Ok I'm going to try and make this as short as possible. These new, IMO, overly modeled vortices are killing me! They make every single flight of mine, with even the slightest bit of nose up input look like I'm a member of the Red Arrows. Part of the experience with this game that I've enjoyed over the years was it's stunning beauty and the joy of a quick external view flight just to behold the visuals. Something else I thought of recently was how they are taking away from the recent videos I've seen on YouTube that would otherwise be fantastic! cough cough Viggen cough

I've taken to heart a recent post by Swordsman speaking on all of the negative comments on the boards which leads me to my question; does anyone know of a solid way to at least MAYBE get this suggestion in front of somebody's eyes at DCS that has a little pull (it's a loooooong shot I know)? I can't be the only one who thinks these things look REALLY out of place. It's unfortunate that my experience with this gem has turned into loading the latest update, hopping into a quick mission and then praying that the vortices have been tweaked.

Not going to give up!
Stang

1. Why are you asking that here?
2. Why not post a thread saying this over on the ED forums?

And out of genuine curiosity, what aircraft are you flying and how are the vortices affecting your flight? I would've thought these graphic effects happen behind your head and you as the pilot are looking forward...

Come now Ice, you know the question would result in a ban from that board.

I'm asking here because this is home for me and I honestly didn't think about any other "boards". For as long as the internet, sims, and this place have been around, this is where I've always come...it started with the screenshot forum! Sounds like they may not play very nice over in the ED neck of the woods? I've never been over there so I really have nothing to lose so I'll give it a try...thanks for the suggestion.

I see the most noticeable difference while flying the A-10C and the worst I've seen is while watching vids of the Viggen, sometimes it looks like she's dumping fuel! True the vortices are for the most part out of direct FOV from the cockpit but I do like an external view flight to take in the beauty of this sim. I know it's not the end of the world but I DO know that there are little things that drive each of us crazy and this is mine LOL

Thanks again

There are a few sides to vortices in DCS:

on one hand they are the best graphical representation of the kind of vortices you sometimes see. They are made of a lot of tiny circles, not so obvious to the casual observer though.


This kind of vortex is more noticeable in large aircraft. On smaller aircraft, such as fighters, while the vortex is still made of tiny circles, they appear more like a smoke trail, because the circles are smaller and closer together (visually).


So IMO what we have in DCS is quite good, in some situations I would say it's spot on, in other situations...a lot less accurate. The vortices are too large in some cases, not white enough, and some tweaking should be done because as you say, just a small pitch-up can cause vortices sometimes.
Notice also that in DCS they are depended on humidity (I guess), so if it's raining you'll have a higher chance of seeing them with small movements of the stick.

Does anyone know if this is a tweakable effect somehow, through some LUA files?

It depends on the weather. If the world was constantly 99.9% RH then the DCS vortices would be undermodeled. I don't know if anyone has done the legwork to:

1. Figure out what the environmental state is in DCS (and how it changes with the factors we can control)
2. Compare to known air show or video performances with weather data

The possible outcomes are:

1. Turns out DCS is fine and you've wasted your time.
2. Do no research and get told that DCS is by definition correct and take a hike.
3. Do a moderate amount of research and get picked apart because it's not PhD level research and everyone looking at it sees it as a challenge to prove you wrong instead of agree.
4. Do a PhD amount of research and get labeled an obsessive rivet-counting busybody and ED won't change it anyway.

Which outcome do you prefer?

Really? I thought it was the way thoughts and ideas were presented and not the ideas themselves...


Fair enough. Do post over in the official boards though. It is the best way to get your questions answered and get it "officially" on the ED radar. As Krazi said and you might be well aware, tread carefully over there. They don't like people challenging their norms unless it is prefaced with a lot of apologies, praise for the sim, and a decent amount of grovelling.

See Frederf's post above for possible outcomes... though there is a 5th possibility and you'll get the response you want, but don't hold your breath on that one.

I noticed on the Open Conflict server, in a thunderstorm, the F-5 wingtip vortices were visible on the ground while taxiing.

Somethings wrong...

Yeah, I noticed that a lot too, it's definitely wrong. That's why I think in general, the whole vortices thing needs to be tuned, but I also think it depends on the aircraft. Some modules seem to develop vortices much more easily, which is not wrong because in reality it is the same, but maybe it means that there are some individual parameters that are tunable for each module. Just speculating here.

Better start your research for your PhD-level argument lest you get shown the door...

I agree with SilverStang that there's something wrong with vortices. But not their look, rather their behaviour, the way they trail off the wing tips. Especially during barrel rolls, it looks just wrong. But what the hell do I know, I'm not areonautical engineer.

And here I was starting to think I was nuts? I 'm definitely going to hop on over and at least check out what they have to offer at the ED boards. Thanks to everyone for your input! See, THIS is the place to be...still in one piece.

LOL

It's official, - Ice gets the prize (TBD at a later date). The ED boards were wrought with PAGES discussing the vortices, so no research needed, especially that would support a "PhD-level argument" HA! It sounds like it's being addressed so that's good enough for me.

Thanks again for all of the input.

Stang

Good to see you're still alive and kicking

LOL Not as much as I am!