Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Wishlist => Topic started by: BnZs on September 24, 2009, 10:46:14 AM
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1. A clock-like indicator to show the orientation of your turret in relation to your hull.
2. The ability to brake from positions other than driver, say with spacebar.
3. A "commander with binoculars" view, comparable to the zoom available on the maingun view, but rotating faster than the turret without chancing pointing your gun in the wrong direction.
Few little things to make handling the tank easier, in light of the fact that one player is doing the work of several crewmen in the things. Would get rid of some of the frustrations involved in GVing and add enjoyment IMO.
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1. A clock-like indicator to show the orientation of your turret in relation to your hull.
2. The ability to brake from positions other than driver, say with spacebar.
3. A "commander with binoculars" view, comparable to the zoom available on the maingun view, but rotating faster than the turret without chancing pointing your gun in the wrong direction.
Few little things to make handling the tank easier, in light of the fact that one player is doing the work of several crewmen in the things. Would get rid of some of the frustrations involved in GVing and add enjoyment IMO.
1. i like the idea but its just as easy to jump in your pintle gun and see where your turret is. Also is it really that hard to remember the position you left the turret in? I am not a great GVer but this is really not a problem for me.
2. I like this idea as well but for now I just drop it in a lower gear to move slow while looking where I am going from pintle gun position. When i get close to where i want to be I jump into the drivers seat apply the brakes and shut down the engine.
3. its already there. get in your pintle gun and press z to zoom. It rotates faster than the main gun and also sits higher to give you a better view down field.
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1. i like the idea but its just as easy to jump in your pintle gun and see where your turret is. Also is it really that hard to remember the position you left the turret in? I am not a great GVer but this is really not a problem for me.
No, sometimes it is not really easy to see main gun orientation, and doing this to see requires leaving your main gun, or the drivers seat, etc. Trying to get your main gun pointed back towards the front can be a process of rotate, jump out and look, rotate some more, blehhh. Alot of time and complication for something that should be simple.
2. I like this idea as well but for now I just drop it in a lower gear to move slow while looking where I am going from pintle gun position. When i get close to where i want to be I jump into the drivers seat apply the brakes and shut down the engine.
Yeah, half the time I end up jumping back into the turret instead and cranking the main gun to the sky when I pull the stick back to "brake". Once again, extra, complicated step for something that should be simple.
3. its already there. get in your pintle gun and press z to zoom. It rotates faster than the main gun and also sits higher to give you a better view down field.
Does not give you the amount zoom you get in MG. Tanks within effective main gun range can be barely visible little specs even at max zoom in the pintle.
IMO, it is these frustrations involved in driving and especially trying to look around you that makes tanking in AHII a mixed blessing. The airplanes in AHII have certain compromises to let the players concentrate on fighting, why not GVs?
EDIT: One of the major factors that tends to make GV battles static in AHII is that the guy sitting still has SO much advantage over the guy moving. These suggestions would tend to make these advantages less overwhelming.
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No, sometimes it is not really easy to see main gun orientation, and doing this to see requires leaving your main gun, or the drivers seat, etc. Trying to get your main gun pointed back front can be a process of rotate, jump out and look, rotate some more, blehhh
You can also use the clipboard. Get into the main gun and rotate it. If I remember correctly your icon on the map will rotate with the gun. I still fail to see the reason to know where your gun is orientated because I generally point it in the direction of the enemy and make minor adjustments from there. I have yet to go "hmm i wonder where my turret is in correlation to the rest of the tank." It just isn't important in the heat of battle. When I move spots I will get the tank rolling and jump into the turret and watch the scenery go by. I reset the turret to the front using the direction of the scenery.
Yeah, half the time I end up jumping back into the turret instead and cranking the main gun to the sky when I pull the stick back to "brake". Once again, extra, complicated step.
