AlexandreCosta 6 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Today I started the quick misson builder just to check how the sim looks like during the dark hours and I was surprised that I didn't see any light coming from cities, vehicles or even the airfields. Am I missing something here? I know that the cities would not be as illuminated as they are today, specially during the war, but is this complete darkness accurate? Link to post Share on other sites
[DBS]Browning 1163 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Blackouts were taken very seriously in Europe. A candle in the window was more than enough to have a blackout officer knock at your door. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
30speed 630 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 try the dusk times, 17:30 on the eastern winter maps. I haven't seen any lights from the cities, however the trains and cars definitely have their cute little lights turned on. I haven't tried the deep nights though.. Link to post Share on other sites
40plus 1092 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 I'm also told that the sim has searchlights but i have yet to see them in action.... Link to post Share on other sites
Q_Walker 91 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 5 minutes ago, 40plus said: I'm also told that the sim has searchlights but i have yet to see them in action.... I have seen them during night time missions in some bomber careers. Link to post Share on other sites
[CPT]Crunch 304 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 If you set moving vehicles as targets at night they'll have tactical head lights on when its dark enough, very cool. Most of the campaign style servers in multiplayer will have spotlights working, some even set them aimed down the runways. AAA is tied into them for night ops, kill the lights and they stop shooting. Link to post Share on other sites
Ram399 220 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 (edited) 22 minutes ago, 40plus said: I'm also told that the sim has searchlights but i have yet to see them in action.... Try flying a night bomber career for either the He-111 or the U-2VS if you have it. Some of the most immersive flying in the sim is at night. Spoiler Edited February 11 by Ram399 4 Link to post Share on other sites
30speed 630 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 1 minute ago, Ram399 said: Try flying a night bomber career for either the He-111 or the Po-2 if you have it. Some of the most immersive flying in the sim is at night. Hide contents in VR the scenes with the full moon and burning planes is a breathtaking experience, at least with the OLED based HMD's (VivePro, Odyssey+). However, the HMD's with the LCD (Index, G1, G2) not so much. Link to post Share on other sites
Ram399 220 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 1 minute ago, 69th_Didney_World said: VR I fly exclusively in VR at this point to be honest. I've had the chance to run both the VivePro and the Index on the same night bomber career and haven't noticed that much variation though. Granted, I am nowhere near as versed as others when it comes to subtle rendering/display differences and the minutiae of VR hardware. Link to post Share on other sites
Yogiflight 1169 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 6 minutes ago, Ram399 said: Try flying a night bomber career for either the He-111 or the U-2VS if you have it. Some of the most immersive flying in the sim is at night. Or the FW 190 of the KG51 (I hope I remember the number correctly) in BOBP. They are only flying single aircraft night missions. Those searchlights can be pretty inconvenient. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Ram399 220 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Just now, Yogiflight said: Those searchlights can be pretty inconvenient. Tell me about it, getting caught by one at low altitude in a Heinkel is a death sentence, they look so damn good though. I didn't know there was a night career for the FW-190, I'll definitely look into that. Link to post Share on other sites
30speed 630 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 1 minute ago, Ram399 said: I fly exclusively in VR at this point to be honest. I've had the chance to run both the VivePro and the Index on the same night bomber career and haven't noticed that much variation though. Granted, I am nowhere near as versed as others when it comes to subtle rendering/display differences and the minutiae of VR hardware. it's surprising you didn't notice much difference, I guess this proves that VR experience is even more subjective than we all think. For me flying in VivePro the night looked like a normal night: inky black. In G2 I have now the night looks gray-ish, almost like you turn up the ISO to 36,000 in a DSLR camera, it looks very noisy and it takes away from the experience big time. Link to post Share on other sites
Yogiflight 1169 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 1 minute ago, Ram399 said: I didn't know there was a night career for the FW-190, I'll definitely look into that. Just look for the two KG squadrons. One is for the 262, the other one for the FW 190. Link to post Share on other sites
AlexandreCosta 6 Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 Oh, thank you for the replies guys. Maybe I should try the actual missions, because in the QMB it was complete dark. I'll take a further look at this. Link to post Share on other sites
Noisemaker 116 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 I get A-20 night time missions in the Kuban campaign once in a while. I always enjoy them. Link to post Share on other sites
