Aiming the guns

[Penta]

Yes, the deck gun. The AA gun.

Despite my best efforts, I cannot seem to score a hit with either.

It's intensely frustrating.

Is there any sort of autoaiming mod, perhaps more competent than crew aiming?

[Zantham]

You should be diving from planes... not shooting at them!!!
Planes are very hard to hit, especially the small planes. Best to wait until they are flying straight at you or away from you at close range before firing. This is the only time i have a chance to hit them. Usually the faster firing light AA is better than the slower firing heavy AA (spray 'n' pray). And dont forget you can zoom in your gun camera with your mouse wheel. The mods you are running can also make a huge difference in how hard it is to shoot planes down.

Deck gun, also remember you can zoom in twice. You will need to determine approximate range. If the seas are even a little rough this can cause your deck gun to bob and will cause more misses especially at longer ranges. While its possible to hit a ship 8km out, I never use it more than 4km, and even then I try to get within 2km. Shoot for the waterline, you should see a splash then a flash. If you get splash no flash you need to increase your gun elevation, if you get flash and no splash then drop your elevation a little. Also shooting at a low angle (straight over the bow or stern) your gun is more stable than if its pointing 90 degrees off the side of your boat, and presents a smaller target to your enemy if they are shooting back. Again deck gun usefulness is largely dependant on what mods you are running.

[Rockin Robbins]

AA guns are for plugging sampans, Bilge Rat!:arrgh!: Welcome to SUBSIM, by the way.:up:

AA guns are also a good place to hang laundry and great props to lean against when someone is taking your picture!:rotfl:And everybody's avatar is a Bilge Rat for the first several posts. The only possible mobility is up!:yep:

[piersyf]

The deck gun on a sub is not stabilised. This means the poor sap on the sights has to hold the target on the vertical line of the graticule and wait for the roll of the boat to bring the horizontal line on target. There's a slight lag before the projectile leaves the barrel so that has to be allowed for as well. At least in SHIV we don't have to deal with that (although seeing underwater through the deck gun sights is freaky). One thing I do like is that I've had the sights knocked out of alignment in the game. Rounds flying a good 1/4 of the way out along the horizontal line from centre. Pleasing to still smack that sucker, allowing for the off sights, the zig zagging target etc... The 4" gun can lob a round about 12000yds. On a calm day you can hit anything where you can see the shell splashes (walk the range out to target in about 200 to 400yd increments... but get a rough range from the nav map or sonar first). In reality, a slow fat target like a merchantman can be hit regularly from about 5000yds or less on a very calm sea. In general ballistic terms, for low angle fire you are limited to about a 3 second time of flight, or about 2400yds in the case of the 4". For hitting point targets on the vessel (bridge, masts and gantries etc) get to about 2000yds or less. My last patrol I scored 6 ships. Only 2 of those I hit with torps (finished them off with the deck gun) the other 4 were totally gun kills. I think the game performs pretty close to what I'd expect from the real deal, if not entirely in the presentation. Maybe being ex artillery helps... Piers