To those having difficulties spotting contacts more than 5km... solution, maybe.

[FZG_Immel]

Ok.. Ive been playing a lot on Cliffs of Dover last month, and my main difficulties were 2 different things.

Getting used to the gunsight movements (much more than Il2 and il2Bos which i was used to) and I solved it by removing the Y translation axis on my track IR 3VE and practice I am now a decent shooter, like I use to be in other sims. I just need to stop zooming too much for shooting, as I was used to, because this leads to collisions in clod.

My other main difficulty is/was spottin contacts soon enough.. people online always seem to spot contacts minutes before I do, and I am twice as efficient with someone directing me than alone. This also leads me to being jumped by things that I never saw coming, or missing whole fights happening only 6-7km away from me. It makes/made finding and helping people difficult.

I tried everything people told me on these forums, and the thing that only really helped a little was playing without Antialiasing... but still, i couldnt see crap.

Until I browsed the web, and found something about the original Il2, that i tried with Clod, and it worked. Offline, in single player. I still have to try it online to confirm it works.

Anyway, since its a great handicap for those in the same situation as me, im posting it here. I understand it will also help those who see farther already, but, the difference in between 5km and 10km, is a much bigger deal than 10km - 15km...

here is the screenshots of how it changes things on my system. Same mission. planes at 2.5km, 5km, 7.6km, 10km, 12.5km

before the mod :



after the mod :



Same screens with clues at what to look at :

before the mod:



after the mod:




Now I just hope it works the same in multiplayer. Those with huge TV screen have too much of an advantage otherwise

[FZG_Immel]

oh, I almost forgot the how to.

please try and let me know:

a) backup your RCU file, and then open your RCU file (in the MOD folder) with notepad++ and add this line in the end after the others @file icons.rcu

b) create another file in the same format of the rcu one and name it icons.rcu (what I did was make a copy of the rcu file, open the copy with notepad, delete everything in there, saved it, and renamed it icons.rcu)

c) open icons.rcu with notepad make sure its empty, and simply add these lines:

mp_dotrange FOE DOT 25.000 COLOR 4.0 RANGE 4.0 TYPE 2.0 ID 1.0 NAME 0.1
mp_dotrange FRIENDLY DOT 25.000 COLOR 4.0 RANGE 4.0 TYPE 2.0 ID 1.0 NAME 0.1

timeout 60000 file icons.rcu

d) save (not using save as..) it in your MOD folder.


hope it works online, but its more difficult to test online (it should, according to the mp parameter)

PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF IT WORKS FOR YOU TOO

[JG4_sKylon]

Tested offline with a special misson DUI had set up to check spotting abilities.
Before change: spotted 14 contacts, very hard
After change: spotted 20 contacts easily!

THANK YOU!

[FZG_Immel]

Yeahhhh

[3./JG51_Heiden]

I am having trouble finding this RCU file. Can you provide a direct pathway?

[JG4_sKylon]

RCU.JPGC:\Users\username\Documents\1C SoftClub\il-2 sturmovik cliffs of dover - MOD

[3./JG51_Heiden]

Found the RCU file. I did as you said, but when I rename the file to icons.RCU, the file type changes from "file" to "RCU file"

Is that going to be a problem? I think the period is messing things up.

RCU.jpg

[92 Sqn. Philstyle (QJ-P)]

Found the RCU file. I did as you said, but when I rename the file to icons.RCU, the file type changes from "file" to "RCU file"
Is that going to be a problem? I think the period is messing things up.

The icon.rcu file is a SERVER or HOST setting. It sets the parameters for when the icons show (icons must be turned on, in the server's options settings) for ALL players who join the server.
Unless you are hosting or only playing single player (with icons turned on), there is no point editing this file.

the "dot" value in the icon.rcu file simply sets the distance at which the ICON is just a dot. The other values set the distances at which the various text elements show up.
If you fly on AX Dogfight - which has icons enabled, you can see the text icons in action.

[ATAG_Colander]

In MP this setting comes from the server so the file change should work only offline.

[FZG_Immel]

dang.

Any chance we could edit this file on the server so people with less advantageous hardware can see contacts from far enough ?

As you see in my screenies, i can't honestly see past 5km without it

[FZG_Immel]

The icon.rcu file is a SERVER or HOST setting. It sets the parameters for when the icons show (icons must be turned on, in the server's options settings) for ALL players who join the server.
Unless you are hosting or only playing single player (with icons turned on), there is no point editing this file.

the "dot" value in the icon.rcu file simply sets the distance at which the ICON is just a dot. The other values set the distances at which the various text elements show up.
If you fly on AX Dogfight - which has icons enabled, you can see the text icons in action.

it clearly change not only the dot of the icon, but also the dot of the planes at distance. check screenies

[Black034]

It's the same thing

Long distance dot = low contrast pixel
Medium distance dot = medium contrast pixel
Shot distance dot = black pixel

Everything closer than that is enough for the game to render the actual LOD models.

Think of the dots as the Labels you get in easy mode, just replaced with a single period (.) varying in tone instead of detailed text about aircraft/distance.

Most of this spotting issue could (without modding) be fixed by disabling AA (which makes the period blend in even more!) playing with your gamma levels (which enhances contrast in relation to white balance) OR by buying a better resolution monitor.

[FZG_Immel]

clearly not the same thing in my screenies-

adding gamma doesnt seem to help me.

the mod did, but if its useless in MP, then its useless to me

[DUI]

As it is related to your topic: Here is a small mission that may help to find out how well your monitor displays contacts and if/in which way software-based adjustments (i. e. SweetFX).

