Spotting aircraft in air (Help needed)

[Adler_]

Hey all!

 

Since my last "Simulator" game was War Thunder I have a problem spotting enemy further away than 2km. 

Well to be honest, spotting any planes, most of the time when playing expert I have to use my map (O) and fly in their direction hoping I have the right altitude so I can see them.. They just appear out of nowhere (I mean that I couldn't see a dot or anything they just appear ). 

 

Now I know this game shouldn't be really compared to WT since you can spot dots 4-6km in WT Sim battles. I'ts really hard to get used to it in BOS.. Again I wouldn't even use Hard, rather impossible. Due they're not really there until a certain point.

 

I have my graphics at high and was thinking if  I maybe have to change something in config files to bring out the sharpness or something ? + all of the in game blur isn't making things easier, neither is this constant "FOG" that sometimes makes it really hard to spot..I'm yet to play a campaign map with clear weather.. But that's beside the point.

 

Also keep in mind I'm guessing "spotting" distances I didn't really measure them but I can tell you from my experience that I'ts much higher in WT. 

Some of you might say its realistic, but I think it's a bit too much.If there wasn't for the map in expert that showed where the location enemy is I probably would have 0 kills each sortie. 

 

Any tips ?

Edited June 6, 2015 by NobodieCRO

[Skoop]

Lucky you even get the icons on the map showing the enemy cause that is unrealistic too, it's like having radar in a WWII plane. Some servers have this off as well, makes it even tougher cause you can get lost let alone ever finding the enemy. It really helps when you fly a plane with radio nav equipment so you can use the beacon to get home.

 

Just use real world tactics, fly with a wingman on team speak, make sure you have altitude and circle over a major objective and roll in on them. I constantly zoom in and out with my head on a swivel. I prefer no icons, because you can actually sneak up on your prey or be ambushed your self. It's a hell of a different world than world thunder Isn't it ?

Edited June 6, 2015 by Skoop

[Skoop]

Also you can turn off the post processing effects in the Options if that's bothering your spotting.

[Finkeren]

Having only recently switched to solely flying expert in SP, after I finally got TrackIR, I can say, that spotting the 'real' way is incredibly difficult at first, and you practically only see the bugger, when he's jumping on you. It's especially hard to spot aircraft directly above you against that intense blue sky.

 

I can guarantee though, that it does get better with experience. After a few weeks of absolute hell, where I felt as blind as a deaf bat, I can now somewhat reliably spot fighter aircraft at distances over 4km and a formation of bombers a lot further. Even with my 25 years of flight sim experience I felt enormously proud the first time I spotted an enemy fighter first in expert MP and managed to ambush and shoot him down, before he even realised I was there. It was like being a joyful kid again.

 

One thing I found to be a very good way to train your spotting is to fly escort missions in the campaign. Select the 'long' mission where you have to first take off and then locate the formation of bombers/attack aircraft and escort them all the way to the target and back. It's good excercise to keep track of those bombers for a longer period of time. At the same time, it's not terribly difficult either, because a formation of 3 - 6 aircraft are much easier to spot and the bombers usually stick closely to the mission route and therefore are easy to locate again, if you lose them.

[6./ZG26_Emil]

Turn you Gamma down as low as it will go in game and test again. If you want to drop it more go to startup.cfg and edit it in note pad to 0.55 or 0.6 and it will look like a different game.

 

I also use SweetFX which looks nice.

 

I don't ever have spotting issues anymore.

[Bando]

Spotting planes in the Campaign mode is something else.

Once you are in the area, the "spotter" will report a group of enemy ac somewhere. Your wingmates break formation and fly directly towards them, all the while telling you they seen the EAC. 

I cannot spot them (the EAC, that is). Even fully zoomed in, they are not visible. The contrails will become visible when you are much closer, and after that the EAC are visible, but at the start of the engagement I just follow my wingman......

[Adler_]

Turn you Gamma down as low as it will go in game and test again. If you want to drop it more go to startup.cfg and edit it in note pad to 0.55 or 0.6 and it will look like a different game.

 

I also use SweetFX which looks nice.

 

I don't ever have spotting issues anymore.

Thank you Emil I will definitely try that! Btw you're using SweetFX 2.0 right ? 

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

Use the Quick Mission to create a head on against an enemy.  Setting the distance to 10,000 meters.  Have icons on.  Make a track on the sortie.  Replay the sortie (slow motion and pause is available) to see when the enemy in visible to you.  The icon will tell you the distance.

[Finkeren]

I think that even on low resolutions, such as the 1280x1024 that I run, fighters are visible outside the 10km range, where they get an icon. Spotting them is a different matter though, especially if they are alone.

 

I once managed to spot a formation of six He 111s at what I think was 12km distance in SP campaign mode.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Finkeren

[6./ZG26_Emil]

Thank you Emil I will definitely try that! Btw you're using SweetFX 2.0 right ? 

 

Yep I am using sweetfx 2.0 but I cannot remember which settings I am using. I'll have a poke around the forum to see if I can find the ones I used.

 

Cheers

 

Emil

[Adler_]

I think that even on low resolutions, such as the 1280x1024 that I run, fighters are visible outside the 10km range, where they get an icon. Spotting them is a different matter though, especially if they are alone.

 

I once managed to spot a formation of six He 111s at what I think was 12km distance in SP campaign mode.

Holy sh*t! I think I was able to spot on 5km max(with my eyes).. I have the same resolution tho.. Well since I turned of cinematic and lowered the gamma to 0.8 , It's much easier to find/keep track of enemie planes .

[Finkeren]

Holy sh*t! I think I was able to spot on 5km max(with my eyes).. I have the same resolution tho.. Well since I turned of cinematic and lowered the gamma to 0.8 , It's much easier to find/keep track of enemie planes .

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I can usually spot anything at those distances. I usually spot from 4-5km tops (and half the time I still get jumped by an enemy I should have seen but didn't)

 

What I'm saying is, that it's technically posible to spot at longer ranges, because aircraft are in fact visible as faint dots out to 10km and beyond, something that's easy to confirm by simply turning icons on/off when you have a plane at that distance.

 

My point about the formation of He 111s was, that it's generally easier to spot bigger aircraft (me being Captain Obvious here) and easier to spot a formation of planes than a single one.

[SharpeXB]

An important feature to use when you're trying to spot and ID other aircraft is the zoom view. If you can assign it to an axis that's best because you can easily transition in and out at different speeds. BoS actually has about the best detail rendering of any flight sim along with RoF. They're both quite superb. Some objects are in fact hard to spot just like in real life. IMO people get way to used to the icons as a crutch and don't gain the skill to see. Just keep the icons off and use your Mk-1 eyeball. A good technique is to hold your view still and watch for movement. Keep up a pattern of searching and build a picture of what's around you. Another good learning point is after a good battle watch a track and maybe realize how many other aircraft were around you that you didn't see and then watch out next time.