In ground sim if you set range in one view mode and then shoot in another you’ll always miss.
Ranging parallax
Just like gunner sight parallax, there is a ranging parallax that happens because of how optics and crew are physically spaced around your vehicle. Due to this spacing, you get slightly different ranges and barrel adjustments from each optic and crew position.
This ranging parallax effects both manual and automatic ranging (via laser rangefinders). I haven’t seen this specific aspect of ranging parallax get much attention.
Here’s a test drive example demonstrating ranging parallax. I shoot at the corner of a bunker vent with HEATFS in a 2S25M. I laser rangefind from the same position to the same target in two different view modes and get two different impact points.
If you play ground sim and often use binoculars or set range in other view modes, this might be why you’ve unexpectedly overshot your target.
Gameplay examples
Here’s some common gameplay examples:
- You laser rangefind a target in binocular mode and shoot in sniper mode. You overshoot your target because of ranging parallax.
- You set range manually in binocular view and shoot in sniper mode. You overshoot your target because of ranging parallax.
- You reset range while scanning for targets in external camera. You shoot a target in sniper mode and overshoot because of ranging parallax.
- You set range to a target in commander view (???) and switch to sniper mode to shoot. You overshoot the target because of ranging parallax.
- You reset range while scanning for targets in external camera. You switch to sniper mode and reset range again. Your crosshair “jumps” unexpectedly because of ranging parallax.
Explanation
Here’s details on why this happens:
Explanation
view modes
You can set range from four different view modes. Each view mode has a different position or sight on your vehicle.
- sniper mode (gunner sight)
- binocular view (binocular position)
- commander view (commander sight)
- external camera (binocular position)
gun adjustment
When you set range, your gun will move and adjust according to that range. Because each view mode has a distinct position on your vehicle, the gun will move and adjust a different amount for each.
For example, if the gunner sight is 1.5 meters forwards and 3 meters left of the binocular position, the ranges you measure/set will reflect that. This means the amount your gun adjusts will also be different.
Here’s a .gif of a 2S25M in test drive. You can see that setting range form each view mode leads to a distinct barrel adjustment.
bore offsets
The parallax for each view mode is due to bore offset distance. This is the distance from the sight to the bore.
Here’s a 2S25M in hangar and the different bore offsets for each view mode.
result
So because each view mode has a distinct bore offset distance you get a different barrel adjustment when setting range to the same target.
Even resetting range from each view mode gives a distinct barrel adjustment.
This doesn’t happen in other gamemodes because you look down the barrel in sniper mode, so the barrel adjustment doesn’t matter (I think). It will happen in other modes if you play with “Camera from tank gunner sight” enabled.
Current workaround
For older vehicles, avoid setting range when not in sniper mode.
For LRF equipped vehicles, change to gunner sights before ranging completes.
- Switch to binoculars
- Aim at target
- LRF from binoculars
- Before LRF finishes, quickly switch to sniper mode
Gaijin fix?
Does this seem like an oversight? In the context of this game, it doesn’t really make sense to range a target and get different results without moving.
You can set range from four view modes but only shoot from two. Why do you get a unique range from binocular view when you can’t even shoot from that mode? Even in WW2 vehicles, the fire control system should automatically adjust for this.
As a fix, should setting range always adjust the gun for the gunner sight offset?
(rip commander view sim players)