Illumination Flares

[ThunderChief]

Two main issues:

1) Off-map flares for night combat

Playing as the Wehrmacht, and artillery flares are not available with off-map 81mm mortars, or the 155mm artillery. Only the 105mm has them in Edge of Storm. I seem to remember the Granatwerfer 34 having illumination rounds in TW43. Is there a reason they are not available in some operations? I would think the mortar platoons would also carry a couple of flare rounds for tactical use.

2) Firing illumination flares vertically (infantry)

Why do the infantry platoon leaders fire illumination flares straight up into the air when what it mostly does is illuminate their surrounding area and make them an easy target for the enemy? It makes sense in some circumstances, such as defending an elevated position with a risk of flank attacks, but I have seen a number of occasions where enemy tracer fire is coming from 200-300m away and the platoon fires a flare that gives the enemy gunners a better view of the platoon.

It would seem to make more sense to fire the flare in the direction that the unit is facing/moving, at an angle, so the circle of light is just in front of the unit rather than the unit being at the centre of the circle.

[zaigre777]

Also there are degrees of darkness,for example on a clear night and full moon the visibility is pretty good.Ingame night always looks too dark.

[Flan]

I don't know if the moon phase is actually accounted for or not.
kharkov is quite far from the equator so In the winter months it would be quite dark even with full moon.

[Sebastian [GER]]

Originally posted by zaigre777:

Also there are degrees of darkness,for example on a clear night and full moon the visibility is pretty good.Ingame night always looks too dark.

You have to play yourself in the darkness of the night to see that the game isnt completly dark at night times.

I just dont play important night battles at day time.

[zaigre777]

Originally posted by Flannelette:

I don't know if the moon phase is actually accounted for or not.
kharkov is quite far from the equator so In the winter months it would be quite dark even with full moon.

full moon and equator dont corelate...though maybe im wrong

[andrey12345 v2.0]

Sun intensity 1.3 * 10^3 W/m^2

Full Moon 2.1 * 10^-3 W/m^2. Which is six orders of magnitude less.
In the game, only 1 order less. Please do not write that there is not enough light in the game at night, this is obviously not true.

[Zephyr]

Originally posted by andrey12345 v2.0:

Sun intensity 1.3 * 10^3 W/m^2

Full Moon 2.1 * 10^-3 W/m^2. Which is six orders of magnitude less.
In the game, only 1 order less. Please do not write that there is not enough light in the game at night, this is obviously not true.

For me it is alright. There are only a few hours during the night time in battle when it is really difficult to see what is happening. That is the whole point I think. But how the game looks during night does depend a big deal on the monitor (setup, quality and technologie). And not only that, but it depends on the background ilumination of the monitor place as well. That is the general problem with all games that try to have somewhat realistic nights (without illumination by electric light sources). But that is not the games fault.

[Waterdotz]

Off map artillery had their ammo load outs changed to be more historically accurate. German artillery also has almost no incendiary shells now but have almost twice as many, if not more, HE shells. Which is cool

[Waterdotz]

Originally posted by Sebastian GER:

You have to play yourself in the darkness of the night to see that the game isnt completly dark at night times.

I just dont play important night battles at day time.

Interesting idea, never thought of this. I'll definitely have to try it out

[-I-]

Why do the infantry platoon leaders fire illumination flares straight up into the air when what it mostly does is illuminate their surrounding area and make them an easy target for the enemy? It makes sense in some circumstances, such as defending an elevated position with a risk of flank attacks, but I have seen a number of occasions where enemy tracer fire is coming from 200-300m away and the platoon

In my case, they illuminate their positions for an enemy 1000 meters away so that his mortars can find the place and not unnecessarily squander mortar shells.

[Kronolog]

I've also noticed that platoon leaders fire flares verticaly, thereby illuminationg their platoon. Although my sample size for this is very small (<5 times) I wonder if it's correct behavior? Perhaps it can be interpreted as the stress of combat causing them to not aim properly. I also don't know the doctrine that dictate the use of flares, so perhaps the game is correct.

[Flan]

Originally posted by zaigre777:

Originally posted by Flannelette:

I don't know if the moon phase is actually accounted for or not.
kharkov is quite far from the equator so In the winter months it would be quite dark even with full moon.

full moon and equator dont corelate...though maybe im wrong

The sun and moon move lower across the sky the further you go from the equator in winter

[zaigre777]

Originally posted by Flannelette:

Originally posted by zaigre777:

full moon and equator dont corelate...though maybe im wrong

The sun and moon move lower across the sky the further you go from the equator in winter

nevertheles if it is a full moon on clear night...it doesent matter...it will still iluminate more

[andrey12345 v2.0]

Originally posted by zaigre777:

Originally posted by Flannelette:

The sun and moon move lower across the sky the further you go from the equator in winter

nevertheles if it is a full moon on clear night...it doesent matter...it will still iluminate more

"still iluminate LESS"

Sun intensity 1.3 * 10^3 W/m^2

Full Moon 2.1 * 10^-3 W/m^2. Which is six orders of magnitude less.
In the game, only 1 order less. Please do not write that there is not enough light in the game at night, this is obviously not true.

[zaigre777]

Originally posted by andrey12345 v2.0:

Originally posted by zaigre777:

nevertheles if it is a full moon on clear night...it doesent matter...it will still iluminate more

"still iluminate LESS"

Sun intensity 1.3 * 10^3 W/m^2

Full Moon 2.1 * 10^-3 W/m^2. Which is six orders of magnitude less.
In the game, only 1 order less. Please do not write that there is not enough light in the game at night, this is obviously not true.

if you say so...still we dont have stars in the sky also...increasing the darkness appereance even more

[Flan]

Originally posted by zaigre777:

Originally posted by andrey12345 v2.0:

"still iluminate LESS"

Sun intensity 1.3 * 10^3 W/m^2

Full Moon 2.1 * 10^-3 W/m^2. Which is six orders of magnitude less.
In the game, only 1 order less. Please do not write that there is not enough light in the game at night, this is obviously not true.

if you say so...still we dont have stars in the sky also...increasing the darkness appereance even more

We don't get enough light from stars to light anything to the naked eye.
Also to judge in game you need to make sure that their is 100% no light shining on your screen and you eyes are properly adapted to low light.

Andrey: does the date and latitude affect the clear night light amount for unit LOS in game or just one setting for all?
Also I noticed on the Kalinovka map in the battle editor at night that some howler monkeys have migrated there in the night time ambient sound XD. Unless there is a whooping night animal that actually lives around there.