I was born in 1959 and am certainly not a natural flyer but I'm addicted to VR flying. I'm colourblind, have a lazy eye, don't recognise aircraft, my memory is terrible and even after many years of sim flying, I am totally crap at dogfighting. Which is probably why I enjoy flying bombers. This is a place for me to upload some of what I think are my more interesting fights from IL2 Battle of Stalingrad and maybe even from DCS. Although I mostly fly helos in DCS now. I used to know the A10 and F18 back to front, but I've mostly forgotten it all. Even though I've been flying sims since 1982 - FS1 on the System 80 (a TRS80 clone), Airwar, Microsoft Combat Flight Sim, Battle of Britain, il2 1943, Cliffs of Dover, DCS (since the beginning) - I've only been getting serious about multiplayer aerial dogfighting since late 2020.
Yeah, make the game look like crap so everything is easier to see. Not a reason I play the game tbh. I want it to look and feel real, not look like a game from 2000.
Its doable but not great. Honestly getting into simulators like this is pretty expensive just wait until you have alot of money for a decent setup before trying it. War Thunder is fun in the meanwhile
What the hell is it with these biased comparisons, not even using track files and always different voices on the videos. Why would you EVER compare shadows on / off with the same gamma? Of course everyone can fly with the settings turned to their likings - there are also more assists to help you like just marking enemies etc. But please stop labeling this as "better visibility" when it's just "Here's my completely broken settings". Yeah, we all did this when playing quake etc. but it's actually a little sad that DCS slowly evolves into better graphics and people are just looking for the worst possible settings just because they don't know how to tactically fly the aircraft correctly.
it looks dark with shadows, almost like operation flashpoint Dragon rising to which wasn't very popular after the Operation flashpoint Goty, then Arma 1 another kind of not so good one.
Who cares about being better when your game looks terrible? I think most of us play DCS mainly for the realism, so this is definitely not a worthy tradeoff.
the highter the gamma the darker the image.... id recommend you install reshade as well... but i agree with that your gamma is way too high, should be between 1.8and 2.2.@@yarra01
I saw your gamma is set to 1.3. That's why shadows appear way worse than off. Play how you want, of course. But try increasing your gamma and see if that helps your darkness. I usually use gamma 1.8 to 2.0. DCS devs recommend 2.2. But I think it's too bright for mid day flying. But either way, enjoy DCS how you enjoy it.
Simulators are not meant to be played competetively. It is quite against the nature of the whole simulation idea. Besides, if you fight in a fair fight (a condition for competitiveness), you've already screwed up your preparation as that should (in ideal situation) never happen. Instead of this, I would recommend better reconnaisance, coordination with spotting elements (can be ground units, spotting aircraft) and studying the map, location and it's terrain reference points. If that is too much, then there is Arcade settings and you can have labels ON.
If you’re trying to show how to ‘gain an advantage’, you’re literally missing the point of DCS and need to go back to War thunder or Ace Combat. Anyone that try’s to find a settings advantage to ‘beat the game’ in DCS has NO business playing it in the first place. It’s as close as the public will ever get to being in the cockpit of an actual military aircraft and there is ZERO incentive to try and make it easier to try and “win”. Ask ANYONE that plays DCS on a regular basis if there’s an ‘end game’; I promise you’ll get trolled in less than 30 minutes.
You missed the point. My video is not about gaining an advantage to cheat. If I cannot see on a server I am unable to fly on it. Maybe you can understand this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XgWfQrejCzI.html BTW - I have over 4000 hours in DCS (since Lock On), so I am someone who regularly flies on DCS.
@@yarra01 based on the video you posted, you've got some serious issues with your setup. Shadows on doesn't even remotely look that horrid on my system and it's not even current gen hardware. Idk what settings you have but something is definitely not right at all. Clearly shadows off helps in your specific case, but it shouldn't have to come to that just to make the terrain viewable.
@@yarra01 So if it's weather dependent, at least you're narrowing down exactly what specifically causes the visually quality drop. I'm guessing you've experimented with various weather settings and GPU tweaks so I'm not gonna dig into that. All I'll say is it's damn odd that weather causes that much degradation combined with shadows on your system. I've never seen this kind of visual loss with the 2 combined before. I can run Spudknockers graphical settings with a few minor personal preference tweaks on every server online and never see anything nearly this bad.
