Reducing gun sway slightly.


Drewski_STX

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I simply wish to make a tiny suggestion that would drastically increase the playability of the game.  As someone who has spent 300 hours+ on the game over 2 years (even though steam says it's only 98) I must admit that the gun sway is so exaggerated in the first 5 levels of riflemanship, that it is grossly unrealistic. However, I don't know the characters back stories so perhaps they were (the male and female characters in the highly anticipated story mode coming up next month) desk jockey accountants or maybe computer analysts! That would explain the appalling lack of motor skills, explaining the apparent inability to hold a gun! Just kidding, computer analysts are actually quite adept at any task before them. Hinterland, devs, code writers, dreamers and storytellers, I implore you!! Please make it possible to shoot a wolf or bear in the head at least 1 out of 4 times whilst it is in fast pursuit of its lunch! I do not enjoy being eaten or mauled repeatedly with absolutely no recourse afforded to me! Love your beautiful game guys and I'm so proud to be a part of this indie community. Your people give "early access" gaming a good name (which it is desperately in need of, given 9 out of 10 early access games never get finished, thus leaving the paying customer holding the bag, so to speak. Okay good day to you ladies and sirs! Be well! 

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Welcome to the forums!:D I am not happy with the gun sway either, but when you think of it this way... 

If you have a charging bear coming straight for you, would you be just a little nervous? That would definitely affect your gun sway. IRL, it's hard enough for me to shoot a deer much less a bear that wants you for dinner, so as annoying as it might be, I think that it accurately portrays realism so much so that it should probably be kept in the game. 

Cheers!

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I'm curious to know - and I ask this without any snark! - whether you have experience shooting.  I'm an enthusiast, having been shooting rifle, pistol and shotgun since I was pretty little (thanks Pops).  While firing from a standing position especially, sway is the name of the game.  A major pillar of firearm skill, after basics like stance, breathing and follow-through, is staging the trigger while it swerves wildly over your target, and finishing your press at the exact second that it wanders over your desired point of impact. 

From my experience, I believe the unrealistic portion to actually be the behavior at higher skill levels.  They simulate the ability to deal with sway by reducing it, which is a fully acceptable "game-ism".  In truth, that movement never actually goes away.

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I'm new so I don't know if the rifle was always like this or it sways more now. I read it sways more when you are tired, I haven't tried using it tired as I can barely get a shot off while not tired.

My observation is this, it should sway less when crouched on flat terrain and not moving.

As far as mastering the sway mechanic below level 1, it appears the iron sights by your face rotate is a small circle around the tip of the rifle. I get the tip lined up where I want to hit and then wait until the notch in the sites rotate around and line up exactly with the tip in the middle of the notch, which happens once per revolution....every several seconds. Then I fire. The rifle seems pretty accurate as long as the tip of the rifle is lined up with the notch in the sites, you just have to wait for the right moment to shoot.

It works well with deer when they stop briefly. I don't think you have much, or any chance with hitting a charging wolf at low levels, as they zig zag on incoming.(unless you get lucky) You are better off dropping a small piece of mostly eaten meat as bait and shooting the wolf in the butt when he walks away after eating your meat offering. That's what I do. Then hope to find some rifle training book(s) to read to at least get you to level 2. I am almost at lv. 2 now and the sway has tightened up quite a bit already it seems.

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 Gun sway is certainly affected by tiredness, but also by overall skill level. What I have found is that you should ironsight for as short a time as possible. Line up the shot beforehand if possible, wait, raise and fire. The longer you keep ironsights up, the greater the sway. It took me a while to get the actual aiming down; I have never fired a gun in my life, so, yeah.

 As for the wolves pathing, I wrote this somewhere else, but as soon as you raise your weapon (gun, bow or stone), they start their run at you. They will follow you for a long time snarling (so long as you aren't too stinky, which seems to make them attack quickly) so get yourself to flat terrain before raising your weapon, then briefly raise it  (lower it again right away) only to get them running at you and keep walking backwards; this seems to make them beeline directly toward you, then raise your weapon in their last few meters of charging (you can ironsight and shoot while walking in any direction). If you stand still when they start their run, the likelihood of them taking an indirect or zig-zag route to you seems to increase. It's important to minimize the time spent with the weapon raised, so raise it once quickly to get them charging and again just when you are ready to shoot.

 I have done this at all levels and it works well. The books are a must for shooting skill. You can get to level 2 fast with the "Frontier Shooting Guide" and "Advanced Guns, Guns, Guns", found in the Ravine basin.

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I agree in this current game i find the gun will sway more if your tired / cold / poor skills and also probably a lot more factors contribute.

The best method I'm finding is make sure you are have well rested, warm and not tired. and as carbon stated iron sight for a short period as possible, else it will start to sway.

Another one is head shots seem to be the go, even though most would object and say go for the heart, which i tend to agree with in real life.

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The only element of sway that gets me, is that it is the sway seems to be in the wrong dirction.

