Aircraft against the terrain

[Vulcan]

It is extremely difficult to pick out a plane against terrain in real life also.

HiTech

I suspect the issue is the bright icon overwhelming the planes visibility to the brain.

[save]

the only way to see them who are not in metal/bright color is to zoom in on them. A good reason not to use shiny planes.

[Oldman731]

I have had the occasion to need to pick out aircraft (in real life) against terrain on many occasions and they are not hard to see when you look at them. They might be hard to FIND against the terrain but they are not hard to see once you know where they are and you are within a mile.

I agree with this, with the caveat that, once you take your eyes off them, you have to "find" them again, and that can be difficult.  It's one of the reasons I like the no-enemy-icons setting; if you look away from the enema, you're screwed, so you fly in such a manner that you don't have to look away.

- oldman

[The Fugitive]

So camouflage at 1200 feet....best seen to date next to the Romulans cloaking device (which this does a great job of mimicking).  Camo works at distance, and usually you pick up movement before color, so staring right at an aircraft 1200' in front of me means that I should not have any issues "seeing" them....  This is just a case of "dark on dark" in the graphics engine....without actual depth perception, it makes it unusually hard to distinguish a dark object against a dark background...toss in twilight "feature" and it is next to impossible.

Thrilla, Glad to see I'm not the only one who see's this as an issue...

It IS an issue, but one that reflect real life some what.

A "halo" around the aircraft silhouette instead of the text icon when inside 400 yards would be an awesome improvement in the game.

I have been wishing for "halo" icons since Dobs came up with the idea 20 years ago in a galaxy far, far away.

And here we have a gamy fix.

Lets have Hitech add lead computing sites, after all figuring where to aim to score hits is really hard 

I joke, but you can see what I mean. If you add bright outlines it removes the challenge of the game. Thats one of the reason the "down times" is a bit over the top as well. It takes the challenge away. Old days we use to have notes all over the desk with times to keep track when things would be coming back up.

Dusk gets pretty dark in some areas of the map and so the planes are hard to see and harder to hit, but the alternative is moving closer to an arcade game with just a bunch of rote moves to memorize.

[Dawger]

It IS an issue, but one that reflect real life some what.

And here we have a gamy fix.

Lets have Hitech add lead computing sites, after all figuring where to aim to score hits is really hard 

I joke, but you can see what I mean. If you add bright outlines it removes the challenge of the game. Thats one of the reason the "down times" is a bit over the top as well. It takes the challenge away. Old days we use to have notes all over the desk with times to keep track when things would be coming back up.

Dusk gets pretty dark in some areas of the map and so the planes are hard to see and harder to hit, but the alternative is moving closer to an arcade game with just a bunch of rote moves to memorize.

The text based icon is easily one of the UGLIEST things Hitech could possibly have done to what is now a fairly decent visual experience.

A subtle halo icon that DOES NOT INCLUDE auto range and allows a better enjoyment of the visual experience would not take away the challenge.

It is surprising to me that HTC has not figured out a better version of the mofugliness that are the icons.

[The Fugitive]

Due to the lack of depth perception in a video game there has to be a way to get that information. I think a "glow" around the planes would take away far more from the experience than what we have. It would seem wayyyyy too futuristic like some sci-fi game instead of a WWII game to me.

And for those leaning toward "more realistic" by getting the information by wingtip in the gun site and such lets look at how many guy got into flight training. They didn't take every Tom, Dick, or Harry. On top of that how many washed out due to color blindness, poor eye site, reflexes, or just not smart enough to do the math. I don't think they are looking to chase away those that cant cut it here.

[Copprhed]

I agree with this, with the caveat that, once you take your eyes off them, you have to "find" them again, and that can be difficult.  It's one of the reasons I like the no-enemy-icons setting; if you look away from the enema, you're screwed, so you fly in such a manner that you don't have to look away.

- oldman

Hense the saying "Lose sight, lose the fight!"

[MADe]

what I believe is that the objects skins need to be painted with 3d perspective in mind.
we see a beautiful 2 d landscape in front of us, its like a landscape painting. the same 2 d paint style is applied to aircraft and . the objects have a tendency to fall into their backgrounds.

objects skins good exhibit a little forced 3d appearance with the paint job. look at how painters bring specific subjects out of the canvass, tattoo artist been doing stuff as well.

