THIS ARTICLE IS A CUT AND PASTE OF SEVERAL ARTICLES, MOST FROM THE WB TRAINING SITE. I ADDED THE GRAPHIC HELP WITH SCREEN SHOTS, AND PUT MY PERSONAL COMMENTS IN RED.
Go into the Control Panel and double click on the Game Controllers icon. Go to the Advanced tab and note the Poll with Interrupts enabled check box (if it is listed). In some instances, controllers work best with this box checked, but usually you would want this unchecked. Many have reported erratic joystick movement in online play with this enabled. ( this was my problem - offline was smooth in a bounce on a bandit, but online, while flying was ok, fine aiming was 'bouncy' )
Windows 9x Calibration
The next step is to calibrate your joystick components.
Go back to the General tab of the Game Controllers, and click the Properties button. If you have rudder pedals, be sure to check that option.
Click on the Calibrate button and follow the instructions.
When you have finished calibrating your controllers, go to the Test tab and make sure all the components are functioning properly, including joystick buttons and hat.
WarBirds Calibrating
You've calibrated in Windows, now launch this
programs and calibrate AGAIN - this is a unique Warbirds only calibration. It is saved in a file called 'wstick.cfg' in your
Warbirds/settings directory. Before doing anything, backup a copy of your
current file, in case you F it up.
Krauts utility is a great program, at http://www.crazytools.de/optistickwb/ ....or get it HERE.
Use the Kraut utility, and follow the prompts. Run your controllers thru their paces and follow the directions.
Then go to the load/ save tab, load the wstick.cfg file by browsing to it and clicking ok.
Now more tabs will become available. Go to the calibration tab and follow the directions, hitting the 3 buttons in sequence.
Now comes the roll, climb, rudder, and throttle tabs.
WINDOWS STICK SCALING
The default values are pretty close, but depending on your flying style and joystick, may need a little tweaking. WHY?
Windows 95 joystick routines assume your controllers move from 0 (zero) to 65535 -- this is a translation of the raw values, but Windows has trouble calibrating joysticks, so even top-end controllers usually only read up to 61000 - Some of them don't go down all the way to zero, either.
WarBirds assumes that your controls go from 0-64k also ... but Warbirds put in parameters anyway, alongside the ones you have access to normally, like stick scaling and dampening.
Here are some recommendations from the WB Training Site that worked for me.
Roll - Leave the settings at 100% across the board. Setting Damper and Deadband to the lowest setting is best. If you find that Autotrim won't stay on, or that you are getting spikes in aileron movement, increase the Deadband slider slightly.
CLIMB - In WarBirds, pitch is much more sensitive then roll. Here I would reduce the sliders somewhat. My own preference is to have to first slider (10 box) at about 50%, increasing the values in a straight line until a value of 100% is reached in the "60" box. This helps avoid those nasty stalls and spins, and can help gunnery too by keeping you from porpoising. Again, Damper should be at a minimum, but can be increased slightly to help avoid porpoising. Deadband should only be increased in case of spiking in the joystick pitch axis.
( this worked for me, it made the Spit much less of
a blackout machine, while still being just as maneuverable. The lower
first sliders make the initial yank of the stick not as severe as the final
travel of the stick. Now more stick movement = more g force being pulled, it
comes on more gradually.)
Yaw - If you have rudder pedals, this is a very important setting, and I would consider the most important of the three. The yaw axis is as sensitive as pitch in WarBirds, if not more so. Proper rudder feel and usage is crucial in advanced ACM maneuvers and gunnery. For myself, I have to first slider (10 box) at about 5%, increasing the values in a straight line until a value of 100% is reached in the "90" box. Damper and Deadband settings follow the rule as for pitch.
( myself, I was happy with my rudder imput, so I
left it and my throttle alone. If it aint broke, dont fix it. )
WHEN YOUR DONE, GO BACK TO THE LOAD/SAVE TAB AND SAVE THE FILE AS WSTICK.CFG IN YOUR WB/SETTINGS DIR.
These are only guidelines. Everyone has different components and feel for flying. Experiment with these settings until you have the feel you want. As your joystick gets older, or if you change your joystick, you may have to go in here and adjust these settings.
Another important thing to remember is that as your computer or components heat up, their calibrated values can change. This might show up as an inability to maintain hands-free level flight as soon as autotrim is disengaged.
WarBirds has a feature for this that I use quite regularly. It's the Center Joystick or [F12] key. The first thing I do upon going to a field is to have all components centered, and press the [F12] key. Then I'll start the engine and go off flying. I may do this several times a night. Anytime I feel that the calibration values have changed, or that the "pots are drifting".
