WW II Lack of Spotting Aircraft from a distance?

[Daywalker1963]

Is there a step you have to take to adjust your video/monitor or PC settings to be able see approaching aircraft at 5-15 NM away. while on most servers and in Single player it is extremely hard to see aircraft while airborne untill they are 1/2 NM or less. Based on actual statements made from fighter Pilots from WW II they have stated "they could see Aircraft approaching from a distance and it looks like a bunch of black dots in the sky. So am I missing something or has DCS not implemented this in the programming?:huh:

[Raisuli]

[dawgie79]

Set your correct FoV.

https://simracingsetup.com/tools/sim-racing-fov-calculator/

[Extranajero]

You can't use 4K or VR if you want realistic spotting capability, that's the main thing you need to know before you go down a rabbit hole with settings.

 

If you do have either of the above then your best friend is a custom dot label file.

 

I've been doing experiments with two other WW-2 sims ( that I can't mention thanks to forum rules ) and found that - to me at least - DCS with the correctly tweaked dot labels is pretty much as good as it gets in terms of striking a balance between having oversized aircraft silhouettes and realism.

[hornblower793]

You can't use 4K or VR if you want realistic spotting capability, that's the main thing you need to know before you go down a rabbit hole with settings.

 

If you do have either of the above then your best friend is a custom dot label file.

 

I've been doing experiments with two other WW-2 sims ( that I can't mention thanks to forum rules ) and found that - to me at least - DCS with the correctly tweaked dot labels is pretty much as good as it gets in terms of striking a balance between having oversized aircraft silhouettes and realism.

I would agree

 

Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk

[reece146]

I have no issues with spotting on 4k.... Granted, 43" screen and all anti-aliasing turned off but still.

[sthompson]

Interesting tool but I don't see how to use it to determine best FOV in DCS.

 

Set your correct FoV.

https://simracingsetup.com/tools/sim-racing-fov-calculator/

[dawgie79]

Interesting tool but I don't see how to use it to determine best FOV in DCS.

 

I'm sorry, you're right. This one is better/more generic: https://andyf.me/fovcalc.html

 

Although not specific for DCS, you still can get a rough idea of what to use. Or you get rid of FoV issues at all, just go VR. ;)

[SharpeXB]

You should use the zoom view to vary your FOV constantly rather than trying to set it at a fixed level. Racing sim players do that because FOV affects your perception of speed (try zooming in and out while taxiing and see) not for visibility of small objects. Racing players are also likely using triple screens along with that narrow value

[sthompson]

"Just go VR?" LOL. Not on my ancient rig. But seriously, is contact spotting easier on VR?

 

I'm sorry, you're right. This one is better/more generic: https://andyf.me/fovcalc.html

 

Although not specific for DCS, you still can get a rough idea of what to use. Or you get rid of FoV issues at all, just go VR. ;)

[gavagai]

Spotting is harder in VR (without labels). Dogfighting is harder too if you are used to trackir. Having to actually twist your body around to check 6 can become a workout if you like dogfight servers.

 

If a server doesnt run some kind of labels they're telling VR users to go somewhere else.

[dawgie79]

"Just go VR?" LOL. Not on my ancient rig. But seriously, is contact spotting easier on VR?

Personally I think so. It's also more natural because of normal head movement, so it makes it easier to keep things in your sight. In fact, it makes a lot of things much easier and more natural because you have depth perception. :)

 

But hey, everyone has his/her own prefs.

[Extranajero]

You should use the zoom view to vary your FOV constantly rather than trying to set it at a fixed level.

 

There's another benefit in DCS, objects can appear and disappear according to the zoom level. Really obvious stuff like vapour trails - which can be missing at zoom level 'X' can suddenly appear when you go to zoom level 'Y'

 

It's not always intuitive. I can see very distant aircraft better sometimes when zoomed out completely, then as I zoom in they disappear.