More realistic machine gun tracers?

[Lololopoulos]

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!

I can't agree more. But the smoke trail already look very realistic. Just some more work need to be done on the tracers to make them look a little more unstable and not so laser-like. I'm sure there will be mods.

[David Hayward]

Originally Posted by Lololopoulos

Just some more work need to be done on the tracers to make them look a little more unstable and not so laser-like. I'm sure there will be mods.

Where did you get the idea that a tracer is "unstable"?

[Bryan21cag]

Originally Posted by David Hayward

Where did you get the idea that a tracer is "unstable"?

I think he just means that if you were sitting in the pit squeezing the trigger then with the engine vibration plus the vibration of the cannon/MG's at speed pulling G they might look a little less perfect then they do.

I dont know this for a fact because i wasn't there in 1939-1945 to see it first hand but im pretty sure there would have to be some vibration felt by the pilot and this would translate to his eye and thus make the tracers look just a little less then a perfect streight line from start to finish from the pilots point of view that is.

As for the thickness of the tracers im not sure what the exact tracers from that time period looked like because again i wasn't there, but 8 years in the navy watching the GM's do test fires at sea involving tracers and also using up the remaining SEAL ammo for target practice after picking them up from places i can tell you, that as i remember the tracers from even the larger caliber ammo that they used didn't look as thick as the wonder sperm flying from the wings of COD lol had to be said.

NOW........ before the nerd rage kicks in and i get beat to death for having an opinion lol I dont care what they look like until the game is running tops and even then i will probably be so enamered with the damage model and the parts and pieces flying off the bomber formations that i wont really pay any attention for at least a year or so.

I do have to say that I really liked all of the tracer effects in IL2 very much. If those were realistic then I see no problem in sticking with what works even if it is a new sim.

[David Hayward]

Originally Posted by Bryan21cag

I think he just means that if you were sitting in the pit squeezing the trigger then with the engine vibration plus the vibration of the cannon/MG's at speed pulling G they might look a little less perfect then they do.

I don't have the game yet, but I assume the cockpit shakes when you fire the guns. Not having been in a WW2 fighter while the guns are fired makes it tough for me to judge how much vibration there should be, but I'd like to think the devs are able to make a pretty good estimation.

[Volksieg]

Originally Posted by David Hayward

I don't have the game yet, but I assume the cockpit shakes when you fire the guns. Not having been in a WW2 fighter while the guns are fired makes it tough for me to judge how much vibration there should be, but I'd like to think the devs are able to make a pretty good estimation.

I know where he is coming from too.

If you look at the clock on an old VCR or similar (Works even better if the numbers are green for some reason) and blow a raspberry..... you will notice that the VCR (Or whatever it is) stays fairly stable but the clock wobbles all over the place.

I can imagine the vibrations from the engine and the machine gun fire would have some kind of effect on the perception of tracers in a similar way....

Of course a lot of the headshaking etc has to be toned down on a simulation as the plane may be shaking but you, as the player, are not and it would make reading the dials etc impossible.

[GregHouse]

Many of us here (and elsewhere) seem to realize the tracers look completely unrealistic in game, us, who actually have some experience outside youtube. Still an orchestra of people shout in choir how they are perfect. Even in original il2 they look so much better.

Just an observation sorry

[Jotaele]

I love tracers in DCS games.

[Bpdslayer]

Hi, I have a suggestion. Has anyone here played battlefield bad company 2? Well it's a bloody realistic military fps shooter. After reading this thread, I went back to play battlefield, and noticed how realistic the tracers looked. The COD tracers looks ridiculously large by comparison. I wonder as well, with the crazy vibration of the guns on the mounting, whether the tracers should appear slightly more irregular in their trajectories?

[ChrisDNT]

"so in ANY camera shot you can see and will se the "laser" tracers, only the length depends on the camera settings (i.e. expo time and/or aperture) and lighting conditions. With naked eye you just see dots traveling towards the target."

EXACTLY

That's EXACTLY what I saw when firing tracers with a WWII design AA 20mm canon.

[choctaw111]

Originally Posted by ChrisDNT

"so in ANY camera shot you can see and will se the "laser" tracers, only the length depends on the camera settings (i.e. expo time and/or aperture) and lighting conditions. With naked eye you just see dots traveling towards the target."

EXACTLY

That's EXACTLY what I saw when firing tracers with a WWII design AA 20mm canon.

Sitting directly behind the barrel, sure.
Throughout my tenure in the Parachute Infantry (and then Mechanized), I was a SAW gunner, a 60 gunner and the 240 before I was a squad leader.
Anyway, the tracers from MY weapon appeared as dots but those from my soldiers on the flank or next to me appeared as streaks and turned into dots as they were further down range.