Fighter Guns

[JCMan]

Ok, is it just me or is it a little hard to hit another fighter with your fighter's main gun? Especially when the nme fighter is faster than ur fighter. Then again, mabie Im just a bad shot?

O yea, I have tried the aim ahead and everything(yes, "Everything"....I think.....).....Its still kinda hard. So any tips or tricks would be nice.

Kinda annoying when you use a cap ship all the time, then one day decide to use a fighter, run out of missiles due to the nme's emd (and pilot error) , and have ur main guns left only to figure out that you cant hit the broadside of the nme when ur life depends on it!

I can sometimes hit him, but his shields usually charge up to full before I get another shot in. I have killed fighters with my guns before. It's just really hard.

[Korgmeister]

No idea, myself. I'm the captain of the ship, it's the job of the fighter pilots to take down the enemy fighters, not mine. I'm too busy trying to make sure Resnig doesn't do something stupid.

If those pesky enemy fighters are silly enough to come close to me they'll be sucking vaccum pretty quickly thanks to my PTA lasers.

[JCMan]

I usually command a cap ship too...and thank God for PTA turrets!

Now I love carriers, and fighters. But sometimes it pays to do something yourself (that is if you want it right the FIRST time).

So when im in space I use my big ship. When I need to clear an nme ground base real fast I use fighters. I cover my wingmen while they sweep the ground.

Now im not verry effective at it if I can't hit my target am I? So usually I will fly around for 15 to 30 min before I manage to kill most all the little nme fighters buzzing around (Usually only 3 or 4 fighters). Meanwhile my CC is sitting elsewhere where it isn't consumeing most all my fuel (With Resnig in the brig of course. ) .

I would like to bring that 15 to 30 min engagement down to a 5 to 10 min engagement if possible. They always die in one way or another. Just like I said though, tis hard to do.

[Spindoktor]

quote:

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Ok, is it just me or is it a little hard to hit another fighter with your fighter's main gun?

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It takes some practice before you become effective dogfighting with fighters. I like to soften them up with a missile or two but its not that hard to take them out completely with your guns. The trick is to match speeds, and then use the afterburner and retro rockets to get close enough until the target lead designator (TLD) indicates you are in optimum range by displaying a dot in the middle of the box. Its a lot easier if you can get on his six. Position your fighter until the TLD is directly on his ship and he's toast.

[JCMan]

Actually I've found it a little more ez to try to match speed manually, cuz the match speed LITRALLY matches speed!

The reason I do this is: When they hit the top of the atmmosphere, they stall and their speed drops to zero, and its ez for me to fly medium speed, get in close with the burners&retros n stay there.

What I can't figure out is: Why do my bullets usually miss even though I have him lined up in the TLD (Yes, the green box is lit up in it too)?

It kinda seems like the fighter bullets (the laser shots) travel too slow, and by the time they get there the ship has moved WAYYYYYYY outta da way. Or mabie the TLD is off just a tad little tiny wee bitty bit for the fighters? The reson I say this is because I don't have much of a problem with the TLD while in a CC. Allthough I did notice I usually have to aim a bit ahead of the TLD in the CC to actually hit the nme CC...... Honestly. I would really appreciate to know why because Im rather godly with best guess aiming in the CC against another CC. But with those fighters going as fast as they do, and as small as they are its really kinda hard.

I really appreciate everyone heping out so far!

[scrapilot]

I'm a Falcon 4.0 player but came to also like the Battlecruiser series. I'm a missile person and am one of the few in Hyperlobby that like to dogfight with missiles rather than guns. I think I also have a good shot with guns, but the fighters in Battlecruiser are even harder to hit with guns than in Falcon 4.0. The pilot AI is amazing and they jump all over the place, move in a circle around the screen when you get close, everything you can think of to make a gunshot next to impossible.

Also fighters in space always turn at the max turnrate because they don't have to be at corner velocity speed to turn fast. Manuevering thrusters turn them instead of lift from wind. Atleast the turnrate is reasonable in the Battlecruiser series at one rotation every 12 seconds rather than one rotation every six seconds in arcade space combat sims like Freespace 2. Also unlike the arcade like space sims, the enemy AI fighters keep their distance.

The AI manuever so wildly that the Target Lead Indicator doesn't change from a square to a dotted square until I'm closer than 1 kilometer, which indicates the TLD will score a hit if I can get my nose on it. That's a big if. I use autopilot to try to keep me on the enemy but it always backs off the distance to 3 kilometers.

Can't the autopilot give me a little assistance, just a little? I wonder if I can get the target on my lift line whether the autopilot can pull just the right amount of G's to put me on the TLD and also keep me within 1 kilometer so the computed TLD will hit the target. I can get close to a hit but not quite exact enough. I wonder if there is an auto pilot option that just tries to get to the TLD quickly. The AI pilots are so good and tricky, I really need it.

[Supreme Cmdr]

Hi and welcome first time poster!

The AP is not there as a dogfighting aid. It is a flight aid. As such, it will always keep a safe distance from the target. That target depends on the size of your craft and the size of the target. This is why it won't get too close.

Also, for missile engagements, the MTAR is your best friend.