Spotting ground units should be easier -but I don't like ugly square icons

[nachinus]

Spotting problems are a big thing in sims, and it's difficult to balance and implement in a way that satisfy everyone. Spotting planes at a distance is not that easy IRL, I know it first hand. But what is really easy indeed IRL is to spot trucks on a road or parked in an open field, and I'm not finding it easy at all in any game. Since this is the latest generation sim around and improving by the month, I wonder if the team would be so bold as to try to address this issue.

Spotting is hard in a flatscreen because things are really, really small unless you have a huge TV in front of you, and hard in VR because stuff outside your cockpit is quite low-res unless you have VERY expensive stuff. So I believe a majority of players would benefit from some help in the way the ground units are rendered to make them stand out more against the background.

I really would like to not use icons ever, ever again because they break immersion and look so ugly. I'm not a big fan of zooming either, it's cumbersome and not really realistic either. I'm inclined to think that there are subtler ways to help spotting.

OPTION A: Less invasive icons that can optionally replace current ones. 

OPTION B: Subtle graphical stuff like higher contrast or sharpening for ground units to make them stand out more against the background. Or darker distant shadows or some kind of outline that can be toggled on/off. Or some postprocessing magic, or whatever.

I don't know if option B is something that can realistically be done without looking ugly, but a simmer is allowed to dream, isn't he?.

[Mark_Krieger]

On 10/5/2026 at 8:25 PM, nachinus said:

Spotting problems are a big thing in sims, and it's difficult to balance and implement in a way that satisfy everyone. Spotting planes at a distance is not that easy IRL, I know it first hand. But what is really easy indeed IRL is to spot trucks on a road or parked in an open field, and I'm not finding it easy at all in any game. Since this is the latest generation sim around and improving by the month, I wonder if the team would be so bold as to try to address this issue.

Spotting is hard in a flatscreen because things are really, really small unless you have a huge TV in front of you, and hard in VR because stuff outside your cockpit is quite low-res unless you have VERY expensive stuff. So I believe a majority of players would benefit from some help in the way the ground units are rendered to make them stand out more against the background.

I really would like to not use icons ever, ever again because they break immersion and look so ugly. I'm not a big fan of zooming either, it's cumbersome and not really realistic either. I'm inclined to think that there are subtler ways to help spotting.

OPTION A: Less invasive icons that can optionally replace current ones. 

OPTION B: Subtle graphical stuff like higher contrast or sharpening for ground units to make them stand out more against the background. Or darker distant shadows or some kind of outline that can be toggled on/off. Or some postprocessing magic, or whatever.

I don't know if option B is something that can realistically be done without looking ugly, but a simmer is allowed to dream, isn't he?.

The problem is that some ground objects do not render until you are really next to them. You can do the experiment with the destroyed trucks in the shooting range. If you shoot at the correct distance you can't see them at all.

[Stonehouse]

7 minutes ago, Mark_Krieger said:

OPTION A: Less invasive icons that can optionally replace current ones. 

There is a mod floating around for that. Try 

 

I made the attached up for a friend who struggles to see stuff with icons off but also doesn't want huge icons either. You use JSGME to install it.

HUD Icon Package.zip

[nachinus]

57 minutes ago, Mark_Krieger said:

The problem is that some ground objects do not render until you are really next to them. You can do the experiment with the destroyed trucks in the shooting range. If you shoot at the correct distance you can't see them at all.

🙄 That can't be WAD, can it? Has this been this way since release?

 

49 minutes ago, Stonehouse said:

There is a mod floating around for that. Try 

 

I made the attached up for a friend who struggles to see stuff with icons off but also doesn't want huge icons either. You use JSGME to install it.

HUD Icon Package.zip 163.74 kB · 0 downloads

Thank you! Will definitely give it a go.

[Mark_Krieger]

1 minute ago, nachinus said:

🙄 That can't be WAD, can it? Has this been this way since release?

 

Thank you! Will definitely give it a go.

I'm not sure. It also depends on the objects. Trucks/tanks in movement are easier to spot and are rendered in longer distances. I think some inactive objects are render much much closer. Too close in my oppinion, but perhaps it is a way to mantain performance? Hope they continue improving performance (it isn't only a VR matter, although it is more obvious using VR) so we can spot ground objects from distance.

[YoYo]

Personally, I don't fly with icons enabled, I can't stand them; they completely ruin the immersion.

However, I do agree that objects should be visible from a greater distance. I’m referring not to static map features, but to mission-specific objects placed via the Mission Editor. They remain invisible even at maximum zoom, as visibility depends solely on proximity. Consequently, we can't determine their exact location before an air-to-ground attack unless we get close enough. I would perhaps distinguish mission-critical objects from standard map elements and either increase the visibility range or add a slider so the player can decide (balancing this against performance impact), while keeping a default setting for each preset.

[nachinus]

26 minutes ago, YoYo said:

Personally, I don't fly with icons enabled, I can't stand them; they completely ruin the immersion.

However, I do agree that objects should be visible from a greater distance. I’m referring not to static map features, but to mission-specific objects placed via the Mission Editor. They remain invisible even at maximum zoom, as visibility depends solely on proximity. Consequently, we can't determine their exact location before an air-to-ground attack unless we get close enough. I would perhaps distinguish mission-critical objects from standard map elements and either increase the visibility range or add a slider so the player can decide (balancing this against performance impact), while keeping a default setting for each preset.

I don't fly with icons either, but I have the toggle button mapped in a HOTAS button, because as much as I don't want them, I sadly need them. So I quickly flash them on and off to locate targets or ID planes at a distance that I judge that a trained pilot would in real life.

[Husar]

Ground object visibility range is the biggest flaw in Korea, especially considering how much effort has gone into ground warfare compared to GB — new physical behavior, animations, visual details, etc.

[FuriousMeow]

I really haven't had an issue with ground objects. I'm on flat 2D, but I can see the little dots FOV backed out to 120 and pushed in to 30 to better track on my attack runs usually swapping between the two multiple times each attack run. But I've never seen an object just appear or disappear. 

I've done just about every grojnd mission in task editor. Only time I've seen vehicles disappear is when I paused the game and cycled through in F2 but they popped back in when I unpaused. But never disapparated during play.

Are there missions that exist where this happens consistently that could be shared? And point out the areas it happens? I'd be interested if the same thing occurs for me since up-to-this-point I've not seen it. 

And I've watched the videos. One shown was MP with some very large objects I've never seen in any generated mission. Bomb craters bigger than what the 2000kgs produce, and some other supposedly artillery pieces also not the usual artillery pieces. And in another one I only saw a small Jeep sized truck at far range pop out, but it was by no means going to impact an attack run.

Or even a track file that can be played back.

 

Edited 17 hours ago by FuriousMeow

[Husar]

10 hours ago, FuriousMeow said:

Are there missions that exist where this happens consistently that could be shared

I could look for those type mission in my track browser.

BTW for spotting ground targets I'm using 3 toggle on/off FOV values - 120/74/30 

Another issue,  did you noticed gagues clarity drop on fov 120 inside the cockpit with DLAA/DLSS?

Edited 6 hours ago by Husar