COD-Diamond in the Rough

[ATAG_Snapper]

Originally Posted by SlipBall

Yea I've been really enjoying the nite time sky too...doing a lot of flight's to practice navigation

Good to hear, guys. We had some vigorous opposition initially to the early a.m. mission starts -- understandable in that it's hard to see when taxiing, much less spotting enemy (or friendly) aircraft once aloft. Nav and landing lights would be a nice feature to have on and around an airfield! However, we did get a lot of voices in support of the early-dawn starts: bomber pilots taking off and traversing the Channel in cloak of darkness, and fighter pilots like yourselves who just enjoyed the beauty of watching the sun appear in the eastern horizon. I've read so many accounts of RAF pilots being awakened on midsummer mornings at 3:30 a.m. by their batmen bringing hot tea to ready them for a 4:00 briefing and a 4:30 a.m. take off. I suspect the Luftwaffe did not wait around for the morning mist to burn off by 9 a.m. before THEIR ops began, either!

[irR4tiOn4L]

Originally Posted by ATAG_Snapper

Good to hear, guys. We had some vigorous opposition initially to the early a.m. mission starts -- understandable in that it's hard to see when taxiing, much less spotting enemy (or friendly) aircraft once aloft. Nav and landing lights would be a nice feature to have on and around an airfield! However, we did get a lot of voices in support of the early-dawn starts: bomber pilots taking off and traversing the Channel in cloak of darkness, and fighter pilots like yourselves who just enjoyed the beauty of watching the sun appear in the eastern horizon. I've read so many accounts of RAF pilots being awakened on midsummer mornings at 3:30 a.m. by their batmen bringing hot tea to ready them for a 4:00 briefing and a 4:30 a.m. take off. I suspect the Luftwaffe did not wait around for the morning mist to burn off by 9 a.m. before THEIR ops began, either!

That's true and its very beautiful too.

The only thing i'd add though is that it can be hard for new players trying to learn spotting though, because they don't yet have an 'eye' or 'feel' for what to look for, when and how far away dots appear and how to spot them among moving perspectives and against terrain.

These players would benefit from learning to spot properly in the daytime initially, before progressing onto the more advanced dusk situations. I know this because I happen to be such a player

Actually, it would be great if a simple training program consisting of short videos timing how long before a pilot was able to spot things at various distances and letting them know what they missed was available.

But I appreciate the dusk/dawn timeslots.

[ATAG_Snapper]

Originally Posted by irR4tiOn4L

That's true and its very beautiful too.

The only thing i'd add though is that it can be hard for new players trying to learn spotting though, because they don't yet have an 'eye' or 'feel' for what to look for, when and how far away dots appear and how to spot them among moving perspectives and against terrain.

These players would benefit from learning to spot properly in the daytime initially, before progressing onto the more advanced dusk situations. I know this because I happen to be such a player

Actually, it would be great if a simple training program consisting of short videos timing how long before a pilot was able to spot things at various distances and letting them know what they missed was available.

But I appreciate the dusk/dawn timeslots.

No question the pre-dawn mission start is difficult -- for some it's exceedingly difficult -- to operate under such dim conditions. Some players refuse to make the attempt, while others relish it. It's just one of an ever-growing rotation of missions. No one's going to like them all, nor do we expect that of anyone. We DO hope that we can provide, most of the time, something for everyone.

Personally, I'm hoping the performance increase in code with the new patch will allow missions with heavier cloud formations, more AI aircraft, more ground objects (ie targets!!) etc. Our intrepid mission designer, hc_wolf, is actively trying new stuff as I type this!

BTW Appreciate the feedback!