Bullet ricochets and smoke trails missing

[Mo74]

Hi all,

 

After my last PC died, I have finally saved up for a machine that can play IL2 GB nicely.

 

I am running 'balanced' settings but not fiddled with anything in 'cfg' yet. 

 

On a few quick missions, I notice there are no smoke trails following bullets or ricochets coming up from bullets hitting the ground.

 

I know Il2 has moved on a patch or two since I last played, but I wonder if I need to change a setting to see these? I don't remember I had to before.

 

It's a first world problem for me to ask about this for sure, but I enjoy this extra eye candy - I have googled and searched the forum but not found anything.

 

Thank you for any tips on this!

 

Mo.

 

 

[kendo]

Some changes were made in the last two game updates to tracers and ricochets. Tracer brightness was changed slightly and the angle at which ricochets would occur was decreased. Not sure if anything was changed with the smoke trails. 

 

 

[IckyATLAS]

If I remember well the smoke trail for tracers was in COD where you would have kind of spiraling smoke trails behind tracer bullets.

[Avimimus]

It is worth noting that - due to not understanding the FoV and lenses on gun cameras, it is likely quite easy to misinterpret the actual angle firing is taking place at. I generally trust this team on physics. So, reducing the angle for ricochets is likely accurate - but they are still there in the engine.

 

As for smoke - IRL that is highly dependent on atmospheric conditions, isn't it?

Edited November 12, 2021 by Avimimus

[Jaws2002]

The original CLOD had amazing tracers. DCS has really good tracers as well. 

Tracers in this game need work. Rotating props effects are also very dated at this point.

Edited November 12, 2021 by Jaws2002

[Mtnbiker1998]

5 hours ago, Jaws2002 said:

The original CLOD had amazing tracers. DCS has really good tracers as well. 

Tracers in this game need work. Rotating props effects are also very dated at this point.

Really? DCS tracers are probably my least favorite of any sim. Just a thin solid color line. Clod isn't much better. Imo IL-2 GB and Arma 3 are some of the closest to reality tracers you'll find in games. They have a nice glow to them similar to the times I've seen them irl.

[Jaws2002]

3 minutes ago, Mtnbiker1998 said:

Clod isn't much better

I was talking about the original CLOD, like 2011-2012, before Ilya got with his dirty boots in the code and turned everything gray and washed out.

[kendo]

It's funny how opinions can differ so much. I never liked the original COD tracers at all. Looked more like laser beams to me.

[Mo74]

Thanks for all your replies! So, it does sound like things have been tweaked a bit, although when I have been flying a 109 F4 around I still can't see any smoke trails and/or any ricochets up from the ground.

 

Is there anything one can tweak in the cfg.?

 

Thank you again.

 

Mo.

[ShamrockOneFive]

9 minutes ago, Mo74 said:

Is there anything one can tweak in the cfg.?

 

Not sure about mods but if you want to play online, no. That'd be a problem if people could.

 

The smoke trails are a bit smaller now but should still be visible.

[Mo74]

Thank you for your replies. I am struggling to see any smoke trails from bullets or ricochets. I'll have a play with the in game settings, pe

rhaps changing gamma will help.

[oc2209]

2 hours ago, Mo74 said:

Thank you for your replies. I am struggling to see any smoke trails from bullets or ricochets. I'll have a play with the in game settings, pe

rhaps changing gamma will help.

 

You shouldn't have to adjust settings to see the trails under normal circumstances. What's happening to you is probably some kind of glitch.

 

I experienced something similar. I had 4k textures checked 'on' for months but things were still blurry and low-res. Then someone here (I forget who/where, sorry) mentioned changing their graphics settings (in game), using the preset options, from ultra to low or whatever, and then back to your preferred settings, to clear up or reset a graphics glitch they were having. Sure enough, when I did it, I was finally seeing proper 4k textures for the first time. Maybe the same will work for you?

 

Here's a clip I made to show smoke trails:

 

Spoiler

 

 

Just take your plane out, pitch up towards a clear sky, shoot, and if you see nothing, then it's 100% a glitch.

 

Edit: to clarify what I mean about the graphics presets, turn them up to ultra, then back to what you normally have. Balanced in your case.

Edited November 20, 2021 by oc2209

[Mo74]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, I hadn't thought to do what you suggest. I'll give it a go when I next have a chance and report back: it could be helpful to others to know. Thanks again!