I have seen REAL RESULTS with this. Gunnery
is easier and much more stable.
Sav
GUNNERY TIPS
In a nutshell, I have reasoned that part of our difficulty is flying different planes throughout the 21 day planeset. Early planes had .30 and .50 cals, cannon rounds, or .303 rifle rounds. WB models gunnery very realistically, in that there are definite differences in the ammo's range, velocity, rate of fire, etc. Each caliber ammo, like each individual aircraft, must be used in a certain way to be successful. What would be a perfect kill at D3 with 50's may be ineffective with .303's, and vice versa. Its not just the flight model, but the gunnery model as well that you must master. With the P38 coming out relatively early in the war, and its armament staying the same thru all models, our troubles should be lessened if we stick to our trusty Lightnings.
THE PROPER CONVERGENCE IS A BIG KEY TO SUCCESS, AS IS DISTANCE. READ ON. AFTER DOING THE TWEAKING AND READING THIS, I HAVE SEEN DEFINITE IMPROVEMENTS.
Fletchman's Guide to Better Gunnery
A short introduction to Gunnery Fundamentals
By Michael "Fletchman" Fletcher
Version 2.0 last updated April 4, 1998
Version 2.1 updated Jan 12, 2000
Copyright 1998,1999. This document may be downloaded and disseminated free
without restriction. Any use for profit is prohibited without permission of the
author. Web sites may link to this site freely, but any republication on the web
or elsewhere is not permitted without permission of the author.
Publication of edited, truncated versions without attribution are especially
frowned upon.
The implications of Warbirds gunnery changes
I suppose I have to preface this article with comments on the recent gunnery changes - changes which will no doubt be of great interest to the Warbirds pilot. How will version gunnery differ from 2.5 and earlier? Gunnery in Warbirds is more will closely model real world gunnery physics - much more so than ever before. Bullet dispersion, energy loss, and time-of-flight (TOF) effects on lead and deflection are all covered in meticulous detail. Version 2.5 is supposed to revamp the damage model and add penetration effects to the model. This will hopefully lead to a more realistic feel to the gunnery model as a whole.
Even 2.74 has already added gun dispersion. A simple definition of dispersion is that the flight path of the shells/bullets disperse from "laser beam" paths, and tend to spread out over distance. The end result is that fire at longer ranges is not that effective. This was not always the case in the past where 700 yard kills were possible provided you were a good shoot and willing to expend a great deal of ammunition.
Most of us are however relieved that the day easy long range kills, 500 yard deflection shots, and cheap shapshot and head-on kills are for the most part a thing of a thing of the past.
The pilot who follows historical attack parameters (short range shots with
minimal deflection) will win the day. The "spray and pray" shooter
will find his prospects for cheap kills dimmed or extinguished.
The great changes in the gunnery model of Warbirds version will have a
significant impact on how the game is played. ACM will become more
important than ever and kills will be tougher. Boom and Zoom pilots might mourn
the fact that their attack pass will take better preparation, but they will also
be happy to know that extending will be substantially easier. Not too many
pursuing planes are going to pop you at D9 (or even D6) in this version.
Turn and Burn fighters will have to work on their deflection shooting skills,
and easy snapshot kills will be harder.
In some respects this is a brave move. Making the gunnery model historically accurate essentially makes the game more difficult. That's a brave move for a game that already has a fairly steep learning curve for the average simulation pilot who is familiar with "yank and bank" turns with "wish em dead" arcade gunnery.
The Importance of Gunnery in Air Combat
Gunnery is usually rated very high on the list of essential skills for a Combat Pilot. Personally I would rate it just after basic flying skills and Situational Awareness (SA) in the hierarchy of skills. I rate gunnery above ACM maneuver skills. The simple argument of a famous W.W.I Ace being that good flying skills don't score kills - guns do!
The average Warbirds gunnery percentage hovers in the high 6% percent range. The top pilots have gunnery percentages 3-4 times higher in many cases. One of the reasons for their success is that they are very good shots, and can kill a lot of planes with one load of ammunition, and can knock out any one plane quickly.
The Realities of World War II Gunnery
Air to air gunnery is a complex subject, and as many in Warbirds have discovered, its not very easy to master! The pilot has to take many factors into account. Range, deflection, closure rate, gun and munitions type are just some of the factors that must be considered. The pilot is definitely constrained by the limits of the weapons system he tries to bring to bear on the enemy. World War II did not have "wish em dead" weapons or long range beyond the horizon missiles. The pilot has to operate within a certain constraints and use a defined set of rules in order to be successful, and those rules must take into account the strengths and weaknesses of the weapons, and to some extent the nature of the targets he is engaging.
