realism, crew chiefs made up ammo for their pilots as part of the normal process. They had many more options as to how they wanted it setup than we do. We have a simple on or off. They could not put any tracers in till say the last 50 rounds. (warning, about out of ammo!)

They could chose 1 tracer round in 5, 10, 15 whatever it was they wanted.
They could have tracers on wing guns but not on nose guns.


I would like to see MORE tracer options in game, not less.

As to seeing bullets, a lot depends on how good the light is, what your position is, and how good your eyes are. I used to be able to see the bullets from my .22 rifle going down range, could tell if I hit my target or not.

Now that I'm 55 thats long since a thing of the past.

For 7.62 (.30 cal ) MG it would be very tough. The bullets are small, and VERY fast. 12mm (.50 cal) it gets a little easier, they are however still small and fast.

For 20mm and up it gets a lot easier. I think some cannon rounds actually had a burning fuse in them (self destruct in case it missed? Or timed fuze?) Which would be quite visible.

30mm mine shells are a LOT bigger, and moving a LOT slower, yes you'd probably see those on a good day (with good eyes)

[Blammo]

Since it was asked: bullets/canon rounds, unless they are a particularly slow round, are virtually invisible unless they are a tracer round.  Even the slow rounds you will not normally see a "trail" for the round.

[REP0MAN]

Originally posted by Ack-Ack
The #1 advantage of having tracers turned off is that it teaches you to aim with the gun sight and not the tracers.  After you learn how to properly aim with the gunsight, you can turn the tracers back on.


ack-ack

Exactly! My tracers have been off for two years and are still off. Get my drift?!



P.S. Good to see ya Clifra!

[Spatula]

NO. It was a real option in the war, and it should be an option here. Im with Ghost, we need MORE tracer options not less.
The issue of the visibility of a regular round is separate to removing the no tracer option. If there's evidence that our totally invisible no tracer options is quite realistic, then perhaps that needs looking at, but i doubt it is unrealistic at all.

[trigger2]

Originally posted by oboe
Finally, is AH's implementation realistic?   Were non-tracer rounds entirely invisible?  I think I've read air combat stories that include references to "glowing" cannon rounds, or something like that.

The bullets, I do believe, would "glow" for a split second out of the muzzle, well, rather the muzzle of the gun would "flash" for a split second per round but the bullet wouldn't have the heat to make it "glow" unless, perchance, it was an incidiary round which I'm not sure of...

I say keep the current setting.  Shooting people with tracers is alot harder than you think, plus, it makes it hard to freak 'em out, which alot of their mistakes come from the "pressure" or the "pumpin blood" so without em, it just gives you the element of suprise.  Your SA should solve that problem though

[Saxman]

Anyone who needs to see tracers to know they're being fired on has already failed the most important part of air-combat to begin with. I don't have much sympathy for someone who lets me sneak 200yds off their 6 for a perfect saddle-shot. ESPECIALLY if I miss and they still don't flinch.

[AGM65]

The best part of sneaking in on their 6 without tracers. That's watching them start to dance when they hear the pings.

[oboe]

Originally posted by Saxman
Anyone who needs to see tracers to know they're being fired on has already failed the most important part of air-combat to begin with. I don't have much sympathy for someone who lets me sneak 200yds off their 6 for a perfect saddle-shot. ESPECIALLY if I miss and they still don't flinch.

I remember a great fight I had with a Jug because I had skipped the low-six ambush shot.   Instead, I pulled even with the guy and flew on his wing for a few seconds.   When he finally saw me, you could almost sense the panic as he jerked the stick back and then rolled over and dove for the ground.    I followed him down and we had a great fight down low for a few minutes.

I think I'm going to go back to tracers.   It feels to me like something is missing from the game- its just not satisfying to pull the trigger and not see the tracers streaking out towards my target.

I'll make it a personal mission of mine to spread Churchill's exhilaration of being fired on without effect.    

[Ghosth]

And thats the wonderful thing about choice. You have the option to make it.

But to ask for choices to be taken away, well thats going backwards. Like going from freedom to a police state. To impose your will or idea's on others is NOT what AH is all about. To have the freedom to fly where and how you will. That is the dream.

[TheThang]

Some american pilots had the first 90%ish rounds loaded up without tracers and used the final 10% with tracers so they would know how much ammo they had left. But the germans caught on and they stopped doing that.

I myself never use tracers. I don't see how they help honestly. They clutter up the screen anyways

[BaDkaRmA158Th]

Thing is when you put 600 some odd rounds down range, you would see smoke or something.

maby the problem is more so the fact the bullets are fully invisible, no trace whatsoever that your being fired on.

No bullet whizzing sounds, nothing.



Make the smoke trail only flow out to  a short range "150-200", and make bullet whizz sounds so someone can hear 'if" the traces fly past the cockpit.

[Stoney74]

Originally posted by BaDkaRmA158Th
Thing is when you put 600 some odd rounds down range, you would see smoke or something.

I've watched thousands of M2 .50 cal ball rounds go down range, and during the daytime, you cannot seem them.  At night you cannot see them.  You can easily see hits against metal, but no other indication of fire, other than the muzzle flash and report of firing.  There is a small amount of smoke and gas that exit the barrel, but for a plane flying a couple hundred mph, all of that is quickly dissipated.  

Furthermore, in a cockpit with a 2000 HP motor rumbling and vibrating away, especially at combat power settings, you're barely going to be able to hear the radio, much less the sound of near misses whizzing past your cockpit.

I'd love to have a "last 50 rpg tracer" option, but definitely want the ability to fly with the first 350 rpg being invisible.

[Shuckins]

I have a simple solution to the young man's problem...


CHECK SIX!!