carl, you are confusing my ideawith blindfire. although i would like to give certain ships gunmounts that are articulated, this is not what im getting at here. this idea is simply to reduce the number of hud objects on the screen.
rather than have one indicator that you must line up with another (the crosshair and the lead indicator). you have a reticle that moves. say a ship is moving across your view, from left to right. in this situation, with the current system a lead indicator is placed to the right (in front) of the ship. this is easy to use but it takes your attention away from the ship. ive been in a dogfight with ships that i didnt identify because i was staring at a dot. i had to destroy the ship before i knew what it was. my idea would rather move the reticle further to the left (behind the ship), so that placing it on the ship will give you the best shot. you could then focus on what your enemy is doing.
to further the idea you could make the reticle circular, not only to give a better view, but also to aid in determining the probibility of a shot. you see the circle would resize itself acording to the chance of scoring a hit. i tight circle would mean the best shot. most likely to occure when using a fast weapon, like the maxim or morning star, or when the shim manuvers only slightly. the circle would grow larger when when the target starts to dodge, or when using a slow weapon.
the result of implimentation and its affect on gameplay would be to reduce hud clutter, to improve situational awareness, and to give the pilot a better ability to set up a shot.