The various types of guns and cannon that World War II planes mounted each had their own characteristics. Below is a list munitions and gun types and how I recommend employing them.
Light Caliber Machine Guns
This includes an entire class of guns which are roughly of "rifle" caliber. Many different caliber's were used (each with a different nomenclature depending on the combatant). This class of weapons are of marginal effectiveness due to their limited hitting power. Most countries phased these types of weapons out as the War went on. By War's end almost all aircraft carried heavy caliber machine guns or automatic cannon.
If you are flying a early Spitfire or Hurricane you have eight .303 machine guns, how should you employ them? While you have a very high rate of fire, the rounds lose energy very quickly and have weak hitting power. Munition types included ball, tracer and incendiary. Bullet drop is not a big factor at normal engagement ranges. These weapons require firing at very short range, and are pretty much useless over 200 yards! I would recommend a convergence and engagement ranges under 150 yards, with 200 yards being the absolute maximum range. Snapshots will prove largely ineffective due to bullet spread and lack of hitting power. Deflection shooting is possible at short ranges, but almost useless at longer ranges.
Heavy Caliber Machine Guns
These weapons were used by virtually all combatants. The most common caliber was .50, which equates to the 12.7mm nomenclature used by some countries. The USA armed almost all its aircraft with the .50 caliber machine gun. Munition types included ball, tracer, incendiary, and armor piercing. These weapons had a longer range and much greater hitting power than rifle caliber guns. The effective engagement ranges is under 400 yards, with really effective ranges being under 250 yards. While the heavy machine gun can engage at longer ranges than even cannon in some respects, bullet spread and energy loss will cause effectiveness to rapidly drop off. You can burn a lot of ammunition at long range without gaining much. As a general rule, if you are firing at ranges that exceed twice your set convergence you are essentially wasting your ammunition.
Recommended convergence: 150-275 yards. These guns require a sustained burst at or near convergence to be at their most effective. Getting in well inside convergence has its own set of problems for those planes which have to worry about convergence. Yes, your rounds are packing a huge kinetic wallop, but the fire pattern on the target is not the ideal one. Because the heavy machine guns do not have the explosive effect of cannon they rely almost exclusively on their kinetic energy to inflict damage. For this reason getting in tight is, as always, the best policy. A .50 caliber round at 50 yards packs about twice the punch as the same round at 400 yards.
Deflection shots are difficult but can be effective at ranges at or near convergence. The pilot who has only one type of gun (the 6x50's of the Mustang for example), doesn't have to worry about having different types of rounds with different ballistic characteristics all going down range at the same time. (e.g. mixed cannon and machine gun rounds - the rounds will have different rates of drop, time of flight, and energy loss etc.) This can make deflection shooting a bit easier, but it's only really effective near convergence. Snapshots are possible, but usually will not impart enough hits to inflict a catastrophic kill on the target. The most common scenario in a snapshot is a "lucky" hit on some vital component, or ideally the pilot. Since a large bank of these types of weapons throw a lot of rounds down range, the changes for such a "lucky" hit are somewhat better in planes with large banks of machine guns as opposed to those with just a few cannon.
Machine Cannon
Machine Cannon differ from normal machine guns in that they fire explosive rounds generally of greater caliber. The most common type was the ubiquitous 20 mm cannon. There were numerous models of cannon of the 20 mm type manufactured by all the combatants. The characteristics of these weapons could vary considerably, and their lethality generally improved as the War wore on. Other caliber's including 15 mm and 30 mm cannon were also used. This class of weapons strength was exceptional lethality, at the expense of lower ammunition supplies and a slightly lower rate of fire. (Most machine cannon had a rate of fire much closer to heavy machine guns than most people assume to be case.) There is even a super heavy class of cannon (from 37 mm to 50 mm) which saw sporadic employment. These massive killing potential of these weapons was offset by the practical difficulty of getting rounds on the target. These weapons had a much lower rate of fire, had limited ammunition, and their ballistics were pretty unfriendly to the realities of air-to-air combat. (i.e. its was difficult to get hits with them.) When these super heavy weapons were employed on aircraft they proved much more effective in the air-to-ground roll.
Machine Cannon are exceptionally lethal, but they do have their limitations. Most planes with .50 caliber guns deploy 6-8 guns apiece. Most cannon armed planes deploy 2 cannon, and in a few cases 4 cannon. So, while you have tremendous hitting power, you aren't going to have as many rounds going down range as a machine gun armed aircraft. You can do more damage, but you have a lower probability of getting hits.
