Why Things Are Seen

Seeing an enemy plays a big part in killing an enemy, so how do you see them?

Shape

Some things are easily recognised by their shape, particularly if it stands in contrast to its surroundings. Two easily distinguished shapes are:

• The clear, sharp shape of a soldier's outline
  
• The smooth rounded top of a soldier's helmet.

At the moment there are no firm means of breaking up the shape of your character to my knowledge, so the best bet is to become intimately familiar with a bush.

Silhouette

Any object silhouetted against a contrasting background is going to pop out. Smooth flat backgrounds such as water, a wheat field, or (worst and most common of all) the sky ("skylining"), should be considered especially dangerous. An object may also be silhouetted if it is against the background of another colour.

For concealment, choose an uneven background such as a hedge, bush, trees, or broken ground.

Shine

If an object that has a texture that contrasts with its surroundings it stands out. The surface of a bare combat helmet or white skin contrast on dark woodland camouflage will immediately stand out as unnatural and attract attention.

To counter this, there aren't many tools in Arma Reforger, the most you can do is choose a helmet with a fabric cover of some variety and a mask. In an ideal world which we do not inhabit, we would have camouflage body paint to camouflage our pasty white skin with.

Shadow

In sunlight, objects cast shadows which gives away its presence. This works also against night vision devices from mods, as these are predominantly image intensifying, i.e. amplifying the available light, and since shade by definition is darker, there is less light to amplify and thereby you can remain undetected.

For concealment, keep in the shade if possible.

Spacing

Natural objects are never ever spaced regularly. Regular spacing means man-made objects. This is a point especially notable for bigger units (3-4+ people) travelling together; 5 meters spacing is a minimum, but should not be considered ideal distance.

For concealment, avoid regular spacing.

Sudden Movement

The eye is attracted to any movement but especially sudden movement. Also strive to move at right angles to the target, i.e. avoid horizontal movement left/right relative to the line of sight but rather move toward/away from it.

For concealment, movement should be slow, cautious and at right angles. Keep in mind to adjust your travelling speed and direction as the situation requires.

Signature

(This is a factor that is less prevalent in Arma Reforger as there to my knowledge is no thermal vision capability in mods that actually works as intended)

All equipment, vehicles, and people have a thermal signature. While camouflaged in every other way, it is possible to see heat sources.

Keep in mind that some materials in modded content (certain helmet covers in RHS: Status Quo for example) are IR reflective and light up under night-vision. The best way to counter the currently existing (12/07-25) thermal vision devices in Reforger is to put on masks and gloves.