Attached ir strobe isn't visible on hot and cold flir modes

[bux]

ACE3 version: 3.4.2 Stable

Mods:

• @CBA_A3
• @ace
• @taskforceradio

Placed ACE3 Modules:

• Respawn

Description:
Attached IR strobe is not visible on Infrared vision modes

Steps to reproduce:

• Attach IR strobe to a unit
• with a differen unit enter a vehicle turret / commander slot with IR capabilities
• no IR strobe visible

Where did the issue occur?

• Editor

RPT log file:

• n/a

[commy2]

Have you tried a not attached ir strobe?

[bux]

Vanilla IR grenades behave the same. So it's more of a authenticity request, i figure.

[PabstMirror]

Would an IR strobe show on a thermal camera?
Google brings me to this post: https://forums.bistudio.com/topic/100760-ir-strobe-not-visible-in-flir/#entry1683769
Which suggests they operate on different wavelengths.

[bux]

I've created this ticket on behalf of my community leader, who's an active duty airborne. According to him the current models (they use) do show up on thermal.

[nicolasbadano]

@bux578, i'm not sure if we can change this.

[SzwedzikPL]

I've modified vanilla IR Strobe for my community to be visible also on FLIR vision but it's scripted solution. Im not sure that's what you're looking for.

Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ioNtvyONmI

[nicolasbadano]

I've modified vanilla IR Strobe for my community to be visible also on FLIR vision but it's scripted solution.

Obviously a scripted solution is not ideal, but I'm curious anyway. Are you creating/destroying object on each blink?

[SzwedzikPL]

Obviously a scripted solution is not ideal, but I'm curious anyway. Are you creating/destroying object on each blink?

Yes. #particlesource with MissileDARExplo particle class (little fire :D). Not perfect but works and looks acceptable.

[nicolasbadano]

Can't particle source classes be modified to emit particles at regular intervals? In that case a single #particleSource would be needed.

[SzwedzikPL]

Can't particle source classes be modified to emit particles at regular intervals?

Yes, you can define interval in particle class. I will check that :)

[nicolasbadano]

I will check that :)

Thanks!

[SzwedzikPL]

Particle interval can replace createVehicleLocal stuff but some loop/pfh is still required to check is ace_player visionMode is thermal becouse this partcile effect is visible normaly too.

[nicolasbadano]

Particle interval can replace createVehicleLocal stuff but some loop/pfh is still required to check is ace_player visionMode is thermal becouse this partcile effect is visible normaly too.

This solves it:

https://github.com/acemod/ACE3/blob/master/addons/common/XEH_postInit.sqf#L425

[SzwedzikPL]

This solves it:

https://github.com/acemod/ACE3/blob/master/addons/common/XEH_postInit.sqf#L425

Right :) Thank you!

I found another problem. Some interval randomization will be necessary if we do not want to have all strobes to blink in thermal vision at the same time.

[nicolasbadano]

I found another problem. Some interval randomization will be necessary if we do not want to have all strobes to blink in thermal vision at the same time.

Yeah, probably. It's not a huge deal though.

[SzwedzikPL]

I found another problem. Some interval randomization will be necessary if we do not want to have all strobes to blink in thermal vision at the same time.

Yeah, probably. It's not a huge deal though.

Or random time waitAndExecute foreach strobe to start blinking again?

[nicolasbadano]

Or random time waitAndExecute foreach strobe to start blinking again?

That would be the perfect solution, but also the most costly.

[kymckay]

To be honest I'm not sure it's worth it

[SzwedzikPL]

To be honest I'm not sure it's worth it

You mean waitAndExecute or thermal blink at all?

[kymckay]

I mean at all, it seems like a minor visual discrepancy that isn't worth using a workaround to fix (my opinion, if consensus is that it is then go ahead 😄 )

[nicolasbadano]

I think there's a real reason behind the request. E.g. in ground-air combined operations, gunners looking through termal scopes may be unable to distinguish marked friendly troops when they should.

Obviously if this is too performance costly I wouldn't advice turning on as default; other than that I don't see why not finish it given it's almost completed.

[dedmen]

This can be solved using the new UV animation to swap the TI texture based on time automatically.
Perf impact would be negligible and no script required.

But I think the blinking would be quite small. As the IR strobe itself would blink but not have any halo around it.

Actually.. #3207 (comment)
Spawn a particle with 1 second spawn interval per particle. And half a second lifetime?
That would make the particle lag behind the player though.

Other method would be to add a second bigger model around the strobe. Basically a transparent ballon, that's completely invisible in normal view, but bright on TI view. Then animated with the UV animations.
Transparency rendering is relatively expensive though. Still nothing compared to the scripted solution tho

#3207 (comment)

but some loop/pfh is still required to check is ace_player visionMode is thermal becouse this partcile effect is visible normaly too. Nah. Just use a TI only texture.

[FatLurch]

I've been interested in this concept as well. After seeing @SzwedzikPL 's experiment above, I tried coming up with my own particle class to achieve a similar effect. Here's a link to a reddit page where I'm looking for help on how to actually incorporate this into one of the existing IR markers: https://www.reddit.com/r/armadev/comments/9ojxr3/help_with_thermalmultispectral_strobe_iff_marker/

[FatLurch]

I found another problem. Some interval randomization will be necessary if we do not want to have all strobes to blink in thermal vision at the same time.

A thought on this - my understanding is that some IFF markers are actually designed so that they can be synchronized to all blink at the same time. This effect purportedly helps folks differentiate the IFF beacons from random gunfire on the ground.

[FatLurch]

Here's my initial solution for this (designed to work with ACE):
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1543390130

Sadly I haven't yet figured out how to get both the MWIR (thermal) and NIR (NVG) flashes working at the same time.

[Mike-MF]

Closing due to age, inactivity or already solved. May be re-opened if the issue is still present, even better just open a new up-to-date Issue.