Post by Dutch Owen on Nov 27, 2017 23:12:35 GMT -5
I get the same questions sometimes, so I thought I'd answer some up-front.
This time, we're talking about the guns that fire tracers in FSCAI.
Why is the aim of the gunners so bad?
It isn't really. First, it varies by skill level -- the lower the skill the more the aim will be off. But even the best gunners missed the vast majority of the time. If this wasn't true, no air war would be possible. But in almost every case if you don't give them respect they will bag you. Get too slow or too close or too predictable and they will hit you.
Why do the gunners try and shoot through buildings and mountains?
Because in FSX/P3D there's no way to reasonably compute line-of-sight. You can't obtain terrain or object data with reasonable precision in a reasonable time frame. In implementing the targeting code we have to assume a flat surface with no obstacles, because we can't know if there are any without killing frame rates. Various ideas have been considered, like projecting a very fast invisible object and seeing if it can get to the user without crashing is one.
Why don't all weapons except flak shoot tracers?
Realism - in fact many projectiles are invisible and undetectable to aircraft unless they hit them, but also, performance. Every single tracer is an airplane to the sim. Too much AI and the whole thing bogs down. We have to limit the number of projectiles.
Why so few tracers per burst per gun?
See above - performance. Besides, in the real world an actual tracer is only 1 in 5 or 1 to 10 of the shells being fired.
How is it that the tracers fly past me but I get hit by one anyway?
See above - you got hit by one or more of the burst that wasn't a tracer shell.
I can sometimes hear the tracers whiz past the cockpit, is that realistic?
I'm not sure, but it does heighten the drama and feeling of peril doesn't it? It is a very subtle noise, and the sim provides it; I'm not sure how we could get rid of it.
Are you serious with that advice to turn off your aircraft lights, hide in clouds, and come out of the sun?
Yes. All those things reduce the aim and throw off the timing of the gun crews.
Is jinking really effective?
You bet it is. It's you against the FSCAI programs prediction of where you are going to be in X seconds. If it guesses right, chances are it'll try and throw something that you'll intersect with. Anytime you change your flight path after it's computed and fired, the odds go up for you and down for it. No guarantees. You could fly right into a shot that would've missed you otherwise. But try it - fly directly over some guns straight and level, then try jinking like mad. You'll take far less hits!
This is totally realistic and the way it is in real life.
This time, we're talking about the guns that fire tracers in FSCAI.
Why is the aim of the gunners so bad?
It isn't really. First, it varies by skill level -- the lower the skill the more the aim will be off. But even the best gunners missed the vast majority of the time. If this wasn't true, no air war would be possible. But in almost every case if you don't give them respect they will bag you. Get too slow or too close or too predictable and they will hit you.
Why do the gunners try and shoot through buildings and mountains?
Because in FSX/P3D there's no way to reasonably compute line-of-sight. You can't obtain terrain or object data with reasonable precision in a reasonable time frame. In implementing the targeting code we have to assume a flat surface with no obstacles, because we can't know if there are any without killing frame rates. Various ideas have been considered, like projecting a very fast invisible object and seeing if it can get to the user without crashing is one.
Why don't all weapons except flak shoot tracers?
Realism - in fact many projectiles are invisible and undetectable to aircraft unless they hit them, but also, performance. Every single tracer is an airplane to the sim. Too much AI and the whole thing bogs down. We have to limit the number of projectiles.
Why so few tracers per burst per gun?
See above - performance. Besides, in the real world an actual tracer is only 1 in 5 or 1 to 10 of the shells being fired.
How is it that the tracers fly past me but I get hit by one anyway?
See above - you got hit by one or more of the burst that wasn't a tracer shell.
I can sometimes hear the tracers whiz past the cockpit, is that realistic?
I'm not sure, but it does heighten the drama and feeling of peril doesn't it? It is a very subtle noise, and the sim provides it; I'm not sure how we could get rid of it.
Are you serious with that advice to turn off your aircraft lights, hide in clouds, and come out of the sun?
Yes. All those things reduce the aim and throw off the timing of the gun crews.
Is jinking really effective?
You bet it is. It's you against the FSCAI programs prediction of where you are going to be in X seconds. If it guesses right, chances are it'll try and throw something that you'll intersect with. Anytime you change your flight path after it's computed and fired, the odds go up for you and down for it. No guarantees. You could fly right into a shot that would've missed you otherwise. But try it - fly directly over some guns straight and level, then try jinking like mad. You'll take far less hits!
This is totally realistic and the way it is in real life.