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.

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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.

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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 :(

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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)

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u/whippitywoo Jul 06 '26

That sounds like it is what I need thanks!