Gambit21 5611 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 (edited) 1 hour ago, [CPT]Crunch said: If you set moving vehicles as targets at night they'll have tactical head lights on when its dark enough, very cool. . They're not “tactical”, quite the opposite. From a tactical standpoint, headlights should be (and were IRL) off. Edited February 11 by Gambit21 Link to post Share on other sites
Yogiflight 1169 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 16 minutes ago, Gambit21 said: From a tactical standpoint, headlights should be (and were IRL) off. Yes, always funny to see in game attacking tanks, moving with headlights on, although it is not really dark. But even more, when really dark, you see fifty meters, when driving with headlights on, but the enemy can see you from several kilometers distance, because of your headlights. Clearly something, which should be changed. Link to post Share on other sites
LukeFF 6448 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 1 hour ago, Yogiflight said: Just look for the two KG squadrons. One is for the 262, the other one for the FW 190. Just to expand on this a bit: III./KG 51 is an Fw 190 night attack unit which becomes NSGr. 20 at the end of October 1944. You'll probably also see them in the latter stages of the Normandy campaign. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Shakey60 5 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Just did PWCG A20 night mission in rain on Bodenplatte. Zero visibility, stayed close to the flight lead all the way. The only way I knew I was near cities was when several faint lights lit up through the mist. They matched up with where I figured we were on the map. At first I thought they were small fires but ground vehicles make more sense. Link to post Share on other sites
Monksilver 244 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 5 hours ago, AlexandreCosta said: Today I started the quick misson builder just to check how the sim looks like during the dark hours and I was surprised that I didn't see any light coming from cities, vehicles or even the airfields. Am I missing something here? I know that the cities would not be as illuminated as they are today, specially during the war, but is this complete darkness accurate? Below is from a 1941 air raid warden's diary which shows what was being done to block out light, even in villages. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
[CPT]Crunch 304 Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 7 hours ago, Gambit21 said: They're not “tactical”, quite the opposite. From a tactical standpoint, headlights should be (and were IRL) off. They are tactical in the design sense, iron cover over the lens with a slit, or the German style panzer cover forcing the light downward only. You'll never see the headlights, but can see the slightly illuminated ground in front of the vehicle. Not easy to spot on a summer map, but on a dark snow map can be spotted very well at distance. Link to post Share on other sites
vonGraf 97 Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 8 hours ago, Yogiflight said: Yes, always funny to see in game attacking tanks, moving with headlights on, although it is not really dark. But even more, when really dark, you see fifty meters, when driving with headlights on, but the enemy can see you from several kilometers distance, because of your headlights. Clearly something, which should be changed. Didn't the German tanks/vehicles have this special front light for this reason? Don't know the name at the moment, it's on one side only, small and pointed downwards/partly covered. Link to post Share on other sites
AlexandreCosta 6 Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 10 hours ago, Monksilver said: Below is from a 1941 air raid warden's diary which shows what was being done to block out light, even in villages. Thank you very much for this info Link to post Share on other sites
Yogiflight 1169 Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 4 hours ago, vonGraf said: Didn't the German tanks/vehicles have this special front light for this reason? Yes, you are right. So they were not to be seen from kilometers, but maybe a few hundred meters from the front. But the driver did see less, too. But anyhow, they were for use behind the frontline. They were not used by tanks attacking enemy positions or defending the own positions at night. At night you can see every kind of light, even the glowing of a cigarette. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
kestrel79 291 Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 On 2/11/2021 at 12:24 PM, 40plus said: I'm also told that the sim has searchlights but i have yet to see them in action.... I saw them for the first time last month. There's a single mission for the IL2 at night, check it out. Just be prepared to get lit up by AAA as you're the only plane on your side. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
[CPT]Crunch 304 Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 I used to navigate low level night attacks based solely on the search lights, very best way points, visible from afar. They light up as soon as you enter their grid square, about 10km, like clockwork. Knowing were they are located for a map such as airfields, bridges, and depots only, it was a no brainer nav system. Coconut kind of quit the night missions in the old campaigns, too easy once you figure out the system since players can't find or spot you in the dark, and the AI don't either once the spot lights click on. If you took out the spot lights fast enough it didn't matter how many flak batteries were in the area, they go dormant. Than you bring in the heavy hitters and roll to an easy campaign victory. Hopefully some day they'll revisit the night flak/ spotlight AI routines so the lights only pop on when an aircraft is a valid and direct threat. That's whats really not a valid tactical use of night lighting in the game. Fly into a grid and have every spotlight pop on revealing all targets on a smorgasbord. Link to post Share on other sites
