Hello all,

I find it very difficult to identify aircraft at distance in COD. I know the shapes, but beyond anything of more--say 750 meters--it is very difficult to see any visual detail. Zooming in is not particularly helpful either.

Playing on the ATAG server, someone mentioned on the Blue side that a bunch of 109's were chasing each other around. This suggests a) other people either do not no aircraft shapes or more likely they are having similar identification problems as me and b) more experienced players are not having as difficult a time.

It could be inexperience, indeed, on my part. But is there some trick to this I do not know about? Is there a way to increase draw distance so more detail is added between rendering aircraft as dots vs more detailed models?

I am running the latest Team Fusion of course, with all detail settings on high (AA at 2x) and on a 720p monitor.

Howdy Pugio, no need to feel like the Lone Ranger in this, it's all the same for many. I fly in a sqn. and it's the same consensus, you need to get close to see what exactly you're looking at. The Italian A/C are especially deceiving, leaving us to many times think the fighter is a Hurricane. Best thing to do is learn to look at the wing shapes, square for 109 pointy for spit. Get in closer and verify.

Another answer to the problem is to join a sqn then your team mates can help you see better. More eyes for looking, and in our case, one guy who can see with virtual 20/20 vision. He sees things none of can see right away.

If this interests you and you don't mind flying for the German side follow the link below and register in the forum. The forum can be found under the HQ tab on the main page.
http://ii-jg3.net/intro.html

BTW I'm in Maine.
My tag is Target

Aircraft Identification has a helpful mnemonic: WEFT.

Wings
Engine
Fuselage
Tail


These pictures help, but please remember that in WW2 the AA gunners used to call it:

Wrong Every F**king Time

So yeah - it's a dark art

You know what works for me?
- Radio (Teamspeak).
As they say: Aviate, Navigate, Communicate.
Keep up a constant chatter about contacts and you'll get better at seeing and recognising them.