This is only a problem for you I guess. Learn where your #1 and #2 key is located on your keyboard and learn what each position looks like. I have never mistaken the turret for the drivers seat. Remember round hole to view = turret, rectangle hole = drivers seat. Not complicated at all. Practice
Does not give you the sort of zoom you get in MG. Tanks within effective guns range can be barely visible little specs even at max zoom in the pintle.
I don't know what to tell you here as i have no problem spotting tanks from the pintle zoomed in. i don't know how far you are firing from though. Maybe get a little closer to the battle.
IMO, it is these frustrations involved in driving and especially trying to look around you that makes tanking in AHII a mixed blessing.
I think with more practice you will be fine.
EDIT: One of the major factors that tends to make GV battles static in AHII is that the guy sitting still has SO much advantage over the guy moving. These suggestions would tend to make these advantages less overwhelming.
Get to the camp site first ;)
Maybe Belial will chime in with some help as he is the greatest GVer the game has ever seen, just ask him.
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You can also use the clipboard. Get into the main gun and rotate it. If I remember correctly your icon on the map will rotate with the gun. I still fail to see the reason to know where your gun is orientated because I generally point it in the direction of the enemy and make minor adjustments from there. I have yet to go "hmm i wonder where my turret is in correlation to the rest of the tank." It just isn't important in the heat of battle. When I move spots I will get the tank rolling and jump into the turret and watch the scenery go by. I reset the turret to the front using the direction of the scenery.
This is only a problem for you I guess. Learn where your #1 and #2 key is located on your keyboard and learn what each position looks like. I have never mistaken the turret for the drivers seat. Remember round hole to view = turret, rectangle hole = drivers seat. Not complicated at all. Practice
On the move you I want the gun facing forward so it points where I turn. Need a simple way to diplace the turret, shoot, and quickly re-orient the turret wherever you want it without having to "pintle and look, pintle and look". Even while moving. Most tank sims DO have something like this indicator, so why not?
As far as the braking goes, you are in pintle view, you have to in quick sucession hit the key for drivers seat (loose visual on the offending tank), stop, go into the main gun, or possibly pintle to regain visual then BACK to the main gun...by this time you are often enough shot. Wouldn't be hard at all to make a key settable for breaking...in fact, I don't see why I can't shift gears and gas from positions other than driver as well. Remember, one player is trying to do the work of a crew in a tank, so why are we making it harder than it needs to be? I actually find tanking harder than flying because at least a fighter is pretty much designed to manned by one person and thus you have all the controls you need right at hand in your HOTAS.
When you "switch spots"...that says it all. Tanking is very static right now, I think in no small part because they guy who only has one job (sit in the tank and scan/listen for targets) has such an uncomplicated task compared to the guy who is trying to move.
I don't know what to tell you here as i have no problem spotting tanks from the pintle zoomed in. i don't know how far you are firing from though. Maybe get a little closer to the battle.
I think with more practice you will be fine.\
Sorry, even with the pintle at max zooms tanks are often nigh-invisible at ranges where they can effectively fire on you. Depends on the color. (That is something else of course...been asked for a million times and never anything done, *all* tank default skins need to blend in with the typical colors in the MA to make things fair.)
Get to the camp site first ;)
I'm not talking about spawncamping right now, just the advantages tanks in a fixed position have, but yeah, I think these few changes to make seeing-shooting-moving easier for one player to manage simultaneosly would make the game less static.
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I agree with Hitech in that we need a hotkey to slew the turret to center from other positions...he just never got around to it, I guess. :)
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If you could control the tank completely from the gunner or commanders positions, no one would EVER use the drivers position... which would detract from the realism of driving the tank. Being able to turn the tank from other positions is a bonus IMO, and makes fighting on the move possible.
Now this is just speculation, but I doubt that the binoculars used by the commander would have been nearly as powerful as the optics for the main gun... and they dont need to be. All the pintle gun spot needs to do is detect movement, or the shape of a target in the distance, then it falls to the gunner to track to that bearing, confirm target ID, range, and fire. A good GV'er will be able to spot another GV within firing range from the pintle spot, even if he cant tell what it is.
