Please give us a choice between old and new damage decals.

[oc2209]

I know I'm getting ahead of myself here, since the new damage visuals are only used on the P-51 so far. However, when all planes are fully converted to the new visuals, I propose we're given a menu choice wherein we can decide whether to use the old decals and the new together, or use them separately.

 

I know that the devs have stated the new decals are meant to be used in conjunction with the old ones. I understand the appeal of having obvious signs of plane damage discernible from a distance. However, I think that the old decals detract from the quality of the new ones, and ultimately are too 'video gamey'. They can make a plane appear shredded and no longer airworthy, which only adds to confusion (especially among new players) as to why our targets simply refuse to fall out of the sky even when they're apparently ready to fall apart.

 

Example:

 

 

I've circled what appear to be the new damage decals. I might've missed a few. These are all done with German 13mm.

 

As you can see, the subtlety of the new decals is lost. The old decals are much more obvious. Again, I can see why people, primarily in multiplayer, would want really obvious signs that their target is damaged, and where it is damaged. But I see little value in it for single players. 

 

An advantage to the new system is that we can study our replays in detail to improve our gunnery (or just watch it for fun); and we can see where most bullets made an impact. The old decal system just gets in the way of these studies.

[Mtnbiker1998]

What I think would look good is getting rid of the "level 1" damage effect where only 1 or 2 rounds has hit your plane, but keeping it for showing where shrapnel has hit and showing highly damaged areas of the plane with the big holes and torn skin effects, stuff that the dynamic model doesn't do as well. Its a bit weird when I see my entire wingtip covered in holes when in fact it was only struck by a single bullet. This wouldn't look as good in multiplayer in cases where the DVD wasn't used but lets be honest, how often are you close enough to a wingman where you'd be able to spot a single bullet hole anyways, and when would that really matter? it certainly won't matter for enemy aircraft.

 

Also, the DVD has definitely opened my eyes on just how destructive HE ammo is in this game. Seeing an entire wing or entire half of a plane torn to shreds from just a single 13 or 20mm hole is pretty crazy. I always assumed I was being hit by several rounds at a time with the amount of damage being done.

[oc2209]

2 hours ago, Mtnbiker1998 said:

What I think would look good is getting rid of the "level 1" damage effect where only 1 or 2 rounds has hit your plane, but keeping it for showing where shrapnel has hit and showing highly damaged areas of the plane with the big holes and torn skin effects, stuff that the dynamic model doesn't do as well.

 

Also, the DVD has definitely opened my eyes on just how destructive HE ammo is in this game. Seeing an entire wing or entire half of a plane torn to shreds from just a single 13 or 20mm hole is pretty crazy. I always assumed I was being hit by several rounds at a time with the amount of damage being done.

 

The old decals are definitely needed for control surface damage. It'd be great if fabric-covered sections of certain planes could be similarly shredded. Beyond that, I'd like to see all other impacts be 1 bullet/shell = 1 hole. For 20mm HE or larger, the system could use the current (old) holes that go all the way through the plane (i.e, you can see the sky/ground through the hole). For anything AP or smaller HE rounds, leave it all to the new dynamic model.

 

What I'd really like to do away with are the holes that just saturate the entire plane eventually.

 

 

The above shot is what 17 rounds looks like. Of those 17, I doubt more than 10 actually hit the plane. The next example is even better.

 

The following 4 shots were taken in very slow motion:

 

 

 

 

 

I honestly don't even think the elevators took a direct hit. And I'm pretty sure that one wing hit is the only hit. I wasn't pulling enough lead to hose the wing.

 

Here's a better shot of the result of the 13mm strikes:

 

 

None of the elevator holes should be there. None of the left wing root holes should be there. The through-and-through wing and elevator holes look more like what 20mm HE would do.

 

All told, I fired 42 13mm rounds against the Spitfire. Of those, I'm pretty sure only a handful actually hit.

 

(Naturally, the Spitfire, with its glass tail, entered an unrecoverable spin and crashed)

[RedKestrel]

1 hour ago, oc2209 said:

 

The old decals are definitely needed for control surface damage. It'd be great if fabric-covered sections of certain planes could be similarly shredded. Beyond that, I'd like to see all other impacts be 1 bullet/shell = 1 hole. For 20mm HE or larger, the system could use the current (old) holes that go all the way through the plane (i.e, you can see the sky/ground through the hole). For anything AP or smaller HE rounds, leave it all to the new dynamic model.

 

What I'd really like to do away with are the holes that just saturate the entire plane eventually.

 

 

The above shot is what 17 rounds looks like. Of those 17, I doubt more than 10 actually hit the plane. The next example is even better.

 

The following 4 shots were taken in very slow motion:

 

 

 

 

 

I honestly don't even think the elevators took a direct hit. And I'm pretty sure that one wing hit is the only hit. I wasn't pulling enough lead to hose the wing.

 

Here's a better shot of the result of the 13mm strikes:

 

 

None of the elevator holes should be there. None of the left wing root holes should be there. The through-and-through wing and elevator holes look more like what 20mm HE would do.

 

All told, I fired 42 13mm rounds against the Spitfire. Of those, I'm pretty sure only a handful actually hit.

 

(Naturally, the Spitfire, with its glass tail, entered an unrecoverable spin and crashed)

The damage decals correspond to a certain amount of aerodynamic damage. This happens because the 13mm he rounds basically do hit more like cannon rounds in game. Lots of shrapnel and blast radius.

[oc2209]

5 minutes ago, RedKestrel said:

The damage decals correspond to a certain amount of aerodynamic damage. This happens because the 13mm he rounds basically do hit more like cannon rounds in game. Lots of shrapnel and blast radius.

 

Yes, but the one aileron hit covering the entire left wing in giant holes... is a bit overkill. It looks more like a 30mm hit.

 

As I said, it also leads to unrealistic expectations of just how damaged your target is.

 

Beyond that, if such a large portion of the Spitfire (just one example) is covered in holes, when the DVD system is applied to it, you won't even notice the tiny, realistically-proportioned holes next to the huge ones with air showing through them. In my opinion, it's a waste of DVD's realism potential to have it alongside the old damage. Either the old damage needs to be scaled down, or just give the option of turning one off in favor of the other.

 

Another fun thing about DVD is getting back to your base and counting the holes in your plane, just like real pilots did. You can see how many inches you cheated death by. Many of those fine details will be obscured by the Swiss-cheese appearance of the old damage if they're used simultaneously.