Talk:Accuracy formula
From experience I think the chance of hitting an alien tends to be best if in an exact straight line (orthagonal or diagonal), and on the same level as it. This probably is explained by the misses that hit anyway, because you can miss slightly short and kneecap them, or long and hit them in the face, but I think this is less likely if you are at an oblique or acute angle (because there are less squares that are behind him you can scatter to, but still hit him - especially as you get further and further away so the aliens width becomes less of a factor). Equally with height, the further up you are, the less squares the fire can scatter to but still intersect with the alien.
Does this match up with other peoples experiences?
--Sfnhltb 12:59, 27 February 2007 (PST)
Hmm, I'm not sure what I'd say. In theory the "silhouette" wouldn't change much, if the angle were not a multiple of 45 degrees (that's what you mean, right?). I'm willing to bet that the engine is more influenced by things that might truncate values here and there, than anything else. And/or the interaction with exactly how they "draw" the "3D" target that the shot's trying to intersect. I'm sure it's crude but effective... but crude in what ways? shrug. - MikeTheRed 15:50, 28 February 2007 (PST)
Does the accuracy displayed in-game for the auto-fire apply to each individual shot or to all three shots?
- It applies to each individual shot. -NKF 22:39, 1 December 2008 (CST)
- Indeed. Note that the displayed "chance to hit" isn't really your chance to hit... It's more a measurement of the ranges of angles you can fire along. - Bomb Bloke 00:37, 2 December 2008 (CST)
- In Laser Squad Nemesis, that is explicit - units have a stat called "inaccuracy", defined as "The average deviation from true for a weapon shot, in degrees." Has anyone made tests in X-Com, what is the relation of distance to target and displayed and actual chance to hit? - Quantifier 05:14, 2 December 2008 (CST)
- Yes, this has been done. Arrow Quivershaft 08:49, 2 December 2008 (CST)
- As in "spread" of your shots, BB? Where bigger spread means, less accurate? -MikeTheRed 04:15, 2 December 2008 (CST)
What, exactly, happens when you miss? Does the game shift your aim by pivoting around the fire point or actually pick a random location in 3D that's close'ish to the target? It seems to me like it's the latter due to your ability to miss and shoot the ground right at your feet when shooting at nearby aliens. This doesn't seem to happen for farther away targets. Would this then suggest that aiming behind your target could potentially result in more hits on target due to more "misses" hitting? I haven't tried this tactic in practice.
- This is one of the unanswered questions, but the working hypothesis is that there is no specific hit/miss determination. That is, the game engine just fires the shot and introduces a random angular error. The maximum angular error is inversely proportional to the adjusted Chance to Hit. If the angular error is wide enough, the path of the shot no longer intersects the silhouette of the target defined by LOFTEMPS. Horizontal angular error seems to be greater than vertical angular error. But, most of this is conjecture. I was talking to Mike The Red about doing some histograms, analysing multiple shots with a wall of some vertical "destructible terrain" positioned behind a target. But we did not make any progress on that. Spike 14:13, 1 April 2011 (EDT)