Spotting still nearly impossible in 4k.

[Bosun]

I play on a 57-inch ultrawide, UHD monitor at 4k (7,000 x 2,000). 

I have DLAA, and Anistropic on. I have graphical settings maxed out to make the game pretty.



However - in doing those, it is still impossible to spot contacts unless they're less than 2,000 ft from you. Physically, they aren't rendering in a way that, even if you were looking at them, they would show.  The larger craft are spotted at sometimes 20 miles. 

But fighter craft, on the other hand - I *could* lower the resolution, lower the vis distance, lower the anistropic.....

But why?  I don't feel we should have to sacrifice the capability of the game to pre-2010 graphical settings in order to experience the game on a fair and equal footing. 

So I still think, even with the recent 4k changes to spotting, there is still work that needs to be done to make contacts spottable in multiplayer.   Because at the end of the day, we're in a game, and as much as I love a good sim, I also want to compete against other players, and I just can't do that when I'm getting calls from a friend that he's formed up on my high 3 oclock, and I can't see him because he is just over 1,000 ft from me, and his jet's rendering the same color as the sky....or a bogey call for a mile, merged, directly in front co alt of me, and there's nothing on the screen I can discern.  It's not fun.   

So I guess, to /rant, I think there's still work to be done on spotting and I encourage and support the ongoing work on it.  

*Edit - to be fair - spotting against the sky is actually easier than it was...for sure.  Positive gains there, but still not up the level of being able to engage in online play in a fun way against folks who just run minimum settings.

Edited June 19, 2024 by Bosun

[Blackhawk NC]

Bosun, This is a complaint many of us have. The graphics are beautiful but 4K users are at a SEVERE disadvantage when it comes to visibility and spotting. We have voiced our displeasure over and over. There was a pretty good DLC spotting mod a few months ago, but DCS disabled it saying we didn't need it, that they were gonna fix the spotting problem. Surprise, they didn't. But they did leave the mod disabled. In many instances, you cant see a burning city when it is right there in front of you but you can turn your head and look slightly off center and see it perfectly. Considering a significant number of DCS players play at resolutions greater than 1080, you would think this would be somewhat of a priority. It kind of like VULKAN, they will get around to it someday. Don't lower your resolution to 1080. Just don't buy any new DCS products until they fix it. But don't hold your breath. It's gonna take 2 weeks........ sorry for the rant!

[SharpeXB]

I think visibility in 4K with the spotting dots turned off is quite realistic and nice looking. The trouble is that lower resolutions can exploit the game by enabling the spotting dots to easily see targets at extreme ranges. So if you play online you have to just accept the fact that the game is rigged

4 hours ago, Bosun said:

it is still impossible to spot contacts unless they're less than 2,000 ft from you

Aircraft at 1-3 miles are easy to see in DCS. If you have trouble in this regard it’s likely not the game. It’s eyesight, ability, situational awareness, gameplay style etc. Those are all a factor as well. But if you can read the words on this page your eyesight is good enough to see a bandit at realistic distances. 
Real life is full of instances where pilots didn’t see what they could have. That’s normal and it should occur in the sim too. 

Edited June 20, 2024 by SharpeXB

[Why485]

On 6/19/2024 at 5:20 PM, Bosun said:

I have DLAA, and Anistropic on. I have graphical settings maxed out to make the game pretty.

FYI, any of the upscaling settings which rely on TAA (this includes DLAA) will by the nature of their algorithms and implementations, blur tiny distant details in motion. I.e. for best spotting you should only use MSAA, or no AA at all. Any other setting will use TAA and essentially smear small objects moving across the screen, which in DCS is going to be basically everything you care about.

[KoN]

Try VR you can't see <profanity> , in air to air combat until right on top of you. By then it's too late . Most of my airframes are redundant. Heli is good for ground pounder but guns air to air it's just a joke in VR . Been flying other sim came back after new patch forgotten how bad DCS is .