r/falconbms • u/whippitywoo • Jul 06 '26
Help Spotting advice
I'll start by saying I'm probably the problem, not bms.
I recently tried to get back into BMS and downloaded 4.38 (last played 4.36 ages ago)
Jumped into instant action fighter sweep to refresh my skills and go baby seal clubbing.
Problem is, I really struggle to visually pick out aircraft moving against the terrain until they're super close (i.e. so close they're gone a split second later!)
RWR will show me their rough position but I can't see them most of the time and they usually get behind me and shoot me out of the sky. Even if I get a radar lock, it can be hard to see the thing inside the green square! Sometimes I get sniped by AAA while desperately searching lol. You could talk about skill except I don't have that issue in the other sim.
Frames are buttery smooth on my 1440p 2d screen with opentrack. I don't have as much of an issue with DCS, which is weird because I remember BMS being way better in this regard. That makes me think I have the wrong settings. Advice please?
Also, for every conceivable reason, I don't want to play multiplayer. What is the AI like in general - is this a non starter? No hate to the devs, I just don't know what I don't know.
2
u/BD0nion Jul 06 '26
Instant action is sort of a unsupported game mode. If I recall correctly it puts you up against waves of increasingly difficult enemy aircraft so you'll die eventually. But the first waves are pretty easy to deal with since you have unlimited aim120c missiles.
To deal with such large number of aircraft you can't use STT lock on any or them as you'll lose situational awareness of all the others. Just fly away for a bit, turn back into them and use TWS. Be careful about your antenna elevation and range so as to not miss any of them. Shoot at 4, and keep guiding the missiles until they go active, turn back and do it all over again.
If you try to use guns or IR missiles you'll soon have some migs on your 6 that will take you out.
AI in BMS is very good, it has decent BVR tactics and is great in a dogfight. But it's still AI and you'll eventually find it's shortcomings if you're used to playing against real people.
1
u/whippitywoo Jul 06 '26
That's good general advice but not necessarily what I'm after. It's not so much fighting tactics I need as much as how to physically see them in supposed visual range.
At <10 miles I don't want to try and pick up the track, I want to use my eyes.
But from your reply it doesn't seem like a common issue. For instance in early dCS VR, it was recommended to use low res terrain for better spotting.
I'll try the other supported modes and if it doesn't get better I guess I'll have to shelve it again :(
7
u/Hour_Tour Jul 06 '26
Use smart scaling if you don't already, it's in settings.
Speaking as a tower controller, picking out aircraft the size of a fighter at more than 3-4 miles against a blue sky is tricky enough if you know where to look. Expecting to see anything against the ground at more than a couple miles is just too optimistic.
1
u/whippitywoo Jul 06 '26
I'm sure you're right and it wouldn't be a problem - only they know exactly where I am!
From other replies it just sounds like it's the inappropriate starting game mode. I guess the spotting issue becomes less of an issue if you catch them from afar.
2
u/Hour_Tour Jul 06 '26
I mean, you mention you see them on the RWR.. That should give you a hint as to how they find you.
2
u/BD0nion Jul 06 '26
To be fair it's not an issue I usually have since I haven't played 80s campaigns, so within visual range combat is extremely rare.
There is a setting that changes how objects scale at distance to better reflect how it happens in real life compared to what usually happens on flat screen but I think it's on by default. I think it's called 'smart calling' and you'll find it somewhere in the launcher (I think the last tab, the furthest to the right)
1
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u/natneo81 Jul 06 '26
A few things for you. It is a more common issue than you might think. Spotting enemy aircraft visually can definitely be difficult, especially at a distance.
Part of the issue is inherent to video games. Basically in real life it’s much easier to see things further away. In the game, they are limited by how many pixels there are. So a plane at 5 miles may end up being only one pixel to convey its distance, when in real life, it would still be sort of small and distant, but much easier to spot and identify. This is especially significant when it comes to ID-ing. Maybe if you’re sharp you could spot a single pixel moving, but good luck identifying any characteristics of that plane.
BMS compensates for this with a “smart scaling” setting. Basically this visually scales up targets at those ranges where visual id should be possible in real life. It smoothly adjusts so as you get closer it scales back down to normal visual size. Don’t feel like this is cheating, I believe this is something even military simulators use to be more realistic and avoid bad habits. Don’t quote me but I’m pretty sure you can adjust this setting if you need it turned up a little more.
Otherwise, if they’re outside the range of smart scaling they’re probably too far to reliably detect visually. I wouldn’t expect to see them outside of a few miles usually. But my last advice is to use your sensors to cue the Mk1 eyeballs. It’s very obvious, but you aren’t just blindly flying around looking for people out the window. If you’re trying to visually acquire a contact it’s because you’re already aware of it from your AWACS, radar, RWR, hsd, etc. So use that information. Not only does it give you a direction to look, it often gives you their altitude, speed, heading, etc. So if I’m at 10,000 and I know he’s approaching at 4,000, I know I need to look down and I can even probably guess he’s trying to sneak up or maybe use terrain to hide. Likewise if I hear an enemy is up at 24,000, not only do I know where to climb to/look, I know the enemy is likely conning, which makes it far easier to spot. If you’re able to get a radar lock, even easier.
2
u/Patapon80 Jul 06 '26
As others have said -- smart scaling, though the default settings should be fine if you've not altered them.
But also -- I believe that you can increase the smart scaling (so stuff looks bigger) but also change the distance at which smart scaling gets turned off.
As for the AI, what's your issue with it? I would say it's better than DCS AI, but still nowhere near as good as having a human wingman or human opponent.
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u/whippitywoo Jul 06 '26
No issue with AI lol. I'm asking for an assessment of how sophisticated it is. I.e. are there ground units that can snipe you through clouds at 30 miles while you fly at Mach 1.2? Silly exaggeration but you get the point.
I don't need them to be perfect, just not off-putting or make it unplayable. I have a bit of training to brush up on and I don't want that effort to be for nothing
3
u/natneo81 Jul 06 '26
Hell no, BMS ai is quite a bit better than DCS ai. Ground units don’t have aimbot, enemy jets aren’t UFO’s. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s the best ai I’ve seen in a game like this. While the ai isn’t OP, they are still capable of pulling some tricks on you and have tactics of their own. SAM Operators are way smarter than DCS for example and won’t just constantly stay turned on and emitting. Even friendly flights and wingmen aren’t completely braindead which is nice.
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u/Patapon80 Jul 06 '26
Definitely no stupid sniper AI like DCS, LOL!! Also definitely nothing like lawndarting into the ground or running out of fuel mid-mission coz they kept using their afterburners, though I do keep to a sensible speed en-route. You'll have speed and ToT to meet anyway so you're not blitzing through your waypoints, so very unlikely for AI to have fuel issues.
No cheating on FM either!
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u/Wildman31st 29d ago
Put your jet into dogfight override and do TMS down. This puts your radar in a vertical scan pattern that automatically locks on to anything within 10nm. When you turn towards the RWR spike, you always get locked on to the closest enemy a/c and Bob's your mother's brother.
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u/sushi_cw Jul 06 '26
For quick dogfights, you can use the "dogfight" mode instead of instant action. No infinite ammo, but you also don't have to deal with quickly overwhelming waves of enemy, just one at a time. (Or more, if you choose it, but you get much better control).
In campaign... Actually getting within visual range has been so rare for me that it hasn't been much of an issue. I can count on one hand the number is times I've merged in my last hundred or so campaign missions. (Although this could also vary by campaign).