Icon rework

[Lusekofte]

On 1/14/2019 at 3:23 PM, AeroAce said:

I have been asking for this kinda thing from day one and have never seen an official reply. I am starting to think there is a fundamental reason why it can't be done as a result of the lack of amy communication. 

 

@Jason_Williams is there any word from you guys about making more customisable icons?

 

Thank

I think You are right. My experience with attention from devs is depended on what they can/will deliver. I try to get a answer about PTO and they delete that. 

[LLv34_Temuri]

8 hours ago, Voyager said:

Ok, so from a server side perspective, how much configuration is available for the icons? Can the pop-in distance be set? Friendly only, or different pop in ranges for friend and foe? 

 

Have some mad ideas for an unrealistic server }:D

On/off only.

Edited January 18, 2019 by LLv34_Temuri

[Solmyr]

On 1/17/2019 at 11:35 AM, wellenbrecher said:

Then those people - if they want to - need to play on servers that have icons enabled, they are around after all.

Giving custom icons to VR users or users with outdated computers so they can "stay on par" with higher end systems or non-VR users on servers set to "Expert" (or a custom variant close to that like places like WoL are running with the horrible map GPS turned on) is the shortest way to mire the entire online experience in even more endless flame wars than it already is every now and then. "Waaa waaa, he was cheating with X settings when he shot me down" and so on and so forth.

 

Of course. It never has been a question of forcing usual "Expert" servers players to bother with any icons feature. Where did you read that we wanted this ? All we are asking for is to have a much more relevant "Intermediate" level for all people who are unable, once again, to play on top high end PC, in front of a 32" 4K screen, with a top sight not experiencing quick tiredness, etc etc...

 

22 hours ago, SharpeXB said:

There aren’t enough players online to make that work. Currently there is really no “choice of server”. There are only one or two populated servers. And those run without icons.

 

It looks obvious to me that MP is mainly populated by the people who are "purist" yes, but above all are able to play in a "purist" way. Behind that showcase, there are plenty of Il-2 enthusiasts who like realism as much as possible (if not they wouldn't run Il-2) but can't play without doing compromises, particularly online, regarding 'human-machine interface'. So they mostly keep playing SP. If there was a relevant "Intermediate" level, they would much more play online, and that would enhance the game expected life/attractivity.

Then when you talk about exterior view, mouse control and so on, I think you only talk about a very tiny players group, who very prolly are about to go with less arcadish settings, they're just new to the game, and prolly new to the simulation area. If you give them time and respect, they won't stay in such a setting of the game. Or they will quit it because sim isn't for them. That's the way the devs implemented mouse/keyboard control by the way.

 

16 hours ago, SharpeXB said:

So a player who isn’t looking for accuracy in flight models etc is going to go that direction and not towards a game with only 30 aircraft despite that those are done with a much higher level of authenticity.

 

I disagree with you as level of authenticity of aicrafts and their flight and mechanics models, as long as weaponry/damage/aerology models etc have nothing to do with spotting, tracking, differentiating the aircrafts around yours : I can learn to use my engine, rads, mixture, weapons etc, but I can't buy your ~1350 euros GC... (And I'm not the first guy one would feel sorry for regarding hardware investment !)

Edited January 18, 2019 by Solmyr

[sevsterino]

On 1/17/2019 at 2:48 AM, sniperton said:

Sure, here's a setting for "icon masked by airframe", "no waypoint marker", "icons drawn in medium grey", "no icon text".

\bin\game\users_settings\user_var_initialization.ini

; Label/icon
;----------------
; masking by airframe : 1 = masking on, 0 = masking off
w7 = 1
; icon limitation
; waypoint display : 1 = waypoint, 0 = no waypoint
z7 = 0
; color: 1 = color, 0 = no color (gray)
x2 = 0
; gray replacement strenght (0=black, 1=white)
x4 = 0.5
; text : 0= no text, 1 = text
x3 = 0

 

Does it also apply to Steam vesrion? I could not find the file user_var_initialization.ini

 

This should be really available in basic options. I don't get why it is so difficult to include it if a simple mod can do it.