Shooting on the move in WW2 era tanks is definitely going to be difficult at best. There were no computer controlled, gyroscopic stabilizers for the main gun back then, and you feel every little bump you drive over. This gets transferred to the main gun and multiplied when you are zoomed in at long range... every movement of the gun is amplified by the same zoom factor you are using over distance. So with this in mind, the GV that is set up in a defensive position, and sitting still with engine off, most certainly has a huge advantage over the moving tank.
As for knowing the position of the main turret, I dont usually have an issue with it. I also line up the turret by noting the direction the scenery is moving as I look through the sight. And if you are sitting still, it really doesnt matter unless you want to turn and point your heavier front armor to the enemy, in which case you would have to reline up your turret anyway. Not all tanks (even those of the same type) had position indicators. Some used markings on the inside of the turret and main hull which just had to be lined up and read off by the loader. Although, a simple, and single way to just command the turret to return to forward position (not instantly... but at regular speed) is definitely something I am in favor if.
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If you could control the tank completely from the gunner or commanders positions, no one would EVER use the drivers position... which would detract from the realism of driving the tank. Being able to turn the tank from other positions is a bonus IMO, and makes fighting on the move possible.
Well, the "realism" is that you had a team to drive the thing. IMHO, you should at *least* be able to stop from any position.
Shooting on the move is going to be difficult as you point out, but I think my changes would make it easier to fight in a "stop and go" style as opposed to the utterly dominant "stop and wait for them to come int your field of fire" style.
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Actually... after thinking about it some more, the tank commander should be able to tell the gunner position to turn the turret to a specific bearing. After that, you would need to be in the gunners position to line up the shot exactly and control azimuth. Maybe a dot command like this:
.turret 35
Where 35 would be the relative bearing in degrees the turret would start moving to. If you got into the gunners position before it completed moving to that bearing, it would stop, and you would have to turn it yourself at that point. A command of ".turret 0" would tell the turret to start moving to the forward view of 0 degrees, whils a command of ".turret 180" would tell it to turn to the rear facing position.
That way, we wouldn't need a "hotkey" and could order the turret to turn to any bearing we wanted. We would still have to manually aim and fire from the gunners view... it just simulates the commander telling the gunner to move the turret to a certain bearing without leaving the commanders view. The ".turret" command should NOT be able to be used while you are sitting in the main gun position.
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All 3 are reasonable requests and would be fairly important in adding to the ground war.
+1
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+1 X3
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1. A clock-like indicator to show the orientation of your turret in relation to your hull.
2. The ability to brake from positions other than driver, say with spacebar.
3. A "commander with binoculars" view, comparable to the zoom available on the maingun view, but rotating faster than the turret without chancing pointing your gun in the wrong direction.
Few little things to make handling the tank easier, in light of the fact that one player is doing the work of several crewmen in the things. Would get rid of some of the frustrations involved in GVing and add enjoyment IMO.
Re 1: Yes, I think this is much needed. I'd also like to see hotkeys that would allow you to slew the turret from other positions (perhaps the "c" and "v" keys). That way you can stay in the driver seat in tricky terrain, but still slew the turret out on the threat axis.
Re 2: I also agree with this one. My rationale is as follows: While gunning on a bomber, I still have throttle control, so I should also have throttle control when gunning in my tank.
Re 3: I think it unnecessary, for the reasons already stated. As far as firing while on the move, this was almost never done as the chances of hitting anything beyond point blank was nil in real life. One of the breakthroughs in tank warfare was the gun stabilizying system, which did not make its appearance until the 1980s. If I recall correctly, the M1 Abrams was the first tank to have a truly effective fire-on-the-move capability (although I may be wrong about that...just what I recall reading somewhere).
For my part, I'd also like to have the ability to temporarily dismount from my tank and scout a short distance on foot.
