aircraft disappearing against terrain.

[JG14_Jagr]

Originally Posted by Raggz

Problem is that there are no collision detection in trees. I've seen enemy fly low in trees many times making them impossible to see.

That can be fixes with some wire frame fences inside large wooded areas.. low system resources needed and the end result is SMACK

[Rattlehead]

One good thing about those God-awful arrows is that it has forced me to play without icons on, and I'm really happy that I can now play this game guilt free.
After all, pilots didn't have big friendly arrows and icons in real life, and if I'm playing the sim with realism in mind, why should I?

It's not easy to play with icons off...at first it's really daunting and a bit frustrating, but you have to learn to train your eyes to spot a hint of movement, a flash of cross or roundel as the enemy flashes past you, a speck in the distance, a hint of yellow nose (in the case of the 109) and also you have to learn to discern between the different shapes in the sky and what aircraft they represent - especially from the 6 o' clock.
Not easy.
But at the same time, so wonderfully rewarding when you bag a kill.

On the other hand, I've spent a fair bit of time tracking an aircraft only to find out he was a squad mate, and on more than one occasion I have killed a friendly by accident.
I remember shooting down this poor Defiant, thinking it was a 109, and as I realised my mistake I actually said out loud: "Sorry mate."

But to the topic of the thread...it's difficult to spot aircraft on the deck, but by no means impossible. As said earlier, if you really can't find anything, take a page out of Helmut Liepfert's book and dive to the deck yourself and look above. It's helped me many times.

[Blackdog_kt]

Originally Posted by Heliocon

Yep you are correct. I do alot of diving and am kinda known for my excellent eyesight, even though it sucks horribly and I have to wear glasses to drive. Why? Because I have excellent vision, especiall for movement. Thats what you need when you are looking for a cuttlefish or octopus. Also a tip, dont look excactly where you think the plane is, just hold steady because your peripheral vision is actually much more sensitive to movement than what you are directly looking at (for picking up movement).

Now that's weird, i also use a similar method to pick up contacts and i also wear glasses.
Maybe people who wear glasses and have to look through a somewhat narrow field of view for the majority of everyday tasks have a more pronounced reflex reaction to movement outside it, who knows. Or maybe it's just that four eyes are better than two

[Winger]

Originally Posted by reflected

It's indeed VERY hard to see enemy aircraft, not only against the ground but against the sky too. A lot harder than in il2. Is this more realistic?

I noticed that at high FOV it's easier to spot them while they're far from you. as soon as you zoom in, they disappear.

I second that. Could use some optimization.
Here is how i handle it: Against the heaven and high distances i leave FOV at 50. Once i spotted someone i remain at 50 FOV since zooming in doesnt help at higher distances. The actual rendered 3D model of the plane at higher diestances is less visible than the "visibility-dots" you see when zoomed out. Only when you get closer to the target (say around 800m or so) it helps to zoom in since the plane then is bigger than the dots you see while in 50 FOV.
Against the ground i think zooming in is the only thing that helps at all. Spotting enemies above ground at higher than like 1500m is almost impossible.
Another tip: Spotting the enemies shadow on the ground is easier than spotting the plane itself. So once spotted look up and realize where the sun is. Being aware of that makes its easier to locate the enemy plane above ground.
Other than that i can only recommend to just practice practice practice. That helps the most.

Winger

[Extreme_One]

Originally Posted by reflected

...

I noticed that at high FOV it's easier to spot them while they're far from you. as soon as you zoom in, they disappear.

Yeah I noticed this too.