Deflection shooting is generally harder; cannon effective range is limited by a larger bullet drop, and energy loss, which has a big impact on TOF and thus deflection. Energy loss (i.e. drop in speed) has a lower impact on the lethality of an explosive round than a machine gun round, but a cannon round that doesn't hit the target is useless regardless how powerful it is. The practical range for most machine cannon is about 400 yards. Ideally ranges should be much closer. I would recommend a convergence setting of about 175-250 yards. Ideally the cannon armed plane needs to attack with as low a deflection angle as possible. Deflection shooting is particularly difficult with these heavy rounds. Of course, if you do get hits you can do some dirt, but getting hits is not easy.
Other factors that affect cannon armed planes: Most cannon armed carry a secondary armament consisting of some type of machine gun. This means that the pilot has to deal with weapons that have different characteristics. For instance, a Spitfire that fires at a certain deflection angle versus a target might have ideal deflection to hit with his machine guns, but the cannon rounds might all miss because the ballistics of the cannon rounds are different than those of the machine gun rounds. In practical terms this means that the cannon armed plane has to fire at shorter range and lower deflection to gain maximum effectiveness. This also applies to long range fire. Trying to effectively get two different types of guns on target at long range can impose an almost insurmountable task to the pilot. For this reason the pilot should probably only choose to discharge one type of weapon for that "spray and pray" shot at longer ranges.
10 Steps to Better Gunnery
1. Set Convergence
Convergence is the range where all the bullets come together at a range set by the .conv command, or using the gun convergence window in the plane selection window. Warbirds kills are mostly score by destroying certain select areas of a target plane as quickly as possible. Ideally, the "cigar" part of the aircraft should be targetted. That is, the portion containing the pilot, engine and other vital components. To localize fire on one particular area is usually much more effective than spreading the bullets all over the target. Hitting the target plane at the set convergence will allow the pattern of bullets to be at their densest and fire will be at its most destructive. Convergence is an important factor in all planes which carry their guns in the wings. For planes which carry their guns mostly in the nose, cowling, or even in the wing roots near the fuselage, convergence is not as important, but can still play a moderate role. This is particularly evident in a plane such as the P38, where convergence is not a major issue.
For planes, which carry almost all their guns in the outer wings convergence can play a very big factor. This is especially true for the .50 caliber machine gun armed planes which generally must rely on a sustained burst of converged fire to destroy an enemy plane.
Convergence is largely a matter of taste. The range largely depends on at what range the shooter normally feel comfortable firing at enemy planes. Ranges of 150-300 yards are fairly common. For a beginner I would recommend as short a range as they can manage. Convergence should also be configured depending on the type of armament a plane has. For planes with rifle caliber ammunition convergence should be set well within 200 yards.
Convergence also affects shooting at extreme ranges. Generally fire at twice the set convergence is possible with some degree of effectiveness. The bullets from a guns at set 250 yards would merge at 250 and then again begin to spread out. When the bullets reach 500 yards they would have the same dispersion from wing to wing as they started out with. Therefore, the pattern of fire is actually a crossing "X" pattern. Firing at over twice the set convergence will see most of the bullets dispersing, so fire would rapidly dwindle in effectiveness.
2. Establish gun sight parameters
Warbirds has a customizable gun sight. The custom gun sights can be used by inserting specialized gun sight files into the Warbirds directory. These can be set to a default setting for all planes, or players can even set gun sights for a particular plane. Directions on the specifics of this are in the Warbirds help files.
Generally the sight should have guides to establish bore sight (center of aim) information, and it can also include guides on deflection and range information.
3. Plan an effective gun pass or attack
Most new pilots do not properly set up a good attack before they start
shooting. They will rush into an attack from any angle and/or rate of closure
and hose away. Obviously this results in a low probability of success.
Before pulling the trigger the good pilot sets up an effective attack that has
at least a fair chance of success. Patience is the key here. Fire only
when the attack has a reasonable probability of success. A planned out
attack with a high probability of success is different from the
"snap-shot". (A short burst with minimal set-up time or warning.) For
the most part snap-shots are of very short duration. Many new pilots tend
to mash the trigger for long periods on low probability shots. This
obviously leads to a "0" on the ammo counter quite quickly!
4. Estimate rate of closure
Closure rate is an important factor in gunnery because it indicates how much time you have to set up the shot and to actually shoot. As a general rule the higher the rate of closure the shorter the firing window will be, and the lower the rate of closure the more time you have to shoot. Most beginners pay little heed to closure. Again as a general rule if you are closing on the target at 75 yards a second or faster you are closing too fast. That gives you maybe 2 seconds to begin effectively acquiring the targets and many 2 or 3 to actually shoot. Two or 3 seconds of fire opportunity may seem like a a lot, but that is missing the point. The key is the time allowed to aquire the shot. Most pilots can effectively begin to "frame" the target up in the gun sight from maybe 4-700yards out on a gun pass. (Depending on eyesight and pilot.)
