Halo Icons at short range

[Dawger]

I would like the text icon to disappear inside of  X yards to be replaced by a soft glow outlining the aircraft silhouette.

X could be anything from 1000 to 400 yards, preferably closer to 1000.

[DaddyAce]

This sounds good to me.  I often have trouble seeing the plane, although the icon is quite clear.......maybe I need to play with the settings more, although I partially attribute my issue with aging eyes and that I'm somewhat red green colorblind.....Dawger, your suggestion seems like it would be helpful!

[Owlblink]

I do not like this idea. I understand it's a game but that would take too much away from it being a simulator. If a plane dives out to the deck they can hide their icon and make use of their plane's camo. Having a "highlighting" effect is too big of a step towards a more arcady game style.

[Dawger]

I do not like this idea. I understand it's a game but that would take too much away from it being a simulator. If a plane dives out to the deck they can hide their icon and make use of their plane's camo. Having a "highlighting" effect is too big of a step towards a more arcady game style.

The only changes I proposed were within a range where camouflage is completely ineffective.

Camouflage is a distance tool.

[Dawger]

Dobs originally conceived of this idea two decades ago and explains it in a little more detail in another recent thread.

Actually proposed this in lieu of icons "way back when" (different Sim though).... it went something like this:

If I look out a view and an aircraft is within 1000 then it gets a halo (highlight) indicating bandit in 1 sec.  If it is 1001 to 2000 it takes 2 secs, 2001 to 3000 3 seconds, etc........ If you keep looking long enough the icon appears so you know its a 190, P-51 etc... how long is long enough? Well you can double the time it takes to get a halo...so a con inside 1000 gets an icon in 2 seconds, etc...  Once you close within 600 then you get the icon to disappear and only the halo stays.

Gives a little more "realism" to obtaining Tally, getting an ID, and  having to "search" for those longer range cons....

The highlight would solve the "aircraft paint pixel matches the terrain paint pixel" issue and "highlight" the aircraft slightly...

If his version were fully implemented the ability to mask against the terrain would be realistically preserved while retaining an icon system to preserve the playability.

[Mongoose]

  The text icon is there to make up for the depth perception and other visual cues that you can't duplicate on a computer screen.  The halo would be too much like an arcade game. 

[Chilli]

Mongoose,  your logic fails me    Red text is acceptable, where highlight is not?? 

I do, understand the concern though.  It would not be pleasing to anyone to have a bunch of "glow bug" objects littering the screen.

In both, Dawger's idea and the  discussion from another sim, it appears that is not the request.  Halo would only appear at close range.  Funny, but independently of these suggestions I came to the same conclusion (instead called for a thin line silhouette / which sounds like the same thing) but utilizing the target lock system, that only works if you enable it on a specific target.
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,384540.msg5114607.html#msg5114607

[Dawger]

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

[save]

Another idea could be to see only the enemy vertical red bar within 1k distance,  like in some scenarios in Warbirds many eon's ago.

[Dawger]

I think the aircraft icons from WWIIOL were a pretty innovative solution. (hated the game the few times I played thought)

A circle around the aircraft at distance that unwinds counterclockwise as you get closer.

The aircraft type is visible in the mid ranges but not present when far away or in close.

Once you get very close there is no icon at all.

Example is this video

[Pudgie]

I like this idea..................

 

[bustr]

How many of you with a dog in this hunt are at FOV 90-100?

These ideas for changes are good until you get above 100 or use zoom a lot. Here are screen shots at 110. Notice between 600-200 you really don't see much of a difference in the wingspan unless you use the Mil structures on a gunsight in zoom. How many of you know how to do that on the fly?

A halo would make these cons look like a Mario Bros powerup crap especially if you get stuck at the trigger threshold range chasing it. At 400-200 Hitech could have the icon swap out with a red dot on each wing tip and the rudder. But, how many of you really want to watch an annoying flashing red icon as you get stuck on someones tail just at the threshold for any of these changes? A player with epilepsy might even have an interesting lawsuit over it.

Anyone consider the obvious and just have the aircraft type and country tag avatar something you can choose to toggle on or off to reduce the clutter? Or toggle off the plane name only, or toggle off range and plane name?  Things like this that Hitech already can choose to reveal in the game window like the HUD.

Otherwise you guys are taking a track here that always fails. You are trying to force Hitech with group consensus to do something you want without making any attempt to see if he wants it.


Con through gunsight at FOV 110, zoom off, 200-1000.

[pembquist]

I would be very happy if this feature existed: toggle on-icon for the plane in front of me goes away just for me, all other icons stay on, toggle off back to normal. I know you can toggle through the icon settings one after another, I'd like to have it binary and only effect the plane that you would do target lock to. I don't want the icon to change to an outline. The primary reason I want this is not because I can't see the planes against a dark background per se, but because my aged brain fixates on the icon and makes it hard to decipher what the plane ahead (or behind if it was like target lock) is doing and I tend to blast the hell out of the icon while leaving the plane untouched.

[Pudgie]

How many of you with a dog in this hunt are at FOV 90-100?

These ideas for changes are good until you get above 100 or use zoom a lot. Here are screen shots at 110. Notice between 600-200 you really don't see much of a difference in the wingspan unless you use the Mil structures on a gunsight in zoom. How many of you know how to do that on the fly?

A halo would make these cons look like a Mario Bros powerup crap especially if you get stuck at the trigger threshold range chasing it. At 400-200 Hitech could have the icon swap out with a red dot on each wing tip and the rudder. But, how many of you really want to watch an annoying flashing red icon as you get stuck on someones tail just at the threshold for any of these changes? A player with epilepsy might even have an interesting lawsuit over it.

Anyone consider the obvious and just have the aircraft type and country tag avatar something you can choose to toggle on or off to reduce the clutter? Or toggle off the plane name only, or toggle off range and plane name?  Things like this that Hitech already can choose to reveal in the game window like the HUD.

Otherwise you guys are taking a track here that always fails. You are trying to force Hitech with group consensus to do something you want without making any attempt to see if he wants it.


Con through gunsight at FOV 110, zoom off, 200-1000.


(Image removed from quote.)

Don't have a dog in this hunt.....I still think it's a good idea, I still like the idea & I use a FOV of 90....the default FOV..................

 

[BuckShot]

-1

This is not world of tanks. The highlighted silhouette is one of the reasons I played wot only one time...it stunk, unrealistic.