Simple HUD

[WarTooth]

Hello,

My monitor and screen resolution are very modest.  As a result in some aircraft I cannot easily see two vital gauges: Altitude and Speed.  Is there a way have the Altitude and Speed displayed HUD-like? 

Like the video performance stats for instance.  It does not interfere or block anything yet is easily visible.  Another good example is damage (via Ctrl-D I believe).

Thanks, 

WT

[Lusche]

There is no such thing as a HUD in Aces High.

But for speed, you can use the E6B info on your clipboard. Click on E6B, leave it open and hide clipboard with ESC. Everytime you bring up clipboard now, E6B is already open.
But of course it hides most of your screen, so it's just a kind of crutch.

[Murdr]

As Lusche said, no.

An alternative is to save a head position for Look_forward+down (kp 8+0), in any plane where instrument viewing is a problem.  You should be able to "lean in" on almost any instrument panel to get an enlarged view of the gauges.

[jimson]

As Lusche said, no.

An alternative is to save a head position for Look_forward+down (kp 8+0), in any plane where instrument viewing is a problem.  You should be able to "lean in" on almost any instrument panel to get an enlarged view of the gauges.

That is what I have done, set a hat switch fwd and save head position down and fwd
as far as possible while still keeping most of the guages within view, go too far fwd and you'll only see 1 or 2 but they will be really close up.

[Dawger]

The important question is what you want the altitude and speed information for?

For use in aerial combat a HUD presentation would be unrealistic for this era of aircraft.

In all real airplanes the pilot has to physically look down to see the instruments (Yes this includes giant airliners) so having to perform a key or button press in order to look down at the instruments is appropriate.

In maneuvering combat one needs to be able to discern speed and altitude information without relying on the gauges. Wind noise in game is a fairly reliable indicator. Balance engine noise and wind so that you can easily discern changes in wind noise. Get a stall warning that gives progressive feedback on the stall (stock stall warning does fine for me)

Altitude is another matter. You need to know how high you are before an engagement and have a good feel for what different altitudes look like out the window from every conceivable angle. In a low level fight the altimeter is worse than useless because the ground isn't necessarily at the zero on the gauge.

It is also an excellent idea to be able to recognize the minimum altitude from which a split S is possible in your favorite plane. It sucks to start a split S and realize when you get vertical there isn't enough room.

[WarTooth]

Guys,

Thanks for the suggestions thus far on pilot view options.  Cool - I will work with this.

For use in aerial combat a HUD presentation would be unrealistic for this era of aircraft.

I do not have an uber video card or monitor.  What would be common or easy on most setups in the way of presentable video display is void in my case.  WWII pilots had no such limitation.  There view was not confined with respect to what they could see without having to press a hot key.  I am just looking for an equalizer in this area.

I am however getting better at feeling when my plane gets near its speed limitations.  Both via the creaking sounds of my plane coming apart and compression. 

I hope this helps clarify my question in this context. 

Thanks again,

WT

[Dawger]

Guys,

Thanks for the suggestions thus far on pilot view options.  Cool - I will work with this.

I do not have an uber video card or monitor.  What would be common or easy on most setups in the way of presentable video display is void in my case.  WWII pilots had no such limitation.  There view was not confined with respect to what they could see without having to press a hot key.  I am just looking for an equalizer in this area.

I am however getting better at feeling when my plane gets near its speed limitations.  Both via the creaking sounds of my plane coming apart and compression. 


I hope this helps clarify my question in this context. 

Thanks again,

WT

Super duper video performance is not required for this game. I'm playing on a 4 year old rig with a video card I dug out of my old spares pile. It doesn't even have a cooling fan so it definitely isn't a heavy duty gaming card. My monitor is a seven year old 19 inch CRT. If you can get a steady 30 fps throughout a dogfight you will be fine. Turn all the video settings down to fast performance (of course you won't be able to see stuff on the ground but who cares).

I've got mine down so low the runway doesn't render until I'm in the pattern.

I can't read my gauges without zooming in... a lot.

Learning to fly without referencing the gauges is gonna be good for you in the long run no matter how much money you waste on hardware.