Is there anyway to dial back the smoke when thr guns fire? Looks ridiculous!

The thread title really says it all. Everytime I fire the guns I get a massive cloud of opaque fog covering the wings!

Having watched guns firing on many vintage images and also the recent footage of the P-51 live firing from a static point....there is hardly any smoke like it appears in this sim

The smoke could easily be dialled back 80% and still look effective.

Is there any way to do this?

Cheers, MP

Agreed...

not to mention it kills your frames..... it will be fixed in time......

Well, I hope so. It's been out for nearly 2 years and people have been mentioning it since release, but nothing has been done so far.

I can't recall seeing any film showing a P-51D firing its guns. Gun camera footage, sure, but not external film showing the guns themselves.

I've seen many .50s fired for real (and fired quite a few myself) but never six simultaneously in flight. Here is a film of a P-51D firing its guns on the ground and there is considerable smoke:

Some research to see what it really looked like on a P-51D in flight would be helpful instead of saying you don't like it. Something more objective would be a better argument.

I can't recall seeing any film showing a P-51D firing its guns. Gun camera footage, sure, but not external film showing the guns themselves.

 

I've seen many .50s fired for real (and fired quite a few myself) but never six simultaneously in flight. Here is a film of a P-51D firing its guns on the ground and there is considerable smoke:

 

 

Some research to see what it really looked like on a P-51D in flight would be helpful instead of saying you don't like it. Something more objective would be a better argument.

Okay, now, thanks for your research, that's the clip of the static P-51 I was talking about. Check out that smoke...yes, there is 'some', no, it isn't a fog cloud that can't be seen through.

I just posted this footage online of the DCS P-51 firing it's guns and also tracked down some .50 calibre footage from moving aircraft.

Here's my footage:

I wonder how many P-51 pilots were shot down as they couldn't see through the opaque gunsmoke fog that surrounded them on an attack run?

While I really like DCS P-51 and the great attention to detail in it's FM, there really are some features that could do with a bit of love :(

Gunsmoke really needs to be dialled back if it is compared to this real footage you posted:

If you watch the real footage from 1m 10sec you can see that while the gun produces smoke, it is not opaque and certainly doesn't block the view? Take also into account that these aircraft would be travelling at at-least 150mph and the smoke would not hang around like it is seen in the real footage.

Check out this footage of a P-47 which has 8x .50 Calibre guns, all firing on a strafing run. Look how the smoke extends as a short thin trail behind the wing. Now remove a gun from each wing....does DCS P-51 really match that effect? Example of gun smoke from P-47 at 25m 20 secs and again just before 25m 30 secs

And finally would the smoke really do what it shows in my video? It looks really wrong as it moves in a clockwise circle from the guns?

Hopefully it will be tweaked/corrected or fixed in a future update.

Cheers, MP

Are you sure this is vanilla? Found some images of me flying around where the smoke isn't that extreme:

I'd like to just remove it entirely. Anyone know the file to delete/edit? I've looked but didn't find much.

:) MP

That video does show how shocking it is atm..

surprised its still not be reworked after all this time

Yup, some particle effects in DCS look like done by interns. Not the first one to give an improvement after being turned off. Thankfully quite a few of those are in separate shader files and can simply be deleted. At least it was the case back in the BS 1 times. They seem to be catching up though. Let's hope the guys working on the recent improvements (engine smoke, contrails) will continue updating all the funny effects remaining.

its disgusting and I don't fly the mustang in DCS because of it... If any body remembers 1.2.1 effects, there were only tracers and very little if any smoke... We'd like to get this back, Eagle Dynamics!!!! Can you do it? or more appropriately, since 2 years has elapsed: WILL you do it??

Folks, I'm not saying it's right the way it is. But before it is changed, how about some historical evidence (screen shots of a sim only show what it is like in the sim)? It is a simulation, right? Not a "season to taste" game?

My guess is if the ground shooting video is an accurate depiction, if the plane were flying at several hundred miles an hour the smoke would be quickly blown away. But it should be based on reality if it is changed.

Sri if Wild Bill is disgusted but, frankly, I never notice it one way or the other. I'm usually looking at the target, not the guns. Some folks must be spending too much time admiring themselves in the external view?

tttiger, thanks for the reply...you did watch the video of the 8X 0.50 Calibre firing on a strafing run in a P-47? That's two more guns than the P-51 and considerably less smoke...and it was genuine WW2 footage.

The smoke on the static P-51 is not being left behind and is being allowed to gather, hence it smokes up pretty quickly. This isn't subjective, real footage of .50 cal guns firing has been posted by me in my reply. The smoke in the Sim at the moment is way too much, way too big and should appear like a thin trail behind the wing, not a balloon of smoke engulfing it!

"Some folks must be spending too much time admiring themselves in the external view?"

Well maybe you should start a petition for the dev's to take all the camera's out and leave just the cockpit one?

There are people who do enjoy making videos of flight sim footage....and currently the smoke isn't anything like it should appear. Do we therefore say don't allow cameras that may show issues...everyone just bury your heads in the sand....it'll all go away?

Look, I have shown evidence, I have shown proof....now please be constructive and add to this conversation or just ignore video evidence and keep regurgitating the same point

"My guess is if the ground shooting video is an accurate depiction, if the plane were flying at several hundred miles an hour the smoke would be quickly blown away. But it should be based on reality if it is changed."

Agree, I showed reality. 8x .50-cal's firing produce nowhere near this effect when the aircraft is moving.

6x .50-calibre would be 25% less smoke than in the video I showed.

MP

LOL, I've already agreed I believe there is too much smoke. I think we're advocating the same thing here -- less smoke. I'm just saying it shouldn't be "arbitrary" but based on photographic evidence.

The problem is: How much is too much? How do you quantify it so you can simulate it accurately?

A film of a P-47 isn't proof (except of how much smoke a P-47's guns produce) -- but it is a very good indication that DCS is overdoing the effect. I believe that's true, too.

I suspect that somewhere there is actual film of a P-51D on a strafing run. That would be proof.

I'm arguing for historical accuracy. I'm not saying "don't allow cameras" or to "bury your head in the sand." Don't put words in my mouth. I never said those things.

Are you sure this is vanilla? Found some images of me flying around where the smoke isn't that extreme:

 

The footage is from Vanilla (latest DCS World version 1.2.7(+other numbers)

http://youtu.be/MCiHa0h-6Rs

Mustang footage at exactly 19m 32 seconds. very brief But it pretty much shows the percussion wave in front of the guns and barely any smoke....!

Cheers, MP

Okay, you sold me! Nice find!

http://youtu.be/MCiHa0h-6Rs

 

Mustang footage at exactly 19m 32 seconds. very brief But it pretty much shows the percussion wave in front of the guns and barely any smoke....!

 

Cheers, MP

agree .....nice vid MP, that's what they should look at to replicate it....:thumbup:

I'll take a look tonight and see if anything on this has been reported

Thank you Sith. :thumbup:

here is 1.2.1 smoke effects and performance.... nothing close to 1.2.7 and that is 2 years into the pipe...

In my documentary on the 325th Fighter Group I thought I had some WW2 footage of the P-51, an extended version of the P-51 firing it's guns that was shown previously.

Please view at exactly 2hrs 17m 5secs and you can see there is barely any smoke, and the gun flash/percussion wave is quite distinct:

Cheers, MP

Thanks, I am very appreciative of your feedback and interest in the issue. This does cause huge fps drops and as I have shown in the DCS footage the smoke, in comparison to real footage, is considerably overdone.

Appreciate all those who have added to this discussion and glad it can be looked at revising.

Cheers, MP