by Hedgehog » Mon Dec 10, 2018 12:08 pm
At this point, I'd say that the most unrealistic aspect of DCS World is object visibility, or, more clearly, the lack thereof.
In last night's mission, the action took place over and around a small 3x4 nm island. Orbiting at 1000 ft, you couldn't make out much of anything. Armed speedboats were approaching the island, and were virtually invisible. There was a flight of Hueys conducting a rescue, escorted by a flight of Apaches. Unless you were right on top of them, you couldn't see them.
Anyone who has ever flown in an aircraft could tell you that 1000-2000 ft above a 3x4 island, you would be able to easily see pretty much anything happening, and pick out small details easily. A flight of 3 Apaches would be immediately apparent. Speedboats, even small ones, leave a wake you could easily see from 10,000 feet.
Things in DCS are just too small. Other aircraft in your area, if visible at all, are represented by a single dot. Real people can see real planes much more easily. Go to a spot 5 miles from your favorite airport and see if you can make out small planes taking off and landing. Do they look like a dot? No. Now try to spot a plane in DCS World 5 miles away. If you can see anything, it will be a dot. Yes, a computer monitor cannot offer the same visual acuity of the human eye. That's kinda the point. The developers should adjust object size and clarity to SIMULATE real world visibility.
You can argue pixels all day long, but the point is, if you could see it in real life at some range, but not in DCS World, that's a problem that needs to be corrected.
For the record, I use a 34" 1080p monitor with TrackIR driven by a GTX 1080 GPU.
At this point, I'd say that the most unrealistic aspect of DCS World is object visibility, or, more clearly, the lack thereof.
In last night's mission, the action took place over and around a small 3x4 nm island. Orbiting at 1000 ft, you couldn't make out much of anything. Armed speedboats were approaching the island, and were virtually invisible. There was a flight of Hueys conducting a rescue, escorted by a flight of Apaches. Unless you were right on top of them, you couldn't see them.
Anyone who has ever flown in an aircraft could tell you that 1000-2000 ft above a 3x4 island, you would be able to easily see pretty much anything happening, and pick out small details easily. A flight of 3 Apaches would be immediately apparent. Speedboats, even small ones, leave a wake you could easily see from 10,000 feet.
Things in DCS are just too small. Other aircraft in your area, if visible at all, are represented by a single dot. Real people can see real planes much more easily. Go to a spot 5 miles from your favorite airport and see if you can make out small planes taking off and landing. Do they look like a dot? No. Now try to spot a plane in DCS World 5 miles away. If you can see anything, it will be a dot. Yes, a computer monitor cannot offer the same visual acuity of the human eye. That's kinda the point. The developers should adjust object size and clarity to SIMULATE real world visibility.
You can argue pixels all day long, but the point is, if you could see it in real life at some range, but not in DCS World, that's a problem that needs to be corrected.
For the record, I use a 34" 1080p monitor with TrackIR driven by a GTX 1080 GPU.