Hey I'm playing again a bit with my friends since we all have nice computers that can handle the game. After playing though I can't help myself but to point out the same tired old issue again. In general its clear that no one on daybreak is working on vehicles at all. We have all these complex aiming mechanics for infantry, yet its all turned around the moment anyone gets into a tank and fires their spud launcher for the first time. There is no skating around it. The vehicle mechanics are not close to being worthy of this title. Eyeballing a cartoonish tank cannon just feels terrible. We have no turret stabilization besides the 3rd-person piece-of-tape-on-the-screen workaround, and the gun needs so much vertical compensation we find ourselves aiming in the sky just to hit a tank beyond shotgun range. We have no working HUD to assist us either. We just gotta eyeball it. Fire a shot, oops too high. Fire another, too low. Fire another, oh they moved a little. /facepalm This problem is especially bad for the poor ole magrider and lightning, who got a indirect velocity penalty from a balance patch shortly after the game was released. Back when prowlers and vanguards didn't have the velocity to hit a magrider, they got a velocity buff to compensate, while the magrider got a nerf to its strafe speed. This issue has long passed and there is really no reason why we can't just have standardized velocities. Its a matter of comfort rather then balance. If balance was needed we can find better ways to do it. Do doubt, this goofy mechanic is done to keep tanks from sniping infantry with AP cannons, however, it isn't even performing that role. Infantry are as easy as ever to snipe down with a AP gun, which is a whole other problem since we have other guns made to kill infantry. Guns which have also been nerfed out of their role, leaving us with 3 practically identical cannons. The game can't stand on its own as an infantry shooter. A lot is sacrificed in the foot game to make room for this grand battle, but when the grand battle is dominated by goofy mechanics, the game can't flourish. Vehicles are a major draw for new players. They are the variety this game otherwise lacks, so if we make them more enjoyable to use, more people would be drawn to the game. Is it so much to ask that vehicles have standards on par with the foot game? With real sights, real aiming mechanics, and real guns? I get that the vehicle game will never be on par with the mechanics in WoT, but any real work on this would go far and make the game so much more enjoyable for everyone.
I might recommend Daigon's and my 3d person Lightning overlay (which includes accurate 2x sight markings as well). A bit more elegant than tape-on-screen. From testing, the current Lightning targeting reticle in game has the first line hit at ~232m and the second half-line hit at ~289m. A few problems with that of course. First, you have no sight markings at all for targets closer than 232m. Second, you have really random numbers represent the distance to the target, instead of a standardised number. Third, the reticle values actually change when you zoom in; the 1st line might represent a ~232m target at 2x magnification, but will miss a ~232m target at 1x magnification. To fix this, a few things are required: 1) Change the reticle so that it can accurately engage targets at 25m, 50m, 100m, 150m, etc... ranges. This allows for engaging closer targets as well as using a standard system. This allows for sights that actually make sense. 2) Use different reticles for different zoom settings. The 200m line should always be in the same spot no matter the zoom level... it should not jump from position to position. It's not terribly difficult. With more detailed knowledge of the physics behind rounds that determine velocity and drop, you probably could just whip it up using the maths equations alone. As I've said before, the perfect PS2 would be the infantry mechanics of ARMA, the tank mechanics of WoT/Armoured Warfare, and the flight mechanics of WarThunder. For tanks, even without "modern" fire control systems, there needs to be significant improvements to gameplay to makes PS2 a competitive option. But that... would be a very long post indeed.
