Bullet drop of snipers goes in the wrong direction

Hi guys and devs,

Im not sure whether this is a bug or a feature but maybe we can figure it out.

So this topic is about the bullet drop of our sniper rifles. When I try to shoot the gas bottle of a runner I noticed many times, that the shot went over the runner.
If see exactly the same in the last live dev stream here at 9:56:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q15maXIEajM
He aims perfectly but the shot went over.
My first idea was, that the bullet drop in the game goes in the wrong direction , upwards.
Im not sure whether this happens with the .50 cal too.

My second thought was that this is intended because of a set distance where the gun hits exactly where you aiming at.
In other games I think its called zeroing. With this you can set the distance to your target. If lets say the target is 300 meters away and the scope is set to 300 m you hit perfectly. If the target is actually at 150 m, your bullet will fly over the target when you aim perfectly.

I think its pretty annoying in both ways.

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By default, there’s a “cone of error” in your shots. It’s not a function of the weapon, but rather of your skills. A “perfectly aimed” shot may fly above, below or to either side of the intended point of impact. By applying the right perks, you reduce that significantly making your shots far more accurate. I’m not at my computer to check, so can’t remember which perk it is exactly, but I believe it’s one of the 3-level ones in the combat branch on the way to getting the Marksman spec.

I think your second thought is correct: the bullet will arc upwards until it reaches “zeroing distance”. After all that’s how rifles work!!!
I’ve noticed that and adjusted my aim with the hunting rifle accordingly. I still miss some shots, possibly because of RNG (see crunchmeister’s post), but usually I can hit a weak spot pretty reliably.

I’d love to see this expanded upon. Maybe give the binocs a range finding ability and let us change the zeroing of the scope.
On the other hand there are people who know JACK about ballistics and don’t care a single bit. I’ve seen one playthrough where the player complained for hours about the sniper being useless, until he eventually figured out the “problem”.

I get that this isn’t a simulation, but some basic real life concepts should still apply.

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Honestly I would rather use a rifle which is set to 0 m and adjust my aim to that than aiming lower. If there is a certain distance preset to the scopes it would be good to mention that distance in the description. And maybe the yellow (tier 5) would have an adjustable distance to do what you described fudabidu.
If i remember correct there is acutally a skill that allows you to measure the distance to the target with your binoculars.

Being able to zero our scopes would be fantastic. It’s a feature in Call of the Wild, so why not here?

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I like your idea.

0m zeroing wouldn’t be that realistic, but bullet drop is very easy to understand compared to bullet arcing and it has been in a lot of FPS games. In the end you’d still need some skill/experience to be a good sniper, which would be kind of realistic.

However, introducing zeroing in the mid or late game (through higher end scopes) might just throw people off. They might change the zeroing by accident and miss every shot, not knowing that they just unlocked a new feature by equipping a new scope.

Thats a good point and i agree with you that it would have to be there from the beginning.
How about level 1 scope offers zeroing to 0m and 100m. (Switching that could be done with the same key as switching the fire mode)
Level 2 could have 0m, 50m and 100m.
Level 3: 0m, 50m, 100m and 150 m
Level 4: 0m, 50m, 75m, 100m, 125m and 150m
Level 5: 0m, 50m, 75m, 100m, 125m, 150m, 175m and 200m
Or something like that. It would have to be suitable to the scope type of cause.

In other games you see the set distance in your HUD like the set fire mode. I think that would be good here too.

They did decide to apply the non-real-life but common videogame concept that silencers nerf damage.

I brought up this issue in a bug report on the forum here: Meusser Hunting Rifle Inverse Bullet Drop

Myself and other players have agreed that the bullet drop is just reversed as at longer distances you have to aim lower and lower to hit your target. This often is resolved by having a better scope so you don’t have to aim as low when zoomed in further. A RNG cone for which my shot may land does not account for the consistency my shots overshoot the target. If this is the case then someone really messed up programming a RNG cone “circle” to prefer the top most portion of that cone/circle.

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as far as ive noticed (at least the experimental) pvg always hits the spot when steadily aiming.

edit: when having an zeroing it would even be beneficial to have the tech perk to see distance through the binocular.

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It seems that some of the scopes are simply not perfectly aligned. Often, you have to aim slightly underneath your target to hit it. This mappens mainly with the Meusser and also with the .270 that I can’t spell out (Älgundstare?) to a lesser extend. The 50cal is mostly fine, however.

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That is a behaviour of the weapon that you have in reallife too. We shooters call that Setting up the Target. That means that the target is lightly over your crosshairs or if you have an open visor like that on a assault rifle a notch and bead sights. You have to take the middle of the target ligth over that. It is dependable from the recoil of the weapon. In real life you will adjust your scope or the notch and bead sight. I hope it helps you

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