Disappearing Aircraft

[FS~Lewis]

I have a problem with disappearing aircraft during flights. An aircraft will be seen at a distance but on closing in the aircraft disappears. It seems like that there is a transition from single or few pixel information on the screen to a different type of format. The game is trying to show me a closer view of what I should see as I approach and for some reason my PC and monitor can not show it me so the object disappears at least thats what it feels like.
I also am able to see aircraft in the distance slowly get smaller and gradually disappear as they outrun me which is as should be. The issue is a lot more noticable as I first spot an aircraft and then close on it.

The video I have enclosed looks as if my prop is slowing down giving the impression I was not gaining on the aircraft however the slow prop only happened on playback.

I have tried a couple fixes ie. changing antialiasing to x2 and x4 in the video settings ingame and I've tried setting MeshShowLod = 1 instead of = 0 in 'conf'...to no avail

Please play in 1080p HD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2K18QZc-TE

[Ze-Jamz]

Ghost dots have been around since day 1 mate..not a lot we can de about that at this time afaik..

The LoD is another issue too..hopefully both of these things will be fixed soon

[335th_GRAthos]

MeshShowLod = 1
AAx 0
Resolution 1024x768


Test and tell us if you have still have problems

~S~

[FS~Lewis]

Hi Jamz...Rgrt...If you mean by ghost dots that they are not seen by others then my wingman has seen them too and also we shoot them once we have caught them...Just that he doesn't see them disappear as we get closer so he can still follow them...They are definately there as E/A and not ghosts....Its only that they flow in and out of view as I get closer to them.....Also my wingman sees aircraft in front of me when flying behind me that I don't see at all which suddenly pop into view for me as we close in.....Its something that only effects my setup

Thanks GRAthos...I'll try those settings tonight and post the results....

[Ze-Jamz]

Hi Jamz...Rgrt...If you mean by ghost dots that they are not seen by others then my wingman has seen them too and also we shoot them once we have caught them...Just that he doesn't see them disappear as we get closer so he can still follow them...They are definately there as E/A and not ghosts....Its only that they flow in and out of view as I get closer to them.....Also my wingman sees aircraft in front of me when flying behind me that I don't see at all which suddenly pop into view for me as we close in.....Its something that only effects my setup

Thanks GRAthos...I'll try those settings tonight and post the results....

Oh ok mate..well GL

[zapatista]

Hiya Lewis,

there are a number of reasons why this is happening right now. given similar problems were being reported in the il2 days, the most likely answer is that it is due to errors in LoD modeling of some aircraft in CoD.

this would mean that it is unlikely to be addressed untill the new gfx engine is completed (luthier prev stated this engine rebuild would be provided a couple of months before xmass, but it keeps being delayed with no reasons given as to why), since they will first try and get the scenery and gameplay right before they try and fix "minor" design errors in objects.

there is an interesting dicussion on some of the object visibility problems in CoD here:
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=27410

if however you and your team mate see these distant objects differently from the same viewing position and distance (and both use a "correct FoV" setting for your monitor sizes, eg that the other person doesnt use a zoomed view), then it might not be a defective LoD model. can you plz state what monitor you and your team mate use ? (brand and exact model type plz). i suspect you have an 8 bit colour monitor, and your team mate might have a 6 bit monitor. the cheaper 6 bit colour monitors have display artifacts (which is usually bad news and degrades the quality of the video image), but those same artifacts make small black/grey dots stand out more (which in il2 and CoD would make these distant aircraft dots easier to see). this was a major isssue in il2, but was only identified as an issue late in the il2 series.


the sugestion Gratos made earlier in this thread ( MeshShowLod = 1) is a very nasty and ugly hack that is unlikely to solve the problem, and will significantly slow down your fpsec's (there are older threads in this forum on that hack). also having to revert to il2 settings from 1999 and use "Resolution 1024x768" is rather barbaric and self defeating because the rest of the game becomes so ugly.

solutions imo should instead be focussed on identifying the exact cause of the problem (which is a game design bug/error) and then fixing the problem, not using workarounds that are inefective and ugly.

did you keep the track you recorded ? (which you posted the video from). try and use a zoomed external view in slow motion that focusses the camera on the disapearing object, and see what exactly made it go invisible (eg does the LoD model show defects when it transitions from one to the other).

[FS~Lewis]

Big thanks for the detailed response zapatista....~S~..

I am writing this before I have read the link that you posted....

