Consider if you had to play AH with...

[Helm]

I vote No




Helm ...out

[shreck]

simple !  just turn off enemy icons!! if it's not lit up, it's a baddie 

  " This may limit the running as NOONE would know what their against untill about 1.5 to 2K", then fight is ON   certain planes are easier to identify at range than others! Probably much like it was in RL

Also it would greatly enhance GV battles IMHO!

[eagl]

AH used to have a "realism" arena...  Icons only at very short range, and a historic BoB arena (scaled down just a bit if I recall correctly).  It was fun and challenging, certainly a place to fly with a wingman at all times, but the arena numbers were usually very low, like 10 per side (or 20 all on one side furballing if frat was turned off).

[detch01]

For chits and giggles I decided to go sans-icons for a month in the AvA when it was still called the CT. I gave it up after a week. No icons was do-able, but only just. I had to get within 200-300 yds of an aircraft to get an ID that I could be reasonably sure of before pulling the trigger and I made a bunch of dry runs on friendlies I figured could be the oppo as a result. The opposite happened too - I got nailed by oppo I'd figured were most likely friendly - a lot. My SA had to be turned on and highly tuned every time the gear went into the wells or I was a flying target, and that made suspense and surprise a real factor in the game. I found myself pretty much useless flying by myself though - spotting aircraft, even up fairly close, was next to impossible when they were lower than me so I wound up winging with any friendly I could find. Spotting aircraft wasn't much easier co-alt either and once engaged with them it was incredibly difficult to keep track of who was who if there was more than just me and my target in the fight. I definitely wouldn't recommend it for players with a low-end system. 
It was probably the most immersive and adrenaline-charged time I've ever had playing AH. But it did raise the level of difficulty to play AH by a huge factor. IMO, if it was possible (and it isn't), it would be a blast to play a snapshot every once in awhile with enforced friendly-only icons.

cheers,
asw

[WaRLoCkL]

this would be no problem for lets say the axis vs allies arena or SA but in the MA common be real. the radar is not that affective when you are in a furball. you cant decifer who is who. if there were only two countries and one side flew axis planes and tother allied then it would be much easier. or say if it only shows freindly icons but not enemy. that would work in my opinion

[Delirium]

Unless everyone had the same system, it would give those with a high resolution and frame rate the advantage.

[LilMak]

I wouldn't mind this if vision in game was anywhere near what human eyes could see in reality. In commercial jet I can see a Toyota Corolla on the highway @ 30K and I've seen a P-51 sitting #2 for take off behind a Cessna Citation 560 (business jet for those that don't know) and they were about the same size. My point is this...without the icons, I can barely see a 30ton tank in the middle of an open field in AH at 5k and, if you zoom all the way in when you're 200 behind a fighter, that's about how close the plane would look to the naked eye IRL. Therefore icons are a virtual requirement in the virtual world.

[eagl]

Unless everyone had the same system, it would give those with a high resolution and frame rate the advantage.

Not necessarily.  Lower resolution means the initial enemy plane dot is larger and the color of the dot can be much more easily used to determine what type of plane it is.

As for frame rate, just lower the resolution and decrease ground detail ranges.  That gives an even bigger advantage because the ground detail can shimmer, making that initial dot much more difficult to see.

Turning on or off anti-aliasing might help, but you'd have to experiment with it to see if your particular video card would increase the effective size of the long-range dots, or if the anti-aliasing would make the dots blend in with the background.  I think many vid cards and anti-aliasing modes would increase the effective size of the dot, but the apparent color might be off a bit due to the blending of colors from adjacent pixels.

But lower resolution would actually help due to larger dot size making the initial color easier to see.  Of course, that assumes your monitor has reasonably good color reproduction.  A better LCD with better color or an old-style tube monitor could potentially give an advantage in long-range ID by dot color.

[frank3]

<S> Frank! How you doin?

Yep, Frank's Coop Missions are one thing I really miss from H2H. Icons off, 4v4, 15,000 feet, sometimes your heart could really get pounding. Great stuff.

But, regarding the MA world, as other above have said, it's way too complicated in the MAs to fly without icons.

OldSport - Cement

Heya Cement! <S>!
I didn't know you were still around, good to see you man!
Been hearing rumours of HTC wanting to get the H2H back again, we should do a few more missions by then 

[oTRALFZo]

Point being made is in WW2 flying over the English channel and in a spit..you know the the guy you want in your sights is sportin the German cross.
Here you have mustang on spit etc...
Ive tried icons off in FSO..definatly alot more challenging.
Great idea...but wouldnt work in the MAs.

[Delirium]

Not necessarily.  Lower resolution means the initial enemy plane dot is larger and the color of the dot can be much more easily used to determine what type of plane it is.

But at a lower resolution, you cover less sky when you look around and the lack of quality image of the dot also is a liability.

[save]

Just have the range removed - replace it with a + or - for closing or exending from you  and you see how shooting ranges will change.

[dedalos]

yeah i always love flying blind.  what's not to like?

besides nothing stops anyone from simply toggling icons off. try it in AvA with a buncha like-minded people and get back to us.

Comon Shane, his squad has been practicing this and formation flying.  It must be imposed on every one now lol.  Oh, and get a better video card

[USCH]

Fly Ava with tags off.... or mabee get rid of the aircraft tag and just keep the rook bish knight icon on 

[FiLtH]

 I gets that way in FSO when icons are set too low. Everyone patroling a sector sees dots and constantly thinking another patrol is enemy. Dont like it.