Tracer Colors

[BoneSaw]

I saw BMP-2 shooting - red colour tracer. AK-74 has red tracer too. Wiki is not correct very often.

 

Some tracers in DCS have not their native colour. Initially it was made for testing convenience and then became a tradition.

 

The problem with saying I saw this, or I saw that, is that unless you were the one firing the round you have no idea who manufactured the ammunition creating the tracer.

 

Yeah you may have seen an AK firing tracers in Iraq or Afghanistan but who made that ammo? Russian and Chinese ammo may in fact have green tracers, but the ammo being fired in Iraq may have been made there, or in Syria, or in Pakistan. Who knows?

[alphacharlieecho]

As we now are commencing to make up projectiles tracers we need help from the persons who have real shooting experience..

 

It is not that easy, each force has it's own prefered method and color for creating tracer affects.

 

 

 

Phosphorus and magnesium is the two most popular and color varies as well, most all countries have a red tracer but NATO typically uses chemical tracers. There is another variation that emits no visible light and is only visible through infared.

 

The amount of tracer rounds used depends entirely upon availability and weapon fire rate. For training missions and simulations of combat small arms fire can have as much as 100% tracer rounds(yes, the weapons were extremely dirty afterwards). For the better part tracer rounds can be loaded in intervals at request of the gunner.

 

 

Magnesium and Phosphorus rounds get brighter and Chemical rounds get dimmer the farther they travel down range, that is about the only major difference. That and accuracy of the tracer rounds compared to traditional rounds.

 

I have only ever used red phos tracers personally but I have seen British troops use the green. Never have I seen the yellow but I have heard of them.

 

 

The one affect that needs to be modeled in my opinion to a huge degree is the ricochet. When ever the round strikes something solid or at an angle the round can deflect and it creates a somewhat larger glow momentarily and you see the rounds run off in different angles or round exploding and fragmenting on impact and going everywhere. That never failed to make everyone smile. I have no idea why but it was cool and created a bit of panic to anyone on the receiving end.

 

OH Yeah, the magnesium rounds catch stuff on fire, if what you are shooting at is flammable it will burn... You can not put out magnesium while it is burning, you only seem to make it worse.

 

 

Coincidentally, Hot Rods used to have MAG wheels. Called such due to the fact that the wheels were made of primarily magnesium. It did not take manufacturers long to realize that was a bad idea cause brakes got really hot.

Edited April 13, 2013 by alphacharlieecho

[alphacharlieecho]

tracers in arma and arma 2 engine always light up environment.

 

real tracer rounds do that as well. My introduction to tracer rounds was at Fort Sill Oklahoma during basic training. They made us crawl under barb wire through several inches of water in the prone position during the winter I might add. The important fact is that we had no idea where we were cause it was pitch black and had no idea that two mounted 50 cals were on the bunker ahead of us. They started firing about 10 feet overhead and the light emitted was so bright that it turned night into day.

 

That was the same night that we had a short round from the artillery range accidentally go off directly overhead and put three trainees into the hospital due to "battle signs" bleeding from the ear. One additional soldier was paralyzed from the shoulders down from diving under the barb wire and catching his forehead on the 6x6 railroad tie. The Drill Sargents stop to reload and visibility returned to zero just as he went to dive under.

 

SO YEAH THEY ARE BRIGHT, those were phosphorus red @ every third round alternating 3 second bursts btw

 

It was a three mile march back to the barracks in wet BDU and Combat Boots during the dead of winter and I assure you that the stress of pressure the Drills felt from losing four recruits in the second week on a single night was far more ominous than any chill mother nature could throw at us.

Edited April 13, 2013 by alphacharlieecho

[Slippery Pete]

Arma tracers have HDR effects applied to them, DCS tracers don't/can't(?). So the tracer texture itself has to be made to be as bright and clear as possible. I personally couldn't stand the yellow aircraft tracers and replaced them with the crimson tracer file until better ones are made.

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=104090

[D4n]

Su-25T tracers: @ 01:00 & 02:08 & @05:50 bullet holes (also nice effect, DEVs, keep in mind!) here

[maturin]

Those are rockets....

[Robert1983NL]

All I can say is that the 'bad guys' usually have green tracers, the 'good guys' have red tracers. Most of the time not ALL bullets are tracers, but there can be a 'combat mix'. Like every 5th bullet is a tracer, for instance.

Edited May 6, 2013 by Robert1983NL

[311Gryphon]

Tunguska

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ICcHxoNjVY