Edited January 18, 2019 by sevsterino

[SharpeXB]

4 hours ago, Solmyr said:

 I can learn to use my engine, rads, mixture, weapons etc, but I can't buy your ~1350 euros GC... (And I'm not the first guy one would feel sorry for regarding hardware investment !)

Playing without icons doesn’t require extreme hardware. Any 1080p monitor or graphics card will do. Although small laptop screens aren’t going to be suitable. 

 

[Solmyr]

1 hour ago, SharpeXB said:

Playing without icons doesn’t require extreme hardware. Any 1080p monitor or graphics card will do. Although small laptop screens aren’t going to be suitable. 

 

 

Erhhh... No. You can't decently say that for real. Anyone can easily understand that there could be a difference playing on a screen @100 or @1000 euros, thanks to a related GC @200 or @2000, nah ?!

Anyway, that's not the question. Sorry to say but you're not a prophet at everyone's house, above our shoulders to know why we are more likely to play with some *sort* of icons than without at all. We, for now, play with and thanks to, icons. Period.

Then all this has nothing to do with our request (as there will always be some icons in Il-2), which is to get more customization of those, and possibly creating a 3rd difficulty level so that we have for everyone's tastes/skills/possibilities.

Edited January 18, 2019 by Solmyr

[SharpeXB]

33 minutes ago, Solmyr said:

 

Erhhh... No. You can't decently say that for real. Anyone can easily understand that there could be a difference playing on a screen @100 or @1000 euros, thanks to a related GC @200 or @2000, nah ?!

Anyway, that's not the question. Sorry to say but you're not a prophet at everyone's house, above our shoulders to know why we are more likely to play with some *sort* of icons than without at all. We, for now, play with and thanks to, icons. Period.

Then all this has nothing to do with our request (as there will always be some icons in Il-2), which is to get more customization of those, and possibly creating a 3rd difficulty level so that we have for everyone's tastes/skills/possibilities.

People have been playing flight sims without icons for many many years and a check of the servers show it’s the huge majority. They all don’t have super systems. Better graphics cards let you run higher settings but on any graphic level it’s possible to play without icons. 

It seems from the above response that 1CGS is considering the request which is just fine. What I’m saying is you likely won’t get the choice to use it in multiplayer due to the small number of active servers and the pervailing choice of having them off. 

[SharpeXB]

Icons in flight sims are a funny thing. They’re a legacy graphic from the days of small CRT monitors where they were really essential. They aren’t needed with the widescreen full HD monitors that are universal today. 

Other games like FPS don’t have icons floating over your opponents to give them away. That would be rather ridiculous and yet it can be just as hard or even harder to see enemies in those games. Plus a hidden opponent will kill you instantly in a FPS. 

[Voyager]

So apparently turning on "object markers" doesn't seem to enable icons on my system? 

[Voyager]

2 hours ago, SharpeXB said:

Icons in flight sims are a funny thing. They’re a legacy graphic from the days of small CRT monitors where they were really essential. They aren’t needed with the widescreen full HD monitors that are universal today. 

Other games like FPS don’t have icons floating over your opponents to give them away. That would be rather ridiculous and yet it can be just as hard or even harder to see enemies in those games. Plus a hidden opponent will kill you instantly in a FPS. 

 

Im going to have to disagree with that. Lucas Arts Battle of Britain and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffa did not have icons, not did Dynamix Aces of the Pacific or Aces over Europe.

 

I do recall most of those series, however, having very visible airplane pixels at range. I only started seeing icons show up in the late 90's when the graphics were reaching high levels of fidelity, with complex 3d models and detailed texturing. 

 

It's been some time since I've played FPS significantly, so I'd need to do digging, but most of the ones I can recall either thought 100 meter was sniper range, had built in radars, highly visible characters, icons, or some combination of all of the above. I know in Subnautica, 300m is well beyond the max render range, yet here a 250 yard convergence is considered very short range. 

[SharpeXB]

32 minutes ago, Voyager said:

 

Im going to have to disagree with that. Lucas Arts Battle of Britain and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffa did not have icons, not did Dynamix Aces of the Pacific or Aces over Europe.

 

I do recall most of those series, however, having very visible airplane pixels at range. I only started seeing icons show up in the late 90's when the graphics were reaching high levels of fidelity, with complex 3d models and detailed texturing. 

Good point.