Flashlights in BF3, are they realistic? I made a video to see.....

**Booshanky** · 11-19-2011, 07:38 PM

Hey guys and gals (ok, mostly guys),

So I've heard a lot of back and forth about the flashlights in BF3. I agree that, in daylight, they're a bit overpowered, but in the dark, a flashlight can REALLY ruin your night vision. Check out this video I made for yourself.

I hope it's informative! Enjoy!

**burble** · 11-19-2011, 10:33 PM

cameras != eyes.

that said, i thought the effect was perfect the first time i encountered it (in the dark). a good (read: not a plastic one from walmart) flashlight is extremely blinding at closer ranges, especially in low light. even in a well lit indoor area, it's disorienting.

however, in the game, you can get blinding from very far away and in very bright sunlight. i think that's the general gripe. that and retarded teammates that blind you more than they do the enemy.

also, re: that ar-15....really? REALLY? you can't even use that foregrip properly because of all the crap stuck to it.

**Lien** · 11-19-2011, 10:50 PM

That was informative, thanks for taking the time to make a vid

I don't know if I'm in the minority here, but I actually don't feel that the blinding effect of the tac light is ruining the game for me.
A bright light will mess up your vision regardless of daylight or the dark of night. The only thing that I can think of as a problem in a game setting is that you have no option to look away, or rather if a person aims a flashlight in your face in real life you'll probably tilt you head to get it out of your eyes. The way it is in the game as opposed to real life is that whenever a soldier is looking in your general direction with a tac light equipped you will get blinded. It's like having an aimbot making sure that if you are within 180 degrees you'll get blinded.

Edit: Maybe it's just my scandinavian upbringing, but I get kind of nervous when people are aiming a real gun at the camera

It is alien to me that ordinary citizens are allowed to own firearms. After my mandatory military service I came to the conclusion that no one should have a gun except the police and military. I'm not accusing you of being reckless, it's just that I don't trust myself with a rifle (even with training) which makes me not trusting anyone else with a firearm. We had some close calls during service, multiple misfires etc.
That weapon looks really cool though

**Crux** · 11-19-2011, 10:53 PM

Nice effort on the video. Part of the downside is you're shining it into a camera, which handles light levels in its own way. While the basic mechanics of that aren't that dissimilar to the way the human eye works, the timescales can be. It's interesting, but not exactly a final say on the matter. If it's sunny tomorrow, I will try and do a little real life testing and report back what I find!

**Dredge** · 11-19-2011, 11:03 PM

Originally Posted by burble

also, re: that ar-15....really? REALLY? you can't even use that foregrip properly because of all the crap stuck to it.

I only see a flashlight...and a grip....that's not a whole helluva lot of kit. As the DRM for my platoon my M4 had a pistol grip, bipod, PEQ2, ACOG, and a flashlight. His is very minimal. There is nothing that would interfere with the proper implementation of that weapon platform.

That being sad.

Great video. I enjoy the flashlight in game. The ability to temporarily blind your opponent is very helpful. Especially for me. I run a recon kit a lot of the time and if its an MG against me and my .45 that flashlight really levels the playing field to operator skill and not overall fire power. +1 for the video.

**Booshanky** · 11-19-2011, 11:48 PM

Originally Posted by Crux

Nice effort on the video. Part of the downside is you're shining it into a camera, which handles light levels in its own way. While the basic mechanics of that aren't that dissimilar to the way the human eye works, the timescales can be. It's interesting, but not exactly a final say on the matter. If it's sunny tomorrow, I will try and do a little real life testing and report back what I find!

Yeah, that's why I made a few comments in the video about how it's not a direct example, as the camera automatically adjusts its exposure much faster than your eye can.

**Tempus** · 11-19-2011, 11:50 PM

Cool vid. Thanks for making it.

As mentioned, I wonder how different the effect is between a camera and real eyes.

In any event, the problem in the game is that you get blinded if the Tac Light is pointed even close to you, not just at your eyes. And, of course, the fact that it is just as effective in daylight as in darkness.

**Booshanky** · 11-19-2011, 11:51 PM

Originally Posted by burble

also, re: that ar-15....really? REALLY? you can't even use that foregrip properly because of all the crap stuck to it.

You're probably just viewing it wrong. Everything I have on that rifle is there for a specific purpose, and it's put where it is for ease and efficiency of motion. If you don't believe me, here's a vid of me operating it. If I had all my stuff in the wrong places there's no way I'd be able to do reloads and get on target as quickly as I do there.

**Booshanky** · 11-19-2011, 11:53 PM

Whelp, if it makes you feel better, I'm better trained than 90% of police officers in this country. Seriously.

Originally Posted by Lien

That was informative, thanks for taking the time to make a vid

I don't know if I'm in the minority here, but I actually don't feel that the blinding effect of the tac light is ruining the game for me.
A bright light will mess up your vision regardless of daylight or the dark of night. The only thing that I can think of as a problem in a game setting is that you have no option to look away, or rather if a person aims a flashlight in your face in real life you'll probably tilt you head to get it out of your eyes. The way it is in the game as opposed to real life is that whenever a soldier is looking in your general direction with a tac light equipped you will get blinded. It's like having an aimbot making sure that if you are within 180 degrees you'll get blinded.

