With model, I meant what physical factors are taken account in the "flight" model? For example, how is the ship direction controlled, small thrusters scattered around the hull or thrust-vectoring engines at the back? Also, would you like to factor in the human tolerance for the accelerations, with the maximum of say 9g's?
If so, the fighters cannot use yaw to change their heading quickly (human will have difficulties to withstand acceleration in this direction), but first they need to bank to correct angle (so that both turn in the same plane), and then pull as hard back as possible (pitch control). The difference between flight simulator and this is that in space the speed will not drop, and a constant g can be kept up.
Also, the mass of each fighter has an important role, if there is no fuel, the fighter will continue to whatever direction it was going, with no chance of turning or accelerating. Each maneuver will take its share of fuel, and the amount of fuel and ordnance dictates the turn performance of any fighter. Which could lead to several interesting things in dogfights, like dumping fuel to improve turn rate.
But, here comes the good part, not seen in space shooters (which I actually would like to see): velocity vector and direction vector of each fighter have nothing to do with each other, i.e. the fighter can change the nose position vector without affecting the velocity vector, at least by much. So that a fighter that is being chased can suddenly reverse the situation so that it can shoot behind while still going forward. It can do it as long as it wants, and even more, it can actually continue turning the same circle!
So, I have these crazy ideas, but since it's yours, tell me where you would like to limit the physical model, and then it is possible to go further. The above model would change the space shooter closer to a space simulator. It is also physically feasible to make such fighters where the angle difference between velocity vector and the direction vector is minimized, this is actually what digital flight control computers do in modern jets.
Regarding leading, it is no surprise, with speeds of 200 m/s in both fighters and bullet speed of 1000 m/s, the lead must be huge, and the probability of hitting anything is practically zero, unless a laser type point-and-click weapon is used. The way modern fighters use their guns mainly from a controlled position; both fighters must turn in the same plane in order to reliably hit anything, and the fighters must be flying relatively slowly, as speed equals maneuverability.
Missiles would have quite interesting properties, they will not lose the initial velocity, but the may run out of fuel that is used for course changes. This means the effective firing range of missiles is radically improved, and the target must be constantly changing it's direction to make missile run out of fuel to change it's course. Lasers could be more range limited than the missiles, due to the beam diveregence. A spot with 1 a radius of 1 metre will not achieve anything if it hits a target (but could be used to saturate detectors), while in close range (make it several kilometers), it could literally cut fighters to pieces. If the distance is shorter, the laser cutting speed would be much higher. If the laser was pulsed, then this would simply cause smaller holes that go deeper in to the hull.
But, I have to check through the AI to find out if it really works that way or if there is something missing. However, this might take some time since the 1.st of May is coming, and the party vibes can already be felt. After that I check through the Maths of that.
Mika