Aircraft ID without Icons questions for Superfly and Natedog

[Citabria]

quite a few people have been trying out no Icons engagements and having a lot of fun with it but it is a bit more difficult than it should be to ID some aircraft that are a bit similar like 109s 190s and spitfires, they all look the same.

however once the fight is between aircraft with paintschemes that are more easily recognizable such as p51s and p38s vs the 109s and 190s everything works well since the players can distinguish friend and foe much easier.

my question is:

can you control the colors at longer ranges for the more similar planes to make them more recognizable by color scheme when they are still small? and when up close the distinction between the spitfires and the 109s is difficult, they both look grey even very close at around 300 yards in and it is dificult to make out their color scheme.


since we dont have the ability to use silouhets for ID even at 1600x1200 and close range due to ploygon limitations perhaps if it were possible to id bandits by color scheme no Icons would be a much more workable in special events scenarios where the players are there specifically for flying combat w/o icons  

 

[funked]

It's a bit difficult to judge aspect too.  At ranges where one can make out a plane shape in real life, we see a dot.  Any ideas for that one?

[Superfly]

Nate and I have done all we can to make the planes distinguishable from far away.  We've made the colors as noticeable as possible using colored wireframes around the models.  This is either a graphics engine limitation or something that HT can fix.  HT any thoughts?

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John "SUPERFLY" Guytan - Art Director
HiTech Creations
"Happiness is a warm gun momma" - The Beatles
-=HELLFIRE=- SQUAD

[Hristo]

And it shows  

Planes can be distinguished by color from far ranges.

Light colored spinner on LA from very far away, white Spitfire spinner etc.

The only problem is P 51. I think it is near firing range while it is still miles away   However, it has one distinct characteristic. It is harder to spot against the sky then against the ground, unlike camouflaged planes. Also, P 51 on your 6 is slightly harder to spot than Niki, for example.

IMO, it all looks great. MA pales in comparison after trying out iconless matches.

I hope HTC considers us no-icon addicts  

[Kieren]

"I hope HTC considers us no-icon addicts  "

By this I think you mean allowing no-icons to be set by CM arena-wide, and in the HA? If so, I agree.

[Citabria]

Superfly You and nate have done a very good job of it too, I was just wondering if perhaps the spitfires could be adjusted in their distant colors to be slightly different than the german aircraft. This was a problem in Warbirds with no Icons as well. However the no Icon events were usually set in the Pacific because of this and against planes distinguishable from eachother easily by paint scheme... always was a huge success.

if the aircraft of the same country look similar at a bit of a distance thats excellent since they usually used a color scheme and camo that would produce this effect in RL.

perhaps it would be possible to adjust the british planes to be represented by a color lighter grey than the german aircraft? or maybe green.

or perhaps if its at all possible making the roudels/stars/crosses on the planes brighter colors when viewed from 1000 yards or more?

but these are just silly suggestions from someone who knows nothing about 3d modelling.   so before I make myself look dumber than usual I will shut up and leave this to the profesionals.

keep up the great work HTC  

[Hristo]

Or better, a separate HA with all icons off.

[Citabria]

Hristo I agree, but I think the spifire vs 109s gets chaotic since they look so similar,

but I guess this may be realistic...

after all spitfires shot down a c54 full of p38 dive brakes thinking it was an fw200 condor so maybe all is well  

[funked]

Spitfires also shot down several Typhoons.

Damn Spit dweebs!

[Jochen]

 

Spitfires also shot down several Typhoons.

Damn Spit dweebs!

Roger that! Whenever something nasty happens you can bet your lederhosen that Spifire dweebs are somehow associated with it!

Nice catch by the way funked  

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jochen Jagdflieger JG 2 'Richthofen' Aces High
jochen Geschwaderkommodore (on leave) Jagdgeschwader 2 'Richthofen'  Warbirds

Thanks for the Fw 190A-5 HTC!

Ladysmith wants you forthwith to come to her relief
Burn your briefs you leave for France tonight
Carefully cut the straps of the booby-traps and set the captives free
But don't shoot 'til you see her big blue eyes

[LLv34_Camouflage]

Personally, I don't have much trouble distinguishing different plane types.  I don't know about the rest of ya, but I usually look for the nationality markings in the wings and fuselage    

But seriously, I think the identification problems just add to the immersion! Keep practising, you will learn to id the planes in no time!  

Camo

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Camouflage
XO, Lentolaivue 34
 www.muodos.fi/LLv34

Brewster into AH!

"The really good pilots use their superior judgement to keep them out of situations
where they might be required to demonstrate their superior skill."

[This message has been edited by LLv34_Camouflage (edited 05-22-2000).]

[LLv34_Camouflage]

...aaaand 200.  Thank you!  

[funked]

One thing I noticed in training tonight - The empennage on the Spitfire Mk. V changes color beyond 300 yards or so.  And the color it changes to is the color of the Spit. IX empennage!

[LLv34_Camouflage]

It was quite hard to spot the difference between a Spit V and IX in real life too!