I can appreciate wanting to keep the rifle 'centred' on-screen, rather than slightly to the side as it's pressed into your shoulder and your head is tilted to look down the barrel and through the sights, however, the 'sway' or roll makes it feel more like your head is unable to rest neatly on it - rather than your left arm failing to hold the rifle steady, and dropping occasionally due to it's weight and your inability to balance it correctly. In this case, the end of the rifle would dip to the lower left (rather than the sight drifting up to the right while keeping the barrel static)

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12 hours ago, Carbon said:

 Gun sway is certainly affected by tiredness, but also by overall skill level. What I have found is that you should ironsight for as short a time as possible. Line up the shot beforehand if possible, wait, raise and fire. The longer you keep ironsights up, the greater the sway. It took me a while to get the actual aiming down; I have never fired a gun in my life, so, yeah.

 As for the wolves pathing, I wrote this somewhere else, but as soon as you raise your weapon (gun, bow or stone), they start their run at you. They will follow you for a long time snarling (so long as you aren't too stinky, which seems to make them attack quickly) so get yourself to flat terrain before raising your weapon, then briefly raise it  (lower it again right away) only to get them running at you and keep walking backwards; this seems to make them beeline directly toward you, then raise your weapon in their last few meters of charging (you can ironsight and shoot while walking in any direction). If you stand still when they start their run, the likelihood of them taking an indirect or zig-zag route to you seems to increase. It's important to minimize the time spent with the weapon raised, so raise it once quickly to get them charging and again just when you are ready to shoot.

 I have done this at all levels and it works well. The books are a must for shooting skill. You can get to level 2 fast with the "Frontier Shooting Guide" and "Advanced Guns, Guns, Guns", found in the Ravine basin.

Thank you! I used your strategy successfully and have killed two wolves already. It's true, the wolves seem to be line at a moving target as opposed to if it were standing still. Also, the raising of the rifle briefly and taking the shot in the first few seconds, or lowering and raising again seems to be key. Very much appreciated! And I am marching my a-- to the ravine from the coastal city post haste! Thanks again for your advice. And thank all of you for replying! Oh, and one more thing, where exactly in the ravine is the book? 

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7 hours ago, Miniwizard said:

The only element of sway that gets me, is that it is the sway seems to be in the wrong dirction.

I can appreciate wanting to keep the rifle 'centred' on-screen, rather than slightly to the side as it's pressed into your shoulder and your head is tilted to look down the barrel and through the sights, however, the 'sway' or roll makes it feel more like your head is unable to rest neatly on it - rather than your left arm failing to hold the rifle steady, and dropping occasionally due to it's weight and your inability to balance it correctly. In this case, the end of the rifle would dip to the lower left (rather than the sight drifting up to the right while keeping the barrel static)

I agree. I've always wondered about that when playing this game. My head stays firmly pressed against the butt of my rifle when I fire it. My line of sight, from the sights, looking down the barrel, is steady. It is the end of the barrel to the target where the sway comes into the equation. At least when I shoot (in reality) the only sway I experience is from the end of the barrel to the target, not my line of sight through the site. As you said, that would require my head actually moving as it is rested on the butt of the rifle. I still love this game intensely, gun sway or not, Hinterland has created a game that is as close to realistic as it could possibly be, so my hats to them. 

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On 7/1/2017 at 2:30 PM, ArmagedDan said:

I'm curious to know - and I ask this without any snark! - whether you have experience shooting.  I'm an enthusiast, having been shooting rifle, pistol and shotgun since I was pretty little (thanks Pops).  While firing from a standing position especially, sway is the name of the game.  A major pillar of firearm skill, after basics like stance, breathing and follow-through, is staging the trigger while it swerves wildly over your target, and finishing your press at the exact second that it wanders over your desired point of impact. 

From my experience, I believe the unrealistic portion to actually be the behavior at higher skill levels.  They simulate the ability to deal with sway by reducing it, which is a fully acceptable "game-ism".  In truth, that movement never actually goes away.

Hi, ArmageDan! Yes I own a Winchester .223, a Beneli Nova 12 Gauge, and a Spanish made .380 auto pistol that jams up all the time lol. I can appreciate you're asking me that, given that most people who play games don't shoot guns and therefore can't appreciate all the finer points that go into marksmanship. I think my reply to Miniwizard sums up my opinion on how the sway should be depicted in game. My head is always firmly pressed against the butt of a rifle/shotgun and therefore it is not the sights that sway between the end of the barrel but rather the gun along with my head that sway. So the only thing that should sway is the environment I am aiming at, not the sights of my weapon. It's hard to put this into words though, my meaning may be lost in translation! This is just my opinion though and might not be correct. Either way I dig the hell put this game as previously stated lol! Anyways, thanks for your reply brother. 

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On 7/1/2017 at 8:15 PM, Drewski_STX said:

Please make it possible to shoot a wolf or bear in the head at least 1 out of 4 times whilst it is in fast pursuit of its lunch!

Based on experiments conducted by @GELtaz, the "sweet spot" for bear headshots is his right eye.. i.e.-  the one on your left.

Good luck!

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I have found myself using the same tactic in game as when I go target shooting with my .303 in real life, raise the gun, take aim, and fire all within about 2 seconds. This has provided me with the best results. The longer I stand there trying to aim, the more unsteady I get

Sam

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