[pembquist]

I suspect the issue is the bright icon overwhelming the planes visibility to the brain.

this right here makes sense

[Dawger]

this right here makes sense

Except it is quite easily disproven.

Just look at the screen shots.

The issue is quite obviously the inherent difficultly in attempting to create depth perception on a 2 d surface. The image is washed out and blended in. The motion cues present in real life are also difficult to render. Add to that the shaded gunsight combining glass and low light and the result is invisibility.

It could be fixed. The simplest fix is high noon all the time. A better fix is reimagining the icon system as it also corrects many other issues as well

 

[DmonSlyr]

For what it's worth, I've been having a harder time judging the plane direction and wing position than in AH2. I'm thinking it's because of the change in graphics model. Judging E and opponent plane speed is a bit more challenging too.  I think planes like the Yak3 really do blend well in the ground when the sun is lower.

I don't really have a solution or anything, just my experience in the game.

[Dawger]

For what it's worth, I've been having a harder time judging the plane direction and wing position than in AH2. I'm thinking it's because of the change in graphics model. Judging E and opponent plane speed is a bit more challenging too.  I think planes like the Yak3 really do blend well in the ground when the sun is lower.

I don't really have a solution or anything, just my experience in the game.

Not doing low angle sun would fix the issue.

Here is a quick edit of DOBS screen shot to show what subtle halo icons could look like in three different icon colors. Top left is his original shot, unedited. The rest are quick ovals of the chosen color to match wing and fuselage and then overlay blended. The result is subtle color hints



Here is a less subtle version

[ccvi]

What is even more puzzling is the size of the wingtip of the Ki84??? just above the cockpit in the unzoomed screenshot.

Its the projection to a flat surface. Running at large viel of view angles, things get huge far from the center. Basically, because looking at the screen far out there from an angle makes them the correct size again. Either get so far in with the eyes that the perspective fits, or get a screen of the correct hugeness for the correct perspective.

The tripple-head-to-go logo shows screens not aligned flat but the outer ones at an angle to the center one. That's a setup that doesn't work.

The bug briefly appearing on the 110 disabling icons when in the gunsight was nice.

[bustr]

The gunsight reflector plate glass alpha mask is too dark and you cannot see your con like you can see everything just next to it through the windscreen lighter alpha mask.

Do any of you have a problem seeing cons through the canopy alpha mask that are inside of 1000? If the gunsight alpha mask in Dob's screen captures was the same alpha as the windscreen mask he would not be posting this complaint. The mask is dark to give an impression of looking through multiple panes of glass and plastic I'm guessing was Waffle's reasoning. If you sit in any of the a6m, the reflector plate is dark because Waffle decided to raise the sun screen fliter just behind the clear glass reflector plate. Pilots did not use those because they blocked the pilot's view of their con.

In real life the glass reflector plate in Dob's screen capture was as clear as the picture of the cockpit from the P38 below which has the EXACT SAME gunsight as the one in Dob's screen capture:

[DmonSlyr]

Not doing low angle sun would fix the issue.

Here is a quick edit of DOBS screen shot to show what subtle halo icons could look like in three different icon colors. Top left is his original shot, unedited. The rest are quick ovals of the chosen color to match wing and fuselage and then overlay blended. The result is subtle color hints

(Image removed from quote.)

Here is a less subtle version

(Image removed from quote.)

Well dawger, my only gripe about that is, most skins were made to sort of blend in with the terrain. I think the skins should provide that value. When I take my sortie seriously, I often choose skins that blend in with the terrain to make me blend in better. Think about about battfield 4, where camouflage really does work. I think putting this kind of ring around the plane, or highlight of plane, would defeat the skins purpose and make it too easy to aim. While I do agree that it is difficult to see the plane in some circumstances when the sun is down, I don't think highlighting the plane, and giving it's camo away, is the best option either. Just being honest here. I dont think the plane should he totally transparent, but I don't think it should be completely given away either.