How the visibility calculator works
Every point on a WARDOGS map can see a certain amount of the ground around it and no more — the rest is hidden behind ridgelines, dips, walls and buildings. Surveyors call that visible area a viewshed. This calculator computes it from the game's own elevation data, extracted from the level files: it casts sight lines from an eye at your chosen height out to the range you set, and paints the ground it reaches green and the ground it cannot reach dark. The maths is the same the map's mortar and rangefinder tools use, so the picture matches the game rather than the map artwork.
- Pick Bakurani or Ozeti in the calculator above.
- Tap or click the map where you would stand. On a desktop the view already follows your mouse before you click, so you can sweep along a ridge and watch what opens up. Drag the marker afterwards to move it — the picture updates as you drag.
- Set your eye: prone, crouching, standing, or a roof / tower height. Set the target: the ground itself (a prone enemy) or a standing player.
- Optionally tap a target. The sight line turns green when it is clear and red from the point where it is blocked, and the panel gives VISIBLE or BLOCKED, the distance, the bearing and the height difference.
- Switch to 3D to see the relief the sight lines are hitting. It is the same heightmap extruded — nothing to download — and the visibility drapes onto it.
Need markers, drawings, the mortar calculator or a shared squad session on the same map? The same tool lives in the full interactive maps: Bakurani or Ozeti.
Terrain and buildings
| Map | Elevation source | Buildings | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bakurani | Game landscape heightmap, calibrated to real metres | Included — every structure in the level | 8 m |
| Ozeti | Game landscape heightmap (provisional height scale) | Landscape only for now | 16 m |
On Bakurani the heightmap is a composite: the landscape plus the roof height of every building, wall and tower, so a compound blocks sight exactly the way it does in the game. Trees and vegetation are not in the elevation data — a forest can still hide a player the calculator says is visible. Treat the green area as "there is a clear line to the ground there", and the dark area as "no line of sight, whatever you do".
Height beats distance
Try the tower preset on any hill: a few metres of extra eye height opens up dips and reverse slopes that no amount of sideways movement reaches. Then set the target to standing — a player on their feet shows over low cover that hides the ground itself, which is why a prone sniper in a shallow dip is invisible to the same spot that sees you walking in.
How snipers and recon use it
- Pick an overwatch spot before you walk there. Sweep the ridges around an objective with the mouse and pin the point that paints the approach roads green. Confirm the tower or building you plan to use with the roof preset.
- Check the enemy's view of you. Put the observer on a known enemy position (a tower, a compound roof) and see which ground it covers — the dark patches are your route in.
- Range your targets. Tap the spot you expect players at: the distance feeds straight into the sniper calculator for bullet drop and holdover, and the bearing helps you call it to the squad.
- Spotting for artillery. A spotter needs a line of sight to the impact area. Verify it here, then hand the target to the mortar calculator.
- Learn the map's blind ground. Wide dark areas below a hill are dead ground — the places to cross when the enemy holds that hill. The recon & sniper guide covers how spotting, scopes and the SVD fit into all of this.
FAQ
What does the visibility calculator show?
Everything a player standing at the point you pick can see. Green ground is in view from that spot; dark ground is hidden behind hills, ridges or buildings — computed from the game's own terrain heightmap.
Does it include buildings?
On Bakurani, yes: the heightmap is a composite of the landscape and every structure in the level. Ozeti currently uses the landscape only.
How do I check if I can see a specific target?
Place the observer, then tap the target. The sight line is drawn green when clear and red from where it is blocked, with the distance, bearing and height difference in the panel.
What eye height should I use?
Standing for a normal position, prone when you lie in a ghillie, and a roof or tower preset when you climb. The target height decides whether you need to see the ground (a prone enemy) or a standing player.
What is a viewshed?
The area visible from one point — the surveyor's word for it. This calculator is a viewshed tool for the WARDOGS maps; we call it visibility because that is what it answers: can I see it, and can it see me.
Is it free and does it work on a phone?
Yes. It runs in the browser with no account or download, and on a phone you tap to place, pinch to zoom and keep the numbers on the map.
Found your spot? Jump back to the calculator, open the full map on Bakurani or Ozeti, or take the range to the sniper calculator for the drop.