The problem I get is that aircraft go through a disappearing 'zone' as they outrun me or I catch them up....For instance as I close in I will first spot the aircraft (enemy or friendly) and as I approach they suddenly vanish ...and then as I get closer I will see the same aircraft suddenly appear..I have tested this with my wingmate and flown a headon which I experienced this phenomenon as we closed...but he didn't...as we closed at something in the region of 3-400 mph his aircraft vanished for a period of 2-3 seconds....so that gives an idea of just how large this window of invisibility is.....I don't get it if the aircraft I am following turns in this 'zone' giving me the profile so I guess it is a matter of pixel amount viewable through this problem area.

Having said that I have decided to try and live with this problem for the time being....Its a frustrating problem even trying to keep with my wingman but the fact that I am new to TrackIR and full real servers posses other problems at the moment which I am enjoying learning to overcome.

Out of interest my monitor is below:

ACER X233H

Size 23"
Maximum Resolution 1920 x 1080
Pixel Pitch 0.265 mm
Refresh Rate 60 Hz
Type Active Matrix Color TFT
Display Area 509.76 x 286.74 mm
Response time 5ms
Contrast Ratio 40,000:1 Max (ACM)
Brightness 300 cd/m2
Viewing Angle 160° (H), 160° (V)
Colors 16.7 million
Input Signal Analog
DVI with HDCP (optional)
HDMI with HDCP (optional)
Power Consumption 31.7W (typ.)
Dimension (W x H x D) 561.6 x 393.9 x 177.5 mm
Weight 10.8 lbs (4.77 kg)

[zapatista]

Lewis,

and what is your team mate's monitor ? (the person who can see these same distant aircraft dots so much better then you on the same server)

btw, i presume you know how to set your CoD to use the correct FoV setting that corresponds to your monitor size ? only in that view can you have a hope to see distant objects roughly correctly. having a wider FoV setting will function like a "zoom out" effect, and objects will be much smaller and harder to see (see the link to the previous thread i posted for further info)

still, a significant number of people are reporting the same problem you did (disapearing distant aircraft dots as you approach them), so there defenitely are some major bugs there.

[Ze-Jamz]

That's not the issue here though.

This isn't about the 'ghost dots' where a contact (dot) will disappear when you get closer to it which by the way is highly fkin annoying and takes up most of my gameplay online chasing phantoms..

Lewis was winging with me and he lost sight of me as in I disappeared at a short distance, I could still see him quite clearly.

His monitor is more than capable of seeing a aircraft at that distance with his settings which he described to me he had.

When the contact in front changes it's axes in a certain relation to Lewis it will disappear.

I have no idea what it could be and even though people do have lod issues this is something I've not encountered before

[zapatista]

I have a problem with disappearing aircraft during flights. An aircraft will be seen at a distance but on closing in the aircraft disappears. It seems like that there is a transition from single or few pixel information on the screen to a different type of format. The game is trying to show me a closer view of what I should see as I approach and for some reason my PC and monitor can not show it me so the object disappears at least thats what it feels like.

The video I have enclosed

seems the issue he is raising here in the OP is about the distant aircraft, hence my earlier reply, re:
- possible LoD model errors for some specific planes
- the critical issue of having the right FoV for your monitor size
- for 2 different people looking at the same distant aircraft dot, monitor technology does matter (8 bit versus 6 bit)

[zapatista]

Lewis,

the 6 or 8 bit color issue of your monitor is unilely to be an issue, since most likely your monitor is 6 bit (meaning in theory it would be easier for you to spot dots then somebody with an 8 bit monitor). since you havnt given the details of your team mate's monitor (who was able to spot these distant dots better then you), monitor technology is unlikely to be an issue in your problem.

http://widescreengamingforum.com/node/11174
http://www.prad.de/en/guide/screen.php?id=5132

and "As many today's "cheap and fast" LCD monitors this one is a 6 bit screen. This said it can only produce 262,144 exact colors - and do this very fast.
Other 16,515,072 colors are produced using very sophisticated Hi-FRC time-based dithering algorithm, that actually flicks monitor dot slightly at very high frequency.
Most people do not notice HFRC dithering and it does not create any inconvenience for computer related activities or for watching movies or for playing games. Nevertheless Hi-FRC systems visibly change colors shade depending on screen tilt.

So if you are buying this screen for editing images (and I mean at least PhotoShop or Gimp here) or any other application that requires correct color representation you should consider more expensive 8 bit screen.

With exception of this detail the monitor is real value for money.

from http://www.amazon.com/Acer-H233H-bmid-23-Inch-Widescreen/product-reviews/B001OD76RW