Did you notice that the reflector sights we have in the game are not in correct proportions? For example, the big ring on the reflector sight Mk.2 found on many British aircraft is about 2.5 times smaller than it is in real life. These sizes are not random; they help with aiming and measuring the distance to the target. It’s sad that this isn’t implemented correctly. Many, if not all, sights in the game have incorrect sizes.
9 Likes
Here is a coparison of a real life and game (note how propeller balde could fit twice inside the ring, but game version allow to fit only one)
Here we can see part of RAF manual
and in game example showing that its 200 yards when FW 190 fills the ring.
It’s not only making rangefinding easier, but the ring also helps a lot with deflection shooting. The size of the ring matters a lot.
Here is a really good video describing the advantages of learning proper sight usage.
here is the link for RAF manual “https://www.raf662.org/docs/Bag%20the%20Hun%20(RAF%20Gunnery%20Manual).pdf”
7 Likes
Does changing convergence before flight and enabling vertical targetting do anything to the sight sizes?
I’ve been told on WarthunderSim sub that apparently some gunsights change with your convergence settings.
Sadly, no. Currently, the sights are just 2D textures, and there is no way to dynamically change their size.
There are lot of incorrect info beeing shared on reddit that gets upvoted. Its best to not trust anything and check it yourself.
3 Likes
Example of german REVI sight in game that too have wrong proportions.
Spitfire is ± 160m away while filling full ring.
Using the REVI (100 mils sight) to calculate distance is quite easy: simply take the target’s wingspan, multiply it by how many times it fills the ring, and then multiply that by 10. (see offical manual from ww2)
Here is a caclulation of shown sitiation
Spitfire wing span = 11m, enemy fills the ring once
11 x 1 x 10 = 110m
So according to calculations, the Spitfire should be 110 meters away, but the game shows 160.
Knowing the mils and target size allows you to estimate range using the stadiametric rangefinding technique, which is very helpful, for example, when engaging with Wfr. Gr. 21 rockets with a ranged fuse.
Here you can find german gunnery manual from 1944: https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Vorschriften/Schiessfibel.pdf
And again very good video from the same channel about REVI sight
And second video about Wfr. Gr. 21 rockets, note how important is finding range.
1 Like
Many of the sights are wrong. Years ago I had made reports about the hs129 B2 and IL2 bomb sights, but those went nowhere as Gaijin are clearly more interested in jets than ww2 props
1 Like
Tried to zero it, but user plane gunsights are buggy as hell, only devs can fix this properly. If i got it right it is 68,75% too small. T34 range find also seemed ok with bigger sight. I can also make british one bigger but it will be as bugged as this one:
2 Likes
Ah, so you found THAT particular bug too!
If you edit sights the will end up tiled on the reflective surface. Not a biggie on older/smaller sights, very annoying in larger sights…
See Tiled custom gunsights for aircraft // Gaijin.net // Issues
From what i researched it is bug from atleast 2016, one guy claimed to fix it on war thunder live but he only made sights smaller so it doesnt duplicate so much.
Shame, but same as every plane sight, not working correctly.
1 Like
I just wish I could make the sights more visible in VR. But this bug is getting in the way. Maybe it is not a bug just a misconfiguration?
and REALLY bad textures at that… they look like jpgs with shitty compression when you zoom in…
1 Like
It is their issue i opened their file with DXTViewer and set it up like asset viewer exports it and it didnt work, tried to export it on every way that is available in GIMP but nothing worked.
You can export it via CDK and without editing add it to your skin, and it does also show the bug.
The bug imho goes further, not only are the sights the wrong size, they are also off, as in pointing somehwere where the bullets aren’t even going.
It also affects the gyro sights in my experience, as they seem to hit where the pipper is pointing, even in a low angle off, low g tracking shot. (literally below 2G)
Catwerfer made a nice video explaining the issue.
This makes gunnery a chore and a game of chance compared to other games or sims.
1 Like
I have created a resized version of the Soviet PBP-1 gunsight, as the default in-game model is noticeably undersized. The modification offers two variants:
- Historical – scaled to realistic proportions
- Non-historical – includes 10° and 20° deflection rings for additional functionality
The purpose of this modification is to make historical aiming instructions and rangefinding methods usable in-game. More details, installation instructions, and images can be found in the post linked below:
Sight–> WT Live // Sight by Rohland24
This is a example of sight in game
This is comparison of size with default sight
If you also think that the sights in War Thunder should be changed, please click “I have the same issue!” Here is the link to the bug report on the game’s support page: Community Bug Reporting System
…now if only custom sights were not bugged…
I know that because of the current bug this sight doesn’t look great and most players probably won’t use it. My main goal is to draw the attention of the simulation community, spark discussion, and encourage people to support the linked bug reports so Gaijin finally takes notice. In both my Reddit and WT Live posts, I’ve linked the two main reports: mine about the incorrect gunsight scaling, and yours about the duplication bug. I’m trying to bring more attention to these issues because I’ve been playing War Thunder since before tanks were even added, and I truly care about the game. Only recently did I decide to take action instead of just waiting and hoping for a fix.