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I'm one of the biggest commenters in defense of the status quo for thermal vision, as I come at it from a realism standpoint. I happen to like the current implementation of thermal vision, because it is reasonably close (at least in concept) to what things look like through real-world tank optics. If you search my user tag, you'll see a lot of comments I made on the subject so I won't go into it here.
I find the new thermal mode acceptable. While it no longer resembles what thermal tank gunnery optics look like, it now resembles extremely closely what Stryker driving thermal optics look like.
^^^^ A Stryker. I used to drive these.
A Stryker uses a thermal camera for the driver that presents a greyscale image very similar to the pictures posted by the dev team. It is designed to show terrain primarily, and shows all the other thermal properties such as a hot engine block as a secondary benefit. I am OK with this change, though I would really appreciate the ability to purchase the old vision mode as a module. But, since a MechWarrior is both a driver and a gunner, it makes sense to have this "driving" mode.
However, I am still going to call out the Alpine Peaks image that the devs posted. I would completely buy that the Mech on the hill might be a little bit washed out, but it would not appear as a black speck. It would still glow, but since it is small and distant, it would be (more) difficult to make out. But it would not be a dark object, especially with how much terrain we can see around it. I think that the devs are not quite there on this, but if they have to change it, I think this change is an acceptable compromise.
Also, as an afterthought, I think the new night vision is pretty good. I'm satisfied with it on a simulationist level, although I think the green looks slightly too 90's CGI cartoony. But, as stated, they need to do another pass on it, and it is by no means a finalized image. I say good job on this one.
My parting note is that the purist in me thinks the new thermal vision should actually be the new night vision, and current thermal gunnery camera should stay the same :-P But as I said, I accept this compromise.
Edit: Does anyone know how I can include the Alpine Peaks image from the command chair post? When I right clicked on it to get the link it just went to fullscreen.
Edited by Theevenger, 07 March 2013 - 10:18 PM.
