Playing without crosshairs and why i love it so...

[Wasrad 0]

First of all, I understand why people like to play with crosshairs.  It makes it that much easier and more effortless to get a kill.  

This thread, though, is about why I Love playing without them.

In the real world, it is possible to fire a rifle and hit something without bringing it to the proper aiming posistion.  The shot will not be as accurate as it would be aimed but you can still hit something.  In OFP, you have to ability to aim from the hip without bringing the rifle to aim, all you gotta do is put a crosshair on someone and fire, be it at 20m or 200m.  This, in my opinion, is "persons whom do not play OFP to its fullest challenges"-ishness.

In the real world, when you are not aiming at someone, you arent focused on one area, OFP simulates this by giving you a decent field of view(FoV).

In the real world, when you use iron sights, your focus is on what you are aiming at.  OFP simulates this very well by zooming in a bit on what you are looking at which also decreases the angle of your FoV therefor taking away some of what would be your periphial vision which, when aiming you wouldnt really be using like you would when not aiming.  It is kind of hard to focus on your surrondings when you are trying to frag a guy on the run at 200m.  

In combat, as we all know, soldiers dont have any kind of cyberware that shows them where their bullets are going to go, this is why they have to stop and aim.  As I said before, you might be able to take someone down without aiming at close range, 50m or less, but the odds are that you are more than likey going to miss while the other guy stops and aims and nails you as you try to fire again.  Aimless potshots like this, tho, are one of the reason why we have burst fire.  Sometimes it can be a reflex to just fire, especially in the heat of combat when stopping to aim could mean a bullet in the face.

Thats how combat is.  

Now, what gets me in OFP using the crosshair, is that you dont have to use your iron sights like a soldier would have to, even at 200m.  All you have to do is put yer crosshair on the person, maybe lead a bit and fire.  No reason to really stop a second and aim.  

This, as I have said, is "persons whom do not play OFP to its fullest challenges"-ishness.  This is Counterstrike and Battlefield 1942 style gameplay, not OFP style.  This is arcade gameplay, not a simulation of infantry combat, the thing OFP fans claim to Love so much about OFP...yet it is played as one would play an arcade game...

Now, some will say that in real life, you can feel your gun and where the bullet is going to go.  General direction, yes, accuratly hitting something, I think not.  You can though, play OFP without the crosshairs.  This is how:

Meet Civvy.  I will be using him to show how to do this.  I will be aiming at his middle for every shot, that nice pattern.

Believe it or not, you can tell where the shot will go.  It is simply a matter of, instead of thinking 3D, you must think in 2D.  This is how:

 

This does not mean that you still can not use your visual clues of to where your bullet will go.

Now, aiming from the hip like this is not easy in OFP, but it isnt in real life either and that is the reason we have iron sights!

Now, another thing that gets me, is there are all these squads out there that claim to be hardcore with OFP, pure veterns, yet they play OFP without the thing that makes it an even better and more challenging game, the ability to play without crosshairs.

When you play with crosshairs, you might as will turn on all the other "persons whom do not play OFP to its fullest challenges" friendly features, hell, you might as well play BF1942 with the DC mod because that is all it turns out to be.  You are also letting BIS know that all that work they put into making sure the angle of the rifle corrosponds with where the bullets will go, was a complete waste of their time and money.

Anyways, I am not telling anyone how to play, I am simply stating why I play without crosshairs.  It adds that much more challenge, that much more realism and believe it or not, will cause you to rethink your way of playing.  I admidt I started playing OFP with the crosshairs but since I stopped, it has become an entirely different type of game.  I actually need to think about where I go and if I will have time to raise my rifle and aim or if I should approach my target with more caution.  

Dont forget, though, that you can move with the iron sights up but it does take that much away from your view...but thats the idea.  You have a rifle and your arms blocking off a good portion of your view for the price of being that much more accurate.

I would really like to get involved with a squad who plays OFP the way it is meant to be played, as an infantry combat simulation set in the 80s.  If any of you are in one, let me know.

PS, I used my yahoo account to host the images so they may not show.  If someone could host them that would be great but if not, just check out my folder, you will figure it what pictues go where.  photos.yahoo.com/bc/aphotonforyou

[kegetys 2]

Even without the crosshair its quite easy to do accurate hits without using ironsights from close range by just estimating, does not even need much practicing. Like this (DivX 5 required) :P

[Skul 0]

Quote[/b] ]You are also letting BIS know that all that work they put into making sure the angle of the rifle corrosponds with where the bullets will go, was a complete waste of their time and money.

