More configurable icon options

[artik]

I suggest to implement following options that can be turned on/off:

- Option to changes icons according to the distance thresholds: (a) distance (6.0) (b)  distance, general type, IFF (4.0 spit/4.0 109) (c) distance, exact type, IFF (1.0 spit5) (d) distance, exact type, iff and for friendly the name (0.2 spit5 artik/0.2 spit5).
- Option to disable IFF, icon color is the same for all types friendly and enemy (can't work on MA but ok for AvA/SEA)
- Option to make distance thresholds vary with orientation to the aircraft and aircraft type. i.e. from dead 6 it is harder to distinguish between Spitfire and 109 than from 3 or from 3 slightly above
- Option for the icon to appear with slight delay when the aircraft entries the FOV. Such that at first glance you distinguish a distance than type than name. So it takes a time to regain the information you lost when the aircraft wasn't in FOV.


Such options also not suitable for MA would be absolutely great for AvA and SEA - that provide some historic realism.

[Old Sport]

Nice options, especially the option to make it harder to identify an A/C from dead six or twelve.

Along those lines for AvA and SEA, since I was just thinking about it, at more distant ranges how about general icons in a neutral color (neither red nor green):

inline
radial
twin
multi

If your side in a Scenario is flying only say, P-40's, then if you see the "radial" icon you know it is an enemy, even without specific identification. Might help add a little haze of war, but without leaving anyone completely blind to the presence of an A/C.

Best.

[trap78]

+1

Also, along the lines of what artik posted:
The first icon to appear would indicate closure or departure, neutral color + or -
As the aircraft gets closer the + or - icon is replaced with range that counts down or up to indicate closure or departure, also neutral color 3000
When the aircraft gets still closer then type and country icons also appear 190A5 2000
At very close distances only type and country icons appear 190A5

On/off distances for each stage of the icon system along with colors are part of the arena settings and can be set by admins for the mains, CM's for SEA's and players for offline and custom arenas.

[Krusty]

Puh-leeze... Another transparent wish only aimed to turn AH into a no-icons IL2 clone. Do you have any idea how far 6 kilometers is? 3.75 miles.

That's it.

That's a far cry from the 10-mile range that most planes could be identified based on people that do that for a living -- modern day fighter pilots, air traffic controllers, and other jobs were spotting traffic or targets is a matter of life and death.

In this game it's a farce to ask for icons to be diminished. One that has been denounced with science and logic and actual first-person testimonial describing how your are dead wrong in your beliefs that icons need to be removed or downplayed.

Get over it.

[artik]

Puh-leeze... Another transparent wish only aimed to turn AH into a no-icons IL2 clone. Do you have any idea how far 6 kilometers is? 3.75 miles.

That's it.

That's a far cry from the 10-mile range that most planes could be identified based on people that do that for a living -- modern day fighter pilots, air traffic controllers, and other jobs were spotting traffic or targets is a matter of life and death.

In this game it's a farce to ask for icons to be diminished. One that has been denounced with science and logic and actual first-person testimonial describing how your are dead wrong in your beliefs that icons need to be removed or downplayed.

Get over it.

Krusty:

1. Nobody tells to remove icons - they are critical.
2. Nobody want's IL2 clone: flying without icons on 1366x1024 screen is virtually flying blind - that is why I don't suggest it.

On the other hand the detection capabilities from different angles are different. Even if you do flying for living you can't distinguish between two friendly planes of same type from large distance - i.e. see their tail number and connect between pilot and plane. So this kind of option makes it little bit more realistic and it is perfect for AvA and SEA - not MA.

[Old Sport]

That's a far cry from the 10-mile range that most planes could be identified based on people that do that for a living -- modern day fighter pilots, air traffic controllers, and other jobs were spotting traffic or targets is a matter of life and death.

So you are saying a person can tell the difference between a Mig 29 and an F-15 at a distance of TEN MILES purely by unaided visual observation ???

If I am not mistaken, an unaided 20/20 visioned person can detect an object between 15-30 feet in size at ten miles, but that is hardly turning a bogey into a bandit by visual confirmation. But, hey, if you have sources for your assertion, please let us have a look.

As Artik said, the three posts before yours all stated SEA and/or AvA.

Then also, most of the time the MA rightly has something close to CAVU conditions to encourage finding sparing partners. But I doubt if most sorties of WWII were flown in CAVU conditions, so AvA and SEA's could better simulate actual conditions, if they want, with less than optimum visual capability. Friendlies mistook friendlies for enemy A/C and shot them down in WWII. I have read that on occasion pilots joined a formation of friendlies, only to discover they were bandits. AH cannot simulate glare very well. You can look into the AH sun with both eyes wide open and the screen goes white, but there is no discomfort and you don't get temporarily (or permanently) blinded. AH can't simulate haze and broken clouds very well without a major frame rate hit. If you were trailing a plane at 25,000 ft or higher over Europe you would be plowing through a contrail, making identification of the plane ahead of you very difficult, if not impossible. So, an alternative for these and other visual conditions is to simply diminish the ability to identify bogeys. But again, only for AvA or SEA's, if they want.

Anyway, these paint jobs prove visual identification was not that easy. Why waste the paint if everyone could tell what they were ten miles away.



Tiffy special identification stripes because it was mistaken for FW 190s.



The classic.

[trap78]

Puh-leeze... Another transparent wish only aimed to turn AH into a no-icons IL2 clone.
Yup, it either that or an attempt at a rational discussion about a more sophisticated icon system; but I could see how it would be difficult to tell the difference.

Do you have any idea how far 6 kilometers is? 3.75 miles.
Acutally I do. But what does it have to do with this discussion?

That's it.
That’s what?

That's a far cry from the 10-mile range that most planes could be identified based on people that do that for a living -- modern day fighter pilots, air traffic controllers, and other jobs were spotting traffic or targets is a matter of life and death.
You’re on the wrong track. This is a discussion about increasing the capability of the current icon system not about what the actual settings should be.

In this game it's a farce to ask for icons to be diminished. One that has been denounced with science and logic and actual first-person testimonial describing how your are dead wrong in your beliefs that icons need to be removed or downplayed.
Stated with a slight over emphasis on the dramatic, but thanks for clearing that up. Just to clarify, the numbers I used in my example were simply placeholders to help the reader in visuallizing what’s being talked about, not a recommedation for what an actual setting might be.

Get over it.
I’ve seen the icon debate beaten to death over the years just like everyone else. I got over it along time ago, maybe it’s time you did too.

[gyrene81]

haven't quite figured out how to use the quote option Trap?   

[trap78]

Did you need help figuring out who I was quoting gyrene?