@@Birdrunner54 Its a known problem: forum.dcs.world/topic/268020-overly-dark-when-flying-in-shade-under-a-cloud/ Try flying on Enigma's Cold War Server - which is where I had the issue, and is where my example comes from. If you have the f5, try the single player instant mission for ground targets, and try the shadows setting.
If you want to be able to better spot targets, you may also set the details and visibility sliders for forest, scenery and chimney smoke to minimum, maybe reduce the terrain texture quality That will look even less realistic and more like an old 90ies Simulation, but it will make the targets stand out more. 😉 I would also deactivate depth of field if you want to increase fps.
@@yarra01 That smiley indicates an "ironic" comment... If you switch of shadows, it simply removes the cloud shadows. Which makes the whole environment look like an old game, rather than a simulation. P.S.: the "Depth of Field" effect is interended for video creation and "beauty screenshots". It is fps killer. If you want decent frame rates, I highly(!) recommend to switch that off. Oh, and it blurrs(!) scene in the foreground and background of the distance you look at, making it harder to spot vehicles behind or in front of the center of your screen...
I see what your point is. But.... if you are trying to emulate IRL would this be like cheating. I mean IRL you can't turn off a setting to obtain better visibility. It's kind of like turning labels on, no? This could be good for newbies like me though. I guess one could say "if you're not cheating, you're not trying".
My point is that for colourblind people like me, turning off shadows means I can actually see stuff. When dog fighting, if the other player is masked by the ground with shadows on they become invisible. Also, I've found on a busy Multiplayer server attacking ground targets becomes a race to find them. Those that see them first get to destroy them.
I am not trying to emulate real life. I am trying to play a video game... and generally speaking I prefer performance / smooth FPS over graphical fidelity.
@@yarra01 this is an unfortunate omission in the video then (which you have already rectified but elsewhere?) leading to false but also very understandable (for reasons, for very good and very unfortunate reasons) reactions - you should have lead with the premise (beyond ambiguity and even intentional misunderstanding by viewers) of that specific condition that you have found a setting that positively affects your cellular situation of colour-blindness. Because the actual topic is that Eagle Dynamics as the franchise curator has (among oh so many things) not adressed the issue of segment compatability by offering no centralized, fixed solution for colour-blindness. None. Not in UI, not in collimation, not in rendering, not even for basic menus. As a shared playfield, as a simulation - players subjected to this condition are not at all "niche" or "discardable" - as the product (for now, no one can tell for how much longer, and the product-provider-side signs and behaviours are worrying) attracts a different type or consumer than "broken bratva peace lighnting sound" (although there is some cross segment mobility naturally, in the good and also in the very bad sense by attributes). Admonishing this shortcoming of DCS (which is neither a complicated addition nor in any way budget- or time-intensive to be rectified client- and serverside) in a professional way would go a long way to not only enhance the experience and ease the access of those affected by this condition and prevent follow-up issues (which most of the reactions are centered about) while also fixing absurd problems with the product as a shared-playfield capable simulation, it would also show product-esteem and professionality (and let us best leave it at that when looking at Eagle Dynamics) - and also encourage many other hesitant consumers of completely different segments to participate in the product, thus keeping median and average player attributes somewhat in the right place.
yeah... a topic that has been debated in Warthunder forums for many years. I never cared though. I wanted it to be immersive so I kept all settings as high as possible, even though other with low settings could snipe me from miles away...
@@yarra01 I'm sorry if you got my comment wrong and interpreted it as any kind of accusation. It was to be seen as a general rant about people using this for personal gain in the matches in some games. And WT specifically might have a different user base than DCS of course...
I sure see a lot of attempted gate-keeping in this community. "Learn this way, do it that way, or go play Ace Combat. If you don't like your settings my way, you should be playing War Thunder instead." Do any of you really want players giving War Thunder their money instead of DCS? The drop in aesthetic quality if you turn shadows off may be a valid point, but otherwise, if this is something you want, go for it. Play around with any of the settings ED offers in DCS to accommodate a multitude of players. And please, stick around. Buy some modules. Have Fun. Not all DCS players are like the wanna-be gate-keepers. Oh, and, if all it took to beat me in PVP was the other player turning shadows off, -I- would need to get better.
