NVG fix U2
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F16 external ligthing system is a WIP
Right, so whatās a good mix of realism for true black hole effect and realism of being able to see the lights?
Also the āg_fAmbient**MIN**ā is just that, the minimum you get without moon illumination, correct? It doesnāt seem to be a base level of illumination that the moon adds to the overall effect since I canāt see a difference between .01 and .10 for the full moon. So tweaking the g_fAmbientmin wonāt make full moons brighter at all, just the moonless. If that is correct, that would seem to be a good feature!
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Right, so whatās a good mix of realism for true black hole effect and realism of being able to see the lights?
Also the āg_fAmbient**MIN**ā is just that, the minimum you get without moon illumination, correct? It doesnāt seem to be a base level of illumination that the moon adds to the overall effect since I canāt see a difference between .01 and .10 for the full moon. So tweaking the g_fAmbientmin wonāt make full moons brighter at all, just the moonless. If that is correct, that would seem to be a good feature!
This is correct it adjusts the min with no moon without changing full moon lighting
That is for tweaking as you like , but point is that there should remain a difference between no moon and full moon
Thatās the whole point of having coded a realistic moon . That was not just for eye candy
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This is correct it adjusts the min with no moon without changing full moon lighting
That is for tweaking as you like , but point is that there should remain a difference between no moon and full moon
Thatās the whole point of having coded a realistic moon . That was not just for eye candy
Which I do appreciate, it is great to have the difference! Itās just finding the balance until the aircraft lighting catches up.
For me .10 seems too bright, but need to play with it to see what level you can effectively see other aircraft at. I get that IRL itās still going to be hard to see other aircraft on a moonless night vs with a good amount of moon, but it seems like there are realistic nuances we donāt get in the aircraft lighting yet that would make it sonewhat easier.
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Which I do appreciate, it is great to have the difference! Itās just finding the balance until the aircraft lighting catches up.
For me .10 seems too bright, but need to play with it to see what level you can effectively see other aircraft at. I get that IRL itās still going to be hard to see other aircraft on a moonless night vs with a good amount of moon, but it seems like there are realistic nuances we donāt get in the aircraft lighting yet that would make it sonewhat easier.
With no moon I doubt you can see another aircraft , real pilots to chime in
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With no moon I doubt you can see another aircraft , real pilots to chime in
I am, however just a career flight instructor in light piston airplanes so no real world night formation work, just avoiding traffic. I also hang out at lower altitudes closer to ground lighting.
But thatās what Iām saying about the aircraft lights being visible as lights not stars, the full moon seeming to be too bright, and understanding what people are getting at with ambient city/ramp lighting. Itās amazing how bright the underlighting of a city on an overcast layer can make an area be, but when you get away from the city, itās DARK again. So yes, true unpopulated black hole areas are just that and solo flight .01 seems to do a great job of it. But I donāt think the aircraft lights look as realistic.
IRL, they can seem like stars far off, but there gets to be a relatively close range where you can tell they are lights. Mostly the colors on the nav lights or the blinking of strobe/anti-collison, and they are always brighter and effectively bigger than stars when they get close. FWIW, the full moon feels almost as bright as a time I flew with snow on the ground during a full moon, which is amazing!
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Hi,
Iām very impressed with the new night effects. Perhaps not perfect yet, but a massive improvement on the previous versions. Well done to those involved!
Regards
Dram. -
Iām very impressed with the new night effects. Perhaps not perfect yet, but a massive improvement on the previous versions. Well done to those involved!
+1! I had much the same thoughtā¦ I think this is a āvictim of successā situation ā¦ it looks so real, now we really notice the few remaining things that donāt ā¦ like not able to resolve navigation lights beyond a mile or so, or clouds not absorbing/reflecting city lights.
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Hi,
Iām very impressed with the new night effects. Perhaps not perfect yet, but a massive improvement on the previous versions. Well done to those involved!
Regards
Dram.Curious with your experience what you think the full moon lighting level is the right brightness and if on moonless night of you feel the nav lights are the right level.
+1! I had much the same thoughtā¦ I think this is a āvictim of successā situation ā¦ it looks so real, now we really notice the few remaining things that donāt ā¦ like not able to resolve navigation lights beyond a mile or so, or clouds not absorbing/reflecting city lights.
Yep, agreed, not arguing that it should be that dark for moonless, just that we need a flashlight equivalent for start and feel like aircraft external lighting needs increased some. If that is far off then we might have to make the realism compromise for MP night formation. Ambient light effects from cities could be a tough nut to crack and then thereās the war blackout angle that may be put in place/caused by power grid attacks. But Iām all for it if they can factor it in.
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+1! I had much the same thoughtā¦ I think this is a āvictim of successā situation ā¦ it looks so real, now we really notice the few remaining things that donāt ā¦ like not able to resolve navigation lights beyond a mile or so, or clouds not absorbing/reflecting city lights.
