Alright…I could probably find the answer to this with some searching, but I’m in lazy mode today as I try to get my woodstove up and running…
It’s been a long time since I flew night missions with the A-10C - and with 2.5 lighting, I’m guessing there have also been some changes. How is my cockpit supposed to be set up to get the best NVG presentation in the A-10C? Is there a switch or something that will automatically set all the interior lights to the proper brightness and contrast? I found the HUD dimming rocker on the UFC…but my MFDs are still a blurry mess…
The NVG’s are probably also still WIP and need some adjustments.
Usually when equipped with NVG’s you use them primarily to look around outside I think. To check your MFD’s or kneeboard you look down with your eyeballs.
For the MFD’s you can turn the power knob to Day/Night/Off.
Yeah…I suppose there might be some lighting issues that are WIP… I think (in just running another mission) that the illumination flares aren’t really illuminating much on the ground (or I dropped them too high). I seem to remember in 1.5.X that the minute you dropped them, a quite large circumference of terrain below you would really light up…
Real-world you don’t look at anything inside the cockpit with NVGs.
Unfortunately DCS does it somewhat poorly, if you’re gonna simulate the effect of the NVG scope, with the appropriate visual effects like not being able to see your displays through the NVGs, I think it’d be better to do something like having the top half or so of the screen be the scope so you can still see under the goggles. Having to turn off the NVG just to see displays seems a little silly.
I know it’s not “correct” but I think doing it like BMS, where you can still view the cockpit through the NVGs, is probably the better option.
So futzing around in the Harrier I found I was pretty easily able to use my head to focus on the HUD, and then look down using my eyes to read instruments. That said it might have a smaller “monocle”. I’ll check what’s good when. I get back from hipsterville
Yeah, with 2.5 they added in simulation of focal length? Whatever it is, if you look at things in the cockpit, they’re blurred out. The HUD and everything outside are clear. Also there’s a new noise filter
Like Boomerang10 said, you typically just move your eyes downward to look under the NVDs to read your instruments, MFDs, kneeboard, etc… There are little lens adapters out now that attach to the end of the NVDs that let you quickly change focus between near and far, but I don’t know of any aviation units using them yet (and I think you still have to move a focus ring to go from near/far).
Echoing Boomerang, I think the best compromise would be to let the NVDs focus clear everywhere, or at least provide a systems setting with that option.
No clue if it’d work in an aircraft, but for ground work you can run one lens of your NOD’s focused up close, and the other at your normal “work” distance (this can be all over the place depending on what exactly you’re doing under NOD’s ie driving, patroling, CQB, etc). It’ll give you a hell of a headache after about 30 mins just FYI. I found it mainly useful for if I knew I was going to need close range focus in the dark on a regular basis on short notice.
So it looks like if you turn off deferred shading for night flying - you can go back to the old NVG type display…which works way better than the new technique. The “blobiness” of the new type does look cooler and seems more realistic…but for PC simming, the old depiction works pretty well…
