Gunnery help

[bkbandit]

I get more then a hand full of gooooooodddddd shots but i cant make them.  Ill out fly them but since i got  a half bellybutton shot it gives them time to recover.  Everything i fly has 6 50s.  What should i do.

[Mustaine]

search the forum for "convergence" without the "s

especially with the .50's it is key.

there are literally 100's of posts in this help forum alone about it, some as recent as last week.

[Alky]

Originally posted by bkbandit
I get more then a hand full of gooooooodddddd shots but i cant make them.

Maybe it's the stick you're using, or the settings. If it's too twitchy or bouncy,  nothing else will improve your gunnery.
Other than that, do what Mustain said and also grab some films and watch what they do, you'll be amazed where they're aiming

[Ghosth]

Come to the TA, turn on friendly lock (think control Tab is default)

Then pick a target and highlight him. (Tab I think)
Should give you a green crosshair that shows how much lead you need.
Fly with it on for a while, should give you a lot better idea of what your looking at.

Also another tip I use when I find I'm missing.
Before going online I jump offline for 5 - 10 minutes.
Setup some HO shots, some high  deflection shots, etc.
Basicly "Warm up" that Mark 1 eyeball.

You'd be surprised what a difference it can make.

[Schatzi]

If you see me online, holler and ask me to the TA. Ill play target drone and you can practice shooting if you want to.

[bkbandit]

I didnt subscribe yet so i cant get in to the training area but thanks anyway.  Im stuck in the nomads land called h2h.  I fly 51s corsairs and hellcats all guns set 325 300 275 is that the problem, should i aim at a certain part of the enemy?  Just the other nite i was fighting this guy docuwe and he's good in the 109.  I had 2 chances to get him but i miss.  The speed i had kept me out of trouble but this doesnt get me kills. Shooting at the drones helps alittle but i dont get alot of sitting ducks.  I dont have a problem strafing or ripping wings off bombers its just against moveing enemy fighters, i dont noe if i lead too much or too little. Does the frieandly lock work off line? Ill try that.  The films i forgot alllll about the films, i really dont noe how to work that film stuff.   I wish i had the k14 gunsight in my stang.

[Schatzi]

Originally posted by Schatzi
While im not one that has good aim at all, this is what helped my gunnery.

* Stick to one gun type at a time for a while. This removes adapting to the "ballistics" part of the equation constantly and helps you get a better feel for the rest (judging speeds, angles, etc)

* dont fire different guns together, ie cannon and MG in Spit for example. Even if you fire at convergence distance - on a stationary target it would mean both cannon and MG would hit the same spot. But, a2a theres also the other planes speed (ie movement) to take into account. Now, MG has a lot faster muzzle speed then the Hispanos, meaning the MG rounds will get to target in less time - time in which the target moves a certain distance. Now, if you fire a Hispano round, due to the lower speed it will take more time to travel to target, read: The target will have more time to move, read: you will have to pull more lead in the same position/speed/angle then youd need with a MG. So, to make a long story short, unless youre VERY close, youll only hit with one of the guns - and - in my experience - thats usually the MG

* get up close and personal for shooting. Make getting on the six of the enemy for a tracking shot your main goal in a fight. Not pulling for a shot. Ive seen this numerous times in TA when people fought me. They kept giving up position and angles, just to pull for that one, low% snapshot theyd miss anyway. When i fought them "cold guns" and goal of the fight was to get 200 off my tail and stay there, theyd suddely have a 200% improvement in their "skill". By that i dont mean "dont take any snapshots" - i just mean that PATIENCE is a huge virtue and sometimes giving up one snapshot in favor of gaining angle/position and a higher% tracking shot gets you further then you may think

* set your convergences to your usual shooting distance. If you have the feeling that you hit a lot, but dont KILL, it might be you need to adjust your convergences. In a turnfighter, my usual conv is between 175 and 250 yards. For a more BnZ type of flying, you might want to have them a little further out. Play around on those and find out whats best for you.

* fire short (1/2 second) bursts only. Never "walk" your guns on the target. Shoot and hit, or shoot and miss, adjust aim, shoot again. Try to visually remember the "view" in your gunsights when you hit. Develop your gunner eye

* try turning tracers off for a bit. this will force you to judge your aim BEFORE hitting the fire button, and not depend on shooting first, then see where your tracers go and adjust your aim afterwards. If you turn them back on later or not is personal preference. I left mine off, mainly because when i tried turning them on again, all i did was watch those beautiful light effects in the air and not my aquired target (read: my hit% dropped from a solid 10% to 1-2%)

* shoot drones offline. get unlimited fuel/ammo, set yourself certain "rules". Make a game of it. Heres some suggestions, just be creative, im sure youll find more that suit your personal "problem zones" best - put on some loud, badazz music for the occasion
- tracers off, no LCG
- make fast passes from high 4-8 oclock, no shooting inside d400
- turn icons off
- fly the circle clockwise (opposite drone flying direction) - practice snapshots
- aim for certain parts, take the drones apart piece by piece. wingtip, wing, rudder, stab, tail.... If it blows before youre done, youve lost.

* ask Schatzi for a "date" in the TA and blast her full of bullets for suggesting all that BS

 

I hope this answers some of your questions. And keep in mind that theres no one-button-easy-cure for bad shooting. Its a matter of patience, practice, patience and did i mention practice?

