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New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 02:36
by McBumLuv
I was wondering why pr doesn't add another "view" to the helicopters so that you can see where you are going when you land. I've done sme simple tests, and aside from the fact that I'm holding CTRL with my one hand, its actually quite easy to fly helos while looking down through the glass by your feet, unlike when looking through the side windows/top.

To demonstrate, I also picked a few images to show you what I mean:

Huey
Image

BlackHawk
Image

Littlebird
Image

Chinese LB
Image

You could make it like the planes, where pressing "c" or F11 changes the view. Discuss.

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 03:08
by Rhino
ye a "landing view" where the pilot is looking down would be good, the littlebird use to have a view like that, but think it should be on the hat switch views :)

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 03:19
by McBumLuv
Meh, the only reason i'd suggest making it F11, is because that's what it is on the planes. And I've got my hat switch set so that when I push it downwards, it switches to F11, and when I let go switches back to F9 (cockpit view) and "1" (main weapon/view). But are there any advantages to having it a weapon view otherwise?

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 03:27
by Rhino
well the problem with "f11" view is that its a 3rd person view, so your cockpit would look like sh*t.

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 03:46
by McBumLuv
Ahhh, I see. Then yea, go ahead and make it a weapon view, I'll just need to adjust my HAT switch :)

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 03:48
by charliegrs
very good suggestion. i doubt helicopter pilots look straight ahead when they are trying to land. i could be wrong though ive never done it.

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 04:01
by mp5punk
yea charlie i dont really think pilots look down, they rely on crew cheifs and co- pilots more often, but yea they do look down i bet. But a new view on a chopper would be nice.

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 07:11
by Sights
This suggestion gets my full support. I imagine it would make things much, much easier for chopper pilots.

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 12:25
by BlackDingo
I agree with this, to level with you guys I've been around helicopters my whole life (father was a civilian heli pilot before a crash took his life in 2001)

All pilots look either down past their feet, or out the side during landings (if the door is detached, (i.e. for long lining etc. the pilot door is sometimes removed) that's why our friends at Bell put glass down there :-P

To preform a landing correctly without looking down is talented I'll grant you, but not necessarily 100% safe and by the book ;)

Lets face it, this is Project REALITY, so we should be aiming to as close to the real thing, even in the little things like landing procedures.

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 15:16
by Mongolian_dude
In IRL, choppers such as the AH-64D have an array of advanced optics and sensors, allowing the pilot and weapons officer to 'see' in most scenarios.

One big difference bewteen the capabilities of a IRL pilot and a PR pilot, is that the IRL pilot can access this array of optics, much like his weapons officer; allowing him the ability to look down, look around, zoom at distant objects/locations.


I think a system similar to this has a place in PR.

  • Pressing C would cause the pilot to change from cockpit view into his 'FLIR'-like view. Hopefully, the HUD would display the instrument INFO and other variables (e.g Speed, Alt., compas heading, minimap, rangefinder, perhaps artificial Horizon? etc); so the pilot knows well the status of the chopper while observing.
  • Pitch and roll controls(Default Mouse/Directional keys) would no longer effect the chopper's heading, but rather effect the axis of the camera.
  • WSAD keys(default) would still operate collective/thrust/throtle and rudders/pedals/2ndry rotar while in this camera mode.
  • Secondary fire would cause the camera view to switch through 3 zoom levels (normal, zoom1 :d istant and zoom2: very distant), much like a styker's driver cam or a cobra gunner's FLIR.
  • Pirmary fire would fire a LZR(laser box), identical to the chopper gunner's LZR system.
  • Pressing C a second time would revert back to normal pilot control and view.
This would give pilots and gunners the real world advantage of being able to see the same world below and communicate key points of interest or targets, aswell as see where the hll one is going, espeically with the AH-64D, with its turned up nose and poor FoV.

For this to operate properly, it may have to be considered a 'weapon', like the other cockpit views in aircraft; meaning F might be used as opposed to C.

Might I add that is mind numbingly boring simply looking at whiteness, clouds and the instruments while hovering as a pilot. This would sure make it more tolerable


Criticisms? Arguments? Developments plz?



...mongol...

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 16:59
by jbgeezer
Really good idea.

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 17:17
by Alex6714
Something like this mongol? :smile:


Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 17:29
by Kruder
I've suggested this a few months ago,nobody replied :)
Its really really important to look down when you are dropping/picking up people on uneven train.Like near a cliff...

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 18:00
by Jigsaw
Yeah, cool good suggestion. Especially for those of us who have never bothered to learn to fly with a mouse and therefore have to switch between mouse and arrow keys if we want to see where we're going...

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 19:09
by Scot
Yes, yes, YES!!

Has my 100% support, both for McLuv and Alex!! That is friggin awesome :D

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-02-11 22:04
by Pantera
ACtually, i once set one of the buttons on my Joy stick to look down automatically. once pressed and held the pilot looks down and out of the window.

so this can be done, its just up to you to put it into your joystick...

i think you can do this via the options and change the view pan options...

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-03-14 17:13
by RedSparrow
Pantera wrote:ACtually, i once set one of the buttons on my Joy stick to look down automatically. once pressed and held the pilot looks down and out of the window.

so this can be done, its just up to you to put it into your joystick...

i think you can do this via the options and change the view pan options...
But what about us poor sods who fly with keyboard/keyboard or keyboard/mouse..?

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-03-15 03:34
by Sparatan117
'[R-MOD wrote:Mongolian_dude;931837']In IRL, choppers such as the AH-64D have an array of advanced optics and sensors, allowing the pilot and weapons officer to 'see' in most scenarios.

One big difference bewteen the capabilities of a IRL pilot and a PR pilot, is that the IRL pilot can access this array of optics, much like his weapons officer; allowing him the ability to look down, look around, zoom at distant objects/locations.



This would give pilots and gunners the real world advantage of being able to see the same world below and communicate key points of interest or targets, aswell as see where the hll one is going, espeically with the AH-64D, with its turned up nose and poor FoV.

...mongol...
The way Apaches land is when they come in, the Pilot uses the PNVS to look at his landing strip and get a good idea of what it looks like and then pulls pitch back to make the back landing wheel hit and "bunny hop" then placing the front two tires on the ground and finally lowering the collective to let the weight of the helicopter rest on the struts. Since the PNVS cannot look down and the TADS stop turning down at about a 45 degree angle to the ground they use a mental picture.

Blackhawks and chinooks well those guys just fly the dang thing by the seat of their pants. and maybe look out the window to see how to land but I know that for most helicopters we have, they all have rear wheels which they "bunny hop".

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-03-15 18:42
by Maverick
lets see, you will be needing to fly with a ctrl stick at some point. Also its realistic

Re: New (transport) helicopter view

Posted: 2009-03-16 05:55
by Alan
Ah, here's the thread I unwillingly duplicated. That'll teach me to seach for gramatically correct terms, anyway!

But yes, I like the idea -it really is needed purely for the sake of ease of landing. PR pilots, unlike real ones, tend to be the only guys interested in what the helicopter is doing. That and we obviously can't spare another player for a crew cheif or W/E. I'll have to comment on the video later...capped...