More realistic machine gun tracers?

[simfanatic]

Dear Luthier,

I personally think yhat the machine gun tracers look a little fake, too 'straight and laser-like" if u will.

I've seen those old ww2 gun vamera footage on youtube, and the tracers always look like "twisting" and "turning" worms as they arc toward the target.

Could we expect more realistic looking tracers in the future?

Thanks and i'm loving COD!

[Dores]

This has been discussed a million times.

To make this short - tracers are wobbly on film/video because the gun camera shakes. Tracers in real life look like star wars lasers.

[Babi]

Originally Posted by Dores

This has been discussed a million times.

To make this short - tracers are wobbly on film/video because the gun camera shakes. Tracers in real life look like star wars lasers.

One could argue that the pilot's head inside the cockpit shakes as the planes moves and the guns are fired; so he could see wobbly tracers too, but maybe this effect is small and can be neglected (don't know actually)

I'm fine with the tracers as they are, but i don't like the impact effect on planes, or to be more precise the lack of them. in all the guncamera that i saw, hits where very clearly visible with flashes, followed by dust and debris flying off the aircraft. In Cod i can hardly tell that i'm hitting the enemy plane until an aileron/elevator falls off.

[Blackdog_kt]

Hmmm that's strange, i get a lot of visual feedback with my effects set to medium in the graphics options

Originally Posted by Wutz

Yes that is how I remember them too! Out of curiousity at which squadron where you serving?

I assume you mean in Germany, right? Well, i live in Greece and served in the local air force, so it's not very likely that we would have any common memories of places/units

To answer your question though, i was in an air defence/flak and guards squad which was part of a guided missiles wing that's operating Patriot missiles (i did see a memorial plaque from the Schleswig-Holstein at one point though in one of the missile squads' HQ, maybe from joint missile firing exercises)
Initially it was a bit of a let-down to be honest, since i was expecting to be posted at some kind of operational airfield with jets and what not and hoped to be an armorer or something similar, but overall i liked the kind of stuff i was trained on and did well thanks to having some flight sim background.

I always scored well in the simulation, often better than commissioned/professional personnel, at some point the squad commander even assigned me a training session explaining some of the gun's procedures (how to set the no-fire sector) and how to lead targets to them in advance of some kind of exam they were about to get
That gun is excellent and one of the most reliable pieces of machinery i've ever come across, it worked just fine at -10C and 90% humidity in the winter as well as at 30C and an atmosphere full of dust in the summer.

Well, i'm rambling again, let's go back on topic.

[Babi]

Originally Posted by Blackdog_kt

Hmmm that's strange, i get a lot of visual feedback with my effects set to medium in the graphics options

I have effects set to medium too. i can hardly see anything from 200-300 meters.. not the bright flashes of the hits like in il-2 anyway. When i'm VERY close i can see some sort of persistent red/orange flashes that compare on the aircraft skin and then fade away very slowly... don't really know what those are supposed to be. I'ts with the british 303s.

Perhaps i loaded my Hurricane's ammo belts with plasma rounds by mistake

[Blackdog_kt]

The lingering flame effect also exists in some of the Luftwaffe rounds. According to the manual, they are so called "observer rounds" which burn on the surface but don't cause any real damage, apparently they serve as an indicator of whether you are hitting anything or not.

[proton45]

People claim that film (or video) gives an unrealistic portrayal of how a tracer "looks" in real life...but the human eye will "blur" a fast moving bright object. It will blur the flight path of the object a lot in the dark and less so as the environment brightens.

I HAVE A THOUGHT...maybe someone should make a mod that changes the pilots (the gamers) view of the game to remove the "steady cam" effect we now have...In real life the pilot is getting shook around and bounced and vibrated by the machine guns, and engine...ect. Maybe people would find this view of the game to be "more realistic" then the steady cam we now have... sharp shooters might have an issue with aiming (ect), but things might look "more real" to some people...just a thought.

Anyone have a thought about this????

[Wutz]

Originally Posted by Blackdog_kt

Hmmm that's strange, i get a lot of visual feedback with my effects set to medium in the graphics options




I assume you mean in Germany, right? Well, i live in Greece and served in the local air force, so it's not very likely that we would have any common memories of places/units

To answer your question though, i was in an air defence/flak and guards squad which was part of a guided missiles wing that's operating Patriot missiles (i did see a memorial plaque from the Schleswig-Holstein at one point though in one of the missile squads' HQ, maybe from joint missile firing exercises)
Initially it was a bit of a let-down to be honest, since i was expecting to be posted at some kind of operational airfield with jets and what not and hoped to be an armorer or something similar, but overall i liked the kind of stuff i was trained on and did well thanks to having some flight sim background.

I always scored well in the simulation, often better than commissioned/professional personnel, at some point the squad commander even assigned me a training session explaining some of the gun's procedures (how to set the no-fire sector) and how to lead targets to them in advance of some kind of exam they were about to get
That gun is excellent and one of the most reliable pieces of machinery i've ever come across, it worked just fine at -10C and 90% humidity in the winter as well as at 30C and an atmosphere full of dust in the summer.

Well, i'm rambling again, let's go back on topic.

Ah o.k. I did not know that Germany exported their Rheinmetall Flakcannons to Greece. But thankyou for the answer!

[Wutz]

Originally Posted by simfanatic

Dear Luthier,

I personally think yhat the machine gun tracers look a little fake, too 'straight and laser-like" if u will.

I've seen those old ww2 gun vamera footage on youtube, and the tracers always look like "twisting" and "turning" worms as they arc toward the target.

Could we expect more realistic looking tracers in the future?

Thanks and i'm loving COD!

Have you ever shot a machine gun with tracers in real life?
When ever I see these kind of threads I always think, this is what Holywood does to kids.

[Avionsdeguerre]

Originally Posted by wutz

have you ever shot a machine gun with tracers in real life?
When ever i see these kind of threads i always think, this is what holywood does to kids.

+1