spotting contacts

[keeno]

Hi all,

ok i finally got on teamspeak and eventually got my mic working but am ok for now soaking up the chatter and following others contacts... BUT i run three monitors on eyefinity with a resolution of 4320 X 900 and i really struggle to see any contacts until they are really close. with planes againt the ground or sea I can't see a thing until i can touch them, i like to fly between 5 and 10 thousand feet, is that too high? I set my config visible distance to "5" as advised in this forum but any other advice, from the radio chatter it seems that others have no problem spotting contacts.

one last thing, i tangled with a 109 and got him pretty good and damaged his radiators, but i overshot and he drilled me too, i made it back for a crash landing but my internal cockpit lights and gunsight lights stopped working and the RPM counter stuck on 3000RPM but the engine revved ok, i didn't realise this level of damage was modelled, oh, my rudder control was shot away too.

Cheers.

[Kling]

Hi all,

ok i finally got on teamspeak and eventually got my mic working but am ok for now soaking up the chatter and following others contacts... BUT i run three monitors on eyefinity with a resolution of 4320 X 900 and i really struggle to see any contacts until they are really close. with planes againt the ground or sea I can't see a thing until i can touch them, i like to fly between 5 and 10 thousand feet, is that too high? I set my config visible distance to "5" as advised in this forum but any other advice, from the radio chatter it seems that others have no problem spotting contacts.

one last thing, i tangled with a 109 and got him pretty good and damaged his radiators, but i overshot and he drilled me too, i made it back for a crash landing but my internal cockpit lights and gunsight lights stopped working and the RPM counter stuck on 3000RPM but the engine revved ok, i didn't realise this level of damage was modelled, oh, my rudder control was shot away too.

Cheers.

He must have hit your battery ;)

[keeno]

Mmmm, never thought of that. there was a huge flash of flame and i thought my engine was on fire but it died away and i as left with serious damage but limped to an airfield, the 109 bugged out too, hopeuflly he ended up in the channel, very realistic!

[ATAG_Colander]

The 109 engine lasts only a couple of minutes once the rads are leaking. If he was far from France and low, chances are he didn't make it.

[keeno]

Yipeeeeeeeee, any ideas for contact spotting or is it just practice? is my resolution a problem, i love 3 screens?

Cheers

[ATAG_Colander]

Bigger resolution makes the dots smaller so yes, that could be an issue.
Among tons of other things, spotting will be improved in the next TF patch.

[ATAG_Snapper]

The 109 engine lasts only a couple of minutes once the rads are leaking. If he was far from France and low, chances are he didn't make it.

Keeno has credit for one kill. His first!!! Congrats, mate!!!!

:party2::party2:

[keeno]

Thanks for the reply,

i think i'll sit tight and wait for the next patch then before altering anything, loving the online battles though, i just wish i had more time free.

Cheers.

[keeno]

Thanks snapper,

got one last night, a 109 mid channel, he bailed after a few good hits. tonight, i got a Ju87, a 109, and a 110, although to be fair i ended up ramming the 110 taking his tail off, misjudged my closing speed, D'oh!

feels good though, roll on tomorrow evening.:thumbsup:

[ATAG_Monkeynut]

With spotting contacts I always used to wonder how everyone else was seeing what I wasn't. I'm sure your resolution plays a part, but I also think experience is significant. After a few months flying time I now find I spot contacts from miles away that I would never have seen previously. In part it's to do with how our eyes work, we really don't see as much as we think we do as our brains fill in much of what we think we see from what it expects should be there. It's a case of playing long enough to overcome the shortcomings of our physiology by getting to know exactly where you need to focus. Of course the flip side of this is I now see minute specks of dust on my monitor that I would have never noticed before and find I have to manoeuvre slightly to work out if its a contact or dirt!

[ATAG_Ribbs]

Monkey nut is right.. the longer you play.. your eyes adjust to what you need to see to spot contacts. Lowering your resolution helps. I notice that when I first start up the game.. I never see a lot of contacts right off the bat. The longer I play in a session the easier it is to spot contacts. I found changing my monitor setting from RGB to the other setting.. YcRb... something. I wish I could remember. Try that.( see if it works for you). I noticed contacts a lot easier once I changed that setting.

[keeno]

Thanks for the replies guys,

i suppose until i either get a bit more online practice or the next patch improves things for me i could ask to fly wingman for someone and then join the fight when they call "tally ho".

Cheers.

[SoW Reddog]

Keeno,

I've just been through a game where I literally couldn't see ANYTHING. What I did was re-calibrate my monitor using the windows calibration tool. I then reduced my res from 1920 x 1080 native to 1366 x 760 (or close, can't remember the numbers right now). I don't like reducing my resolution that low, but it really does make a huge difference. Dot spotting is much easier, and although at that res things are a little more shimmery, it still looks ok.

[9./JG52 Ziegler]

Keeno, I would try at least the "native resolution" for the game which is 1920x1080 and see if there is any difference. I personally run 1600x1024 on my BenQ 2420T and that works well for me. That said, it is (as the others have mentioned) an acquired skill that trains your eye over time. I have found that over time, I have been able to bump the rez up as my spotting got better. Initially I was two settings below the current one in the beginning. I'm hoping to be at 1920x1080 when the new patch is out. :thumbsup:

[keeno]

Cheers for the responses,

I'll give it go and see how i get on, shame to lose the higher resolution as it looks amazing over 3 screens.

[9./JG52 Jamz Dackel]

Cheers for the responses,

I'll give it go and see how i get on, shame to lose the higher resolution as it looks amazing over 3 screens.

Yep..I cannot and never have toned down the res to help me spot EA easier...The way this game looks is the reason Im still playing it

[Birdy]

I have 30" 2560 x 1600. Kept wondering why I was spending so much time flying around and not seeing anything.
Now running only 1600 x 1050? so I can compete in fights. Makes such a big difference, like a whole new world. Shame a bout the lost quality but not feasible to dogfight otherwise.
As mentioned, hopefully new patch will help, but even with 770gtx I can't keep 60fps at high settings on a 2540 x 1600 screen.