KC-135 AAR PDI Lights too dim

[GoodHope]

Does anyone else have problems seeing the right PDI lights when refueling--the lights that direct you forward or aft?  I can't see them--at all.  I'm color blind so maybe that is part of the problem, but I can't see the damn things at all and really wish I could.

[TobiasA]

I'm not colorblind and I can't see them either. Guess my screen is too small.

Edited July 18, 2021 by TobiasA

[Furiz]

Yep they are hard to see for non color blind too. I'll buy 32" screen as soon as I can lol I'm on 27" atm

[Chain_1]

As a real world KC-135 receiver instructor, they are difficult to see in real life as well.  Receivers always ask for them to be turned up during the day when they are already at max brightness.  They were supposed to be replaced with LEDs several years ago, but the program got canceled during sequestration.  In DCS, they aren't modeled correctly anyway (green when one should be yellow, one light change per foot of movement, etc...).  If you consult the ATP 3.3.4.2, a publicly available document, you can see how it really works/looks.  If you play a certain other f-16 sim, that is accurate.

 

Edit: I have to call myself out here.  I got out my copy of the SRD and apparently I'm too used to flying against KC-10s.  135s do not have yellow PDLs, while 10s do.  I guess that shows how difficult they are to see/how long it's been since I had to do that mission.  So, DCS is correct on the color, but not how the lights change, while said other sim has the correct light changes, but not the correct color.

Edited July 23, 2021 by Chain_1
Correction to info.

[Cupra]

Same problem here… not visible in VR or on 48“ 4K Screen….  Always hope thatcher boom operator from Thermotherapien Viper sim that is not allowed to be named here will jump in an give so easy commands like forward, up, down or back…. Would be so nice.

[GoodHope]

Well thanks for all the replies guys.  Good to know it's not just my color-blind self.  Eagle Dynamics does an amazing job of chasing accuracy, but this is one area where I would welcome it not being accurate.

 

@Chain_1good to see another AF brother--I maintained 135s and I love getting to see them from a receivers point of view.

[Chain_1]

@GoodHope I've seen a couple of 135 guys in DCS.  Maybe we crossed paths at some point.  I was Kadena '11-14 and McConnell '14-'18.  Cheers.

[GoodHope]

@Chain_1Man, I'm an old guy--I retired in 05.  Beale 80-84 and Robins 85-98 (yep 13 years).  Left maintenance ~98 for the operations side (C2)--Barksdale 99-01, Misawa 01-04, Altus 04-05. 

Edited July 20, 2021 by GoodHope
Corrected @ address

[HappyVoo]

I personally think it is a light effect problem of the simple model, like the light bug of FC3 is still not fixed.

[Flappie]

Hi. Could you please make a screenshot showing the light issue?

[GoodHope]

13 hours ago, Flappie said:

Hi. Could you please make a screenshot showing the light issue?

Hi Flappie, I've attached a couple of screenshots.  I can make out the left side director light pretty easily, but the right is (for me) near impossible to make out.  I'm flying on a larger size monitor (49") and I'm not sure if that matters, but even zoomed in (second shot) I can't see them.  I've been on a 32" before and couldn't see them then either.

 

[Flappie]

Thanks. Now I know what you were all talking about.

It seems these lights are also hard to spot IRL:

 

 

I'm looking for a night refueling video to compare RL and DCS.

[GoodHope]

Thanks Flappie--the standard DCS set for themselves is realism and to be as close to RL as possible, so it is what it is.  Chain_1 mentioned above that receivers are always asking to have them turned up even when they're already set as bright as they can be.  Anyway, appreciate you looking at it and all your work!

[Flappie]

It seems the real life PDI lights background is offering more contrast: it seems to be black, when ours looks grey.

 

I've found the PDI texture file ( \DCS World OpenBeta\Bazar\Textures\kc-135.zip\kc_135_elements.dds ). I'll try to make this background more black and less shiny. It might help, we'll see.

 

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by Flappie

[Flappie]

I got helped by the great Akatsuki who made the test livery. Unfortunately, the black texture doesn't seem to change the PDI lights visibility much:

 

 

[Chain_1]

@FlappieYour top picture is from the KC-46 Dumpster Fire, that's why it looks nice and visible and clean.  On the 135, the pdl housings were black at one point, but now they're a bit faded.  If you look in the US National SRD, which is publicly available, page 4-17, you can see the visual references for the contact position.  Note the faded appearance of the PDL housings.