Author Topic: Are there plans to model blackouts? (Read 173 times)

Vortex · « **on:** January 12, 2002, 06:23:52 PM »

I was just wondering if there were any plans to actually model blackouts, rather than the simple greyouts modeled presently? Never losing control of the plane while the screen goes black is one of the more unfortunately arcadish aspects of the game imo. It would be a very nice addition to see full blackout effects in place at some point. Putting someone to sleep in a high G fight _should_ be a viable tactic. Here, however, you maintain full control of the stick, throttle, auto-pilots and guns when blacked out. I've yet to be able to get to a point where I actually lost control of any of these. I'm guessing its not doable.

Vortex

P.S. I quite like how the onset is modelled. Very realistic and on par with F4 as probably one of the better ones I've seen. Just needs to take that step out of Relaxed Realism and get some full blackout effects is all ;->.

Virage · « **Reply #1 on:** January 12, 2002, 06:36:09 PM »

all those in favor say aye...aye!

Karnak · « **Reply #2 on:** January 12, 2002, 07:37:27 PM »

Er, blackouts do not mean a loss of consiousness, just a loss of vision.

In prolonged blackouts disorientation can lead to smacking the ground or fatal compression, but the pilot is still consious.

What AH needs is to have all forms of autopilot disabled, except on aircraft that actually had an autopilot or co-pilot, when any form of blackout occurs.

Kweassa · « **Reply #3 on:** January 12, 2002, 09:14:52 PM »

I think AH does model the 'unconsciousness' factor a bit. I seem to recall
just for test purposes, pulling humongous G loads and kept the black out
status for a very long time... leveled by using the autopilot option, and to
my surprise, the vision didn't return for some amount of time

BenDover · « **Reply #4 on:** January 12, 2002, 09:35:33 PM »

was it in a temp??? cos thats happened to me a few times,in a dog fight,i think diving made me recover faster, but usally some1 would shoot my arse down when i couldn't see anything

btw, they really have got to modle crews in bombers,
ie.:
pilot hit= pilot blacks out, but maybe view switches to co-pilot??
tail gunner hit= black out while at a tail gunner pos
etc.

Tac · « **Reply #5 on:** January 12, 2002, 09:47:43 PM »

If you pull heavy g's for a few seconds when your screen is blacked out (completely) you will lose consciousness in AH.

Your screen stays black even when you let go off the stick.

Unfortunately, you do retain control of the AC and can still punch in the autopilot.

Any form of autopilot should be disabled when blacked out (including wounded), control of the AC should be disabled when blacked out.

Vortex · « **Reply #6 on:** January 12, 2002, 10:41:42 PM »

I'll have to see if I can run a few more tests then. I did a few already offline but was having a tough time getting really long durations of greyout before the planes would depart. I managed a couple times to get about 5 seconds of 9g before the plane departed. In every test though it didn't matter how many g I loaded up initially (pins at 9 of course, so no idea past that), the plane would always depart before I ever saw a blackout. I could always keep firing or manuevering freeling while the screen was black.

If an actual blackout is doable here, I'm thinking its a lot harder to induce than what one finds in r/l high g loads. At least in my experience anyway. I'll keep trying though and see what happes.

Vortex

Wilbus · « **Reply #7 on:** January 14, 2002, 03:38:18 AM »

I hate that prolonged blackout! Gets me killed a little now and then.

Well, really, it's good and should be there but there should allso be a little meter wich tells how much more the pilot can take. Think about it, if you pull high G's in real life you know when you get tired and about to faint, that's when you sto pulling the high G's.

AH faint just pops up as a very nice surprise.

myelo · « **Reply #8 on:** January 14, 2002, 02:00:56 PM »

To avoid confusion, it might help to define some terms.

Grayout is a loss of peripheral and color vision. Blackout is total loss of vision. Both grayout and blackout are caused by decreased blood flow to the eyes resulting from G-forces. This does not affect the brain and there is no impairment in cognitive abilities or loss of consciousness. The pilot’s other faculties remain intact and the pilot can still talk, hear and fly the aircraft.

G-LOC (G-induced loss of consciousness) is loss of consciousness caused by G forces that decrease blood flow to the brain. G-LOC occurs with higher or more prolonged G forces than grayout and blackout, because the threshold for blood flow to the brain is slightly higher than for the eyes. During an episode of G-LOC the pilot is totally unaware and is unable to fly the plane. Consciousness usually recovers within 15-30 seconds as the pilot relaxes and the G’s come off. However, recovery of consciousness is always followed by a period of some incapacitation before the pilot fully recovers.

Depending on the degree and duration of the G forces, the transition into G-LOC is not always sudden. Another phenomenon that has been recognized is A-LOC (almost loss of consciousness). This refers to impaired consciousness induced by Gs but without total loss of consciousness. The pilot is aware but suffers some impaired cognitive abilities. If the G forces are relaxed the pilot recovers quickly. If not, the pilot can suffer G-LOC.

Although these effects are a continuum of G effects, they are different. Grayout and blackout are obviously modeled in AH. Modeling A-LOC and G-LOC is a lot more complicated, but some have suggested AH models some aspects of this.