Hi,
I fully agree. In regards to the Nav light question, I very rarely use them outside Take off, Landing and Refuelling and only if the tactical situation allows, so the lack of realistic visibility range isnāt really an issue for me. Especially as I fly SP exclusively and the AI are pretty adept at staying out of your way!. However I can see Snake122ās point and understand why this lack of visibility could make life very difficult in a MP environment. Perhaps the use of NVGās would help. In my limited experience they do a reasonable job of enhancing light sources realistically.
Regards
Dram. -
Curious with your experience what you think the full moon lighting level is the right brightness and if on moonless night of you feel the nav lights are the right level.
Hi,
Its been some years since I did any RL night flying, but my recent experience flying the Dual Fuel TE was very gratifying and realistic in my opinion. If you recall, the mission starts in the evening and it gets darker as you progress. There is no moon so I cannot comment on that yet. The weather is bad/overcast and a lot of it is over the sea. In the latter stages of the mission you get the full blown Black Hole effect which is remarkably realistic with its associated risks of spatial disorientation ensuring that you pay real attention to your scan.(Pretty easy with a functioning HUD, very tough without!) In this instance, we diverted into SOKCHO and got Radar Vectors for landing. The weather was lifting and clouds breaking and it was very pleasing to see the occasional lights shining opaquely through the gaps. Overall it was a great BMS experience!
I too would like to see a complete war time blackout option if at all possible to implement. Along with red and or green filters to the cockpit Spotlight. The current white light would kill your night vision in an instant in RL as you know.
Regards
Dram. -
Hi Snake122
Might be just me but with 4.35 U3, the Nav lights seem brighter and can be seen at much longer ranges.
Regards
Dram. -
@dram said in NVG fix U2:
Hi Snake122
Might be just me but with 4.35 U3, the Nav lights seem brighter and can be seen at much longer ranges.
Regards
Dram.Thanks for the update Dram! I havenāt flown a night sortie yet in U3. Iāll have to check it out!
Iāve done a few RL GA piston plane flights in urban areas since this thread was started, and definitely felt like the nav lights are too dim in U2 and that the effect of an urban area 4000ā overcast does really brighten things up in real life for pattern work which may be hard to model. I will report what I think about the nav lights when I get a chance!
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@mav-jp I used a pair of military NVGs in rooms that were totally dark, can still see as clear as day. Maybe that model has IR projectors but setting the ambient lighting to 0.01 makes the instr panel way too dark even with passive NVGs, especially when Iām ramp starting with an external lamp lighting up the parking lot.
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@spotdott Did you look both outside and inside a cockpit with NVG? Was the focus set equally so that you can use them for both?
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@l said in NVG fix U2:
@mav-jp I used a pair of military NVGs in rooms that were totally dark, can still see as clear as day. Maybe that model has IR projectors but setting the ambient lighting to 0.01 makes the instr panel way too dark even with passive NVGs, especially when Iām ramp starting with an external lamp lighting up the parking lot.
Thatās why the discussion was to take the spotlight off if the Batt switch, so you could use the the spotlight as more of a flashlight that the pilot would carry. Remember, NVgs are never used for inside the cockpit work because they arenāt focused for it. Once you get outside of room range using NVGs you get why this is a thing. You also donāt refocus on the fly with them. You set it before takeoff and then leave it
@lorikeolmin said in NVG fix U2:
@spotdott Did you look both outside and inside a cockpit with NVG? Was the focus set equally so that you can use them for both?
Thatās basically not possible to have them focused for both.
I kinda hate to say it but if you want to see a more realistic way NVGs should work, see DCS.
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@snake122 No, donāt hate to, thatās just fair.
Thatās why Iām not upset about the NVG and the cockpit anyway. Itās only a problem to start the jet, two callbacks and thatās fixed. -
@snake122 oh okay I thought the focus was just a knob you can adjust on the fly. Watched a growling Sidewinder DCS nvg footage, the cockpit is indeed a bit blurry, but the buttons/knobs (not lit) can still be seen. Iāll adjust the value until the knobs are barely visible, for playability
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@spotdott said in NVG fix U2:
@snake122 oh okay I thought the focus was just a knob you can adjust on the fly. Watched a growling Sidewinder DCS nvg footage, the cockpit is indeed a bit blurry, but the buttons/knobs (not lit) can still be seen. Iāll adjust the value until the knobs are barely visible, for playability
The typical flight focus setting for the outside viewing causes the gauges and switch labels, and sometimes even switch positions in RL. Normally, focus is a twist setting at both ends of each tube. End closest to eye is diopter, normally far end is traditional focus. It is a pretty fine movement and if gets out of focus, you have no real way to check if it got back into focus in cockpit. On my personal, for fun, cheap Gen1s, I have witness lines to get the focus close to where I want it but even then I need some fine tuning usually.
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