Increase splash damage on mounted guns

**Tempus** · 05-19-2006, 09:48 AM

Guns like the .50 on top of humvee's, etc. were hard enough to use in vanilla when we had the crosshairs, but now that they're gone, it's harder than ever. Fixed placement guns should be fearsome, but presently it is easier for a soldier to shoot the gunner out than it is for the gunner to hit that soldier.

So, my suggestion is to increase the splash damage on these guns to help make up for the difficulty in aiming and to make them the feared weapon they are intended to be.

**SmokingTarpan** · 05-19-2006, 10:39 AM

Hmm... I understand the difficulty with aiming these things, and it frustrates the hell out of me (the tip/sights of the .50 cal nowhere near match where the bullets go). I don't like the idea of adding splash damage to bullets, though. Enough damage is done when you get winged, I don't want to have some guy able to spray the wall above or next to me for 5sec and get a kill for not ever hitting me; bad enough that the APC's do that.

**kin3** · 05-19-2006, 11:41 AM

I don't know about splash damage but a machine gun should be a feared weapon and you should have to use tactics to take them out.

**KeithMann** · 05-19-2006, 12:18 PM

Mounted MGs should indeed be formidable weapons, and right now they indeed are not. I'd be in favour of putting the crosshairs back in. Failing that, how about more (and/or more visible) tracers?

**WhiskeySix** · 05-19-2006, 12:53 PM

or what about just increasing the damage per round? a .50 cal round should do a LOT more damage than a bullet from an assault rifle or pistol...

**Rick_the_new_guy** · 05-19-2006, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by KeithMann

Mounted MGs should indeed be formidable weapons, and right now they indeed are not. I'd be in favour of putting the crosshairs back in. Failing that, how about more (and/or more visible) tracers?

I agree with this.

**freff** · 06-01-2006, 09:34 PM

Would it be possible to adjust the eyepoint when using the 50 cals so the sight is more on target?

**Tempus** · 06-02-2006, 12:00 PM

We all seem to agree that something needs to be done with these guns. Sadly, it's more effective to just drive up close to a person and then jump out and use your regular gun to kill them than it is to try to use the gun mounted on top of the vehicle.

**asch** · 06-02-2006, 12:17 PM

When we get a chance, we do want to look at the tracers. We just haven't had time to get to them.

Personally, I don't have a problem with the .50 cals. I practiced for five minutes in SP. I can see the tracers and the impact points to know where I'm hitting. I'm not 100% positive, but in regards to the sights I wouldn't expect anyone to be using them. It's not like you would be putting your head down near the weapon. If it's a problem of hitting targets off in the distance I also wouldn't expect great to be able to line the weapon up.

If you're going up against a sniper at a distance, I would expect the sniper to win. You may be able to suppress them or even spray and kill them, but I wouldn't expect the sniper to be an easy target.

So are people having problems hitting targets at (short/med/long) range?

Are you having problems seeing where you're hitting?

Are you having problems lining up that first strike?

**Beatnik** · 06-02-2006, 12:24 PM

My squad was defending the Suburbs CP on Karkand last night. While the rest of my squad defended south, I got on the mounted MG on top of the building and spent a few minutes trying to get the feel of the gun at different distances (this was far from my first time trying to experiment with the MG). It seems like at different distances (at least from a position up high on top of the CP), the bullets arrive at different points above the sight, i.e. closer to the sight at short range, higher off the site at longer range.

So after practicing for a few minutes, a support guy reached the top of the hill. I sprayed him, shot all around him, he stayed prone and killed me at medium range with not much effort. I'd say that the MG position was...less than intimidating. I didn't touch another MG that round. Those things are death traps now.

**E0_** · 06-02-2006, 12:42 PM

I thought it was just me, but I can't hit a thing with them. IMHO they are almost useless in TacMod. I don't like the idea of splash damage, but better aiming seems a must.

**SgtDuke** · 06-02-2006, 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by Beatnik

It seems like at different distances (at least from a position up high on top of the CP), the bullets arrive at different points above the sight, i.e. closer to the sight at short range, higher off the site at longer range.

I think the sights are pretty worthless, except for maybe horizontal alignment and a general sense of direction. Once you start firing you have to watch the tracers and bullet impacts and adjust your aim based on those.

**Tempus** · 06-02-2006, 05:38 PM

For me, the accuracy at close- to mid- range is terrible. A similar problem exists in vanilla: drive a vodnik about 20 feet away and open fire on someone, and you're more likely than not to miss him altogether, while he will surely shoot you out of your chair. That's why I proposed more splash damage.

**Coridon** · 06-02-2006, 05:57 PM

I don't think splash damage is the answer. I'm with Duke and Asch...spend a little time in single player and you get used to aiming the .50s pretty quickly. I hardly ever touch those wimpy .30s because they don't have much hitting power and their spread is too great.

During last Thursdays TacMod I was able to help defend a particular flag on Mashtuur by parking my Humvee far away from the flag and putting accurate fire onto it. Multiple times MEC rushed the flag with vodniks, and even though it was 2 vs. 1 you could tell they didn't have much practice and couldn't successfully return fire with their own .50 cals.

I'm pretty sure if you added splash damage then nothing would make it past the guys that have put in a lot of practice with the .50s, and you would see complaints in the other direction.

About the only thing I'd tweak is making the tracers more visible, especially against bright skies.

**WhiskeySix** · 06-02-2006, 07:40 PM

one interesting thing I noticed the other day when playing w/ graphics settings is that the ammo can on the side of the .50's actually describes the tracer load-out of the belt... it says something like "4:1" on it.. i then fired it and counted, and sure enough.. 4 rounds and then a tracer! thought it was pretty cool....