Ships equipped with rangefinders and gun directors should feature three distinct types of sights:
Binoculars
Gun Director
Rangefinder
Targeting sequence could work as follows:
Initial spotting – You use binoculars to locate targets. When you press the “Lock on Target” key, the rangefinders and main guns will start tracking the selected target. You can still freely use your binoculars to observe the battlefield.
The selected target would not be highlighted in any artificial way — the only indicator would be the rangefinder’s focus on it.
Rangefinding – Switching to the rangefinder view allows you to see your target (unless it’s obscured by a smokescreen, an island, or other ships).
Use the mouse scroll to adjust and determine the target’s range.
Firing solution – Once you believe the range is correct, press the “Lock on Target” key again. At this point, the ballistic computer begins calculating the firing solution.
The goal is to keep range readings accurate.
The player would need to make constant range adjustments, with the ability to move guns horizontally if the target’s course changes unpredictably.
This system would still feel somewhat “arcade” in accessibility but would require more attention and situational awareness. It would also prevent unrealistic “snapshots,” giving the impression of operating a complex warship rather than simply steering a floating platform with guns.
AI gunners spotting – AI gunners should not automatically fire upon sighting a target. Instead, they should only report when a target enters their engagement range. The player would then decide whether to engage by pressing a bound key — similar to the mechanic used for “thanking for help with repairs.”
My point was that lots of the times AI gunners work as early warning system, shooting at and sinking ships without effort on the part of the player. This, in my opinion made any sneaking attack impossible. I would go even further and baned all Independent actions from AI gunners, replacing them with “target spotted” notification, followed by player manualy asigning spotted target to be shot
Yeah, just axe AI gunners from any non-arcade game mode. It’s impossible to make AI “balanced” - either it can’t hit the broad side of a barn and you die or it’s the Iron Dome, with nothing in between.
Which parts would you change?
Cause the way I ment it was:
Spawn and Survey: You spawn and look around using either third-person view or binoculars.
Target Acquisition: If you spot your target through the binoculars, you lock onto it by pressing the designated lock target key or, similar to ground battles, by simply clicking on the target.
Switch to Rangefinder View: After locking the target, you switch to the rangefinder view either by pressing a specific key or it switches automatically upon clicking the target.
Set the Range: You adjust the range by scrolling the mouse wheel
Fire Control Calculation: Once the range is set, the fire control computer begins calculating the firing solution.
Firing and Adjustments: When the firing solution is ready, you can fire. After firing, you make corrections to the range and target course using your mouse and mouse wheel to improve accuracy.
I am not sure I agree with your execution of the system, but I strongly agree that the aiming needs a change.
First of all, the enemy only shows as spotted (ship/player name shown) inside your spotting range (which should be reduced to around 10km), with some adjustments depending on ship size.
Introducing natural elements like stormy waters, fog, rain should reduce visibility. SHIPS SHOULD ALWAYS BE RENDERED!
They should just be harder to see.
RADAR must be introduced, you can’t just bundle everything up and call it “rangefinder and fire systems”.
I don’t care if the controls get as complex as top tier aircraft radars.
With that change the aiming should become harder and shots less accurate, but also more devastating.
If it was up to me I also wouldn’t judge the ship BR based on the thickness of armor and size of barrels. Radar would play a mighty role here. You have light tanks that can’t penetrate heavy tanks in ground, why would it be so frowned upon to match destroyers with dreadnoughts?
Make players use their heads for movement to creep upon enemies and torp them, or just use those destroyers for intelligence/spotting and air support.
