16.10.2008, 13:41
I use this option all the time - it's great for gunnery practice when you are testing out high deflection, long-distance or high-speed shots.
IL-2 Manager calls this option "arrows and bubbles,." so, I'd always assumed that "arcade = 1" meant lower flight model realism or unrealistic gunnery settings.
For maximum arrow effect, choose a plane with lots of small caliber guns (Hurricane MkI is good) and a big target like a TB3. Give yourself unlimited ammo, shoot at it from 200+ m, and watch your target turn into a pincushion with no visible effect on its flight.
"Circles and arrows" is also interesting as a way to see how the AI works, and what it considers to be fight-ending damage.
Frequently, a bomber will indicate that it's "returning to base" and stay in formation after dropping its bombs. Badly damaged fighters will usually break off the fight, often way before a human player would, even when it would be tactically disadvantageous to do so.
The "I'm on fire/Bailing out" messages show even if there is no fire, but when there is fatal damage - like losing part of the plane. Sometimes, a pilot or crew will bail when a damaged plane is still flyable - like when it loses its rudder.
Also, sometimes a bomber which is badly on fire will just flash "I'm on fire/bailing out." messages and the crew doesn't bail (and not just Japanese with no parachutes). Other times, the bomber won't recognize that it's on fire or hopelessly crippled and the crew will stay in the plane until it explodes or crashes.
And, yes, it really does say "Headshot" onscreen if you combine the gore and "arrows and bubbles" options.
The problem with the Headshot or "Pilot killed/PK" message when shooting bombers, is that the AI doesn't take co-pilots into acount, nor does it take into account the chance that another crewman might be able to keep a heavy bomber straight and level while the rest of the crew bails. This happened occasionally, at least with US heavy bombers. A non-pilot who managed to get the plane home was in for a serious medal, albeit usually posthumous, e.g.,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_E._Truemper
Also, in order to get the PK/Headshot result, you need to hit a "sweet spot" that goes right through the pilot model's head. Anything else is either no effect or a wound. (And has anyone else noticed that there might be a hidden "light wound" setting where the world goes slightly pink but there's no message on the HUD display?)
I'm also not sure how the damage arrows work. Sometimes if your airplane is turned into a "pincushion" (the circles and arrows option works both ways) you'll see arrows that go right through your pilot, or your oil cooler, or some other vital system, but there isn't any damage. I guess that the damage model engine takes penetration into account. Also, the location of the arrows only partially maps to where your airplane takes damage. The light/heavy damage .tga files have nothing to do with where the arrows actually go, nor do the arrows map one-to-one with the number of rounds fired.
Finally, it looks like when there is an explosion effect, the damage model creates a certain amount of "energy" which translates to a certain number of arrows, which randomly burst from a central point. For example, if you collide head-on with another plane, or take a cannon hit, you'll sometimes see a "starburst" of arrows radiating out in all directions from the blast origin.
Not being a modder, I don't really know what to make of all this, but it's fun stuff.
IL-2 Manager calls this option "arrows and bubbles,." so, I'd always assumed that "arcade = 1" meant lower flight model realism or unrealistic gunnery settings.
For maximum arrow effect, choose a plane with lots of small caliber guns (Hurricane MkI is good) and a big target like a TB3. Give yourself unlimited ammo, shoot at it from 200+ m, and watch your target turn into a pincushion with no visible effect on its flight.
"Circles and arrows" is also interesting as a way to see how the AI works, and what it considers to be fight-ending damage.
Frequently, a bomber will indicate that it's "returning to base" and stay in formation after dropping its bombs. Badly damaged fighters will usually break off the fight, often way before a human player would, even when it would be tactically disadvantageous to do so.
The "I'm on fire/Bailing out" messages show even if there is no fire, but when there is fatal damage - like losing part of the plane. Sometimes, a pilot or crew will bail when a damaged plane is still flyable - like when it loses its rudder.
Also, sometimes a bomber which is badly on fire will just flash "I'm on fire/bailing out." messages and the crew doesn't bail (and not just Japanese with no parachutes). Other times, the bomber won't recognize that it's on fire or hopelessly crippled and the crew will stay in the plane until it explodes or crashes.
And, yes, it really does say "Headshot" onscreen if you combine the gore and "arrows and bubbles" options.
The problem with the Headshot or "Pilot killed/PK" message when shooting bombers, is that the AI doesn't take co-pilots into acount, nor does it take into account the chance that another crewman might be able to keep a heavy bomber straight and level while the rest of the crew bails. This happened occasionally, at least with US heavy bombers. A non-pilot who managed to get the plane home was in for a serious medal, albeit usually posthumous, e.g.,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_E._Truemper
Also, in order to get the PK/Headshot result, you need to hit a "sweet spot" that goes right through the pilot model's head. Anything else is either no effect or a wound. (And has anyone else noticed that there might be a hidden "light wound" setting where the world goes slightly pink but there's no message on the HUD display?)
I'm also not sure how the damage arrows work. Sometimes if your airplane is turned into a "pincushion" (the circles and arrows option works both ways) you'll see arrows that go right through your pilot, or your oil cooler, or some other vital system, but there isn't any damage. I guess that the damage model engine takes penetration into account. Also, the location of the arrows only partially maps to where your airplane takes damage. The light/heavy damage .tga files have nothing to do with where the arrows actually go, nor do the arrows map one-to-one with the number of rounds fired.
Finally, it looks like when there is an explosion effect, the damage model creates a certain amount of "energy" which translates to a certain number of arrows, which randomly burst from a central point. For example, if you collide head-on with another plane, or take a cannon hit, you'll sometimes see a "starburst" of arrows radiating out in all directions from the blast origin.
Not being a modder, I don't really know what to make of all this, but it's fun stuff.