A very bad learning tool.....

[TheGrunch]

Server admins can change these settings using mp_dotrange:



There is no randomness, though, and the ranges are very much fixed independent of direction.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by TheGrunch

Server admins can change these settings using mp_dotrange:

Nice tool! It looks like it would be very easy to allow this information to be customized in the FMB or official serving settings.

I wonder if it is possible to change the order in which information is presented? Realistically, it should go like this: dot (i.e., detectable) > type (i.e., general plane type) > color (i.e., friend or foe) > name (i.e., exact plane type and unit id).

Range information should be separate from the other icon information and should be based on pilot skill for AI.

There should also be the option to disable it or "dumb it down" so that you don't get precise range information.

If Range information, rookies should get inaccurate information or no information about range at all. Veteran or Ace pilots should be able to more or less accurately range planes out to several miles, but never with better than +/-10% accuracy, or maybe +/-5% accuracy within 500 meters. Average pilots might be able to predict range out to several miles with +/-20% accuracy, and out to about 500 meters with +/-10% accuracy.

[JtD]

These settings can be adjusted in the server console. The command is mpdotrange.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by JtD

These settings can be adjusted in the server console. The command is mpdotrange.

Good to know.

Is there any way for a mission builder or someone flying offline (other than setting up a "server for one") to get the same functionality?

[TheGrunch]

Server admins typically set these settings in the server's server.cmd which is loaded once when the server is started, or using FBDj (which initialises these settings when it connects to the server). These settings are the same for all players on the server.

Offline, you can create a file which Il-2 will load periodically to refresh these settings (offline they are reset when a mission is loaded). Most people call it something like icons.rcu. This means that it is not in the control of the mission builder, rather the player can alter these settings on their own machine if they wish.

The contents should be your chosen icon settings, followed by a timeout which loads the file again, e.g.:

mp_dotrange FRIENDLY TYPE .1 ID 2 RANGE 00.1 COLOR .01 DOT 10
mp_dotrange FOE TYPE .01 ID .01 RANGE .01 COLOR 0000.01 DOT 10
timeout 60000 file icons.rcu

The timeout is in milliseconds so the above represents 60 seconds.

The DOT setting determines the distance at which the dot model of an aircraft first appears. The ALTCOLOR and ALTSYMBOL are relatively new, I believe and allow aircraft to be highlighted by a symbol without providing extra information. The others are all fairly self explanatory. Looks like there's also a NAME setting which probably shows the player's callsign.

The above settings would make the dots appear at 10km. For friendlies the type (aircraft model) will appear at 100m, the markings (e.g. RS -A) at 2km, the range at 100m and the color (red/blue) at 10m. For enemies, the type will appear at 10m, the ID at 10m, the color at 10m. 0.005 or 5m is I think the lowest setting the game will recognise and basically means that the defined info doesn't appear, for all intents and purposes. 25km is the maximum setting for any value.

Once you've chosen your settings and created a file to load, open the game's existing rcu file and paste the following at the end:

@file icons.rcu

Source: Airwarfare

The single player defaults are as follows:

mp_dotrange DOT 14.0 COLOR 6.0 TYPE 6.0 ID 6.0 RANGE 6.0 ALTICON 0.1 ALTCOLOR None ALTSYMBOL +
mp_dotrange FRIENDLY NAME 6.0
mp_dotrange FOE NAME 0.005

[dimlee]

Originally Posted by TheGrunch

...
Offline, you can create a file which Il-2
...

Kudos to TheGrunch for this very useful information.
I just returned to IL2 after 5 years break, with new equipment at my desk, and was surprised by difficultiy of spotting targets at higher resolution monitor.
Now I can change icons visibility in offline training missions.
Thanks again, TheGrunch.

[TheGrunch]

No probs! I think in honesty it should probably be a game setting like any other, might be worth mentioning in the DT requests thread.