Tracers Fix

[shift8]

Overall I really like AH3, save for one big issue.

Please fix the tracer effect. It is very very hard to see. Unrealistically hard to see. One of the best things about AH2 was the tracers and the hit markers from the tracer impact flash. Both of these things are diminished in AH3. Right now in AH3 for the short distance you can see the tracer arc it looks like a laser, then dissapears for a bit, then later you can see the falling bits as they drop away. Please fix this high tech. I loved your AH2 tracers!

[Hungry]

+1

[bustr]

I tested tracers just now at 80 fov and 120 fov for visibility.

1. - At either fov if the gamma is at 1.0, the glass reflector plate is too dark to see trough at 12:00 noon and tracers are very dim.

2. - Setting gamma 1.2-1.4 makes 12:00 noon look like real world 12:00 while clearing up the darkness looking through the gunsight's glass reflector plate. This was true for both 80 and 120 fov. Tracers became usable.

3. - Learn to lead shoot without needing tracers which will have you placing your rounds where the con will be, rather than being slightly behind the curve on ever hitting the con by depending on tracers for visual cues. I know, that is asking a lot with this being just a cartoon game.

[Bruv119]

have to agree with shift8 on this one.  I love the firing effects but at distance it just look like a blur on my end.   A wirble was firing at me in Beta and it was all over the place couldn't really tell what rounds were close etc.

[bustr]

Do you also get Icons that shift from solid to opaque and back depending on the range? His original description sounds like the Icons. have you tried upping your gamma offline after setting the terrain to 12:00? That increased the brightness of tracers for me at all times of the clock.

While creating a new generation of brighter gunsights recently, it seems like many things that are secondary light sources unto themselves, depend on the brightness of the key light source for the arena. I saw that with the moon while testing night reticles.

[Chilli]

Bf110 30 mm tracers are AWESOME  by the way..

[Gman]

We went into this already a few weeks back, Bustr, you should post a link to that as you did a bunch of screen shots and tests at various ranges/fov/etc that was pretty good info.  I think I even said it would be a good sticky, as it would be a very common question/issue, the whole tracers/hit sprites thing.  I've found I've made adjustments similar to what Bustr has suggested already, and that factored in with just getting used to the difference, I found that after a bit of time I got used to the different tracers.  TBH though I feel the AH2 tracers/hit sprites are superior in visibility still, but the AH3/beta ones DO look better in terms of actual graphics/detail, it's just that they are far smaller and thus harder to make out.  At 1440p they are VERY small IMO, and 1080p and a 106 FOV they are better with the gamma turned up, at 4k - very tiny.

[HamrDown]

Bf110 30 mm tracers are AWESOME  by the way..

LOL!!    I am sure they are...love throwing taters!

<S>
HamrDown

[bustr]

First thing is turn up your gamma offline with the time set to 12:00. Once you get it to your version of real world 12:00 bright. A lot of things seem to fall in line after that.

[Chalenge]

Miniscule; especially considering I'm talking about tank rounds. Still, I think it is probably more realistic than AHII was, but the thing is (in retrospect) the fact that the computer screen is our only way to see anything and that room light tends to be much brighter . . . the smaller tracers are very difficult to see.

[bustr]

Then allow the rest of us to pull out the lawn chairs and beer coolers. Then you walk up the Hitech and pick a fight over the number of pixels he decided makes an adequate tracer in AH3.

[Devil 505]

I like the smaller tracers, but I wish the hit sprites were bigger and brighter.

[Gman]

I have a similar opinion, the smaller tracers actually make less stuff...in the way of seeing what's happening to the target, but with tiny hit sprites too, it isn't a real advantage overall compared to AH2 IMO.  Larger hit sprites, the same as AH2, with the AH3 tracers - heh, that'd be spanky IMO.  The sprites do really look great, especially in 1440p/4k, very cool seeing a pile of little pings from a load of .50s hitting bombers, but again, I find my neck craning trying to see them at those res, and even at 1080p they still seem small.

I do agree, they are likely more realistic, big time, so I guess those banging their "I want teh realizms" gong won't be able to complain much about them, hah.

[bustr]

Now if you hit zoom so the reticle is near life size, the tracers and hit sprites are much larger and zilch peripheral vision. After all, with a 2D space spoofing our eyes into thinking it is a 3D space, and we are being presented a proportional life sized world. Something has to be done to spoof the lack of peripheral vision. So the whole thing gets shrinked proportionally if we choose a custom FoV to show us more of the environment.

There is a master scale, and Hitech prides himself on building everything to it. Seems light intensity might be getting shrunk a bit with the smaller tracers at larger FOV settings. The hits sprites are bright but, proportionally smaller to your custom FoV. Try cashing drones at 80 fov with your gamma 1.2 - 1.4 and you will see nice tracers and hit sprites.

So the real demand is then what? Hitech increase the master scale so FOV 106 tracers will look like FOV 80 tracers?

[Chalenge]

This is actually a wish of mine, because the huge armor tracers gave the position of tanks away from 10k. Any aircraft could instantly identify your position, but also when you have a tank in an ambush situation the first shot gives your position away. My understanding of actual tank tracers is that they are hyper-visible from the rear, but not so much from the target. However, even aircraft tracers are intended for the shooter to identify the placement of any shots from his gun. If the shooter cannot follow his own tracers then I am at a loss as to what to suggest.