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Sense of speed at low altitude... or the lack thereof


pixie

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Hello, 

I'm not sure it's been discussed before, so in advance sorry for digging an old thread.

I fly exclusively the mighty Hornet in VR. I happen to really like flying very low altitude, but I find the sense of speed leaves much to be desired when flying over trees. I don't have this impression when flying over cities (Las Vegas is my playground for such dangerous activities), but above the country side, the plane feel slugish to me even at 600+ knots.

I suspect the scaling of trees being the culprit,  whenever I fly over a road with traffic : cars and trucks are bringing back a correct scale perception, and therefore speed.

TLDR : are trees rendered way too big in order to compensate for their low number ?

Could be me as well and my very own 3D perception. I have played with the IPD settings to get a proper cocpkpit size. But I sense there is something wrong  with the trees which seems definitely too big for me


Edited by pixie
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i am not sure about other maps, but on caucassus trees are definitely too big. i also assume that this is to compensate for density.

there was a big debate about tree size when new caucassus was released and the majority was happy when shown proof that those trees depicted can in theory reach the heights that are presented in the game. for me the tree size still looks off by a lot. if you put some tanks besides them, they look completely oversized.
i think that first of all, even if a certain tree can reach a certain height, it does not mean that it will reach that size. secondly the tree are modeled from smaller specimen, that is why the proportions are a little bit off. a bigger tree is not jsut a scaled up version, but it changes proportions as it grows bigger.


Edited by twistking
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36 minutes ago, twistking said:

i am not sure about other maps, but on caucassus trees are definitely too big. i also assume that this is to compensate for density.

there was a big debate about tree size when new caucassus was released and the majority was happy when shown proof that those trees depicted can in theory reach the heights that are presented in the game. for me the tree size still looks off by a lot. if you put some tanks besides them, they look completely oversized.
i think that first of all, even if a certain tree can reach a certain height, it does not mean that it will reach that size. secondly the tree are modeled from smaller specimen, that is why the proportions are a little bit off. a bigger tree is not jsut a scaled up version, but it changes proportions as it grows bigger.

 

You just confirmed what I was suspecting all along. Trees are oversized because they are all represented at max achievable heights, which is a bit unrealistic. I've never thought about proportion issue of enlarged specimen. That's clever and well observed. I think the devs should have sticked with a median size or a gaussian distribution of different sizes. I would happily trade scarcer forests for a little more sense of speed. 

But that's just me ^^

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I seem to recall the Syria has many more tree variations and sizes?  It's been a while since I've played but I do recall noting that when I bought it.

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Its the narrow FOV (field of view), in VR,  that gives you a sense of slow speed. Compared to real life.

Changing FOV really effects your perception of speed.

As its a peripheral vision type of thing. Rather than done by the focal region.

In a 2d game which allows you to change FOV. try the minimum and maximum settings and run about. You will notice the widest available FOV feels faster even though you are going at the same speed.

Its an optical illusion.

IPD is an important setting for how you perceive sizes. 

Use manual IPD and put it at the minimum available and you will feel like a little kid sitting in a giant chair again. 🙂 Us an IPD far greater than your actual IPD and you will feel like a giant.

This effects things the closer they are to you. objects in the distance will look the same size.

Another optical illusion.

 

 

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I have played a little bit with IPD settings and found out the perfect setting. Looking down at my rendered pilot body, there is no awkward sense of being a kid or a giant crammed in a kid's pit. I just feel it's me in a Hornet ! So I guess I'm right in the IPD sweetspot.

On a side note, I'm a long time simmer, 35yrs ago I was already simming with an amstrad CPC, so yes, I know about the relation between FOV and perceived speed thx to periphereal vision. But right now i have dropped 2D and track IR, for VR and there is no possible turning back to flat screen. I guess I'm good to cope with my Quest2 narrow FOV for some time. 

Maybe there is a mod that reduces tree models. As mentioned above, The sense of speed is back when flying over road traffic with proper sized cars... IMO there is something wrong with the trees ^^

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I fly mostly helicopters, so spend a lot of time below tree height.

Yes some of the trees seem high but I have also noticed they have sunk a lot of the trees into the ground so they now look like bushes.

So there is more variety. Which gives a better sense of speed. But still does not completely fix the FOV problem.

I remember playing Elite on the BBC micro at school. a whopping 2 mhz processor 🙂

A few years later a friend got an Amstrad CPC and we stayed up all night playing elite on that. Putting save games on audio tapes. Man that brings back memories 🙂 

My family went Atari VCS, I remember the 6 button one and we upgraded to the 4 button one. The Combat cartridge with 27 game modes on a 2kb cartridge... Tanks was my favourite. But biplanes and jets were also fun. Chasing around the clouds. And the game Surround. Which was the idea for Tron's light cycles.

Then we got a spectrum 48k because the Kempston joystick interface worked with the Atari joysticks.

My first proper flight sim was F19 stealth fighter. In the late 80's

On an IBM home desktop running dos. with my champion pro Kempston joystick from the spectrum plugged in with an adaptor.

Can you believe we now fly around in VR?

 

 

 

 

 

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My Rig: AM5 7950X, 32GB DDR5 6000, M2 SSD, EVGA 1080 Superclocked, Warthog Throttle and Stick, MFG Crosswinds, Oculus Rift.

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Here we are again on memory lane !

I also remember the atari combat cartridge with those fabulous biplans duels. It blew my mind. Then the CPC 464, my first computer. I remember falling instantly in love with Strike Force Harrier which was running in demo loop at the local mall. That was instant buy. Then there was Gunship which was fantastic on the cpc.

There is no VR session where I'm not thinking about 10yrs old me discovering flight sims. I can't help myself wondering what would have been my reaction under VR.

 

 

 

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