Ballistic mechanic - Bullet Trace from disturbed air and heath

[Rad]

In real life you can see a trace from a bullet because when its flying fast it disturbs air so quickly that it takes a little time for the air to get back in a normal (undisturbed) state.While its disturbed the heated air behind the bullet appears as a blury line kinda like fatamorgana. Arma 3 already supports bullet trace (Tracers and VR Ballistic trace) so i believe it would be possible to make a translucent blurry texture and apply it to the trace that you get in Virtual Arsenal which shows the damage drop. This would add a little more realism to the game and improve cooperation between a Sniper and a Spotter or a Marksman and his team.

[jeger]

I didn't get all the way through this, mainly because this idea was formulated awfully, but it sounds like you're asking for a lot of work to get something so miniscule, about as miniscule as the plankton or the fact you can shoot a PCML missile right through the openings of a littlebird.

[Rad]

yea it is formulated bad but if you ever open the Virtual Arsenal you will see that bullets have a trace indicating their power from Red as highest to Blue as lowest. What i am asking is to replace those colors with Transparent White to simulate the vapor trace made by bullet cutting trough air. Here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSDDWq_YLXg

[jeger]

Originally posted by Rad:

yea it is formulated bad but if you ever open the Virtual Arsenal you will see that bullets have a trace indicating their power from Red as highest to Blue as lowest. What i am asking is to replace those colors with Transparent White to simulate the vapor trace made by bullet cutting trough air. Here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSDDWq_YLXg

I understand what you mean, but BIS could be doing so many things than doing that because of how small a change that would be.

[Rad]

its not a change its a simple add that would improve how sniper teams work together and the fact they already got it in makes it a such a simple thing to do

[jeger]

Originally posted by Rad:

its not a change its a simple add that would improve how sniper teams work together and the fact they already got it in makes it a such a simple thing to do

Simple in theory, but it's still work they could be doing on something else, like fixing models clipping through terrain at a distance.

[Snips]

What you are asking for is a vapor trail to bullets. Nice in theory, but because the vapor trail is dependent on humidity and other local weather factors, it's fairly inconsistent in real life.. vapor trails aren't extremely rare, but you won't see them for every shot either.

Also, I think it's a bad argument to insist this will improve coordination or teamwork relating to sniper pairs or a marksman. That's EXACTLY why we are given tracer magazines, barring heavy sniper platforms of course. Team leaders, SAW gunners, and marksmen use those tracer magazines to mark enemy areas, focus fire, and communicate direction. Mods introduce IR, low-light/dim tracers for nvg use, while different colors( when available, like 5.56) allow more coordination than a whole team using one color.

Not only is this a bad idea based on what appears to be a limited understanding of bullet aerodynamics, but it's ultimately redundant. How sad.

[Rad]

I know that vapor trails are dependable on humidity and temperature but its not just vapor trails. When shooting on long range you can see the air doing some weir stuff while trying to fill blank space behind the bullet that is moving faster than the air can fill that space. The disturbed air causes light to disort which allows you to see those changes rapidly creating a smooth trace,like a picture on a monitor where you have constant pictures poping up.That is called bullett TRACE and im not talking about TRACER ROUNDS. In real life spotter typicaly is behind the sniper with his spotting scope to be able to see the TRACE which is easy with a good scope,a sniper can see his own trace but he cant follow it because of recoil of the gun that moves his scope. Trace and Vapor trails are commonly mistaken with each other so i am not the one badly understanding Vapor trails but its your knowledge that limits you from thinking that it might be something else beside vapor trails. Also make sure to check out the documentary of Robert Furlong's 2400m shot. Its recreated in the video but its based of off Rob and his spotter's experience. You dont just shoot on 2400m, your spotter needs to watch for that TRACE because seeing trace allows you to see the path of the bullett which allows the spotter to calculate multiple winds from multiple directions along the 2400m journey of the bullett. Then he calculates that and tells the sniper how to adjust his aim. I hope calling someone "Sad" without understanding what they're talking about and checking if they are actually right makes you feel good because if it does you're gonna need a lot of luck in life.

[pokefan548]

I get what you're trying to do here, but at most resolutions, this is going to be invisible at any sort of range, and in CQB, you often already know roughly where you're being shot from. Even if someone takes pot shots at a sniper, they're not looking for trails if they're watching a target, and good marksmen rarely need more than 2 shots. I think it might be neat, but I don't think we should waste processing tracing bullet paths with visual effects that MIGHT last one whole frame when no one's actually going to use it.

[Rad]

Originally posted by pokefan548:

I get what you're trying to do here, but at most resolutions, this is going to be invisible at any sort of range, and in CQB, you often already know roughly where you're being shot from. Even if someone takes pot shots at a sniper, they're not looking for trails if they're watching a target, and good marksmen rarely need more than 2 shots. I think it might be neat, but I don't think we should waste processing tracing bullet paths with visual effects that MIGHT last one whole frame when no one's actually going to use it.

thats a nice point,maybe they can make it so it only applies to heavier bullets like 7.62x51/.300/.338/9.3/.408/.50. As someone who mods i know that alot of stuff you see ingame is done troug weapon configs in game files so it would also be easy for modders to add. Also that processing is already taken and done,it already exists in game but the trace isnt textured so you cant see it. This idea isnt supposed to improve player's detection of where they're getting shot from but for a spotter to see where his sniper buddy is hitting so he can adjust ihm just like in real life. Your point is still good tho :D

[pokefan548]

Originally posted by Rad:

Originally posted by pokefan548:

I get what you're trying to do here, but at most resolutions, this is going to be invisible at any sort of range, and in CQB, you often already know roughly where you're being shot from. Even if someone takes pot shots at a sniper, they're not looking for trails if they're watching a target, and good marksmen rarely need more than 2 shots. I think it might be neat, but I don't think we should waste processing tracing bullet paths with visual effects that MIGHT last one whole frame when no one's actually going to use it.

thats a nice point,maybe they can make it so it only applies to heavier bullets like 7.62x51/.300/.338/9.3/.408/.50. As someone who mods i know that alot of stuff you see ingame is done troug weapon configs in game files so it would also be easy for modders to add. Also that processing is already taken and done,it already exists in game but the trace isnt textured so you cant see it. This idea isnt supposed to improve player's detection of where they're getting shot from but for a spotter to see where his sniper buddy is hitting so he can adjust ihm just like in real life. Your point is still good tho :D

It's not textured, but it's also programmed to disappear as soon as the bullet expires. The tracing effect in the VA world, where most people see it, limits 10 shots to maintain the trace. Tracing around 80 or more shots can cause actual real lag. It may not seem to bad, since your suggested effects would disappear quickly too, but if could harm pawnee and wipeout pilots, as it's displaying a textured trace that lingers longer than the normal. Seeing as the ROF on these babies' cannons outpaces most people's framerates, having that tracer maintain for an extra frame or two can actually cause lag, something pilots flying over cities don't need any more of.

[Rad]

I only ment small arms,you know that vehicle guns dont have trace in VA :D

[pokefan548]

Originally posted by Rad:

I only ment small arms,you know that vehicle guns dont have trace in VA :D

I assumed, by your idea, that vehicle guns would be modified to produce the same effect for consistency's sake. All the same, even small arms fire adds up in large-scale battles. The default bullet tracing system is incredibly poorly optimized, which is fine since no more than 10 bullets will ever be traced in normal play, so if you truly want this implemented you'd either have to greatly optimize the exiting tracing system or make your own. Like I said earlier, I like the idea, impractical though it may be, but your biggers hurdle is optimization- and boy howdy is it one hell of a hurdle if you stay on the current track.