[FZG_Immel]

thanks, will tell you.

[FZG_Immel]

to those who are using a standard PC monitor which offers you good spotting abilities, can you post what model you are currently using ? thanks !

[ATAG_Snapper]

As it is related to your topic: Here is a small mission that may help to find out how well your monitor displays contacts and if/in which way software-based adjustments (i. e. SweetFX).

This mission is an EXCELLENT tool for evaluating contact visibility in Cliffs of Dover. I use it now as a litmus test anytime I make any video setting changes. For instance, when I set DSR to 2.0 the terrain and cockpit looked fantastic with reduced shimmering, BUT........I could only see the 5 LOD contacts and NONE of the smaller pixel targets! When I changed resolution back to native 1920 x 1080p on my LCD TV (Samsung 46" @ 60 Hz), I could easily see an additional 6 contacts (pixels). Far from the ideal 16 or so contacts that DUI suggests, but acceptable for me. With a little more playing within the TV settings itself (gamma, sharpness, contrast etc etc) I was able to see a total of 13 -- pretty good.

DUI - I will find your post with this little mission you made and sticky the thread. IMHO everyone should have your little creation in their Single Missions as a handy reference.

[Baffin]

It's the same thing

Long distance dot = low contrast pixel
Medium distance dot = medium contrast pixel
Shot distance dot = black pixel

Everything closer than that is enough for the game to render the actual LOD models.

Think of the dots as the Labels you get in easy mode, just replaced with a single period (.) varying in tone instead of detailed text about aircraft/distance.

Most of this spotting issue could (without modding) be fixed by disabling AA (which makes the period blend in even more!) playing with your gamma levels (which enhances contrast in relation to white balance) OR by buying a better resolution monitor.

Can you describe the effect that using only FXAA (all real AA OFF) has on this problem? Is the pixel still harder to see?

[FZG_Immel]

I can see only 11.. and that is going very close to the screen and from an angle from below.

ive tried all adjustements possible.

the problem comes from my Samsung Syncmaster P2770 or from my conf.ini. I dont know

[JG4_sKylon]

This mission is an EXCELLENT tool for evaluating contact visibility in Cliffs of Dover. I use it now as a litmus test anytime I make any video setting changes. For instance, when I set DSR to 2.0 the terrain and cockpit looked fantastic with reduced shimmering, BUT........I could only see the 5 LOD contacts and NONE of the smaller pixel targets! When I changed resolution back to native 1920 x 1080p on my LCD TV (Samsung 46" @ 60 Hz), I could easily see an additional 6 contacts (pixels). Far from the ideal 16 or so contacts that DUI suggests, but acceptable for me. With a little more playing within the TV settings itself (gamma, sharpness, contrast etc etc) I was able to see a total of 13 -- pretty good.

DUI - I will find your post with this little mission you made and sticky the thread. IMHO everyone should have your little creation in their Single Missions as a handy reference.

I have DSR 2x and see 14 contacts, the last 2-3 only little pixels with out of the box config after new installation of the system. But i have deactivated all post processing (AA etc). With DSR and AA you´ll lose some contacts.

[hnbdgr]

I have DSR 2x and see 14 contacts, the last 2-3 only little pixels with out of the box config after new installation of the system. But i have deactivated all post processing (AA etc). With DSR and AA you´ll lose some contacts.

what is DSR if you don't mind me asking?

[DUI]

Far from the ideal 16 or so contacts that DUI suggests, but acceptable for me.

To be honest, the only reason I put 16 contacts in the mission was that I was able to spot 14. So I thought that 16 might be a good start. But it does not say that it is the ideal amount. Of course, if there is the need I also can add some more.
Probably, the main reason for me to choose "only" 16 contacts: No one should be allowed to see more than two contacts than I do.

I will find your post with this little mission you made and sticky the thread.

[JG4_sKylon]

what is DSR if you don't mind me asking?

DSR is a new NVIDIA driver feature for GTX6xx and higher. It´s simply downsampling integrated in the NVIDIA driver.

[ATAG_Septic]

DSR is a new NVIDIA driver feature for GTX6xx and higher. It´s simply downsampling integrated in the NVIDIA driver.

Works with 5xx also.

Septic.

[ATAG_Lewis]

I did this mod last night and could see a lot more contacts on DUIs contact spotting test....

Does it work in the ATAG server?

[ATAG_Dave]

Does it work in the ATAG server?

No - sadly not as its a server side setting for online

EDIT: I'm talking about the mod suggested by the OP not DSR

[ATAG_Colander]

Does it work in the ATAG server?

If you are talking about DSR, yes as is a setting on your video card.

[Aupa Osasuna]

Hello everyone.

After reading the post it is not clear one thing:

Following the steps Immel said in the first post (which is often messy) contacts are online servers in more distant (12.5 km) and is only 1 player games.

Thanks for your time.

-----------------------

Hola a todos.

Tras leer el post no me queda claro una cosa:

Siguiendo los pasos que dice Immel en el primer post (que menudo lio es) se ven los contactos en servidores on line mas lejanos (12,5 km) o solamente es en partidas de 1 jugador.

Gracias por vuestro tiempo.

[CSL_Lekk]

Disable AA makes a huge improvement for me - NV 690TI.
DSR to lowest value and DSR ratio to 0%.
thanks guys.

[ATAG_SKUD]

In MP this setting comes from the server so the file change should work only offline.

Sooo...what would happen if the setting on the server was changed like this? Would it even the playing field a bit for the folks with hi-res monitors?