Edit: Maybe it's just my scandinavian upbringing, but I get kind of nervous when people are aiming a real gun at the camera

It is alien to me that ordinary citizens are allowed to own firearms. After my mandatory military service I came to the conclusion that no one should have a gun except the police and military. I'm not accusing you of being reckless, it's just that I don't trust myself with a rifle (even with training) which makes me not trusting anyone else with a firearm. We had some close calls during service, multiple misfires etc.
That weapon looks really cool though

**Booshanky** · 11-19-2011, 11:57 PM

It's easy to try out at night. Just get a halfway decent light that's at least 200 lumens. I got mine for 75 bucks, and I think for a little more you can get one that'll put out 400 lumens.

Now hang out in the dark for a while, till you can see and move around without bumping into things, then give that a quick shot in the eye. Try and react as you would normally.

Even a brief exposure to it will leave you with a big black spot right in the center of your vision. And unless you're really awesome at shooting via peripheral vision, you're toast.

Originally Posted by Tempus

Cool vid. Thanks for making it.

As mentioned, I wonder how different the effect is between a camera and real eyes.

In any event, the problem in the game is that you get blinded if the Tac Light is pointed even close to you, not just at your eyes. And, of course, the fact that it is just as effective in daylight as in darkness.

**sordavie** · 11-20-2011, 12:07 AM

Originally Posted by Booshanky

You're probably just viewing it wrong. Everything I have on that rifle is there for a specific purpose, and it's put where it is for ease and efficiency of motion. If you don't believe me, here's a vid of me operating it. If I had all my stuff in the wrong places there's no way I'd be able to do reloads and get on target as quickly as I do there.

We're stuck with those 10 round magazines in NY too.

**sordavie** · 11-20-2011, 12:15 AM

Originally Posted by Booshanky

It's easy to try out at night. Just get a halfway decent light that's at least 200 lumens. I got mine for 75 bucks, and I think for a little more you can get one that'll put out 400 lumens.

Now hang out in the dark for a while, till you can see and move around without bumping into things, then give that a quick shot in the eye. Try and react as you would normally.

Even a brief exposure to it will leave you with a big black spot right in the center of your vision. And unless you're really awesome at shooting via peripheral vision, you're toast.

I was out walking last night in a dark area - only lights in the area are from people's front porches, darker than any BF3 map anyway - when I came across a couple of officers staked in front of a house. One pointed a pretty bright strobing flashlight at me and motioned for me to cross the street. But it wasn't blinding at all. Of course I was probably 30 or 40 feet away and I wasn't looking directly at the light when he pointed it at me. Light from a flash light diffuses pretty quickly.

**Booshanky** · 11-20-2011, 12:24 AM

Originally Posted by sordavie

We're stuck with those 10 round magazines in NY too.

Yeah, it's a bummer, but if you know people who have them from way back when (before the ban), they're grandfathered in. So if you go shooting with them, you can use their hi-cap mags in your gun. And legally, the prosecutor would have to prove that you didn't own those prior to the year 2000. And since most magazines aren't serialized, you can't tell when one was made. And you're legally allowed to rebuild magazines that are in disrepair. So you can be walking around with a brand new 30 round Pmag and have a simple legal claim to it.

**Iceberg** · 11-20-2011, 12:28 AM

Our eyes have a protein in them that acts as a switch between day and night vision. Light/ daylight breaks down this protein which tells the eyes to use day vision, but it takes about 10 minutes for that protein to build up enough to cause our eyes to switch back to night vision.

Que: Star and Rainbow "The more you know...."

**burble** · 11-20-2011, 12:30 AM

Originally Posted by Booshanky

You're probably just viewing it wrong. Everything I have on that rifle is there for a specific purpose, and it's put where it is for ease and efficiency of motion. If you don't believe me, here's a vid of me operating it. If I had all my stuff in the wrong places there's no way I'd be able to do reloads and get on target as quickly as I do there.

nah, i'm just a KISS kinda guy. i'll admit i wrote that off as a CoD-ified wallhanger at first, and it's not. i dunno why anyone shooting for accuracy uses those AFG's, though, and your light kinda is in the way of your thumb if you hold it the 'magpul way.' but i can see why you set it up like that. do you find yourself performing better with that grip as opposed to a standard vert grip (or just holding the magwell)? i like my left hand close so i can stick that elbow in and keep stable.

also i didn't realize those were low capacity mags; i was thinking 'does he really need 60 rounds to put down an intruder? i only keep 3 rounds in my shotgun...'

but back on topic- yep, lights burn my brain, heh. at least in the game you don't get the aforementioned big spot burned into your vision. or have your nighvision completely wrecked. iirc it takes something like 20-30 minutes for your eyes to fully readjust to a dark environment.