I was just wondering, after seeing a show where Flir images were shown, does the ATFLIR in JF18 have too sharp of a picture for thermal imaging?

Probably. But real pilots are trained on how to use the thing, and how to interpret its image. We don't have that training, so...

this is also offset by the fact that in real life, you can see 38 miles with it instead of about 20

The "FLIR" in JF-18 is actually the real view of the sim, painted in green, its not actually based on the heat signature of the objects... so no point in comparing it to real life.

Well, the FLIR images that you saw are certainly from pods that entered in service during the 90's and are still currently in service like for example the LATIRN or NITE HAWK pods. Those pods that were used for example during Operation Allied Force (Kosovo) or more recently over Iraq or Afganistan are 2nd Generation FLIR pods while the ATFIR pod that is modeled in JF-18 and is starting to equip the Super Hornet fleet (and other Hornets If I'm not mistaken) belongs to the 3rd Generation of FLIR pods which means that the ATFLIR has a sharper and much more improved thermal imaging quality over previous FLIR pods.

Regarding the question that if the ATFLIR is accuratly modeled in JF-18 I can only give you the following link and you can jugde it by yourself, but keep in mind that the real "thing" has always a higher imaging quality than the fotos printed in that pdf document:

http://www.raytheon.com/products/stellent/groups/public/documents/content/atflir_ds.pdf

I don't think it is overstated in this sim. We had some absolutely scary optical capabilities on our P-3 platform - and that was 10 years ago. I have to think that there has been a lot of progress since then, as ricrunes suggests in his post.

Ripcord

ok guys, I checked the site at Raytheon.com and it looks like it is a pretty realistic re-creation of the ATFLIR except the range has been decreased JF18.

Nothing like driving a GBU down into a subpen at night in a thunderstorm.

only when there's a nuclear warhead in the bomb

That is not correct. Objects in the game have "heat maps" associated with them. For example, the engine of a truck will appear brighter/darker (depending on the white/black hot switch setting) than the rest of the truck. All "organic" materials have a heat gain/loss factor as well - without this the white/black hot setting would be mere eye candy. You can test this yourself by pausing the game and changing the time of day - watch what that does to the FLIR image.

-CJ
(just stopping by...)

Just incredibly cool.

Nice to See you CJ

CJ, thanks for stopping in. You guys were WAY ahead of your time with this sim.

I remember from my extremely limited (real world) experience that low light/IR images are often harder to look at, because of the fact this 'heat blur' effect. Sometimes you can't see a target because some object nearby are burning, or the sun is in the wrong place, or whatever. Of course, P-3 FLIR technology from 10-15 years ago is probably not as good as what the FA-18E guys have to work with.

Ripcord

Wow, CJ thanks for the explaination of everything.

It's not so much a "heat blur" as it is a lack of contrast under certain circumstances. BTW, this wasn't new to F/A-18, we did the same thing in F-15. Other "hot" things to look at in the game are smokestacks and other aircraft when they are in burner. The display will "overdrive" or "bloom" during explosions much like the real one does.

The guy that programed all this is a real wizard. I just showed him show real FLIR tapes and explained the theory behind IR systems - he did all the work.

-CJ

That programmer wouldn't have been our long-time friend Scott 'Elf' Elson, would it?







"Some day this game's gonna be patched."

No ,I don't think so. Elf did stuff like programming AI but not this.There is a chance I'm wrong though

It wasn't Elf, though he might have helped fine tune some of the actual ATFLIR MDI controls. The guy that programed the FLIR system in the game was John Paquin. He's been around a while, and while few know him by name, many have seen his work. He is wicked smart and I really miss working with him.

-CJ

Here are some examples of ATFLIR as discussed above:

"Blooming" of heat from explosions:



Same idea but with Maverick IR:



Su-22 On ATFLIR (you can kind of see the ghosty afterburner heat exhaust and the white hot metal of the AB nozzle):



Smokestacks:



Plant in distance:



v6,
boNes

Are you still working in games CJ?
I'm a newbye, and hopefully will get hold of a copy of janes fa18 in 2 hours time.
(I'm betting on ebay).

Any chance of running in smoothly on winxp sp2 with no CTD?

Bye
Luca

Yes, I believe it will run fine if you run in compatibility mode for win2000-I think. It's either that or win NT but I forgot.