The Ultimate Question -- Ext Views vs Locked Cockpit

[WTE_Galway]

Babylon 5 Star Furies were based on IL2 no-cockpit view ...

[matsher]

Closed cockpit simply does not closely resemble "REAL" life simulation.
No matter how you guys would like to frame it.

The two vital immersion points are missing...
1. Sensation. - Sadly, we can never simulate the vast pressures on your body in
air combat, if you could feel the real effects of G, hardly any of us would turn like crazed raccoons. That goes for slip, and landing, turbulance and engine management... Its actually far easier to fly a real plane that it is to fly il2... You can feel a real plane, but you can't in il2...

2. Peripheral vision - Now this is something that can be addressed.
I love flying closed pit, especially with all the new graphic work that has been done in 4.09... But I also love WW view. That is all down to personal choice.
If Oleg could widen our views up/down & left/right everything would start feeling more real. We'd suddenly have a 'real' impression of how biiiiig the sky really is. No matter what view you prefer...

As for Views...

I have proposed an in between solution on the last friday's update (65% Transparent cockpit) and I'd like to have more feedback on it - it was 'improved' by a simple suggestion from Xnomad, cause many of you guys said my initial suggestion was naive would lessen Frame Rates. He suggested keep the cockpit on 100% but keep the enemy idents & tacking info moving through the cockpit.
It negates the argument about lessening FPS with the transparent cockpit having to render more 'sky'...

I'll upload the examples I made of both thoughts...

I have also added some direction and lead markers...
Notice how the direction and lead markers fade the further distance
away the target gets...

But to end...
What I feel is most important, as IL2 lifers and experienced flyers, is to grow a new generation of flyers and try and make it as 'easy'
to get hooked on the Maddox drug as possible... There will always be a purists way to fly as well as a casual way ...
Lets help new flyers get into the air to find theirs...