"Meatball" Visibility - Any Way to Adjust?

[ESzczesniak 25]

I'm fortunate that the throttles are working well for me with the new F-14X Extended and am loving the sim.  I'm wondering about my meatball visibility though.  I'm running P3D v3.1 (will eventually get to v3.2) and am finding that the ball is not at all visible at 0.7-0.8 NM (by TANCAN) when I should be "calling the ball".  It's not until about 0.4 NM that I see the ball.  I think I see the green bar, but it get's brighter at 0.4 NM, so I'm wondering if I'm just seeing the unlit lights.

 

I thought I had a couple screen shots to show from my flying session, but it seems they didn't take.  I'm settling down for the night, but will try to actually get screen shots during my next sim session to illustrate what I'm talking about.  In the mean time, are there any settings that could adjust this?

[jcagle 180]

I'd really recommend that you upgrade to P3Dv3.2. Every iteration of P3Dv3.X has monkeyed with light effects (we had to rebuild the afterburners twice on this account).

 

 

[ESzczesniak 25]

I was wondering if you are anyone else could help me look in to installation of the FLOLS gauge a bit more.  I was thinking this is a visibility issue (it still may be).  However, everytime I start the flights, I get a message from vLSO "The CV63 support disabled (no FLOLS gauge installed)".  After looking in to this a bit more, I understand this means the gauge is not installed correclty.  I get this in any aircraft I have attempted to install the gauge in to.  Per the instructions, I am copying "gaugeXX =..\..\..\..\Aerosoft\F-14A\FLOLS\CV63_FLOLS!FLOLS_CV63" as the last line of the panel.cfg section vcockpit01 and editing xx to the next number in line.  I notice 2 things with the panel.cfg in the F-14.  I see this is under vcockpit02 (as opposed to 01) and the number 63 (next number would be 17).  I also see the slashes are reversed (gauge63=../../../../Aerosoft/F-14A/FLOLS/CV63_FLOLS!FLOLS_CV63).  I understand if the gauge is not installed, the FLOLS won't really work.  Is there any rhyme or reason to what's going on here?  Should the entry line actually include all the ..\..\.., or should that be replaced with the full path to the gauge?  Thanks for any help.

[ESzczesniak 25]

Ok, so I've done some playing around and I'm still having difficulty.  It clearly is not the gauge issue after more playing around.  While I still don't know the cause of the vLSO warning, loading an aircraft that I have never installed the gauge on shows absolutely no lights on the FLOLS, even on deck.  I've also updated the P3D client to v3.2.  I am still having the same difficulties.  I've attached 2 screenshots below.  The first "Ball", is at the vLSO automatic ball call at 0.7NM.  I can definitely not see the meatball, and can maybe only barely see the green FLOLS bar.  The second "In Close" is the first time I can notice the ball, about 0.4NM.  I've been flying the AWL needles to get me to this point, but it makes a true carrier approach hard not picking the ball up until about 0.4NM.  Is this what's expected or am I seeing an anomoly?  Any ideas how to address this issue?  I've tried playing a bit with the P3D lighting settings (mainly brightness), an no changes seem to be affecting this.  I understand from the manual the FLOLS is intended to be a realistic representation of size, but the manual also says it should be visible from about 1.5NM, and I don't seem to be any where near this.  Thanks for any help or input.

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[jcagle 180]

The 1.5nm statement from the manual was written for FSX, I don't think anyone has quantified it in P3D v3.X. 

 

That might have slipped under the radar in v3 testing, will see if there's anything that can be done. There was an issue in v3.1 (not present in v2.5) where the size of a light effect was scaled according to the zoom factor (e.g. the greater the zoom, the smaller the light).

 

 

 

 

[reflected 14]

I've never been able to fly the ball, I always use the ILS needles. I guess it's a limitation of us sitting in front of a small screen. IRL it must be way easier to see the meatball, because you don't have to zoom in and out.

[ESzczesniak 25]

2 hours ago, jcagle said:

The 1.5nm statement from the manual was written for FSX, I don't think anyone has quantified it in P3D v3.X. 

 

That might have slipped under the radar in v3 testing, will see if there's anything that can be done. There was an issue in v3.1 (not present in v2.5) where the size of a light effect was scaled according to the zoom factor (e.g. the greater the zoom, the smaller the light).

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking in to this issue.  I'll play around with the zoom a bit too.  I had been zooming in to try and see the light, but maybe I was just hurting myself. 

 

3 minutes ago, reflected said:

I've never been able to fly the ball, I always use the ILS needles. I guess it's a limitation of us sitting in front of a small screen. IRL it must be way easier to see the meatball, because you don't have to zoom in and out.

 

I agree with you that I think it's probably easier in real life, but I've still be able to fly the ball for distances under about 1 NM.  I need to use the ILS needles in a case III or strictly by the numbers case I pattern to get me in position to do that though.  I think that's par for reality though, as I don't think the real life FLOLS gets you much further out than 1-2 NM. 

[ESzczesniak 25]

I played around with zoom settings this afternoon while flying around and it did not make any difference. 

[reflected 14]

On 3/20/2016 at 2:30 PM, jcagle said:

have slipped under the radar in v3 testing, will see if there's anything that can be done. There was an issue in v3.1 (not present in v2.5) where the size of a light effect was scaled according to the zoom factor (e.g. the greater the zoom, the smaller the light).

 

Is there any news on this please? I still cannot see the ball from outside cca 0.4 miles. Thanks!