Siggi you dismiss Labels too easily and give no counter argument as to them actually giving real world situational awareness.
Have you flown a plane?
If yes, have you seen what other planes look like at different distances?
Pixels on a monitor do not translate that.
If you want to fly without Labels then great! You are mkaing it even harder than real life then! You have gone beyond actual realism!
I absolutely agree with you, it is harder to visually acquire planes in the sim than it is in real life. Consequently one has to tolerate the horror of a visual aid. However...
The TAC does too little. The labels do too much. The TAC doesn't tell you the altitude of the target, just it's general direction and range. But it does that at such a range that the target
would be in your unobstructed line of sight more often than not.
The labels show you where the target is regardless of LOS obstruction more often than not, and at a range where that has a big influence on your chance of survival.
The TAC picks up bogeys at around 4 miles. The labels pick up bogeys at around 2 miles. At 4 miles the bogeys are invisible on the monitor, even with full zoom. At 2 miles they are visible with one level of zoom (normal flying zoom for many pilots).
So, given that it IS just about possible to spot the bogey unaided, just at the range the labels kick in, what value are they other than as a massive cheat?
Whereas the TAC does nothing more than give you a simulation of a 'glint of sunlight' beyond visual range, and you then get to use it to guide you in until the marker goes red (which happens to be well within label-range and thus within visual range). For sure, you still don't know if the target is above or below you, unless you were already able to visually acquire it (I personally get very varied results on that score), but seeing as how you knew they were there in the first place only by virtue of the tell-tale 'glint of light', and they could have dived or climbed since then...
IF it were possible to reduce label-text to an asterix it wouldn't be SUCH an issue, that asterix could be simulating the target's natural luminosity. Though it would still allow you to see it through parts of the wing. But as it stands it's not only hugely unrealistic, allowing NO chance of realistically LOSING sight of a target, it's also as unimmersive as hell (though that's a matter of personal taste, not a DiD consideration).
So it's a case of not having one perfect solution, but certainly one of having a total over-kill option (labels) and one in-sufficient option. Given the nature of DiD and what it's intended for one has to choose that which presents the greater challenge over one which reduces it to below what was real.
Finally, consider the actual vCombat experience. Using only TAC puts one right on the edge of one's seat, IF one has been unable to visually acquire the target by the time the markers go red and one has to switch off the TAC. Labels don't provide that tension at all, especially not if they pop up through part of one's wing.
Hope that clarifies the reasoning a bit.
