The problem with AH aircraft labels

[Mister Fork]

He’s not saying turn them off. Just shorten them and maybe dumb them down a bit. And I agree.

Yeah, just leave it as a country marker until you're at least 1000 yards out...that won't cause any squeals from the quake hoarders. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeal. 

In the AvA we STILL leave the icons off and it's still a hoot. And try flying with a VR headset, man, as Oldman said, real world tactics are king to staying alive.

It's not a bad idea, I'm just not sure the MA would be ready for that kind of change.

[oboe]

Boy!   This makes me miss the AvA a lot - but I never see anybody in there.  When are people on?

I remember low-setting icons in some old scenarios and it felt so much more realistic.  I'll always remember a Fw190 kill I got in a '38J - we were on the way home at low level after a scrap and I spotted a single dot lifting from a field of to our right.  I radioed my flight lead about the contact, who had no joy but detached me from the flight to bounce him.  I stayed low the whole time and curved in behind him as he was on climb out from the field.  Due to the low icon settings he didn't see me until it was too late- he tried a tight right turn but I lead him well and stitched him good.  Scratch one 190.   

Low-vis icons added such great tension IMHO.  That extra tension from unknown, unseen bandits is missing from today's scenarios.   

[Vraciu]

He’s not saying turn them off. Just shorten them and maybe dumb them down a bit. And I agree.

Recipe for disaster.   Just saying.   

[Wiley]

Can anybody tell me what in their entire experience in the MA in the last couple years has led you to the conclusion that what the player base wants is "more challenge"?  I sure don't see it.

Wiley.

[asterix]

I like the MA icons as they are but it has been many years since I tried full realism in another game, so I am willing to try that again. I can go with full realism as in no icons and no clipboard map icon etc. Realistic navigation and all that. Seems there are a number of people who would like to try less icons so maybe all we need is a date and time in AvA or maybe recycle some old snapshot or something.

[Devil 505]

Can anybody tell me what in their entire experience in the MA in the last couple years has led you to the conclusion that what the player base wants is "more challenge"?  I sure don't see it.

Wiley.

Truth.

[100Coogn]

I would like icons that are very far away either be faded, or have reduced text size.
Might add a little extra dimension to the game.

Coogan

[Crash Orange]

I can go with full realism as in no icons and no clipboard map icon etc. Realistic navigation and all that.

Full realism in this context would mean hours of flying very often resulting in zero contact with the enemy, and bomb drops whose (in)accuracy can be measured in miles. Is that what anyone wants?

[pembquist]

I think no icons only works if at a minimum the countries do not have the same plane sets. It worked/s in AVA because...well because it is AVA! I personally think the icons distract me and I end up flying against and shooting at the icon but I don't see how it could work and I don't think it would encourage more people to play.

If you haven't flown IL2 on a server with full reality or whatever it is called you should give it a try. I sometimes fly IL2 Dover Blitz on the ATAG server. You can certainly get blasted before you see the enemy in there. It is fun in its own right but I find I get more fun in AH in less time and it is more fun flying in AH. I have no idea what is more realistic, everybody here will tell you AH but I can say the planes in AH have a lot crisper control response and their prop governor's don't melt down because you were distracted. Also lots more planes here.

I think the most important skill for this game is aim. (I don't have it.) If you are flying a weaker plane it is often critical to get a kill or wounding before the better plane can build an advantage.

It is an exasperating game at times but if you watch Limbo rack up kills in a B-25H you get the idea that the plane isn't really a final limitation.

[guncrasher]

for those who care I saw a commercial for warbirds on the history chanel sunday.


semp

[Vraciu]

for those who care I saw a commercial for warbirds on the history chanel sunday.


semp

Wow.  That game has changed--a LOT--since I was there.  I don't even recognize it now.

[FLOOB]

Can anybody tell me what in their entire experience in the MA in the last couple years has led you to the conclusion that what the player base wants is "more challenge"?  I sure don't see it.

Wiley.

Giving players what they ask for has surely sank some games.

[JunkyII]

In real life you can easily see and identify a fighter size plane from a longer distance than 3 miles. Without the icons I couldn't even tell the direction of a dot from that distance on my 30" screen. On a laptop I might not even see the dot. Yet I have no difficulty to identify a passenger plane flying over my house at 35000 feet on a clear day!

In a perfect world we'd have a bunch of wingmen and air policing looking around for enemies and screens that would show us lifelike images in real size. In reality we often fly alone trying to tell a fruit fly or a speck from a dot in the game.

As someone who sits in an AC room all day talking and watching planes looking through a window....you are wrong. The number of factors you are forgetting is like 20.

[Bizman]

As someone who sits in an AC room all day talking and watching planes looking through a window....you are wrong. The number of factors you are forgetting is like 20.

I agree there's factors. Not every day is as clear as those in AH.

[bustr]

When I was in my teens my father and his friends would tune a channel and plan lunch at Fredrick Md. during regular Saturday club flying. Before that they would give a common location to group up which was code for fly around chasing each other's 6 over a well known farm. If it was partially cloudy, you could miss everyone while looking between cloud gaps and end up with one of them sneaking up on your low 6. If it was a clear day, 5 miles was a good average distance to see them coming. 10 miles, maybe if something large and Military was flying around at 10,000ft. All of our antics was between 7 and 10k. Once you saw something, it was hard not to keep your eyes on it. But, until then, you could miss small planes for many reasons even on a clear day. That is why my only task was to keep scanning for other planes becasue the Maryland airspace was very busy with private aircraft. Lower planes unless they were all white blended in well with the Maryland countryside.