Stiffy 1 Posted October 25, 2009 Just found a bit of info I wasnt previously aware of.. Acording to Captain W.E. Johns RFC german anti-aircraft explosions were black.... British/french anti-aircraft explosions were white! Presumably due to differences in the charges used. This had a HUGE impact on ww1 flying. You could tell if an aircraft was an enemy or not from miles away simply by the colour of the flak bursts around them!!!! Is there any way this can be added to OFF (if CFS3 allows) as it means that we are missing a major visual element of ww1 air combat. For anyone playing off without the radar you are flying with far less info than the real pilots actually had! For now i will start to use targetting to simulate the fact that I would definitely know if a distant spec was friend or foe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Siggi 10 Posted October 25, 2009 I believe this already exists in OFF (somebody will correct me if I'm wrong). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stiffy 1 Posted October 25, 2009 really?!.... how is it possible for a game to be this good? Devs... did you all sell your souls to Satan or something? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luftace 0 Posted October 25, 2009 Could be wrong, but I haven't seen different colored bursts yet depending on who's shooting. I also read the same bit of info in Capt. Rickenbacker's memoir and mentioned it awhile back in some thread many months ago. Would be very neat to see, and helpful in most situations. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Winder 32 Posted October 25, 2009 Could be wrong, but I haven't seen different colored bursts yet depending on who's shooting. I also read the same bit of info in Capt. Rickenbacker's memoir and mentioned it awhile back in some thread many months ago. Would be very neat to see, and helpful in most situations. It is modeled in OFF - maybe the difference is hard to detect at great distance but its there. WM Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luftace 0 Posted October 25, 2009 Thanx Winder! Maybe I just need to go stirring up trouble a bit more often, eh? Ya'll never cease to amaze me with even the subtlest of details. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rickitycrate 10 Posted October 25, 2009 Stiffy, yes, be amazed. Wonderful sim indeed. My experience is to be aware of your position via map so that when you see flak bursts you have some indicator of who fired the shells, if you are uncertain of the color. This is not for DiD but if you have Tac up and some unknown targets appear you can select the unknown with TAB and cycle through your views to identify exactly what the unknowns are. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stiffy 1 Posted October 25, 2009 I'll crank the settings back up to full when my new processor arrives next week. If the difference in colour is subtle then perhaps there is room for some adjustment? seems from accounts that the visual difference was striking so shouldnt need to try to work out who is firing. It was of course mainly of use over the lines where either side could be firing the 'Archie' Also have another anti aircraft question but will post that seperately when i get a chance! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bullethead 12 Posted October 25, 2009 (edited) I have my graphics maxed on everything except terrain. Even so, the color of Entente flak bursts is not usually white. Their color actualy depends on their distance away from me, how old the burst is, and perhaps the lighting conditions but I'm not sure on this last point. When Entente flak bursts close enough to my plane to hurt or at least scare me, it does indeed appear white, or rather a light gray with darker streaks in it. However, the further away it is, and the older the burst is, the darker it is. IOW, say a shel bursts close in front of me. It will apear white to start with but as I pass by it and it starts to disperse and fade away, it gets darker. If the burst initally appears about 100m away, it starts out looking dark gray. If it initially appears 200m or a lot further away, it appears nearly black. This covers all bursts in or near my flight's formation, or in the vicinity of a dogfight I'm in. BUT, when seen from many miles away, such as around planes too far away to see yet, it looks mostly white or light gray with a dark center. Check out my pic in post #334 of the "Reports from the Front" thread. http://forum.combatace.com/topic/37518-off-bhah-reports-from-the-front/page__view__findpost__p__351537 This pic was taken several miles on the Brit side of the lines on our way home--you can see the Front in the background. There are 2 presumably Entente flak bursts in this pic: at the very top edge above my wingmen and also just to the right of the top of my rudder. I assume these are Entente because of the location and also the small number of them--we'd been vert heavily archied on the German side and 1 of my wingmen died from it. The Entente Archie is firing at the Albatros following us, which can be seen in the distance under the curve in the smoke pouring from the rear RE8. As you can see, both bursts are dark gray. The upper burst is slightly closer, so is slightly lighter in color, while the burst the rudder is further away and nearly black. The general impression, therefore, is that Entente archie bursts look black to me if I'm in a fight, unles the bursts are very close. I don't have a pic of Entente bursts at a great distance, but they do look rather lighter than this and certainly lighter than German bursts at the same long range. Edited October 25, 2009 by Bullethead Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stiffy 1 Posted October 25, 2009 Is there any way to get a stronger contrast between the 2 types? Odd that a white burst fades to grey... should remain as a white cloud while it disperses. Accounts suggest that the colour could be clearly identified at some distance... in fact long before it was even possible to see the aircraft itself. I suspect the issue is actually a limitation of CFS3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stiffy 1 Posted October 25, 2009 There are 2 presumably Entente flak bursts in this pic: at the very top edge above my wingmen and also just to the right of the top of my rudder. I assume these are Entente because of the location and also the small number of them--we'd been vert heavily archied on the German side and 1 of my wingmen died from it. The Entente Archie is firing at the Albatros following us, which can be seen in the distance under the curve in the smoke pouring from the rear RE8. As you can see, both bursts are dark gray. The upper burst is slightly closer, so is slightly lighter in color, while the burst the rudder is further away and nearly black. The general impression, therefore, is that Entente archie bursts look black to me if I'm in a fight, unles the bursts are very close. I don't have a pic of Entente bursts at a great distance, but they do look rather lighter than this and certainly lighter than German bursts at the same long range. If they are Entente then they are far too grey, should be pure white, like the clouds. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stiffy 1 Posted October 25, 2009 Don't Quote Me on this one, but I believe CFS3 had something to say about this. Just like our rockets, they belong on a P47, in terms of range, accuracy. and destructive power. But CFS3 said: You want rockets, use these or none at all. Also an enemy Ace, will shoot at you from 400 yds and hit. They Think they have 50 cals, it's getting better, in Phase II they did it from a 1000 yds I fear that may be the case.... unusual that a microsoft product could cause so many probl..... no, cant keep a straight face while I type that! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rickitycrate 10 Posted October 25, 2009 The devs have tackled bigger problems and gotten them sorted out in the past. May be it's on the list, a matter of time and priorities. They hear us so if we let them know it will probably make the list of things to look into. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Herr Prop-Wasche 7 Posted December 14, 2009 I was searching the forums looking for something else when I stumbled upon this thread. I have created a small mod which creates white Allied flak. Look for it in the mods forum. You may not need this mod if you have installed HITR because OBD re-did the Allied flak a little, so take a look there first before installing my mod. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VonGuber 2 Posted December 14, 2009 Well, I've been playing with HiTR today while trying to fix some pilot files. One of the first things I noticed was that Entente flak is now whitish, the Huns still being black. So, I think it's been updated with this add-on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bullethead 12 Posted December 14, 2009 (edited) One of the first things I noticed was that Entente flak is now whitish You ain't whistlin' Dixie there. Entente flak in HitR is snow white but evil, kinda like this: Edited December 14, 2009 by Bullethead Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ConradB 0 Posted December 14, 2009 You ain't whistlin' Dixie there. Entente flak in HitR is snow white but evil, kinda like this: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