If that's true, then why did they add the crosshairs in the first place?

[Gareth Gates must die]

[Wasrad 0]

Why, for the "persons whom do not play OFP to its fullest challenges" of course!

[Wasrad 0]

Even without the crosshair its quite easy to do accurate hits without using ironsights from close range by just estimating, does not even need much practicing. Like this (DivX 5 required) :P

See, people, this is what I am talking about. It is VERY possible to play without crosshairs and IMO, adds that much more immersiveness and that much more need to think and not twitch as you would in CS.

[suchey 0]

Our dedicated server actually runs without the crosshair...its does make the gameplay quite different in my estimation. Swing in for a game and check it out...

MTCO:Digitalgrenade

gs3.mtco.com

207.179.200.211

[blackdog~ 0]

Our dedicated server actually runs without the crosshair...its does make the gameplay quite different in my estimation.  Swing in for a game and check it out...

MTCO:Digitalgrenade

gs3.mtco.com

207.179.200.211

*flashbacks*

blackdog was killed by Suchey

blackdog was killed by Sh@d0w_Killer

blackdog was killed by Hellfish6

blackdog was killed (Friendly Fire)

Hellfish6 was killed by blackdog

blackdog was killed by Jocko Flocko

blackdog was killed by Strango[PBC]

blackdog was killed by Enron Exec

blackdog was killed by MikeLW (Friendly Fire)

blackdog was killed by Tactician

blackdog was killed by Rod

blackdog was killed by Chaos

blackdog was killed by bernie2pots

blackdog was killed by DanAK47

blackdog was killed by Tracker

blackdog was killed (Friendly Fire)

[benu 1]

My server has crosshairs disables since the start. I put them back in for a short period of time cause you need them for friendly tag it seems and we wanted to try that. But most of the times i have only 3rd person (can't convince my players to play without that ), HUD info and map info enabled in cadet mode and everything disalbed in vet mode. ATM clock indicator is enabled in cadet mode too cause some of my player wanted to see if it makes a difference, but i think i turn that one off again as it is next to useless.

[iNeo 0]

I would've been convinced by now if it wasn't for the AA-launchers that can't lock on without crosshairs

...although, if I play a mission without AA-launchers...I'll keep crosshairs off.

[iNeo 0]

I just tried out the AA launcher without crosshairs.

- First I tried to just aim and fire at a moving helicopter, and the rocket just flew passed it.

- Then I tried right-clicking -- still without crosshairs -- on the helicopter and then launching. And the rocket was guided straight at the helicopter.

This means that you can lock on to helicopters with the AA launcher without crosshairs, so that's no longer a reason for having them enabled!

[Milkman 1]

The Coop server I play on just disabled crosshairs, and all I hear now are the noobs whining, "Put them back on! I can't shoot like this!" And they cannot be put back on, it is part of the server config, not the difficulty options. But they still seem to not get it and keep whining, and whining, and whining!

[Skul 0]

I got killed while playing a mission in Resistance! I must be a n00b!

[Black Knight 0]

Do you think you can aim better with the 3D glasses?

[sanctuary 19]

As far as i remember i never used the crosshair to aim when i was a beginner in OFP

I was so interested by the iron sights that even in close distance i used them.

Now i play without crosshair and didnt really noticed a difference

[Lupus-WD- 0]

Darn, i wish there would be more players like you on the server i play the most, it's already so difficult to have a game running with 3rd person view OFF, I'd dream that most players would also like their games without crosshair...

Yes, I like my ofp games without crosshair and without 3rd p view even and especially when driving, riding or flying !!!

Let's spread the word

[Tovarish 0]

I'm actually re-playing all three campaigns with all the highest difficulty settings (Super AI on, no crosshairs, no external view)...let me tell you, it's intense. I love playing the Resistance campaign like that....you really have to be a good tactician and be able to command your squad well in order to make it through some missions. And no crosshairs makes Full Auto and burst fire very useful in CQB

[sanctuary 19]

I had a really hard time on most of the Red Hammer missions on veteran (that campaign is very hard , a lot more than Cold War Crisis) , but i cant imagine those RH missions with superAI "on" it must be hell on earth

[Wasrad 0]

Do you think you can aim better with the 3D glasses?

