I find the discussions on the effect of screen resolutions on the ability to spot planes in game are all very interesting. Personally I would far rather have the highest resolution possible (native res) simply because of the enjoyment of having better, more realistice scenery and planes especially when it comes to making positive ID before firing.
Once LODs kick in I have always found it quite possible to spot a plane against a ground background because at higher resolutions and with a correctly adjusted screen there is noticable contrast between plane and background, even forests.
The problem seems to be a natural desire for people to have every edge they can get or at least not to be disadvantaged and so they want to be able to spot the enemy at the absolute earliest. Rather than worrying about how different monitors/setups compare with each other I am far more interested in how what I am seeing on screen compares with what I would see in real life.
I don't care if someone on lower resolution can see a dot at 8Km or more if in real life a pilot might not see the plane at 5 or 6km and then depending on light conditions. I would far rather see a beautifully rendered, sharp and antialiased plane at 500m and to make a positive ID when it counts.
The discussions are all about what is seen on one screen compared with another but much more rarely about what was actually seen in real life. Lets face it, a common tactic especially of bombers was to fly low to avoid detection from fighters so perhaps not being able to spot planes against the forest is more realistic especially if flying on a full switch server without icons.I have also read accounts of flights spotting lower planes and having to descend to identify them.
Mistaken identity and friendly fire incidents were a real risk. Wasn't there a documentary that suggested Douglas Bader was most likely downed by friendly fire and he invented the story of a 109 collision to protect his fellow RAF pilot?
There are still a few weeks before we will know how much better the landscape and rendering and visibility of objects are in CoD compared to IL-2 (I don't think any of the promised videos will really do justice at all) but two things in particular I hope will be an improvement. The flare and glint of sun on planes should be much more lifelike and help spot distant aircraft and the dynamically moving shadows in the cockpits will maybe make positioning yourself between the sun and your target much easier. It really will be a case of 'beware the hun in the sun'.
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