Gunsights, especially the off set ones in the 109 and 190 are currently a pain unless you are using trackir or the F1 key in Il2.
However this scews your field of view up.
What I would like to see is a key bind that moves your head in line with the sight with out any zooming so that you can fly and shoot as you would in any other plane with a clear view of the sight.
This should be enabled in all planes that have sight view difficulties.
While the F1 key solved the problem it artificially limited the field of view as an undesired consequence.
A key press that allows you to look through the sight as if you had just moved the position of your head for a brief second and once you release it returns to normal would be a great idea.

Please tell me some soulution like this is being considered.
Nothing is worse than flying in a 109 and seeing half a gunsight even when you zoom in unless you press F1 and reduce your overall field of view. ;)

It would make it easier for non-TrackIR users. For TIRs, as with Rise of Flights "totally off" sights, the most simple way is to center your TrackIR off the middle. That way you keep full flexibility and field of view, yet makes it a lot easier to aim.
Other than that, it helps a lot to increase move-axis over rotating axis.

I was thinking about it. However if to make something other than in Il-2 by using CTRL+F1, that sould be something replace it.

I think that simply two buttons control should be replaced by one for more easy use.
And I don't think that this button should be holded by finger untill you finish shooting... gunsight view is neccessay all the time when you continue aiming

no offline/lan multiplayer I guess :(

guess developers are never going to acknowledge that PC gamers might have real-life friends friends who want to play too :lol:

I have no issue with the CTL+F1 to centre gun sight as a universal fix but it reduces your field of view FOV dramatically.
While a simple head movement would allow the same thing to be done without the enforced FOV reduction.
Being forced to fly a 109 with an off-centre sight and only have CTRL+F1 as a solution is not ideal. A key you can toggle on an off, press once for on, press again to turn off that will shift your virtual head in line with your sight as you engage the target should be workable.
Even if it is very far down the list of things to do I would greatly appreciate it as an option as I am sure many virtual pilots would. Even if it does not make the initial release.

The field of view is the same in both modes. But the gunsight mode is almost always view moved forward in the cockpit (instrument panel is thus closer to the face and so on). I presume this is what you do not like.

USING HEAD TRACKING (OPTIONAL)

IF:

1. Z axis (moving forward/backward) a little bit forward
2. Yaw (look left/right) near center forward.
3. Pitch (look up/down) near center forward.

THEN: View (X and Y movement) moves to the right, centering gunsight and remains locked. Speed of transition determined by how close to center & zoomed in & lean forward. Z, Yaw, Roll and Pitch not locked, but if Z is too far back, gunsight mode stops.

NOTES:

• Transition speed being adjustable is important - we want it to be able to be smooth and slow so it is not a sudden transition, especially if by accident. But still be very fast when we have to aim quickly in dogfight.
• Moving back (Z axis) resumes normal view.
• Z axis because in reality anyone gunning through the sights would lean forward a little to see the target in the gunsight. Also stops unecessary 'gunsight centering' when we are just looking around.
• Centering zone and Z axis requirement customizable by users.

NON HEAD TRACKING

Gunsight mode not moved forward (Z axis) automatically, so can fly around like that if one wants.


1 BUTTON FOV CONTROL FOR ALL MODES

User defines 3 desired fov levels. GUNSIGHT, NORMAL, WIDE.

If pressing button: toggle WIDE FOV and NORMAL FOV.

Holding button 0.3 seconds = GUNSIGHT FOV (does not need to hold button more. Mode stays). Pressing button in any way then returns to WIDE FOV.

_____

I fly in IL-2 with the 1 button fov method. Convenient, quick, reliable, simple to use and instant to learn. Three FOV levels can cover all situations. For 2-3 months I kept improving a method for FOV control. Used three buttons, then two, then one.

Why not simply add an ability to save head positions?

As long as you can connect via a IP address, you could play on your lan.

Do you mean will BoB require online validation before we can play or will we be able to host our own server.

Unfortunately my real life friend friends have more interest in FPS's So I will never have the pleasure of vulching them with 8 Colt-Browning .303's :(

Cheers!

When you are in your cockpit with wide field of view or normal field of view and you press SHFT+F1 (the keys used to centre the 109 or 190 sight artificially)your view is zoomed in a bit as the sight is centred.
This has not much to do with gunsight view. The moment you un-centre the gunsight the FOW is returned to normal.
Do some tests and you will see that using SHIFT+F1 significantly reduces your FOV and thus your overall SA.
What I am hoping to achieve with a simple head movement is to be able to strafe ground targets or air targets without losing some SA by default because the FOV has been decreased.
I do not use trackir, I use my left hand on the mouse so other solutions will not work for me. It's basically an immersion thing for me. when you press SHFT+F1 you feel constrained, and are reminded you are flying a sim, a simple slight head movement to the right without any zoom will help keep the immersion alive.
As I have said no biggy, just a suggestion. I hope everyone now understands what i am refering to.:)
My appologies, the key I was refering to is shift + F1 and not Ctrl + F1

Just to make sure I was not crazy, I did go and check, and I used the devicelink interface to make IL-2 display the exact FOV being used. I tried both modes, any fov, etc. The results are:

They are the exact same in both modes. The current FOV setting is carried over between the modes. So switching at 'normal' fov between them, it will still be normal, until one changes to another FOV at some point.

The only thing that happens is that the view is recentered, and the Z axis (the head's position, forward/backward wise) is set more forward in gunsight mode. This must be what you believe is the FOV switching. It does not zoom in, just moves closer, so to speak. An optical illusion. It can cause view limitations of course, if the canopy pillar bars obscure the view.

