I was a bit disappointed that the aiming system for the warships we have is basically backwards.
You pick a spot on the map, then try to keep manually aiming your guns at it.
The real ships had an electro-mechanical computer in them that would aim the ships guns. You enter in the targets range, speed, bearing, and course (if you have played WW-2 submarine simulations, you recognize this as a Torpedo Data Computer).
Against land targets this is simply range and bearing, since most bases I know of in this universe don't move. Once you set in some of those bits of data into the fire control, the guns are ALWAYS aimed at that point on the map. You can place shell after shell into the same hole.
The problem is that you don't know the range or bearing. I want to get rid of clicking on the map to aim the guns. You cannot know how far or in what direction you need to shoot. You would then absolutely NEED a spotter all the time to get your shells on target against land bases you can't see. The benefit is you don't have to compensate for the ship's own movement (the fire control computer does that for you). You could easily correct your aim to hit things. The problem is of course getting a spotter.
In game terms this is still very inefficeint. You need two players and a cruiser close enough to hit the target. A single bomber is still more effective, thus keeping the aircraft at the top of the food chain in the game.
Against enemy ships, you have to add in the movement of the target, its course, and range. All of which you have to guess at. Speed you would need to guess in real life, but our ships all do 30 knots, making gunnery somewhat easier.
I would also move the gunner's viewpoint perspective from the side of the turret to the fire control stations on top of the superstructure. It is kind of hard to lead a target with that turret blocking half you view. This is where the gun directing was done from anyways.
And a few cruiser only task forces, plus freeing up the front turret of the DE for player use isn't a bad idea either in my opinion. With the addition of floatplanes launched from cruisers in a future update, you could see some interesting gunnery spotting.
I'm just confused why Hitech and Pyro went with the system they did. The only thing I can think of is it was easier to implement than a Fire Control Computer.
Hans.
[This message has been edited by Hans (edited 01-22-2001).]
