Long Tom Question

[Profane Arbiter]

I'm going to work on the assumtion that my ineptitude is due to me or my computer at this point, because people continuously say that LTs are cheap. While that's not been my experience even on the receiving end, the purpose of this thread is that I find it very difficult to use the vehicle, unless the target is stationary, like a missile boat.

Here's my problem. First off, on my screen, while the range to target on the left hand side of our screen is large if the target is a tank, for whatever reason, it is teeny tiny when I'm targeting a mech...so much so that I have to move my eyes very close to the screen to make it out. Complicating this further is the fact is that, again on my screen, where people type comments appears partially over where the range to target is. Couple trying to make out the target's range while it's on the move and then lining that up for a firing solution by looking over to the right on my screen, against a moving target...my goal is to lead the target but with these difficulties it's next to impossible.

A couple years ago I had an issue with tiny text with an older computer in another game that nobody else was experiencing. Once I changed my video card, it resolved the issue. I'm hardly a tech guru, and maybe everyone else is experiencing the same thing as me, but just have an easier time managing it, but if its is just my computer, does anyone know how to resolve the issue? Maybe something in settings somewhere? I don't plan on getting a new vid card anytime soon.

[Snowball]

I don't know if there's a way to solve this technically, maybe something to do with resolution settings and your monitor.

As for aiming advice, here's a few handy tips.

I'm going to assume your long tom stays in passive so as to avoid counter-battery fire from other long toms.
When you flick your radar over to active, it shows on the radar the 1250m range of your BAP, as well as any enemies within/close to that range.

There's two things you need to do quickly:
1) Determine which target you want to fire on (heavies, tanks, assaults, other long toms).  This means you need to cycle very quickly through available targets while noting their movement on the radar.

2) Determine the range of your target.  This is done mostly by estimation to limit your vulnerability when in active radar.  Now, in order to estimate range, keep in mind that the passive radar circle is a 300m radius and the active (for long toms) is 1250m.  Using this, as well as the radar grids, you can roughly guess range; you'll get more accurate the more you practice.

Once you have these two pieces of info, line up the blue line on the radar (the direction the artillery is facing) with the location or estimated location of your target, then flick back to passive.  Raise or lower the barrel to get the range close to your estimated range and fire.  You can flick on and off active radar a few more times before you fire to get a more accurate shot. Once you fire a few shots or destroy your target, MOVE.  Do not stay in the same place.

Once you get good at this method, you can snap disturbingly accurate shots off from seemingly nowhere, all while limiting your vulnerability and staying mobile.

EDIT: If your target is a suspected poptarter that is stationary but effectively using cover to block long tom shots, try lifting the artillery barrel up past the 45 degree mark.  You'll notice the range will increase to 1500m, then start dropping again.  What this does is give your shot a lot of hang time, but makes it come in at a much sharper angle, effectively negating any cover.

[sleepysheep]

If text is appearing too small, you might be running the game at the wrong resolution for your monitor. Make sure your monitor is running at it's native resolution.

[Profane Arbiter]

Thanks for the advice snowball.

Sheep, how do I determine the native resolution? I went into device manager but didn't see anything helpful.

[sleepysheep]

Thanks for the advice snowball.

Sheep, how do I determine the native resolution? I went into device manager but didn't see anything helpful.

In windows (Not the game) it's generally the largest res possible. In the manual, or even the box it should say.

What size monitor is it? Generally speaking, 19" to 22" is either 1200x1000 or  1600x1000 24" is 1900x1000 or 1900x1200

Ofc this is just GENERAL for monitors. Depends on the size, price and age of the monitor.

[Masakari]

It's not final.

[SquareSphere }12thVR{]

As a tip, you can give yourself a max 10m margin for error and still get devastating damage on the mech.  If you see the target moving toward your aim 50-100m in front of the target, chances are they'll run right into the impact area.

[JoeyDude]

I tried the LT today and it was very easy to line up a target on the radar, check its range and eyeball it to hit my target.
I like the ballistic track of circles as well.

[MagicSquirrel07]

My first experience of the longtom....

Leaving my base in my newly repaired catapult... After a long walk back on clearcut...
BOOM longtom in the face full HP to death instantly...
followed by my mate (who was on the same team) informing me "I just wanted to see how easy it was to hit people with the long tom"..."Apparently its not that hard"

  I was not happy!