S!

How about 6DOF + if using snap views you can save head positions. This is used in Aces High online WW2 combat sim. Simple and works.

In Il2 I have my gun sight and normal views mapped to one of the hats on my Joystick. When I'm in a situation where I need to use the gun sight i'm fairly well concentrating on the target any way so I not really paying attention to much else so the situational awareness isn't much of an issue for me.

If there's tracers wizzing passed my cockpit then it's my team mates shoulder shooting or an extremely bad shot! ;) Either way it's time to go back to normal view and assess the situation!

Same here. Simplest solution, IMHO, as it takes only a millisecond to switch between steady aiming and checking six.

I will not argue whether it is an optical illusion or not but when I lose a good 10% or more of my viewing area I will say I have lost a great deal of SA.
If your theory holds true then looking backwards I should have an increased FOV. Test that out and you will then discover be it a head movement forward as you claim or an optical illusion your FOV is restricted in any direction you choose to look from normal view...
Put your self in a bomber pilot seat and you will inderstand.
Use Shift + F1 and you will suddenly find your view restricted no matter which direction you look.

Sure, but that's how it is in reality as well, If you're looking down the sights of a gun your view IS limited compared to just loosely look in the direction your gun is roughly pointing.

I loaded up IL-2 again and carefully went through the following aircraft:

B-24
B-17
H-111
Fw-190A8
Bf-109E4
Ju-88A4
AC-20

The heavy and medium bombers (except Ju-88 and AC-20) did not have any kind of gunsight and in most of them, Shift-F1 moved the view between pilot and co-pilot seats.

Looking forwards as well as backwards, it is as expected: it moves the head into a new position (usually forward the most in every plane. Movement to the side occured in some of them (in He-111, it moved forward-left even). In the Fw-190, the view also moved upwards a bit.

Looking backwards in all the aircraft while switching views - both over left shoulder, and right shoulder, one can see better and more in gunsight mode as the seat/armor plate is further away. In the 190 one can see the elevators on the right side even which are otherwise hidden. In the Ju-88 one can see much more everywhere, mainly because curtains are present behind the pilot up to about as far as his seat support so any movement forward gives better views.

There are a few planes where the non gunsight mode is extremely much higher (in a cheaty, unrealistic amount). The Me-262 is maybe the most extreme. The Me-210 and 410 (if you have them) are other examples. Using gunsight in those planes very much gimps the view in any direction, but on the other hand, that is still the most realistic view for those planes (one does not stand in a cockpit in reality.. :-P ).

In the aircraft where the gunsight is offset to the right, looking back over left shoulder did not give much (if any) different view because the head was offset to the right, cancelling out the forward movement.

You can try this for yourself. Try also to look straight down, or straight sideways while pressing Shift-F1 to see how far forward and back the move is.

Never the less, the move forward does bring the canopy pillars closer, and makes them larger, and this gimps the view to an area to the front in some planes (Fw 190 a very big offender. Same thing happens in spitfires if one leans forward). I know I never liked flying in gunsight view because of the pillars etc being closer, for pretty much the same reasons you have now. After switching to head tracking it was no longer an issue but I still remember...

maybe.

Agree that being able to choose the 'center' for the head would be a good feature. In any plane without center gunsights, I keep having problems with the centering. It can be ok to be offset, but often is too high or low when I try to lean into gunsight.

This is great news, SpeedTree do a wonderful job.

Which version οφ σπεεδτρεε Σιρ ?

I think a good way would be this:

1) You got realistic limited 6dof view with track ir.

2) You got realistic limited 6dof view using the keyboard.
- Num keyboard snap view like IL-2
- SHIFT Num keyboard 2-4-6-8: slide the view left, right, foward, backwar.
- Alt Num keyboard 2-4-6-8 rotate view down, left, right and up (POV Hat of hotas as mouse does the same)
- SHIFT Num keyboard 3 and 9, slide view upwards and downward.

3) A key combination, just like SHIFT-F1, that fast and smoothly slide the view to have the gunsight centered. On allied aircraf it either does nothing or does the same but you´ll see the gunsight slide to your left.
This last view with a menu checkbox option where you can make it sticky or not. That way you can have to keep it pressed to have the gunsight centered, or you have to press one to have gunsight centered, and again to return to cockpit centered view.

All this three alternatives are available, and you choose according to your hardware and preferences.

Just my thoughts and suggestions! :)

Sorry I was posting from work. When i checked in game just now, you are right the head has moved forward, lol
This still is not what i hope the SOW solution will be. I trust in the SOW team to find the best solution.

Thanks for the answer ;) so will the AI have blind-spots? :D

Oleg, will the AI do mistakes like humans do? I.e. when is very scared, some would dive in desperation, but forgot they're on too low altitude and crash before leveling.

Absolutely, confirmed long time ago by Oleg. :)

Me likey likey :P

Excellent! Great to hear and thanks for the reply!:grin:
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MONTANA DISPENSARY

Hi Oleg, it's good to hear that you're open to using third party tech to avoid reinventing the wheel. Would you consider licensing Euphoria Euphoria technology for dynamic character animation?

well, really what I want is just basic console-style 2 player, so if I'm flying they can pull up a chair and be my gunner, I remember us trying to "trick" IL-2 into doing this on a few occasions. I have multiple monitors and plenty of input devices - just need the game to support it.

I guess a lan party is the only real solution to this as computers/windows in general isn't built for multiple simultaneous users but there are certain pc games that allow classic multiplayer so it could be done.