Hitech/Pyro, My Brilliant Idea!!

[Nordman]

Okey. I've been this whole post. Some are for a change and some are against. I can understand both sides actually. I like the icon system, but as many others I'm a "roleplayer" I like to think I'm actually being an ww2 fighterpilot when I play AH. Sometimes this turns out good as hell (exuse the expression) and other times I'm flat out bored to death. I understand some have below average puters.. Me for once, but I compencate my 400mhz puter with faster HD and 64MB graphicscard. My only problem lays in the fps wich chokes when I'm flying through heavily destroyed airfield with lot's of smoke, but as soon as I'm out of the smoke I'm fine. This only happens when flying through smoke of destroyed objects though. Nothing when flying through fleet acks or heavy flak.. Others on the other hand might have poor resolution and will suffer if the icons change.. I have a GeForce2 64MB gc from Gainward and I'm running the game at 1280 x 1024 and 32MB color depth. I can visually ID a B17 (wich IMO is the easiest to ID) at 7-8k.

If it weren't for the share of planeset for all countries in MA I would love to remove the icons, and would be flying without them all the time.

An idea might be to add a new iconsystem wich could be changed to with alt + i for veterans and tweak down the normal icons just a little so new players or players with below average hardware could still use this. I don't know, but I'm up for a change.

And to coment on the pictures shown on this post: Blow those pics up to fullsize and I'll identify them for you. I can see you have magnified the pics using some sort of program, use the zoom in AH and it'll be much more detailed then what we see here. I have experimented with the zoom and can identify a Fw190-A5 or A8 at 3k without any bigger problems. (much because of the paintwork though) This on the other hand could prove difficult for newer players who aren't used to the planes in AH. Off course I know that modeling is accurate when we think of the looks in AH, but they had different paintwork depending on country during WW2.
I'll say it again, I'm up for a more "realistic" icon system, but bear in mind that there are players who might have a hard time to achieve anything in the virtual skies if you overdo it. I have faith in HTC and I think they'll do what's for the best for all AH players

-XroverX

[xHaMmeRx]

Originally posted by Nordman:
...And to coment on the pictures shown on this post: Blow those pics up to fullsize and I'll identify them for you. I can see you have magnified the pics using some sort of program, use the zoom in AH and it'll be much more detailed then what we see here. I have experimented with the zoom and can identify a Fw190-A5 or A8 at 3k without any bigger problems. (much because of the paintwork though) This on the other hand could prove difficult for newer players who aren't used to the planes in AH. Off course I know that modeling is accurate when we think of the looks in AH, but they had different paintwork depending on country during WW2.
-XroverX

Just so there's no confusion, the pictures above and on the web page are full size for the "normal" view unless otherwise noted.

While zooming is fine when you have a target in your sights, IMHO it takes away too much of your view angle to use while looking anywhere else.

HaMmeR
www.netAces.org

[MugZ]

OK i have a varient on the issue.
Why do we need the Tag to include the Country Logo.  You know...the little Knoght horse picture or Bish symbol and Rook symbol.?
For me,this is too much information!
I dont need to know what country the NME is from.  If hes RED  hes DEAD!  or at least i hope so.  LOL
That little country LOGO on the flight Tag can really be a pain in a furball.

[Vortex]

Regarding the removal of the below 1k counter, what kind of effect would that have on folks with slower machines running with all their settings off? Reason I ask is that I run a fairly beefy system and have res set to 1024/768 and all bells and whistles on. For those that fly at lower res or in "combat mode" is the elimination of that range counter going to allow them enough visual ques to sufficiently determine range?

I don't know the answer to this at all as I've never flown at those reduced resolutions. I ask though because the visual changes (color, markings, etc) as I close would play an important role in determing range, if that counter is not there. Are those same visual reference points there at the reduced video/detail settings?

Vortex

[Bozon12]

Why do we need the Tag to include the Country Logo. You know...the little Knoght horse picture or Bish symbol and Rook symbol.?
For me,this is too much information!
I dont need to know what country the NME is from. If hes RED hes DEAD! or at least i hope so. LOL
 

have been in several fight where to my suprise 2 red icons i was fighting shot each other down... then i noticed the bish and rook symbols on them and realized we were having a 3 country furball. Or watching rook fighter shooting down bish buffs bombing knits base...lol. happens quite a lot, especialy on center island on ndiles.

as for the icons and ranges. try the CT setting (icons at d3.0) it's perfect!
at this range it gives you very little time (but just enough, if you really spot it early) to tulips the situation and decide whether to engage. and we do need the range indicator since at my 1000x700 resolution you cant tell whether the bandit is comming or going till he's less the ~d1.5 .

as for the A/C tags - good idea, I like it.

Bozon

[J_A_B]

IMO the CT settings are there to make it harder, not more realistic.  Difficulty and realism are NOT necessarily the same thing.  I'm not saying increased difficulty is a bad thing--players who've been with AH longer might be somewhat bored with the regular game and would doubtlessly like the increased challenge.  But calling something "realistic" just because it's harder is incorrect.

CT ICON = 3K yards, about 1.75 miles (about 3 km for you metric types).   That is not far at all.  Do you really think it's impossible to tell a P-47 from a 109 at only 1.7 miles?  AH's graphics, as good as they are, are simply not up to the task of providing enough detail at this range.

MA ICON = 6K yards, or a little over 3.5 miles.  A person with good eyes (like 99% of fighter pilots) will be able to tell apart most WW2 fighters at this distance from most angles.  Heck, from some angles I can still tell apart cars from vans from pickup trucks at 4 miles and my eyes aren't that good.

This setting is indeed easier than the 3K setting, but it is also unquestionably more realistic.

J_A_B