so if a bomber takes 2 gunsights at 100m and 1 at 100 m then how many at 150 m?

[zapatista]

what size is your monitor ?

and during game play what distance are you most comfortable with as a viewing distance for your monitor ? (eg distance between eyes and monitor)

[SlipBall]

Originally Posted by zapatista

what size is your monitor ?

and during game play what distance are you most comfortable with as a viewing distance for your monitor ? (eg distance between eyes and monitor)

24"...2 feet away...thanks Zap

[zapatista]

Originally Posted by SlipBall

24"...2 feet away...thanks Zap

hiya slipball,

i'll convert your inches to cm since i mainly use metric, but you can also use inches. the way i write the formulae is slightly different version then the previous poster, but the principle is the same. always use horizontal viewable area of your screen size, and not diagonal measurements (which is what screen sizes for monitors are advertised in)

the purpose of this is to have the size of the screen in front of you (viewable area) represent exactly the % of your real life FoV. when you then use this setting in the il2/CoD series of games you should now be able to see all ingame objects exactly in their 1:1 sizes compared to what you would see in real life if "looking out a window" in a similar situation ( at the same object from the same distance). since object size (incl buildings etc) significantly affect your sense of speed and perception of distance, for a flightsim this "FoV variable' would seem rather important to get right (since we are presumably interested in SIMULATING what a real ww2 pilot would see in similar circumstances).

FoV = {arctan [( monitor size / 2) / viewing distance ] } x2

or slightly more verbose, to clarify:
"CoD correct FoV setting" = {arctan [(size horz monitor / 2) / viewing distance ] } x2

which in your case means:
FoV = { arctan [( 52 cm / 2) / 60 cm)] } x2
FoV = { arctan [ 26 cm / 60 cm ] } x2
FoV = { arctan [ 0.4333 ] } x2
FoV = { 23.42 } x 2
FoV = 46.84

so in your case you would select 45 FoV (in the old il2 series 1946 etc you could for ex set the FoV by 5 degree steps between 35 and 90). at that point all ingame objects should be 1:1 in their correct sizes, you should be able to see/spot/track them from the same distance as in real life and your "sense of speed" in flying should be correct.

if any distant aircraft/trucks/tanks are then still harder to see then in RL then there is a design error in the game (for ex faulty lod models with missing parts, like we had for some spitfire models in the old il2 with missing wings etc). some people in CoD use "tricks" to try and improve visibility of distant aircraft (the mesh hack, adding AA, changing contrasts, changing screen resolution) but the first and most important thing to get right is to set the FoV correctly. once that is done you have a normal baseline of comparison between players and different pc systems, and we can compare on equal terms what people can or cant see, and then compare this to real life events. and if some still think visibility is not as good as in real life, then we should look for in-game errors or specific game visibility issues (for ex adding visibility enhancements for the smallest most distant Lod models for ex, eg painting them darker or brighter) to bring CoD object visibility closer to what we would see in real life.

note for calculating FoV with above method:
- make sure you always use screen viewing area (not monitor size with bezel included), and use horizontal size not diagonal size
- use same measurement values (meters, cm or inch etc) in all parts of formulae

interestingly you'll find a significant amount of fake-real wannabe's "game the game" in il2 by using zoom views to scan for distant object (no fighter pilot in ww2 used binoculars to hunt for targets, and neither did they have binoculars strapped to their helmets with a magic zoom/wide button), and although intuitively many of us want to use the "wide" view during a dogfight to increase SA of aircraft around us, it is also disorienting because using the wide view proportionately shrinks these same objects around us in size so they now seem farther away (and it distorts the sens of speed in closing/disengaging). there is nothing wrong with briefly snapping to zoom/wide views in il2/cod imho to make up for the fact we are sitting in our living rooms behind a relatively small monitor, instead of having a real cockpit 360 degree view like real pilots, but .... but the purpose/setup imho in CoD/il2 should focus on representing a correct view of the ingame world most of the time.

[SlipBall]

OK cool much appreciated, thanks for your time

[zapatista]

Originally Posted by SlipBall

OK cool much appreciated, thanks for your time

so have you set your CoD to a 45 FoV to see if it makes a difference in improving your distant object visibility and sense of speed ?

was expecting it to raise and additional question

[raaaid]

and what happens with 6d0f trackers in which distance to screen is not fixed?

[zapatista]

Originally Posted by raaaid

and what happens with 6d0f trackers in which distance to screen is not fixed?

using trackir w 6dof in CoD works exactly as intended
- when you lean forward for ex all instruments and dials in the cockpit magnify proportionately and are easier to read
- the distant objects you look at, for ex an aircraft at 600 m or a ship at 1000 m will not change in size (as they shouldnt)
note: also the gunsight works correctly

using trackir, if your FoV is set correctly, leaning forward or back will not change the size (significantly) of any distant ingame object you are viewing on your screen

[zapatista]

SlipBall,

have you tried to set your CoD FoV to 45 to see if that improved your flying experience ?

[SlipBall]

No I have not yet busy real world right now...when I do fly I usually use the 90 though and wish there was a higher one offered just to try. I think humans have an 180 degree field of view both hor & vert

[zapatista]

hiya slipnall

Originally Posted by SlipBall

.......when I do fly I usually use the 90 though

then that there is part of your answer re your observation earlier in the thread

Originally Posted by SlipBall

zapatista, I have changed my thinking on this and agree that objects/especially ground in the distance are rendered too small in the game

if we just determined the "correct FoV" for your personal setup is 45 FoV and you are instead flying around most of the time in 90 FoV then you have shrunk all ingame objects (houses, ships, trees, vehicles and aircraft etc) to 1/2 their normal sizes. its not that they are wrong in the game, you just shrunk them

Originally Posted by SlipBall

...and speed of aircraft while looking to ones side view/low alt. is way to slow.

since your brain uses a visual reference point of how large those objects normally would be (from your previous real life experience in a similar environment, eg when looking at a house o building from a partic distance), having the ingame objects rendered at 1/2 their normal sizes significantly distorts your sense of speed (because your brain thinks these objects must be much further away from you).

try setting CoD to 45 FoV during a joy flight, and compare how different your sense of speed is when flying low down, and compare how easy/hard it is to spot/track/identify different distant objects, you should find it much easier (if you'r able to set CoD to 45 FoV)