Tanker Lights

Is there anyone out there working on a way to increase the brightness of the position indicator lights on the tanker? Boom refueling would be easier if we could see the lights better.

Dances

I can tell ya from experience...the lights aren't much better in real life. Use visual references and fly position on the tanker...

Sierra,

It's a 6K hour fighter guy asking me to figure out a way to turn up the lights. I was a tanker driver, and I remember them being brighter too.

Anyway, some advice on how to mod the effect would be appreciated.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

With best regards.

TBT,

Searched high and low for a LUA file that controls the Director Lights. No joy. Does anyone know which LUA file(s) control boom operation? The DDS file for the Director Lights, (which I found), does not appear to include the individual red/green/yellow bulbs that illuminate as far as I could see. I would not be surprised if many lighting effects like the meatball, VASI, nav lights, etc use the same colored effects object. That would potentially mean change it and it affects all light effects for all those systems as well. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

Cheers,

I think the problem lies in the lack of shadowing underneath the tanker. In VR, I can see the lights and know from experience what they're telling me, but do agree they are washed out and not clear.

Sierra,

 

It's a 6K hour fighter guy asking me to figure out a way to turn up the lights. I was a tanker driver, and I remember them being brighter too.

 

Anyway, some advice on how to mod the effect would be appreciated.

Ha Ha Yes ! Thank you those with real world experience chiming in. I wish there was more input with the Harrier like this.

Sierra,

 

It's a 6K hour fighter guy asking me to figure out a way to turn up the lights. I was a tanker driver, and I remember them being brighter too.

 

Anyway, some advice on how to mod the effect would be appreciated.

And as the BOOM OPERATOR "I'm telling ya the lights are all they way up Sir"!

( I KNOW he's heard a boom say that before...:music_whistling:)

I did not mean for my previous post to sound dismissive...I've sat through quite a few Receiver ARs myself. MY recollection of the PDI lights was "They could always be a little brighter during the day" but ya lived with what ya got. But to be honest, the PDI lights are just one of a host of issues with Tanker AR that make it a challenge at best.

First, The Boom Operator is a new guy on his first solo sortie after getting Mission Qual'd and hes terrified...he WILL NOT reach out and get you to make a contact...You HAVE to find that perfect spot before he'll make a contact.

Second, there are important Visual references on the Tanker that are missing or wrong. The White Line on the Bottom of the nose you line up with an Antenna is not there...

The Boom is trailed at 30 degrees as you approach Pre-Contact...And then Suddenly pops up to about 25 or so as you get close...

A big one is the PDI Lights should not be ON until AFTER Contact. It's confusing to be closing to contact position and as the boom moves up or down to line up with the receptacle you get a "Fly Up/Down " light.

So that's why I said the easiest thing to do right now is fly good position, let the AI Boom flail around till he find the spot and you'll get gas...

NKAW10G....Nobody.

evidently they are modeled as textures not as actual LIGHTS in DCS. So we need to find someone with some Photoshop magic to either edit the masks, or edit the texture mats so they are resilient to shadows. 

Shrike 88 - where did you find the files?

Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk

On 11/18/2022 at 9:59 PM, Shrike88 said:

evidently they are modeled as textures not as actual LIGHTS in DCS. So we need to find someone with some Photoshop magic to either edit the masks, or edit the texture mats so they are resilient to shadows. 

You referencing this?

null

Yes, I edited those red and green at the top center no dice making brighter.  mist be baked in textures or layers i am not seeing.  Any yes NKAW10G,   Nobody does.

They are made lights in 3ds max. Editing them in (add photo software of choice here) will not do anything....

Maybe if there is a JSON file.

7 minutes ago, joey45 said:

They are made lights in 3ds max. Editing them in (add photo software of choice here) will not do anything....

 

Maybe if there is a JSON file.

There is a JSON file Joey. I'll play around with these values and see what impact they have.

null

yes - it is a low polygon model at the interesting place. Flat poly. It is not a real light.

wow, - old lockon code model?

Maybe more contrast will help. here is an attempt, but not tried yet.

or a nomal  dds will help: simulate LEDs

18 hours ago, Mapi said:

yes - it is a low polygon model at the interesting place. Flat poly. It is not a real light.

wow, - old lockon code model?

Maybe more contrast will help. here is an attempt, but not tried yet.

or a nomal  dds will help: simulate LEDs

 

Great idea Mapi!  The 21st Century LED Director Lights by Cree ...

any joy with this? iv just started flying f16 and cant see the lights at all lol 

Yeah, tanker lights are not good in my opinion.

Has anyone found a solution for this? I'm seriously struggling with AAR in the F-15E, as the F/A light in particular is practically invisible.

+1, they are poor visible in VR too.

On 1/20/2023 at 5:35 PM, Backy 51 said:

There is a JSON file Joey. I'll play around with these values and see what impact they have.

null

And?

21 hours ago, YoYo said:

+1, they are poor visible in VR too.

And?

No luck on the edit ... 

3 hours ago, Backy 51 said:

No luck on the edit ... 

Yes, I tested it yesterday and there is no difference, especially since this entry refers to this texture and may cause it to display incorrectly:

    {"kc_135_elements_illum",    DIFFUSE            ,    "kc_135_elements", false};
    {"kc_135_elements_illum",    SELF_ILLUMINATION    ,    "kc_135_elements", false};

But I think I've partially solved the problem. It's not lights, it's texture. I'll test it again and let you know if it's ok.

Done: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3332394/ .

However, what I said can only be combined with textures. The mod consists in more expressive colors and a darker background (also with lights), which makes the position better visible (especially recommended for VR users).

On 8/1/2023 at 11:05 AM, YoYo said:

Done: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3332394/ .

However, what I said can only be combined with textures. The mod consists in more expressive colors and a darker background (also with lights), which makes the position better visible (especially recommended for VR users).

 

 

 

 

Great job YoYo!

Thx