Easy way to select a target?

[CXN2615]

When facing a group of AAA and Tanks, it natural to try to pick those AAAs and deal them with guided missile first, but currently to pick a target, I can only blindly press the lock button and hope for the best, and get too close thus got shot down.....
And possible like some sort of hat courser for manually pick the target?

[Why485]

FYI, the way targeting works is it will target whatever is closest to where the camera (which is not necessarily aligned with the nose) is looking.

This is a problem that's probably only going to get worse. While adding specific keys such as "target anti-air" which would limit targeting only to certain types wouldn't be difficult, I'm not sure how to make such detailed targeting keys fit onto a gamepad.

An idea I've been flirting with has been for targets to be filtered based on the current weapon. So for example if you had an air to air weapon selected, you could target only aircraft. If you had an anti-radiation weapon then you could target only radar sources. However, the problem with this is that it doesn't handle edge cases well such as dumb bombs which could be used for anything that's on the ground really.

[CXN2615]

Originally posted by Why485:

FYI, the way targeting works is it will target whatever is closest to where the camera (which is not necessarily aligned with the nose) is looking.

Thanks for the information, I didn't noticed that as I use TrackIR, without center dot or cross hair, It seems totally random to me...

[Perfect Info]

Huh! Gamepad friendly targeting isn't something I'd think much about, but now that you mention it...

Maybe something like a two-step targeting process? Tap the target key to just get the current behaviour (lock closest to focal point of view). But if you held the key, the targeting system will "select" everything in a cone around the focal point and then present a UX element to differentiate between which precise one you intended to target. For gamepad friendliness, that could be something like you spread the targets in the cone out to the closest point on the perimeter of a circle, the player can tilt the stick towards the specific one they wanted, then release the targeting key to confirm their selection. For joystick players, perhaps they can bind a thumbstick to such operations (since many combat flight sticks have slew controls anyways).

Or the good old-fashioned, "here's a list of everything around the target point. Scroll the list and then select the one you wanted."

[Mors]

Originally posted by Why485:

FYI, the way targeting works is it will target whatever is closest to where the camera (which is not necessarily aligned with the nose) is looking.

I can't get that experience at all, if you mean "closest to center of view" or "closest to gun/weapon sight". I believe you mean that it is targeting closest, so in common situation that AAA is behind a one platoon, and you never get to select AAA as the platoon is always closer.

This is a problem that's probably only going to get worse. While adding specific keys such as "target anti-air" which would limit targeting only to certain types wouldn't be difficult, I'm not sure how to make such detailed targeting keys fit onto a gamepad.

Do as many other games did, make the target selection multimode.
A "Target select" being pressed would allow to lock on what is closest to reticle (this is common on classical space shooters). Then you have way to press+hold that same button and now have a another joystick or D-pad turn as selector from the target types.

I am against that idea as it is very arcade style and makes more like scifi of very advanced targeting system in future space fighters where you can select types like "weapon subsystem" or "engines" or "shield generator" etc (from Freespace 2).

But it is understandable that a realistic targeting pod or such can't be implemented where one needs to slew the virtual camera on target to lock using MFCD. But I see that it could work to have a circle on HUD to appear when selecting weapon, and then press and hold lock key to move it around inside the HUD and place that above the target and then it will lock automatically target closest to the circle (as in 2D manner, not in 3D).

That would be semi-realistic like in the real Harrier you have a TPOD viewpoint presented as hexagon inside HUD.
This would as well work for the mavericks as well, give a square box for maverick seeker position to be moved around and then on release it would automatically lock target closest to that box if X pixels from it (so it doesn't automatically jump to target 500 meters off).

An idea I've been flirting with has been for targets to be filtered based on the current weapon. So for example if you had an air to air weapon selected, you could target only aircraft. If you had an anti-radiation weapon then you could target only radar sources. However, the problem with this is that it doesn't handle edge cases well such as dumb bombs which could be used for anything that's on the ground really.

That is realistic kind idea. As if you have IR seeker missile, you need to have the seeker lock the target, not the targeting system. So the seeker needs to find the heat source and while realistically you can lock on ground targets, limiting it to air targets is not horrible restriction.
For ARM you could use just the RWR display, again that would be realistic as that is how it is done in the actual planes, that you get large ARM inform the spotted emitter directions and types in the MFCD and you can switch where to lock. ARM can't lock on any fighter or ground vehicle (without radar) as they are invisible to seeker.

For the dumb bombs, that is the thing, they are not suppose to have any locking system.
You either get a simple pipper that you need to use with proper angle value, then dive in correct angle, from correct altitude and at correct speed and get target inside that pipper and release when speed and altitude match the set pipper angle and bomb should drop where pipper points - IF you had ´set proper target altitude (QFE).

That is why in Harrier the DMT is so amazing as it does all that by locking to contrast and then calculating constantly the angle rate to locked point.
And that is far superior to any radar ranging, and only the laser guidance with targeting pod is more accurate with laser guided bomb. But game harrier is the radar variant and not the Day/Night Attack variant with DMT.

And that brings to the CCIP and AUTO (CCRP) modes, that use a radar altimeter or barometric altimeter to calculate impact point, again to assumption that target is at same altitude as terrain is below aircraft.

Finally laser or radar ranging to get the slant range to target and this way show the real impact point in HUD to that locked position or that pipper position,

So in our Harrier, it should just be a CCIP pipper for dumb bombs, or auto conversion from CCIP to AUTO when pressing down the pickle button when CCIP pipper is below the HUD.

Locking to any ground, air, sea target is useless with bombs.

[S-Array 03]

OP's issue is soemthing that bothers me as well, maybe a fix for headtracking users woulmd be an option to show a dot in the middle of the screen cause currently you do'nt really know where the middle is. Though a fix that onyl works for the minority of ehadtracking users is suboptimal.