Experimenting with the camera . . .

[Gpig]

I've been playing nothing but PURE ARMOR QB's (600 pts) on Biltongs campaign maps since the 1.02 patch came out.

YAY! What a gassBOMB full of fun! Weeeeeeeeee!

Also, I've been "locking" the camera onto my tanks and using the Zoom keys ( "[, ]" ) to act as the gunner (kind of).

I magnify way in on the target and watch the gun's round go off into the distance, towards the target.

You can hear the commander yelling. You can feel the tank shake (camera shake) and you can watch the distant destruction of the enemy through your gunners sight.

I've noticed a couple of things while playing around this way.

1) Distant 3D models, when zoomed in on, look pretty bad. Like they are turned inside out. Gaps appear in thier seams. When they are moving, it's like they are turning inside out, or passing through a vertical slicing machine. Or "Clipping Plane." No big deal. Just an observation. I was just wondering if someone could explain the cause.

Still, it's so cooooool to see a distant rise with the tall Steppe grasses painted against the horizon suddenly reveal a tank commanders head and torso rising along behind it, knowing that an enemy tank will soon be revealed beneath him.

2) Sometimes my gunner hits a target DEAD on, with the first shot. (rare, I admit.) But then, the gunner is likely to miss by quite a large margin on the 2nd shot.

Wouldn't the 2nd shot also be considered a "sure thing" if the enemy target was staionary and the FIRST shot was a hit?

Just a few observations/questions.

Garsh, I love this game down to all it's itty bitty teeny weeny pieces.

Gpig

[Zebulon Pleasure Beast]

Sigh, just wait 'till you crap your pants when some hidden ATG nails your tank with the first shot, causing a catastrophic explosion right under your nose.

1) Haven't noticed this myself. Need to experiment.

2) It's not quaranteed, atleast at long ranges. There are so many factors that influence tank gunnery. I'd list a few, but some grognard is sure to come 'waltzing by and correct my mistakes.

[aka_tom_w]

maybe the gunner got "lucky" on the first shot

maybe the ammo charge (gunpowder) is in consistant

after the first shot hit the gunner got so excited he pissed him self and missed the second shot :eek: (I don't know Its just a guess)

if there is one thing about CMBB that there seems to be a general LACK of bitching about its accuracy in tank gunnery duals.

on one hand one might suggest that BFC have completely brainwashed us from in forum posts and from playing the FINAL version of CMBO that we now take what fiction in the gunnery accuracy in CMBB as gospel and like and worship it

OR

MAYBE

Just maybe it is such a GREAT historically accurate tank gunnery model now in CMBB that most everyone here assumes it is correct and does not bitch about shot missed or gunnery stats that your OVER accurate.

There have been only about two threads regarding tank gunnery accuracy since CMBB came out and they have not been the HUGE whine and Bitch fests that we saw in CMBO, not at all.

Mostly the "chance to hit" equations in CMBB seem to be RIGHT on the money (either that or they have us so asCMilated or brainwashed that we no longer know the difference between a reality and a fantasy video game :confused: )

hows that for a late night rant?

that is just the way I see it IMHO

-tom w

[ February 20, 2003, 11:42 PM: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]

[Louie the Toad]

Hey Gpig,

When I get done with my two current CMBO games I am going to get back to BB and do what I said a few months ago:

Play BB as much as possible from the ground level viewpoint. After all, there are no observation towers, helium balloons, or spy aircraft. All that was known of the battlefield was the ground level view. Ok, maybe the occasional church tower view. But the game can take care of that too.

Then there would be the map view. Just to see unit locations and get bearings. Not to move or use the los tool though. Ok sometimes in and around buildings and obstacles you must use the closest top down view to navigate.

Otherwise its all on the ground.

Turn on fog of war (extreme is not necessary)

Turn off detailed armor hits. Why should the AI tell you what happened. See for yourself. If you make a mistake.. tough.

Dont mouse around. Only view from your units' locations

Dont click on enemy units. Use the los tool to scan them only.

Zoom only with units that can zoom. Binoculars and gunsights.

You will appreciate the game from a whole new perspective (pun intended) just as you are doing by the type of sighting you enjoy now.

You will be driven by terrain. The high ground will be precious.

The AI will be a very very tough opponent.

You will loose a lot, maybe most, of the time. Even when you make up the battle yourself.

Parts of the game, movement especially -- could become work.

You will be playing Franko's True Combat Rules.

We have met the enemy, and he is us -- Pogo

Toad

[KnifeForkSpoon]

I love FTC Rules . . . but I don't have enough willpower to stick it out for even ONE battle!

Ugh. I'm weak, I know.

I always have to push up the camera at some point. (Usually when trees are involved.)

Still, it's a NICE way to fight the A.I..

KFS

[MikeyD]

Reason for first shot hitting, second shot not? In one word - dispersion. You'll most likely hit within the same area but if the enemy tank's half-in and half-out of the dispersion cone it's just as likely the shot will pass over the enemy commander's shoulder.

As an asside, dispersion has some positive benefits. A mg would be pointless otherwise. In ancient Greece someone invented an automatic 'machine gun' catapult (the giant crossbow type, not the medaeval rock throwers from old movies). The only problem was the catapult had NO dispersion! They'd simply pile up bolts (giant arrows) in the same small spot. A little dispersion would've made it a formidable weapon.

[mchlstrt]

The 'inside out' thing could be caused by zooming past the front edge of the other Tank. The Graphics are displayed on both sides of the 'panels' that make up the Models, & when you go partway into a Model you see these, as well as some other effects that sound like what you're describing.

strt