If you want the most realistic experience flying a fighter jet you can have outside of flying an actual fighter, get DCS World. If you want an arcadey slop of easy shit maybe you should stick with Ace Combat, because the realism and technical difficulty is literally the entire point of a combat SIMULATOR. If you have to have so much of the game spoonfed to you why waste so much money on super realistic full fidelity modules?
seriously? so whats next - turning your trees off? why not also replace default skins clientside to neon chrome when you're at it? Oh and let's do object exort based magic alleyeradars too - and markers, yes markers, all the time, everwhere - in overlay mode, so you can have a diddistream on thotch without them showing up but you showing how great you are by skillzzz. This is Digital Combat SIMULATOR - not ForniteOverwatchCSGOCodPUBG. You do not need make the product broken for the PvA loop, the faulty product provider already has that covered.
Are you advocating FOR no shadows because it makes it easier to see adversary assets on the ground? If so, maybe you should stick to something like Ace Combat, or War Thunder. An authentic sim experience might not be for you.
Realism<actually being able to see Sorry I'm not a 20/20 vision person, I'm nearly blind in one eye lol. Everyone knows it's "More realistic" with shadows on, Idk why you found the need to point it out
I see theres no shots of the cockpit here, which looks way worse with sharows off. It kills the immersion IMO. Use of reShade can allow better colour balance and contrast as well as a bit of sharpening with no FPS hit to make ground targets a little clearer.
What about the new Color grading setting? I havent tried to use a reshade since upgrading card, maybe I'm missing out. I got used to shadows off last couple years. Shadows on seems to flicker more, because of the clouds..
The environment is nicer with general shadows On. What is the point of adding rain into a mission if that means visibility not decreased? What is the point of adding clouds if they don`t project shadows? We could just go back to DCS 1.7 from 4 years ago and not to bother with all those amazing atmospheric effects. Preferring aesthetics of the game over competitive gaming, at least now I know how to keep shadows on. Thank you!
This can be abused by ultra tryhard players. Enigma should force this setting to be the same for all players, period, so nobody has a distinct advantage because they are abusing settings.
So, by this logic, he should also force all players have the same hardware and software (modules, mods, etc...). Maybe even force everyone have the same eyes, just to be fair in game...? 🤔🤦🏻♂️
@@PappaBear_yt Nah. You can't run with shadows on? Upgrade. Or server admins could choose to disable shadows to accommodate all. For now DCS does not have the functionality on the server side of things to force this.
@@biffrapper I get your point, but then people also shouldn't use reshades, different gamma, VR, high-refreshing monitors, keyboards and mice and so on... because it gives them advantage over others. So, where should the line be - and who gets to deicide about it? It comes down to a personal taste, imho. Also, there are people with impaired vision, and they don't have much options in that regard. I suppose they should be allowed to play, too? Now, for the competitive play I agree rules should be set, but who's to know?... Cheers!
Not to sound like a dick. But whats the point of forcing servers to stick to a graphic setting when every player has a choice of just turning the setting off. Its not like its a third party software like reshade or something that totally abuses competitive gameplay.
So ED should enforce that option in ON... what's the point to use a simulator, even in competitive, if you try to exploit things like that? I would always say instead, "if your hardware can afford full shadows, leave it option always ON", and especially in competitive, many options should be able to enforce it, and if your hardware can't afford it, well, sorry for that, but get a better one.
Because it's a video game. It is a simulation, but also its main purpose is to have fun. Some people have more fun when they can see better. Some people have more fun when it's a challenge to spot enemies. Both are correct ways to play. If you enjoy having the game be more difficult to spot ground targets then that's okay. But it's not an exploit. It's just a setting option.
That would be reasonable if ED would provide all their customers a top-notch PC that can run on maxed-out settings - and for free! However, I don't believe it's going to happen any time soon! 🤷🏼 Or, should I say "Soon™"? 😁
