I've always wondered about this.  I guess it is a case of poetic license to allow you to see planes from farther away?

Here's zoomed out:

Same plane, now zoomed in. 

Do you have bloom on? I don't see nav lights like that, but I have bloom off.

Yes, it is the bloom option that causes this issue. Unfortunately, the sun looks horrible with bloom off.

33 minutes ago, Dazzlercee23 said:

Yes, it is the bloom option that causes this issue. Unfortunately, the sun looks horrible with bloom off.

Yes, the sun doesn't look as good as with bloom on, but I prefer that than having all the nav lights and landing lights look like giant white balls. Can't have all, I guess. 🙁

The problem with the exterior lights on AI aircraft is a model issue with the default Asobo AI planes. The exterior lights look better on FSLTL models. However still not perfect but at least better than those horrible ugly oversized square pixel looking things on the vanilla models.

Thanks all that 'splains it.  Perhaps the compromise/adaptation is do bloom ON during daytime flights and OFF for dawn/night/dusk flights.

Edited November 24, 20223 yr by Noel

4 minutes ago, captain420 said:

The problem with the exterior lights on AI aircraft is a model issue with the default Asobo AI planes. The exterior lights look better on FSLTL models. However still not perfect but at least better than those horrible ugly oversized square pixel looking things on the vanilla models.

That is good to know.  I think I need to try FSLTL.  Right now I'm on the edge of not being able to use air traffic in complex airports but perhaps w/ its ability to limit number of planes it may be the same or even better than default plus ST.

52 minutes ago, captain420 said:

The problem with the exterior lights on AI aircraft is a model issue with the default Asobo AI planes. The exterior lights look better on FSLTL models. However still not perfect but at least better than those horrible ugly oversized square pixel looking things on the vanilla models.

That is a different issue (the "square pixel looking"), that doesn't happen when using 1080p resolution. The issue we are talking about happens with any resolution and also with FSLTL and it's caused by the bloom.

Edited November 24, 20223 yr by Alvega

11 hours ago, Dazzlercee23 said:

Yes, it is the bloom option that causes this issue. Unfortunately, the sun looks horrible with bloom off.

Also, the ambient lighting looks very innatural with bloom off. However, I like the poetic license.of oversized AI plane nav lights.

Regarding exterior lights,  I like this mod, https://flightsim.to/file/12071/new-light

I'd go along with the idea that it's poetic, or artistic, licence. Sometimes, realism can be 'boring' in that, in real life, you might not spot an aircraft from your cockpit from a great distance, but it creates a bit more 'action' or 'interest' for a sim flyer to see.

3 hours ago, 109Sqn said:

I'd go along with the idea that it's poetic, or artistic, licence. Sometimes, realism can be 'boring' in that, in real life, you might not spot an aircraft from your cockpit from a great distance, but it creates a bit more 'action' or 'interest' for a sim flyer to see.

Yeah, Asobo has taken quite a few artistic approaches, and this is certainly one of them. Others include the "camera" system where what you see simulates not the human eye but an iPhone lens, the prop spin animation which is what a camera sees when it records a spinning prop and not your eyes, and night lighting which utilizes sepia mask.

Personally I dislike these sorts of artistic liberties, but that's just me. Others enjoy them, I'm sure. I don't want to ruin their enjoyment.

9 hours ago, WestAir said:

Personally I dislike these sorts of artistic liberties, but that's just me. Others enjoy them, I'm sure. I don't want to ruin their enjoyment.

I get that. My guess would be that the majority of those who it particularly bothers are real world pilots and those who are unfazed by it are more likely to be sim-only pilots. Certainly, with prop spin, almost the only time I see a prop spinning in real life is when I'm at an airport - I've never flown in a prop, let alone in the cockpit, so my main reference is TV, which of course tends to show a prop in much the same way as the sim. In fact, it feels wrong to my eyes to be unaware of any prop movement, though I do use prop mods which reduce it to a more realistic level. I suppose for a real world pilot being conscious of prop spin may mean it's not spinning fast enough and there's a problem!

Airport lighting, and the visibility of airports and runways from too far away is often cited as a fault in some people's eyes, but of course the sim is trying to cater to non-pilots as well, many of whom have no experience of - or desire to learn - IFR or following ATC instructions, and so need to see their target from a greater distance than would be the case in reality.

25 minutes ago, 109Sqn said:

I get that. My guess would be that the majority of those who it particularly bothers are real world pilots and those who are unfazed by it are more likely to be sim-only pilots. Certainly, with prop spin, almost the only time I see a prop spinning in real life is when I'm at an airport - I've never flown in a prop, let alone in the cockpit, so my main reference is TV, which of course tends to show a prop in much the same way as the sim. In fact, it feels wrong to my eyes to be unaware of any prop movement, though I do use prop mods which reduce it to a more realistic level. I suppose for a real world pilot being conscious of prop spin may mean it's not spinning fast enough and there's a problem!

Airport lighting, and the visibility of airports and runways from too far away is often cited as a fault in some people's eyes, but of course the sim is trying to cater to non-pilots as well, many of whom have no experience of - or desire to learn - IFR or following ATC instructions, and so need to see their target from a greater distance than would be the case in reality.

Feels plausible.

In the same way as always, the answer is in providing simmers with options (wherever possible).
Asobo cannot please everyone with the same features, so let the people select the look of their sim from some preset options.

40 minutes ago, F737MAX said:

Feels plausible.

In the same way as always, the answer is in providing simmers with options (wherever possible).
Asobo cannot please everyone with the same features, so let the people select the look of their sim from some preset options.

I imagine that will come with time. Asobo is in this for the long haul, and the number of "big new features" will naturally decrease over time, leaving room for smaller concerns like better realism settings and configurations.

I hope.