Hit Decals

[shift8]

After some flying me and some friends of mine have really liked the beta so far. Especially after the performance improvements from the dx11 patches.

One big issue however is the hit decals from the tracer flashes when tracer rounds strike planes. In AH2 they were excellent. In AH3, they are awful. Not sure what factors or combination of factors cause it, but they are unreasonably hard to see. This is imo a big gameplay problem, as seeing the hit decals from the tracer impact flashes is a major part of the "reward" feedback to the player in the game. Aces High 2 does a good job of giving the player feedback from your strikes. It is a lot less fun to shoot other planes when the hit decal is not is not giving my brain the "reward" feedback by indicating I have gotten strikes. Not to mention that its not very realistic. Even in ultra grainy black and white footage of gun cameras, it is exceedingly obvious when a airplane has been struck. Even when there is no major structural damage. Again, this feedback from strikes is a big part of the fun in game imho.

Please make the impact flashes bigger or more obvious somehow. It doesnt have to be exactly the same as AH2, but something to the same effect please.

[Chalenge]

I think the way the hits are represented in AHIII is intended to be a more accurate representation (within reason) of the real thing. AHII was always out of scale, for a reason. AHIII improves upon that because of improved technology which allows an effect closer to true scale (again, within reason). It may be a happy accident that it happened like that, or not.

[Chilli]

The first thing that I noticed from this patch has been an improved hit sprite and tracer visibility.  I believe this has to do with the contrast between background and the effects.  Someone else noted that the explosions have a shockwave effect.

Neither of these two observations were listed as changes / fixes with the patch readme.  What did occur was the removal of the .sliders command.  Is it possible that better visibility as noted over tracers, hit sprites and shockwave effects is due to a standard tweak that went along with the sliders being locked?

[oboe]

Somewhere I thought I read that hit sprites' visibility was possibly related to FOV setting.  The suggestion being, that at the new default FOV of 80, they are quite visible, but if you go back to the AH2 standard (106?) they become hard to see.  I haven't verified this however.

[shift8]

If it is FOV related they need to revert to the 106 standard. 80 is far far too congested.


And the hit sprit size is not more realistic. The AH2 sprite was about right with regards to ease of seeing it. Ive seen hit flashes from 50's IRL. The are effortless to see, even 800m away and farther.

[JimmyD3]

If it is FOV related they need to revert to the 106 standard. 80 is far far too congested.


And the hit sprit size is not more realistic. The AH2 sprite was about right with regards to ease of seeing it. Ive seen hit flashes from 50's IRL. The are effortless to see, even 800m away and farther.

Now  you know  you can change your FOV, right?

[Randy1]

The FOV as been an issue for some time.  Since the cockpit graphic quality is set to 80, it would seem like the only good answer to the fov issue is make it fixed based on your setup.  A lot whining would happen but it would soon wear out.

The goggle users will have a clear advantage for sure with near 100% scale views.

Right now, your choice is blurry gauges and good sa or reduced sa and clear view of the gauges.

I use a fov of 93 so I have gauges that are fussy and reasonable sa.

[Skuzzy]

I believe Randy1, the "fuzzy" gauges you keep talking about is due to the anti-alias option in the graphic details.  Uncheck that option, if you want the gauges to be sharper.

[bustr]

It's like night and day for a sharper image when you uncheck AA. And all of the jaggys are really crisp then......

[Lazerr]

the field of view deal is rough... can't we make this work somewhere between 106 and 80?

Even people currently playing the game are not liking it much...

I fully understand how to change it.  I also fully understand how it won't look as "good" when I do.

Is it a trade-off to see tracers or see bad guys easier?



PS... Being a mouse player in the beta (maybe the only one), whenever I pull up the map, or text buffer, having the crap "mouse commander" mode turn on automatically is really crap.

This is about the 5th time i've posted it.  Can you acknowledge if it even "might" be changed?  I will figure it out either way, but I have abnormally fast fingers accustomed to a keyboard that i special order so my hands rest in the same spot. (Yes, I pay $50.00 for a 8 year old standard keyboard)

Typically if you are flying with a mouse, you are using a keyboard.  Having to hit two keys every time you type or look at a map is rough.

I figured since you made this mouse command mode, you are looking at making things easier for people without gaming gear.

I can assure you that's not the case.  If someone in this game can even get a shot on me using mouse commander mode, I will shut up about it.

Anyone using it will likely be a piece of chum in the MA getting ripped apart and quitting before their trial expires. (even more so, and even quicker than a regular new guy)

if anything, it is even more troublesome for someone using free flight mouse controls.





Think.... new... players.....  Make things easy. 

I hope this doesnt go live before some playability/gameplay things change.. id rather wait longer to see it done right and work in the long run.


Sorry for the hijack, but you should look into this a bit deeper rather than a "new feature".

[shift8]

Now  you know  you can change your FOV, right?

From what I have read elsewhere, the FOV issue regarding the hit sprites has something to do with the default FOV setting. There appears to be a issue where upping your FOV over default makes everything far more tiny than it usually would due to the native FOV of the game. Although to me it just seems like the sprites were made too small, so the only way to see them is to have a unreasonable tight fov. Things need to be scaled to accommodate higher FOV.

[oboe]

From what I have read elsewhere, the FOV issue regarding the hit sprites has something to do with the default FOV setting. There appears to be a issue where upping your FOV over default makes everything far more tiny than it usually would due to the native FOV of the game. Although to me it just seems like the sprites were made too small, so the only way to see them is to have a unreasonable tight fov. Things need to be scaled to accommodate higher FOV.

My understanding is they chose a default FOV of 80 to match the FOV of other current and popular flight sims.   There are good things about it; skins look very impressive up close...

[bustr]

From what I have read elsewhere, the FOV issue regarding the hit sprites has something to do with the default FOV setting. There appears to be a issue where upping your FOV over default makes everything far more tiny than it usually would due to the native FOV of the game. Although to me it just seems like the sprites were made too small, so the only way to see them is to have a unreasonable tight fov. Things need to be scaled to accommodate higher FOV.

Check this post and see if it might apply to your problem.

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,380360.0.html

[hgtonyvi]

I can be wrong here but HTC made the FOV to 80, meaning that its basically automatic zoom right?? Via bracket keys.....it's basically a zoom in that stays as default. It's the same as setting the native 106 fov and using brackets to zoom at a blank closer FOV.....they might did that due to new players joining.....yet I can be wrong but as an old schooler here I think that's the case....

[shift8]

Check this post and see if it might apply to your problem.

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,380360.0.html

]

Thanks for the attempt but this isnt my problem. This is a universal issue. Adjusting certain settings may or may not alleviate some aspects of the problem but the hit decals are simply far too small to be seen properly as they should. This is a issue both for "fun" reasons and for realism. It is more fun to get that feedback when you hit a target. It also is important to know when you have struck, otherwise you cannot correct your aim. This is the entire reasons IRL that said flashes exist in the first place.

Tracer hit flashes are very easy to see IRL. For a whole slew of reasons, real human vision is not the same as looking at even the best 4k OLED computer screen. Computer screens do not even come close to how the human eye works. Your real vision is far superior. Your eye can see far greater level of contrast, changes in lighting, and is binocular. This is why aces high has changes to aircraft lod at a distance, and why having a zoom toggle in games like AH or even ARMA is overall more realistic. Some things in games have to be exaggerated or adjusted in order to mimic real life for practical reasons.