Author Topic: Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh (Read 419 times)

zilla · « **on:** July 25, 2007, 02:13:35 PM »

I seem to have had a bit of a revelation (after 2+ years) and find myself following a enemy plane from time to time. However I can't seem to hit the plane with my guns. Is one convergence better than another for all planes? Should planes with guns mounted close to the center be set one way and wing mounted guns set another? Does the general performance of the computer (memory, processor, vid card) matter any when it comes to gunnery? Is there a way to open the cockpit and throw my .45 at the other plane when I have run out of cannon shells?

Any advice at all will be helpful.

I admit that I have not spent anytime in the TA to speak of. I don't mind being shot down in the MA while I try to figure the game out.

Bad31st · « **Reply #1 on:** July 25, 2007, 03:05:22 PM »

Check the Aces High Trainers Page There are 3 or 4 good write ups on convergence and gunnery.

mtnman · « **Reply #2 on:** July 25, 2007, 03:40:33 PM »

Definately read up on what the trainers have to say.

What helped me the most quite honestly, was NOT shooting as often, or as much. Rather I tried to hold my fire until I was assured of hits. What this did was force me to learn to get closer, stay closer, and hit what I shoot at. In a "normal" situation I don't shoot until the counter says D200 or closer. My understanding is that D200 is anywhere from 100-300 yards away. Just be careful of the over-shoot.

My convergence is set at 275 for all my guns. I want my guns to all hit the same point at the range I do most of my shooting. (I only fly corsairs though). Setting convergence further away does not make you more effective at longer range. It does make you less effective at closer range. If setting convergence way out helped, why ever leave the runway to shoot down fighters? Just set convergence at D200000 and call it good.

If you force yourself to get closer, say to D200, it will be difficult at first but then will get easier, and eventually will be just plain easy. If you are willing to shoot when you are further away you'll never hone your skills down enough to improve. Why settle for mediocre when you can excel?
Shooting from far away (over D600 in my eyes) marks you as a newbie/easy kill in my eyes. I may be low fuel and ammo, but if I see that I'll turn back for a "quickie" before I RTB.

Of course, after you get close, you still need to hit the target. Try the DA with the Friendly Lock enabled to show you the lead needed. Then learn to concentrate on and aim at a tiny part of the target. DON'T aim at the plane. DO aim at a part of the plane. If you just settle for trying to hit the plane you're not concentrating enough. I generally aim for a point 1/2 way between the cockpit and the prop on fighters. I aim for the right wingroot on bombers. If I miss my aim-point on a fighter I accidently hit the engine or the pilot. Bummer. If I aim at the plane and miss my aim-point, I miss the plane... Saber and I practice in the MA by shooting off ailerons etc, on purpose. The ultimate goal being to remove both from the enemy w/o taking a wing off. VERY difficult, but good practice. I've neard of others who try to hit the markings on the enemy pilots wings.

If you hunt deer, and aim at the deer, you'll need to stop at the grocery store on the way home. Aim at a hair on the deers ribcage though, and you'll be much more successful.

So- Get close, AIM!, and let 'em have it!

Hits are awarded based on what the shooter sees on hs screen. If you see hits when you shoot, he takes hits. Doesn't matter how fast your PC is.

MtnMan

Spatula · « **Reply #3 on:** July 25, 2007, 04:57:23 PM »

Your convergence setting will adjust the guns so that they all fire a point in front of the aircraft. The adjustment is both horizontal (angling inwards) and vertical (to adjust for gravity drop). Its adjusted so that the shells should arrive at your aim point a la your center mark on your gun sight.

The point is, if you have your convergence at 400, you should hit regularly something 400 yards away aiming your piper straight on it. The convergence setting allows for gravity drop at that range. If your target is further away you will need to aim above the target to get them to arrive at the enemies vertical position, and vice-versa: closer, aim lower.

For wing-mounted guns: The closer your convergence setting the greater the angle from 0 degrees off your nose the bullets will travel in the horizontal. At convergence point the bullet streams from each wing will cross over or 'meet'. At 2xconvergence they have started to spread out back to the original offset distance the guns have on the firing aircrafts wings. At further distance, the distance between each stream gets wider - and will often go either side of the victim aircraft.

None of the above takes into account random dispersion tho.

you can see the effect of different ranges relative to your convergence settings with the .target XXX command in the TA.

The bottom-line, best results for long-shooting is a long convergence... which will give you weak in-close shooting. And vice versa. Set convergence close (~300 or less), and fire in close. You get better accuracy, save ammo, do more damage, and will more often than not be the average range you will find yourself firing at anyway. Forget about killing shots from over 400.

Also when the range goes to 400, the target is actually somewhere between 400-599 yards. 200 range = 200-399 etc.

zilla · « **Reply #4 on:** July 26, 2007, 07:28:50 AM »

Thanks for the link to the trainers page. I had never visited the page, I guess I thought it was just for the trainers. I will spend some time and read the entire area, but from what I have seen so far it has a lot of good information.