Ya know, this is a very good question.

I might jsut have to go spend the $$$ to find out sometime...

[benu 1]

Which of the 3d glasses do work with newer nvidia drivers (those without nvidia 3d support, afaik 30.80 or so were the last ones that supported 3d glasses)?

[Dubble0zero 0]

I got a pair of edimentional, they work with newer drivers than that, I got version 43.45 but they got the Nvidia 3D support...

However I haven't been able to configure the glasses to OFP... (I can't get the iron sight and explosions in 3D) I know there was an old thread about it here on the forums...

I have read it, but I didn't get it to work...

And to get back on toppic, I have tryed to play without the crosshair, but I didn't like it so much, I didn't have any big problems when shooting (I allways use the iron sight anyway), but I didn't like to play with it since you can move the mouse without moving the screen, and that made me loose the controll I wanted when walking/driving since you can't see exactly how much to move the mouse when you turn...

[Heatseeker 0]

Blergh, the only diference i find is that its harder to use and aim sniper rifles, the rest is the same has i always use the sights to aim and fire, if you want to show your a decent player disable 3rd person view instead, now that will tell who the newbies are when it comes to helicopter handling , and if you play sp or coop you know that the a.i. soldiers can take you out at 200m with one shot from a grenade launcher, or that a machine gunner can kill you with the first round of a burst from 300m, without the small zoom thats comes when you pull the sights you wont be so acurate at longer distances. I still think it takes more skill to kill one with the crosshairs than to kill someone with the G36 scope no? OPF is closer to action game than simulation is many ways .

[vitoal125 0]

I must admit, whenever I fly a chopper I usually do so in 3rd person view. Though I am quite proficient without it on, the only real task it makes more difficult is the landings. With 3rd person on, I can pick the tightests of spots to land in, without it, I have to have a wide open area to land in lest I hit a lone tree at 2meters off the deck. I do like the added realism from that factor, but most of the time whenever I get in a chopper its just to mess around as I find the pure infantry side of the game to be the most fun.

[Lupus-WD- 0]

whenever possible, as stated earlier, i play OFP in 1st person, no crosshair, but, i have to admit there is one thing i really would have appreciated : that the "head movements" in vehicles pilot position would be less limited (like for some cargo positions) and that you can watch all directions... would be useful in choppers for instance and would void the only valid point pro-3rd person view ;)

is it a ofp engine limitation or is this a deliberate choice from the addon makers to limit pilot view ?

if it is an engine limitation wouldnt it be overridable with some camera scripting ?

edit: oh, and a larger fixed FOV would be cool too (like a user defined preferred default fov)

[Milkman 1]

@ July 30 2003,09:56)]whenever possible, as stated earlier, i play OFP in 1st person, no crosshair, but, i have to admit there is one thing i really would have appreciated : that the "head movements" in vehicles pilot position would be less limited (like for some cargo positions) and that you can watch all directions... would be useful in choppers for instance and would void the only valid point pro-3rd person view ;)

is it a ofp engine limitation or is this a deliberate choice from the addon makers to limit pilot view ?

if it is an engine limitation wouldnt it be overridable with some camera scripting ?

edit: oh, and a larger fixed FOV would be cool too (like a user defined preferred default fov)

If you want to look around when you are a pilot, you can press the * key on your numpad and it will dosconnect the head from the aimer. Good for when you need to look around but don't want to completely turn a tank, yourself, or a chooper.

[FSPilot 0]

The reason I like playing with crosshairs on is because it's easier to steer your player. As you know in OFP you can move your head around without changing your torso and thus your direction of movement. The problem is that this makes it more difficult to move around, especially in the heat of battle, because you don't know how much you have to move your mouse to move your body.

That's not a very big deal though. My main problem is with bringing up the iron sights. Without crosshairs I simply don't know where the iron sights will be pointed when I bring them up. So if I stumble across someone in combat, and don't know where I'm going to be aiming, I lose precious seconds trying to find them with the iron sights up.

Easy solution to both problems = take away head movement, so you're always moving towards the center of your screen and you're always aiming roughly towards the center of your screen. Only when crosshairs are off of course.