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hor=Sabre link=topic=274507.msg3439367#msg3439367 date=1253818977]
Re 3: I think it unnecessary, for the reasons already stated. As far as firing while on the move, this was almost never done as the chances of hitting anything beyond point blank was nil in real life. One of the breakthroughs in tank warfare was the gun stabilizying system, which did not make its appearance until the 1980s. If I recall correctly, the M1 Abrams was the first tank to have a truly effective fire-on-the-move capability (although I may be wrong about that...just what I recall reading somewhere).
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Don't think so much of firing on the move, but think of making it easier to stop, line up a shot, and get moving effectively in a short period of time.
As far as the "field glasses" view goes, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I find tanks nigh-invisible blips in the zoomed pintle view when you are already well within the range of their main guns.
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I agree with BnZ's, especially 1 & 2. I always do most of my GV'ing from the commanders position as it gives the best field of view, but having to go to the drivers position to stop is a pain, it isn't like the commander can't yell at the driver to stop :lol.
:salute
BigRat
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I like the idea of the main gun orientation. I mean you have that in a similar fazshion when in the ball turret gun of the B-17. Wouldnt hurt to have it on a GV.
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Realism? OK!!! Start by getting rid of the Miracle Zoom bionic eye BS!!!
Tank gun sights were fixed magnification, so were Binocs in that era as well...
1940 T34 had 1x magnification, that= NONE!!! 1941 T34 had 2x magnification...
T34/85 had 2.5x magnification, JS2 had 4x, because they swiped gunsight tech
from lendlease vehicles... American and Brits were a little better, but not much...
Germans had the best optics, but I've read that they weren't much more, 6x, 8x.....
Still looking for more detailed info on this!!!
Go figure? Realistic gunsights would bring the vehicles into REALISTIC COMBAT RANGES!!!
Shermans had gun stabilization in the vertical plane during WWII...
LOL, I can hear the whining before I even hit the post button, LOL!!!
RC
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The zoom in Aces High is anything but "bionic eye." When you zoom all the way in using the brackets, you've hit 1:1 ratio for what you'd see if you were sitting in that seat in the war. Problem is, the game needs to be displayed on a small surface (computer monitor) and hence the FOV restriction.
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Holy smokes OOZ, LOL!!! I'm done with this topic now, LOL!!!
RC
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LOL!!! What? Technical facts about that game make you LOL!!! uncontrollably? And weren't you done a few pages ago too? LOL!!! :huh
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The zoom in Aces High is anything but "bionic eye." When you zoom all the way in using the brackets, you've hit 1:1 ratio for what you'd see if you were sitting in that seat in the war. Problem is, the game needs to be displayed on a small surface (computer monitor) and hence the FOV restriction.
Yup yup, if you look at it from a more "comparable" standard, an aircraft at d600 (without icons) is just a black spec...
IRL, an aircraft at d600 you could ID the type, the country, the squad (if you knew their paint scheme that is ;)), and heading. In here, you get a black spec...
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how far is 6k in miles because i have hit from 6k and if you can see a tank 6k away with the standard M4 optics then i guess we have the right optics. :huh
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d600 is 600 yards, 1800 feet, or 0.34(09 repeating) miles. 6k is 6,000yards, 18,000 feet, or 3.4(09 repeating) miles.
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how far is 6k in miles because i have hit from 6k and if you can see a tank 6k away with the standard M4 optics then i guess we have the right optics. :huh
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6k is just a little over 3.7 miles or 6000 meters. In yards that would be 6561.68. either way that is unreal. did you just get hits or get kills? I mean for a WWII tank or gun that would be way to far to penetrate armor but who knows anymore in this game, LOL.
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The zoom in Aces High is anything but "bionic eye." When you zoom all the way in using the brackets, you've hit 1:1 ratio for what you'd see if you were sitting in that seat in the war. Problem is, the game needs to be displayed on a small surface (computer monitor) and hence the FOV restriction.
