8 km atmosphere vs. 16 km atmosphere

[sublynx]

Which do you prefer in GWX, the 8 kilometer visibility environment or the 16 km environment? Do you feel that one or the other is more realistic?

[Magic1111]

Clearily 16 km ! It´s the best in my opinion !

[Sailor Steve]

I would take 16km, but I'm using Rik007's SH5 Water For SH3, which has 20km visibility!

[Iron Budokan]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I would take 16km, but I'm using Rik007's SH5 Water For SH3, which has 20km visibility!

Yes, this is what I use as well. It's awesome!

[max-peck]

16km no question

EDIT: And I'd use the 20km if my computer could run it.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I would take 16km, but I'm using Rik007's SH5 Water For SH3, which has 20km visibility!

Same here, I always preferred the 16km to 8km but I play a 20km environment with a combination of SH5 Water and MEP.

[VONHARRIS]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I would take 16km, but I'm using Rik007's SH5 Water For SH3, which has 20km visibility!

Same here.

[sublynx]

It seems like most players seem to prefer better visibility.

I made some calculations based on a distance to horizon formula from here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon

and using a type VII's height subtracted from draft I calculated that the visibility would be around 8 - 9 km. However, on real life conditions I guess one could see the masts of the ships beyond the horizon and maybe smoke rising above the horizon, but probably not in all weather conditions. But how high are the masts, how high does the smoke rise, what exactly is their effect on visibility, a couple of additional kilometers of visibility or over ten kilometers more?

The visibility would theoreticallly also be different for an approaching airplane, since that would usually be at a high altitude and therefore visible over the horizon. On the other hand I would think that the lookout would have to be quite a hawkeye to spot an airplane at a distance of over 8 kilometers. I think flight simulators usually limit visibility to well under 10 km.

Anyone with sailing / flying experience who could sort me out here? What would be considered realistic? If I choose 8 km visibility, am I restricting my game in a way that could be considered unrealistic? If I choose 16 km (that 20 km mod didn't work with my setup) are my watchmen spotting ships and planes they would never haver spotted in real conditions?

[Fish In The Water]

Oddball in the bunch here, but I prefer 8km as limited visibility has always seemed more realistic. That plus it dovetails nicely into my playing style by enabling quick flanking moves around convoys on the cusp of visibility.

[sublynx]

Originally Posted by Fish In The Water

. That plus it dovetails nicely into my playing style by enabling quick flanking moves around convoys on the cusp of visibility.

Well, the ability to make closer and therefore shorter end runs certainly is a plus side for the 8 km environment. Probably quite realistic too, until radar appears.

[Sailor Steve]

The problem with the 8km visibility is that it puts up a wall of fog 8 km (5 miles) away. Anything outside of that cannot be seen, and when it crosses that line it becomes instantly visible. This is true of the longer-range mods as well, but at the longer distances it isn't as apparent.

Here's what influenced me: Do I really find it realistic to not be able to see a lighthouse from 5.1 miles away? No, I don't. From a height of 2 meters the horizon is approximately 7 km away. That's the horizon. A ship with a bridge height of 10 meters is going to be visible at 13 km, and the masts at twice that, if you can pick them out at all.

So for me 20 km is perfectly realistic.

[Miltiades]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

The problem with the 8km visibility is that it puts up a wall of fog 8 km (5 miles) away. Anything outside of that cannot be seen, and when it crosses that line it becomes instantly visible. This is true of the longer-range mods as well, but at the longer distances it isn't as apparent.

Here's what influenced me: Do I really find it realistic to not be able to see a lighthouse from 5.1 miles away? No, I don't. From a height of 2 meters the horizon is approximately 7 km away. That's the horizon. A ship with a bridge height of 10 meters is going to be visible at 13 km, and the masts at twice that, if you can pick them out at all.

So for me 20 km is perfectly realistic.

I don't know if it's my pc, but I can barely see anything at 16km, let alone 20km.
And that with perfect visibility.

[sublynx]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

The problem with the 8km visibility is that it puts up a wall of fog 8 km (5 miles) away. Anything outside of that cannot be seen, and when it crosses that line it becomes instantly visible. This is true of the longer-range mods as well, but at the longer distances it isn't as apparent.

Here's what influenced me: Do I really find it realistic to not be able to see a lighthouse from 5.1 miles away? No, I don't. From a height of 2 meters the horizon is approximately 7 km away. That's the horizon. A ship with a bridge height of 10 meters is going to be visible at 13 km, and the masts at twice that, if you can pick them out at all.

So for me 20 km is perfectly realistic.

Hmm. That's a good point. I think I'll enable the 16 km mod.

[Wintahs]

8km, simply because my fps drops a lot with 16km enabled, or was I seeing ghosts?

Tried the 16km atmosphere but got a "Sonar Destroyed" error message when the new patrol loaded in base. Then thanks to some brilliantly executed file mismanagement trying to fix that problem, managed to trash the career of U-1004 in SH Commander. Sigh...

Moral of the story - RTFM and be very careful with deletions; so now back to 8km atmosphere and a new 1944 career.