We've been through this too many times. This "regular kills at 900+" is a load of bull. I can't do it that's for sure. Show me a film of a sortie where you get kills at that distance. Please. Do you have any idea how many times I've asked that question and not had a single film show up?
No matter how many times we've been through this issue, people keep stating things as "facts" that are not facts. You said "Something just isn't right with them, if they (Hispano cannons) kill regularly at 900yds." You know what, you are right. However, that's a big IF. Prove to me that they kill regularly at 900 yds in AH and then I'll agree that something is wrong. Now I do think that there is some minor tweaking that needs to happen, but it's no where near the big issue you make it out to be.
Now a note about the changes Pyro has mentioned for 1.05. In the current version of AH, your rounds "disperse", in some kind of a pattern from their aim point. I presume that this dispersion is random at this point. The end result is that if you fire a great load of cannon shells at long range, they will spread out in a very large random pattern. This is not entirely accurate, as in real life although the rounds may spread out in a pattern of the same size, more rounds would tend to be closer to the center than at the edges. The change Pyro mentioned was to weight the dispersion mathematically so that our bullet patterns more closely match real ones, IE more rounds closer to the aim point. The Hispano's are not lasers at all, but more like uber-shotguns. If you put lasers on a C-Hog instead of cannons it would be MORE DIFFICULT to hit IMHO, where the current shotgun effect makes it easier than it should be. This is the real issue.
Right now, if you hose away with cannons in a C Hog, you are throwing a LOT of lead into the air. Because of the random dispersion pattern, at long ranges you have a really big shotgun effect. This makes it more likely that you will get a hit at long ranges, because your pattern covers such a large area. With .50 cal birds, this doesn't work, since a few hits won't do enough damage, so although it's easier to hit they don't get results. With the .20mm Hispano's however, those are CANNON rounds... they explode. It only takes a couple of rounds to damage the enemy plane, so the increased chance of a hit pays off.
What I think you will see in 1.05 is that it will be a bit more difficult to get hits out at longer ranges. The added bonus is that if somebody does hit you, it will now be more because of skill than luck due to a large dispersal pattern. On the flip side, I think this change will help the MG planes, since our rounds will be more likely to impact in one area and do serious damage. In short, it will make the gunnery more realistic, and may solve some of the perceived "900 yard turbo laser" issues.
Also, you can't compare real-life pilots to AH pilots. We are all FAR BETTER gunners than even the very top Aces in WWII. We have fired 100 times more rounds in combat than they every did. On top of that, we don't have to deal with many of the problems they had with air to air gunnery. So yes, I fully expect AH pilots to be able to make shots regularly that you never hear about in WWII simply based on our superior skills due to the factors mentioned above.
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Lephturn - Chief Trainer
A member of The Flying Pigs
http://www.flyingpigs.com "A pig is a jolly companion, Boar, sow, barrow, or gilt --
A pig is a pal, who'll boost your morale, Though mountains may topple and tilt.
When they've blackballed, bamboozled, and burned you, When they've turned on you, Tory and Whig,
Though you may be thrown over by Tabby and Rover, You'll never go wrong with a pig, a pig,
You'll never go wrong with a pig!" -- Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow"
[This message has been edited by Lephturn (edited 12-15-2000).]