Not sure If I am blind or not, but I parked my truck (gray truck) next to some trees at the river, I walked about 2 miles down the road, when I looked back I had one heck of a time trying to figure out where my truck was. So your statement may not be as accurate as you think. so seeing a tank or any gv at 3 to 5k would require one hell of a good eye and an even better to actually hit it while it is moving. I am almost 100% sure about this statement that only the tiger had destroyed tanks at distances of more than a mile, and that is only on a few occasions. most engagements in ww2 were in the couple of hundred yards range.
semp
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My statement is as accurate as Hitech thinks. Unfortunately, he didn't make that statement in one of the podcasts of I'd link it for you...and I don't feel like digging through the forum to find it.
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I have made and can make (within 3 to 5 shots rounds out) 3.7mile kill shots in the M4
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Not sure If I am blind or not, but I parked my truck (gray truck) next to some trees at the river, I walked about 2 miles down the road, when I looked back I had one heck of a time trying to figure out where my truck was. So your statement may not be as accurate as you think. so seeing a tank or any gv at 3 to 5k would require one hell of a good eye and an even better to actually hit it while it is moving. I am almost 100% sure about this statement that only the tiger had destroyed tanks at distances of more than a mile, and that is only on a few occasions. most engagements in ww2 were in the couple of hundred yards range.
semp
Tank gunsights in AH have magnification, not just the zoom in and out that RipChord was referring to. The zoom in and out RipChord and OOZ are talking about is the one you have in the pilot or gunner position in an aircraft and the driver or commander position in a GV. Tank gunsight magnification sounds like it is too high, particularly for the T-34s.
OOZ is correct about the basic "zoom" function and RipChord is silly and out of line.
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I think adding these would make the ground game way better:
(http://i343.photobucket.com/albums/o460/caldera_08/Picture015.jpg)
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OOZ and Karnak,
Yeah, you guys are right... I just went in and did the acid test... Measured a targets size while zoomed out, and then measured again while zoomed in... Pretty damn close to right on!!!
I use a 47inch monitor, so I must be suffering from an optical illusion of scale.. But the actual measurements don't lie!!!
My apologies and salutations, I'd buy ya both a beer if you were local, or take ya out for a day of salmon fishing on the jetsled...
But never the less, Tanks in those days didn't use zoom of any kind, their magnifications were fixed!!!
:salute RC
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Yeah, the 47 inch screen will change things.
No worries.
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My apologies and salutations, I'd buy ya both a beer if you were local, or take ya out for a day of salmon fishing on the jetsled...
I pretty much am local...but I'm still two years from being able to legally drink. :D
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To the OP,
I like the idea of an indicator,I think it is a geat idea. I think it would allow you to better judge where your turrent needs to be to find an enemy, after he has been spotted from the top gun or drivers position. The FOV at full zoom through the gunsight is small, an indicator would give some refrence to where your gun is vs where you spotted the con, in relation to direction of travel. I don't believe I care for the "hotkey idea" a need for recentering the gun is pointless IMO.
So far as the brake thing goes, yes it would be nice, but I can live without it.
The optics thing I'm not touching, views and icon ranges are something I still do not always necessarily agree with in this game, but then it is a game. Nuf said.
There are 2 things I would like to see in the future though, 1- remove the ability of a greenery, to tip a tank on its lid. Stop it, yes. Damage it, sure. Keep it from rotating a turrent, absolutely! But tip it over, a little far fetched.
2- This has been brought up before I believe, but I would love to completely brake 1 track when turning, would make manuvering in the trees and around buildings in town easier. I know, its not about easier, but when your trying to get tucked in a spot nice and tight, the ability to manuver can be key.
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I pretty much am local...but I'm still two years from being able to legally drink. :D
LOL, I guess its sodapop, for you there kiddo... ;) Geez, my kids are older than you..... :confused:
So, what island are ya on? Which ferry, and which route?
More ideas sure, But all of these ideas deserve their own discussions, (and have had them already)
Realistic terrain effect on vehicle movement...
Vehicle self repair of broken tracks...
GV bailout...
Engineers..
Smoking wrecked vehicles on battlefield...
No more GV icons at all...
Rivers, streams, creeks, and crossings of same, ie. bridges and fords..