danielprates 580 Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 On 11/02/2021 at 4:07 PM, AlexandreCosta said: Maybe I should try the actual missions, Are searchlights active in career mode? Tbh the only lights I have seen in the night missions are flares and airfield aids in JU52 campaigns. Link to post Share on other sites
AlexandreCosta 6 Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 4 hours ago, danielprates said: Are searchlights active in career mode? Tbh the only lights I have seen in the night missions are flares and airfield aids in JU52 campaigns. I don't know really. I started this discussion because I did a QMB and couldn't find any light. I am still about to try the missions at night to find out how it works. Link to post Share on other sites
Q_Walker 91 Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 (edited) 8 hours ago, danielprates said: Are searchlights active in career mode? Tbh the only lights I have seen in the night missions are flares and airfield aids in JU52 campaigns. They are active in Career mode. I have seen them during night missions in my current bomber career. Edited February 13 by =AW=Q_Walker 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Gambit21 5611 Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 3 hours ago, AlexandreCosta said: I don't know really. I started this discussion because I did a QMB and couldn't find any light. I am still about to try the missions at night to find out how it works. Searchlights are easy to set up in the mission editor. I have a 9th Air Force, A-20 Bulge mission (which I need to get to you guys) with searchlights in multiple locations. I can’t speak for the career, but it’s simply a mission design thing. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Freycinet 862 Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 First thing my grandparents and all other Danes did when the Liberation came - on the evening of May 4th - was to make a big bonfire in the street with the much-hated black-out curtains. They were made from black-painted thick paper and burnt very well. Since that day it is the tradition to celebrate Liberation day with lit candles in the windows. The Liberation literally brought light back to a dark continent. 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites
BlitzPig_EL 3032 Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 (edited) Night interdiction mission I made with SYN_Vander's Easy Mission Generator, and some additions of my own. Edited February 13 by BlitzPig_EL 1 Link to post Share on other sites
GiftZahnsSteigern 488 Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 (edited) Here's an image from the last mission in Max Plankd's career with III./KG 51 (Bodenplatte). Soon after the search lights intersected he became (prophetically enough) past tense. Another benefit of this career is each pilot flies, and hence drops ordinance, individually. So the AI usually drop on target rather than the pastoral countryside 5 klicks from base. By the way: you can call me n, or en, or even ennnnnn. But yu' doesn't have to call me GiftZahnsSteiger. Edited February 13 by GiftZahnsSteigern attempt at humor Link to post Share on other sites
40plus 1092 Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 On 2/12/2021 at 11:10 AM, kestrel79 said: I saw them for the first time last month. There's a single mission for the IL2 at night, check it out. Just be prepared to get lit up by AAA as you're the only plane on your side. Just flew that mission this morning. Thanks for the tip. The search lights looking incredible in VR. Enjoyable mission too. Link to post Share on other sites
migmadmarine 337 Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 There is also that excellent Bf-110 scripted campaign "night fighters over Kuban)", I forget who made that. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
busdriver 1299 Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 That would be this excellent SP campaign. Link to post Share on other sites
easterling77 84 Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 On 2/11/2021 at 7:44 PM, Ram399 said: Try flying a night bomber career for either the He-111 or the U-2VS if you have it. Some of the most immersive flying in the sim is at night. Reveal hidden contents Are there any dedicated night bomber units in some of the BOX careeres with most of/only night missions (except the U2's) or do night missions occur randomly? I'm having a blast in the III/51KG (NSGR.20) Career on BOBP. Sneaking through the night in my FW 190 and harassing the enemy supply chain is absolutely cool and I'm realy enjoying the night flights and I guess in the big boys it's also a great experience. Link to post Share on other sites
migmadmarine 337 Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 In BoBP there is a Ju-87 squadron that also does night taxes, but for the twin engine bombers I think it is random, not any specialized night bombing units. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
LukeFF 6448 Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 2 minutes ago, migmadmarine said: In BoBP there is a Ju-87 squadron that also does night taxes, but for the twin engine bombers I think it is random, not any specialized night bombing units. Yes, all of that is right. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
migmadmarine 337 Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Well, asside from my phone changing it to night taxes. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
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