Author Topic: ID letters on planeskins (Read 219 times)

Miska · « **on:** July 18, 2002, 03:07:00 PM »

I fly with icons off most of the time. The only real problem I have is keeping track of who my wingman is when flying in squadron formation. Would it be possible to just display a call letter on the fuselage and have a dot command to assign a letter to a player? ie, if thebug is my wingman for that flight, I might type .planeid thebug c. When flying, thebug's plane would show the letter C on the fuselage.

Am I dreaming, is it doable?

SKurj · « **Reply #1 on:** July 18, 2002, 05:19:46 PM »

icons off? how tha hell do you tell if that spit is enemy or not?

wait for him to shoot first?

SKurj

LLv34_Camouflage · « **Reply #2 on:** July 18, 2002, 05:27:59 PM »

I believe he's talking about the CT.

Miska, nice idea, but I'm not sure if it would work in AH. IL2 has personalized skins, and in the heat of the battle its almost impossible to see any letters on the side of a plane. The resolution just isnt good enough. Can you read the markings on the planes in AH as they are now?

If this type of system was introduced, I don't think it really would be a frame rate hit. Basically, I'd see this being an extension of the icon, transferring it on top of the players plane texture, maybe on the tail. Kind of like a personalized squad emblem, which is already used in AH.

But I'm afraid it would be a nearly useless system at these resolutions. Customizable icons (range, content, etc) would work better.

Camo

LLv34_Camouflage · « **Reply #3 on:** July 18, 2002, 05:32:02 PM »

One tip for "identification, friend or foe" in a no-icons environment: if you need to IFF, use AH voice and ask your wingman to put on his wingtip smokes for a couple of seconds.

Camo

SKurj · « **Reply #4 on:** July 18, 2002, 05:44:25 PM »

but wingtip smoke isn't enabled...

i'd just say do yourself a favor and use friendly icons only +)

SKurj

Miska · « **Reply #5 on:** July 18, 2002, 06:49:37 PM »

Yes, obviously I fly no icons in the CT. On the rare occasions I go into the MA, I turn on friendly icons.

I am not talking here about IFF. I am only talking about flying formation and regrouping after becoming disorganized. When flying with the squadron (usually 5-8 planes) it is very difficult to keep scanning AND stay formed with the same wingman, since there is no way of distinguishing between the various planes in the formation.

For IFF at long distance, I use first Radar and observer reports (with inflight dar, there is NO excuse for icons), then behaviour and finally colour. At closer ranges, such as just before opening fire, I rely on configuration and markings, which are quite visible within about 500 yards. I almost never fire outside 400 (except at bombers).

I encourage you to try it

In the meantime, someone suggests that ID letters could be done as a variant of the icon, displayed on the fuselage. Any comment from HTC? Is this possible?

Thanks

Karnak · « **Reply #6 on:** July 18, 2002, 08:56:38 PM »

Miska,

Yoy do realize that when you're flying with no icons you're simulating a pilot with such bad vision that he wouldn't be allowed anywhere near a cockpit, right?

Its not mre realistic, it is far, far from realistic.

SKurj · « **Reply #7 on:** July 18, 2002, 09:34:55 PM »

you can use the .wingman command to assist at least in the radar screen

perhaps one day we will have more icon options, like squad only +) or wingman only

SKurj

Miska · « **Reply #8 on:** July 18, 2002, 10:35:34 PM »

Karnak,

I know that the distances are distorted. I should be able to ID a plane without trouble at much longer ranges than I can in AH. However, I find that I fly more realistically, or I should say more conservatively. The main difference is in fights. If I lose sight, I am out of there! As I told my squadron after trying this for a few nights, I fly much straighter and much faster than I do with icons on. Fights are very short, and very err, exciting

After one or two passes, I have no idea where anyone is and my only option is to bug out and RTB.

So while the actual distances for various levels of recognition are not realistic at all, the behaviour which results from turning off the icons conforms much more closely to first hand accounts of air combat in WWII.

LLv34_Camouflage · « **Reply #9 on:** July 19, 2002, 01:50:09 AM »

Here's some stuff, based on WW2 accounts of the Finnish pilots.

Generally, the formation sizes were smaller than in other airforces during the "trench war" phase of 1942 - 44. Usually the reconnaisance/sweep missions were carried out with a pair of fighters, sometimes with a schwarm. Rarely were fighter formations larger than 8 planes used in sweeps. Intercepts were a different thing, I wont go into that...

About wingman tactics:
Generally, the new pilots flew as wingman, following the leader and covering his tail. This was the more true the more inexperienced the wingman was. Which makes sense: he could do little in air combat, than just try to observe the airspace and make sure that the leader is not attacked.

But as the fighter pilot gained skill, it resulted in the fact that the even the wingman of the pair would attack independently, but of course helping the other out if needed. Very much like the fighting style in AH, I'd say. Each pilot can "stand on his/her own" and fight independently.

The Finnish Air Force doctrine relied heavily on taking the initiative. The Finns were almost always heavily outnumbered, and attack was the best defense. In a large dogfight with many enemies, the ranges between friendly planes got longer and id'ing at those ranges became important, but didn't seem to be a problem for the war time pilots.

Hmmm, I think I had a point in all this writing...

Imho, flying without icons in the present resolution-restricted environment simulates more the first scenario: you will feel blind, just like an inexperienced wingman. But what makes it different from real life is that you won't learn to be any better, because the limitation is in your monitor and hardware, not in your ability to scan the sky. The resolution in AH just isnt good enough to give you enough information.

Imho, short friendly-icons-only is a pretty good compromise presently. It would be nice if the icon settings would be more configurable. And fading icons is a great idea, I hope it would be implemented into AH as well.

Camo

Miska · « **Reply #10 on:** July 19, 2002, 08:00:12 AM »

Camo, good post. One option I would like to see, is a minimum icon range. For example, I might want to set my icons so that they display only outside 1k. Any closer than that, and the icon blips out.

I really don't have a problem with long distance icons. They do help in overcoming the limitations of the hardware and software. But short range icons allow a completely unrealistic ability to keep track of both enemy and friendly aircraft during a dogfight, and that results in very (IMO) ahistorical tactics.