Sight Range
Sight Range
Every character has a specific maximum View Distance they can look. This parameter is changed by a lot of variables. Perks, Traits, Time of day, Weapon with scopes, drugs, temporary Status Effects and so on. A character can always look farthest in the direction they are facing, with less and less vision the further away their facing-distance from the point of interest is.
With the game build in a hexagonical shape, the degrees our character can look/walk towards are split up in 60 degrees. As seen in the picture, the character can look forward the most. His forward-sides, a little less so. His backwards sides, even less, with his back, having the least amount of vision. You can move the character one space backwards, or simply use the keybind (Default: Middle Mouse Button), to change the facing of your character to a specific point.
Basic Sight Calculation
On a bright day, without any effects affecting the character, the sight range SHOULD be the following:
Seeing the Enemy
In order to see an enemy, it has to be in sight range of your character. There are some exceptions to that, like players in Stealth, or Smokes, that might block your vision. A Laser Pointer can also be used by a Teammate of yours, to spot targets, that will then be displayed to you, regardless of whether your character is capable of seeing them or not.
Influences on Sight Range
Night Time
Night-time will lower Sight Range of all players on the battlefield, with 1 o'clock being the most noticeable, which will cut out more percentage-wise, the bigger your Sight Range is! So someone who can barely see their own feet, will feel a 20-30% loss, while Snipers could well approach towards a 50% cut!
You can view the time by pressing #. A message in chat will inform you of the current time. In-between 7 o'clock in the morning, until 19 o'clock in the evening, there are no penalties to Sight Range. In-between 19 in the evening and 7 in the morning, the penalty gets stronger towards 1 o'clock in the middle of the night, lessening towards each sides of the time-scale.
Obstacles
A lot, but not all obstacles, block vision. The image shows an obstacle on the upper side, which blocks our vision behind it. Windows, open doors, as well as most low to the ground obstacles like smaller cars or junk on the floor can be looked over. They might even add [Cover], if big enough to do so, yet small enough to allow vision. Windows are a perfect example of obstacle, that blocks movement, but not sight, and gives the person standing directly at a window a Cover advantage from people shooting him through said window.
Smokes
During combat, a lot of additional things will happen that will influence your sight range. Most common occurrences will be smokes, laid out on the battlefield. They block vision, but do take care! They do not block bullets, and an enemy can still burst through it in order to lay waste on your team, although, he will have a hit-chance penalty when doing so. Smokes usually are the result of smoke-grenades. Although Weather as well as gun smoke, can also be the cause.
Status Effects
Another common effect is being Blinded or Disoriented. The Status Effects that can be caused not just by your enemies, but even your own teammates, if they are not careful enough. Each effect has differences, but the one thing they share in common, is that they lower your sight-range substantially.
Squad Vision
If in a Squad, each member sees every other member on the battlefield. You do NOT see what they see, but you see their current position, as well as the action they are taking. You can also look at their HP, and otherwise interact with them as needed.
