I’ve lost count of how many kill opportunities I missed because the cone came in at the wrong time, not to mention crashes when flying tree top because I couldn’t see, a couple seconds is fatal in those situations.
I’ve seen some threads about this issue being replied as “it’s realistic, just use another view”, here’s a couple reasons why this “solution” is invalid:
It’s not realistic: In the game the cone appears 100% of the time, at all altitudes, covering the whole screen. IRL humidity plays a big role in the size of the cone, dry weather and some altitude ranges make so the cone doesn’t show at all.
It only renders for you: It doesn’t even appear to other players, it’s really just a personal visual effect that has no gameplay value, there’s no reason it can’t be turned off.
First person view is for Sim: One of the reasons people play AB and RB is to enjoy the 3rd person viewpoint, having to change views in the heat of battle because of an annoying visual effect is nonsense.
ULQ is not a solution either: Some people found out that the cone doesn’t render in ULQ, but having to downgrade the visual fidelity of the whole game because of 1 visual effect is unreasonable at best.
I don’t understand. With the roadmap Gaijin said that they will even make night battles optional, why doesn’t this simple visual effect (that hinders gameplay) have a toggle too? I’m tired of losing otherwise easy shots when pursuing someone because the cone came in, I’m tired of crashing in City because the cone popped in as I was swerving through buildings to avoid missiles, and from what I’ve seen, the majority of the player base is also tired of that effect.
Using another view is a ridiculous solution to a problem that shouldn’t exist in the first place. As I said, one of the reasons people play AB/RB because of the 3rd person view.
There’s graphical options for a lot of visual features, like tire tracks, lens flares, suspension animations, foliage details, shore waves,… There’s no excuse for not having one for the vapor cone, which is the one that hurts gameplay the most.
If everyone “adapts and overcomes” to bad features without saying anything none of it gets changed.
I’m not saying alternative views shouldn’t be available, what I am saying is that you shouldn’t need to change views because of an unrelated visual effect.
Going to target pod view to use guided weapons → a valid use case.
Going to gunner view in your bomber to defend against enemies → a valid use case.
Going to virtual cockpit because a visual effect is obstructing your view → NOT a valid use case.
I’m also not saying they should remove the vapor cone completely, if you want to keep that annoyance in your life, keep it, but for people who don’t like it (the vast majority) a toggle would solve the problem.
And it’s not a personal issue when a large portion of the playerbase feels the same. You’re one of the very few that’s “pro-cone”, not sure why would someone ever choose that route, but to each their own I guess.
The Vapor Cone effect is a sign that Gaijin just like they strived since 2013 when I started playing this game, is going for more realism and making this simulation game better and more realistic each year. The Vapor Cone is a brilliant example of this. Hopefully they keep striving for realism like verything else they do. Now if a minority is unable to slow down slightly or speed up when at a very tiny specific speed range then there should be a toggle. But for EVERYBODY else who enjoys this feature for realism and visual reasons, we should be able to keep it and still have it be seen on others and our own aircraft.
It always makes me smile how far this simulation game has come since when it started with GTA5 physics all the way to today with Vapor Cones, wingtip vortices and so forth. Hopefully the game keeps getting more realistic as time goes on.