HE shells that actually explode whenever, and wherever, they land, causing damage thru blast and shrapnel...
Player emplaced obstacles, tank traps, ditches, minefields..
Artillery and spotters, ie. jeep and L4/5
Anti Tank guns
GV drones, so player will have command of tank platoon instead of single vehicle...
Player self entrenchment, and or camoflage
RC
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Oh, I forgot one,
Realistic detailed military tactical maps for ground pounders, with MGRS.... (Military Grid Reference System)...
As opposed to the fudgsickle navigation maps, which are great for planes, but completely inadequate for GV's.
If photo recon flights were required to access these maps, that would be a big plus as well!!!
RC
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Realistic terrain effect on vehicle movement...yes,especially roads
Vehicle self repair of broken tracks...yes
GV bailout...no,you could jeep to town,bail, then shoot troops
Engineers..no
Smoking wrecked vehicles on battlefield...not important
No more GV icons at all...yes,definately
Rivers, streams, creeks, and crossings of same, ie. bridges and fords..yes
HE shells that actually explode whenever, and wherever, they land, causing damage thru blast and shrapnel...not important
Player emplaced obstacles, tank traps, ditches, minefields..yes
Artillery and spotters, ie. jeep and L4/5yes
Anti Tank gunswe have them,other tanks!
GV drones, so player will have command of tank platoon instead of single vehicle...no
Player self entrenchment, and or camoflageno
RC
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1. A clock-like indicator to show the orientation of your turret in relation to your hull.
2. The ability to brake from positions other than driver, say with spacebar.
3. A "commander with binoculars" view, comparable to the zoom available on the maingun view, but rotating faster than the turret without chancing pointing your gun in the wrong direction.
Few little things to make handling the tank easier, in light of the fact that one player is doing the work of several crewmen in the things. Would get rid of some of the frustrations involved in GVing and add enjoyment IMO.
All would be nice.
Specifically regarding #2, someone correct me if I am wrong, but in a gunner position in a bomber, you still have throttle control and can engage autopilot/autoclimb. It would be consistent if GVs had similar throttle control in gunner positions.
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I think adding these would make the ground game way better:
(http://i343.photobucket.com/albums/o460/caldera_08/Picture015.jpg)
+1 :D
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LOL, I guess its sodapop, for you there kiddo... ;) Geez, my kids are older than you..... :confused:
So, what island are ya on? Which ferry, and which route?
More ideas sure, But all of these ideas deserve their own discussions, (and have had them already)
Realistic terrain effect on vehicle movement...
Vehicle self repair of broken tracks...
GV bailout...
Engineers..
Smoking wrecked vehicles on battlefield...
No more GV icons at all...
Rivers, streams, creeks, and crossings of same, ie. bridges and fords..
HE shells that actually explode whenever, and wherever, they land, causing damage thru blast and shrapnel...
Player emplaced obstacles, tank traps, ditches, minefields..
Artillery and spotters, ie. jeep and L4/5
Anti Tank guns
GV drones, so player will have command of tank platoon instead of single vehicle...
Player self entrenchment, and or camoflage
Yes
sure
No
No, vehicle supps do the trick.
FR issue, they're irrelevent.
No, they add the realism for distance. Read my previous statement about how screen size effects realistic zoom. A vehicle at d600 in the open is easy to see, in here, you can barely see them till you're zoomed.
Sure
Irrelevent.
Sure
Sure
I agree with minke, other tanks
Hell no.
Nah, don't need it.
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1. A clock-like indicator to show the orientation of your turret in relation to your hull.
2. The ability to brake from positions other than driver, say with spacebar.
3. A "commander with binoculars" view, comparable to the zoom available on the maingun view, but rotating faster than the turret without chancing pointing your gun in the wrong direction.
Few little things to make handling the tank easier, in light of the fact that one player is doing the work of several crewmen in the things. Would get rid of some of the frustrations involved in GVing and add enjoyment IMO.
:aok +1