Yes, friendly lock works offline. That will help you see if you lead too much or too little. But i bet its too little. "Pull as much lead as you think you need, then double it and youll be allright" - sounds stupid, but is true 95% of the time.


If you want a different gunsight in your plane (BTW, i suggest the less between you and your target, the better - usually a simple dot will help you more then all those lines and angles, that are supposed to help you judge distances and angles you are provided by the ICON) go to SETUP > PREFERENCES > GUNSIGHTS.... Select the plane you want to change, select the Gunsight you want for that plane and click on the "SET" button.



In game, press ALT R to start recording (little red R in the upper left corner of your screen). This will dump an film##.ahf file into your HTC/Aces High II/films folder. You can view those films with the AH Film viewer. START > PROGRAMS > Aces High II > Film Viewer, then open the film. (after the first time running its automatically associated with the .ahf file extension and you can simply double click the film to view it).

I usually watch the films in external, with use recorded views, trails and icons checked. That way youll be able to see what your opponent did, and why what you did worked or didnt work. You can also "jump" into your opponents plane by double clicking his name on the right hand side list.

[Schatzi]

I saw in another thread, you have your convergence spread out.

Dont do that. Have them all set to the same distance. That way, if you hit IN convergence distance, you concentrate all your firepower in one place. Also, dont *walk* your bullets over the target, that only spreads out the damage. Try concentrating your fire ON ONE POINT. If youre firing while turning to pull lead, that means youll have to relax slightly on the stick when you fire (ie hold your pipper with NO RELATIVE MOVEMENT to the target). I know that all sounds pretty theoretical and complicated right now, but it really isnt.
Ill try and see if i can find a film that illustrates what i mean.



Another thing you need to know:

When the icon shows d200, that means your target is between 200 and 399 yards away from you. D400 means 400 to 599 yards.

Try this: Get your convergence on all 6 guns to 250 and only shoot when the icon shows d200.

[Schutt]

In h2h you can have  lead computed gunsite turned on (lcg) , ask the hoster to do so.

When you have killshooter off, which is often the case in h2h you can duel with friendly green pilots, which has the advantage of showing the exact distance.

I think for the 6 cal .50 planes convergence spread around 300 is pretty good, also have em all at 300 or all at 250 is good too.

Check the network connection, if the h2h server has bad con hitting anyone is difficult.

[JB28]

Now Mustaine,

why didn't you ever give me those words of advise?       but then again, i don't think I will ever be able to hit jack.  (and there are so many of them flying)  now if everyone changed their name to something besides "jack" or "squat", maybe I would have a fighting chance.  

<> to all of us who can't shoot well.  (I know Schatzi, practice.....)

Hey, it is still fun.

return soon Mustaine!!!  miss ya

28:aok

[Flit]

try leading twice as far as you think you need too. You might be suprised.
90 % of my high angle deflection shots are made when the target is out of sight below my nose.
 A long time ago you used to be able to see hits thru the dash. now it's almost impossible to tell if you hit unless you let up on the lead, which, of course means you miss the shot if ya can see the target.

[bkbandit]

i tryed setting all my guns to 300 and i just get in close and shoot right around him, once i had them set to 325 275 225 and that was workin but then i dont noe wat happen.  Ima try try out the stuff you guys posted see wat happens.

[DamnedRen]

Since you're firing .50's it becomes the "weight of ammo on target". This means you want all guns set to converge on the same point at the same time. And, you fire all guns with one trigger pull. Since the .50's are only punching holes in the plane and not exploding (like20 mm's) you want lots of bullets on target. This also means when you saddle up you will find a FULL, 1 second burst will score more kills than a tap of the trigger. Again, weight of ammo on target scores the kills.

Range is important, also. If you cannot maintain close pursuit you need to set your convergence to the distance you can maintain time in the saddle. If the closest you can get, on average, is 400 yards then set your convergence for all guns to that distance.

Speaking of close pursuit...many new pilots always try for the snap shot. Sometimes it works but most of the time you miss. My suggestion is you learnt to fly to position yourself into a saddle up on the guys six and don't touch the trigger until your there. Then once you have parked on his 6 ease your grip on the stick the gently pull the trigger and your hit percentage will go up.

Hope this helps. If you get a chance to sign up, the training is valuable and free.

[RTR]

Actually, dead six shots are very hard to hit accurately unless you are very close. They are almost a low percentage shot for the simple reason that your opponents aircraft presents a pretty slim target from the six oclock position.

By all means practice the six shot, it will help you see where you are hitting. But in reality deflection shots are more likely to hit harder. You have a bigger target to shoot at.

And i agree with Schatzi. Set the convergence on all you guns the same. You need to experiment a bit and find what that magic distance is for you.

cheers,
RTR

[bkbandit]

some improvements but i noe the coverages will make life easier. I set them all to 300 and i got nothin but problems, every fight i got in he was really close, and snap shots didnt work. If i put all my guns at one point in situation when the target is close im screwed, and it all depends on the situation, ill be chasein a enemy in a straight line and at 600 i can get hits but when im twistin and turnin and im 200 yards behind those 300 yard 50s r real hard tp put on the target.  But then set to close its the opposite.  I tryed a more spread out coverage and one thats kinda in the middle of the two. I tryed 325 275 225 and 325 300 250.  Some times i rip apart some guys and other times i hav to put alot of lead on him.  How many hit should it take for ur average 109 spitfire la etc?