The Military has various gunnery "rules of thumb" for the firing of rifles. One of these is that it takes 3 seconds for a soldier to aquire and aim at a target. This rule transfers to the air to air gunnery to some extent. If the pilot has less set up time than 3-5 seconds the shot is actually more in the realm of a snap-shot, and that type of shooting has its own set of rules, and a lower probability of success.
5. Estimate deflection
A big mistake made by beginners is that they fire before they have a fair estimation of the deflection (or "lead") on the target. Then they compound the mistake by "spray and pray" techniques. They try to "walk" the bullets into the target using the tracers as a guide for correcting their fire. This is very wasteful of ammunition. If the pilot is unsure of how much "lead" is needed he could fire a very short "ranging" burst to give him some clue as the required amount of lead. As a general rule, the greater the apparent deflection angle appears to be, the shorter the firing range should be. Long range shots with large amounts of deflection are by definition very low probability shots.
Estimating the lead on a turning target is most often learned by simply repetitive practice. The gun sight can be some help, but not much, since the number of G's you are pulling will also determine how much lead you may have to apply. This factor is very difficult to determine on Warbirds.
Again, as a general rule, if you are "saddled up" on a bogie in a high-G turn the range should be extremely short before you pull the trigger. Personally I hardly ever fire at over 200 yards in such a situation, and often wait till the range is much closer. If the bogie is "below the nose" of your plane the range should be under 100 yards as a general rule. Killing shots at an unseen bogie below the nose of the plane actually has a fair chance of success at very short range, but takes quite a bit of practice to perfect!
Another area that I might want to mention is general plane orientation in regards to the target. The most effective shot is the one where your wing orientation in 3 dimensions is roughly the same as your targets.
6. Fire at short range
Beginners often fire at ranges up to 1000 yards as a routine. They open fire much too soon and don't even bother setting up the shot before hand. Not only does this waste ammunition, but it brands them as a beginner. A veteran pilot will see this as a sign of weakness, and mark that plane as a likely easy kill in the future! (One more reason not to adopt this dubious technique!)
As a general rule, I recommend ranges of 250 yards or less - 400 on the outside, and then only if the target is straight and level (in a possible pursuit situation). Fire at two times the set convergence is possible. Firing at ranges beyond will prove to be a waste of ammunition for the most part.
7. Fire a short burst
The other cardinal sin of gunnery is firing in bursts of excessive length. One half second bursts are an acceptable standard. Bursts of longer duration are allowed only when you are almost 100% sure you have the guy bore sighted dead-on. Then stretch the bursts to maybe 1 second duration! This, and the excessive range problem, are the two biggest wasters of ammunition in gunnery by far. Correct those two factors and you will soon be out of the gunnery basement.
Sticking like glue to the "250 yard, 1/2 second burst" rules of thumb is almost a sure ticket to a much better gunnery percentage. If you take nothing else out of this essay to the arena, take that guide.
8. Assess effectiveness
After firing your burst, take a break from the trigger and check your results. Were there flashes on the bogie indicating hits? If you missed, how much did you miss by?
9. Adjust fire
Before mashing the trigger again, adjust your aim! The beginner will often over control the adjustment to fire in his excitement! Compensate for the this tendency with patience and a firm but light hand on the stick. Remember that unless you missed by a country mile, the firing adjustments will probably be minor ones. This is not the time to be horsing the stick about while spraying bullets all over the sky! Beginners especially need to learn not to rush things when they are "saddled up" on the target. Be patient and stick to the basics. Trying to rush the kill will most likely lead to a blown opportunity, not a Kill.
10. Repeat steps 6 through 9!
The next step is to "repeat as necessary!" the steps of solid
gunnery
fundamentals.
If you gunnery is mired in the under 10% range you are most likely simply not applying some simple fundamental rules of gunnery. Warbirds ammunition doesn't grow on trees, and effective fire duration varies from plane to plane - anywhere from 5 seconds to about 30 seconds of total fire. But the number of bullets allowed per sortie is finite. Making the bullets count is what its all about, and better gunnery is bound to improve your overall results in the arena regardless of how much you improve in other areas.
For an excellent technical look at gunnery please go to Ogre's Gunnery Page . I highly recommend reading through his in-depth study.