using labels - a compromise?

[Woots]

I've read the arguments for/against using labels - how on the one hand it's not realistic to use them but on the other neither is a 2D world with 256 colors and sh*t shooting at you through trees.

 

I'd play "convoy hunt" and with the labels on you'd see huge splotches of blue, giving them away immediately which was boring. But if I'd play "convoy hunt" without labels they would take me out every time prior to me seeing them (usually by their escorts shooting me thru the trees). And not to mention the missions that have troops in the forest! Anyway, I didn't come up with this, I actually read it on this forum somewhere but it works so well I wanted to pass it along.

 

I edited the labels.lua file so that ground units have a "0" at 5 km and less. Weapons have a "+" and naval units have a "^". That's all - no unit number, range and all the junk that clutters the screen.

 

"Convoy Hunt" is now truly "cat and mouse". You only see the convoy < 5 km and even then they're just the slightest discoloration against the background. Sometimes you think you see a discoloration when it's not - so it really screws with your mind. Individual troops and units are really hard to see, so it takes alot of scanning which I think is realistic - the brief told you they'd be there but you still have to work hard to see them.

 

Anyway, it might be old news to some but it was an easy fix that I read somewhere that changes the game fundamentally for me. Thought I'd share.

[DTWD]

Personally not something I am going to do, but for the benefit of anyone finding this post later on please post a few more details:

 

1) File name/location

 

2) Line in code currently

 

3) Line in code after change

 

A before and after screen shot would be handy as well :D

[Ike4fin]

Try to play without labels but having the map markers on. Its good way to learn to find the targets by yourself but still knowing the area they're in.

Thats more realistic option than the labels at least.

[Scudslaker]

Try to play without labels but having the map markers on. Its good way to learn to find the targets by yourself but still knowing the area they're in.

Thats more realistic option than the labels at least.

 

 

agree:smartass:

[pakfront]

Eagle Dynamics\Ka-50\Config\View\labels.lua

 

AirFormat = {}

AirFormat[10] = ""

AirFormat[8000] = "+"

 

 

GroundFormat = {}

GroundFormat[8000] = "."

 

 

NavyFormat = {}

NavyFormat[10000] = "."

 

 

WeaponFormat = {}

WeaponFormat[3000] = "^"

WeaponFormat[8000] = "."

 

 

-- Colors in {red, green, blue} format, volume from 0 up to 255

 

ColorAliesSide = {128, 128, 128}

ColorEnemiesSide = {128, 128, 128}

 

If you want the icons to disappear as you get closer, set an empty string for lower values:

GroundFormat = {}

GroundFormat[5000] = ""

GroundFormat[8000] = "."

Edited June 29, 2010 by pakfront

[Peyoteros]

If they shoot you through the trees, or you can't find them, there is something wrong with your aproach to the mission area... Lebels, are lame whatever their setting are! You have maps and Abris to find your targets, that is all you need to find them. You can kill the target with Vikhr from 8+km. away... To do that you need to see the target, your mission is to find optimal aproach to the mission area. At the begining it was hard to everybody, but then you learn and it's not so hard anymore. And once you've learned you start hating labels. I hate lebels... And they take all the charm of the hunt away. It's like hunting Wildboar which is tied to the tree...

[Woots]

If they shoot you through the trees, or you can't find them, there is something wrong with your aproach to the mission area...

 

So let me get this straight. You equate being shot at thru trees as though a tactical blunder was made by approaching the target from their blind side. Come again?

 

... To do that you need to see the target, your mission is to find optimal aproach to the mission area.

 

See above.

 

Lebels, are lame whatever their setting are! You have maps and Abris to find your targets, that is all you need to find them.

 

What's lame is that the "lebels" got implemented as they did. Done as shown above, they can't really be called labels anyway. They're just a slight visual aberration THAT YOU WOULD SEE IN THE REAL WORLD!, they can compensate for limitations of a sim environment (2D, fake trees, limited colors, etc) and still keep it challenging.

 

At the begining it was hard to everybody, but then you learn and it's not so hard anymore. And once you've learned you start hating labels.

 

A little pompous that. Don't assume that just because some are trying to integrate the labels to offset sim limitations that they somehow haven't gotten the basics down.

Edited June 29, 2010 by Woots

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

Woots it has to do with a lot of factors. For instance when I changed my display to something with a larger resolution than 1024 it made everything easier to spot. As for units in trees thats a mission designer thing. Personally I don't mind having units in a tree line but when a MANPAD takes me out in the middle of the woods thats BS (no pun intended). So long as trees have no collision detection it's 100% unrealistic to place units in the woods.

 

Some solutions to the above points. Fly as a team in honestly made missions and use teamwork. I fly with Woots and he's no noob just suffering from limitations in the simulation and looking for what works for him without totally ruining the experience. That's what's great about the sim, you can scale it to suit you (at least to a certain degree). But I can see his frustration with Peyoteros' response.

Edited June 29, 2010 by HitchHikingFlatlander