Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Wishlist => Topic started by: moot on July 30, 2008, 12:57:10 PM

Title: Historical tracer colors
Post by: moot on July 30, 2008, 12:57:10 PM
It'd improve immersion and would look good to boot... It could also be a good excuse for pixel shaders.  They could be made to streak at close range and slowly (visualy) shrink at longer range, like real ones.  Could be shaders from close range and regular sprites past a certain distance. etc.

US: 50 cals, M2 cannon
UK: 303s, Hispano 20mm, 50cal MG
DE: MG15, MG81Z, MG131, MG151/20, MK108, MK103...
RU: B20 20mm, 7.62mm (MGs on the Il2), VYa 23mm, 12.7mm (rear gun Il2), NS37...
IT: SAFAT 12.7 and 7.62mm...

rest of historical colors here.. (http://taenia.homestead.com/files/wwii_TracerColors.htm)
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: angelsandair on July 30, 2008, 01:04:20 PM
That would be nice :aok
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: Saurdaukar on July 30, 2008, 01:04:55 PM
Mandatory, IMO.  Dunno why we dont have em, yet.   :aok
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: Nisky on July 30, 2008, 01:49:39 PM
This would be a really nice addition to the game.  :aok
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: daddog on July 30, 2008, 02:58:46 PM
Neat idea.  :aok

I had no idea there were so many different colors of tracers. Red, yellow, blue, green, and white?

Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: moot on July 30, 2008, 03:08:21 PM
Yep.. I remember seeing a slightly pink/purple tracer in Il2 (the game), but I don't know whether that's right.  I picked up on another forum, while looking for this info, that tracers' color saturation was pretty low.  Someone with more experience could say exactly to what degree.
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: RoGenT on July 30, 2008, 03:28:38 PM
IN  :aok
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: Latrobe on July 30, 2008, 04:54:19 PM
I'd like it!  :aok
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: Yossarian on July 30, 2008, 04:58:07 PM
I like it!
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: Seagoon on July 30, 2008, 05:11:32 PM
It'd also help to figure out what kind of rounds were streaking past your cockpit. Or likely in my case, through your cockpit. (Counted 9 holes in my LA5 hood at one point last night - oh and a lot of blood.)
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: Ghastly on July 30, 2008, 10:15:54 PM
Not arguing against it - but from work I've done in the past I doubt very much that accurately colored tracers could be implemented on a computer screen. 

In real life, a blue hued tracer could be seen against the blue sky, because it was many times brighter than the ambient light, and a green hued tracer against the ground.  On a computer screen, blue is blue and green is green and there isn't a way to brighten the tracers to much beyond the levels already in use to paint the ground and sky, so they'd tend toward the invisible unless you were viewing them against a contrasting color. 

<S>
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: moot on July 30, 2008, 10:35:49 PM
Pixel shaders could do it easily.
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: BaDkaRmA158Th on July 30, 2008, 11:31:51 PM
It can be done, and is done is alot of games these days.


Awesome idea, no real reason it should not be added. "or at least tryed"

Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: Chalenge on July 30, 2008, 11:56:55 PM
Im considering maybe the warp would get even worse or maybe frames would suffer but if not Im for it (not that I use tracers).
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: thedudee95 on July 30, 2008, 11:58:21 PM
That would be nice :aok


I agree  :aok
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: Homer13 on July 31, 2008, 09:46:46 AM
i think thats a sweet idea :salute
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: 100goon on July 31, 2008, 09:53:09 AM
at least try it it sounds good im in  :aok
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: Saurdaukar on July 31, 2008, 10:29:28 AM
Not arguing against it - but from work I've done in the past I doubt very much that accurately colored tracers could be implemented on a computer screen. 

In real life, a blue hued tracer could be seen against the blue sky, because it was many times brighter than the ambient light, and a green hued tracer against the ground.  On a computer screen, blue is blue and green is green and there isn't a way to brighten the tracers to much beyond the levels already in use to paint the ground and sky, so they'd tend toward the invisible unless you were viewing them against a contrasting color. 

<S>

As moot stated - pixel shaders solve this problem.

IL2 did it with zero difficulty years ago.
Title: Re: Historical tracer colors
Post by: titanic3 on July 31, 2008, 11:45:05 AM
   From a 1998 game.. Jane's WWII Fighters: Combat Simulation. http://www.ww2fighters.org/downloads/cockpits/WW2F_Tracers_Pack.zip

Download it (5 seconds), and there are pictures of the tracers that can be used in the game. DO NOT click anything else unless you actually have the game installed (Which I highly doubt). This is a modification to WWII Fighters.

http://www.ww2fighters.org/images/cockpits/Tracers/AlanGrey_blue_tracers.jpg

A sneak of one of the tracers.