bulletdrop

[DviddLeff]

Check out this great tactics site I found the other day (after I had done all the work on mine... ) which has a nice diagram which I will show here:

[Littleman]

While another discussion of how bullets work is always interesting, despite that it should be common sense, my question is if Planetside 2 actually follows the physics of the bullet starting from the point the bullet leaves the barrel or will we have a grace distance before the bullet actually starts to drop so we non-military types (y'know... most gamers) don't need to worry about what range our sights are set at.

Judging by the videos, I'm going with there being a grace distance.

I'm also curious if bullets do less damage the further out they go. As if the DD and already iffy accuracy of assault rifles even while crouched towards targets 75+ meters out wasn't discouraging enough in Planetside 1...

[CyclesMcHurtz]

Originally Posted by DviddLeff

Check out this great tactics site I found the other day (after I had done all the work on mine... ) which has a nice diagram which I will show here:

Nice diagram!

On a side note - there are a couple of definitions, but Point Blank range is usually (not by the CSI generation) considered any time before the drop past line-of-sight. Maximum Point Blank Range is the point at which you have to compensate for the actual drop of the bullet.

(for the record, I would not be considered a gun nut but I would be a terrible coder if I didn't learn what physics were involved - don't you think?)

[Alderego]

True, it would be quite odd to code something you don't understand.

I do hope you got some hands-on experience courtesy of SOE too? You know, just to know what it "should feel like"?

[DviddLeff]

So are we looking at ballistic weapons behaving like in that diagram or like it just fires out "flat" and falls below the line of sight from the moment it leaves the gun?

[Niemand]

I would like to see a lase range finder scope that trades off targeting time for correcting for bullet drop

[Robert089]

Would be nice if we could zero our weapons sights like in ArmA II if we know the distances we are shooting at instead of just aiming above our targets.

[Marsgrim]

Originally Posted by CyclesMcHurtz

Nice diagram!

On a side note - there are a couple of definitions, but Point Blank range is usually (not by the CSI generation) considered any time before the drop past line-of-sight. Maximum Point Blank Range is the point at which you have to compensate for the actual drop of the bullet.

(for the record, I would not be considered a gun nut but I would be a terrible coder if I didn't learn what physics were involved - don't you think?)

The real question though is this Cycles:

Is Auraxis gravity the same or equivalent to Earth gravity - are you coding for 9.81m/s^2!?!?! If Auraxis pulls a higher G then range is reduced :P

[Erendil]

Originally Posted by DviddLeff

So are we looking at ballistic weapons behaving like in that diagram or like it just fires out "flat" and falls below the line of sight from the moment it leaves the gun?

From all of TB's footage (both E3 and Night Ops) it looks like sights are zeroed such that bullets drop below LoS right out of the barrel or shortly thereafter and don't ever rise above LoS except due to weapon kick-recovery.

Originally Posted by Robert089

Would be nice if we could zero our weapons sights like in ArmA II if we know the distances we are shooting at instead of just aiming above our targets.

Meh I don't think I'd want weapons setup like that by default. This isn't a milsim and it'd probably be too tedious and/or confusing for players not familiar w/ firearms to have to keep track of where their weapons are zeroed.

I think it'd be a good unlock/custimization tho.

[Electrofreak]

Originally Posted by kaffis

I don't know whether CyclesMcHurtz is a gun nut or has had any formal firearms training, but...


Physics 101 for the win. This is all stuff some simple Newtonian physics would cover, and probably even see used in textbook examples!

9.8 meters per second squared is the rate of acceleration for bullet drop, and is why at longer ranges bullet drop is more drastic, as it's falling at a greater rate of speed as every fraction of a second passes.

OFC the rate of drop caps out at terminal velocity (dependent upon the coefficient of friction of the bullet and the thickness of the atmosphere IIRC) but it seems unlikely a bullet will hit that drop velocity without hitting the ground first.

...and that Physics class was over 10 years ago, I guess I did learn something when I was in school!

EDIT - Looks like Marsgrim already mentioned it and made a good point; Auraxis gravity may not be equivalent to Earth's, particularly given how high everyone can jump.

Originally Posted by Robert089

Would be nice if we could zero our weapons sights like in ArmA II if we know the distances we are shooting at instead of just aiming above our targets.

As a sniper I would love to be able to adjust my sight!

[gigafunk]

As the bullet goes farther, it slows. It still falls at the same rate, but since the bullet is going slower(velocity reduced), it drops more with less foward distance covered. So really, the drop doesnt get more drastic, the distance the bullet travels gets less drastic compared to the drop as it slows.

I dont know if I said it right, its hard to describe.

[Ratstomper]

Originally Posted by gigafunk

As the bullet goes farther, it slows. It still falls at the same rate, but since the bullet is going slower(velocity reduced), it drops more with less foward distance covered. So really, the drop doesnt get more drastic, the distance the bullet travels gets less drastic compared to the drop as it slows.

I dont know if I said it right, its hard to describe.

You got it right.

Another thing alot of people don't think about is the fact that bullet rise and drop is in relation to a horizontal plane while adjusting for distance. No bullet actually rises above the level (axis) of the barrel, it only drops from there. The bullet drop in relation to the barrel is almost instant, but (as you said) seems more drastic over long distance. Not because the bullet drops faster, but because the bullet is de-excellerating due to environmental factors, making the drop seem more vertical.

That is, for real guns (I don't consider myself a gun nut either, but I've done my fair share of shooting). I'm sure there are a lot of other things to take into consideration when making a viable and intuitive shooting system in a game.