Suggestions for the MG34/42's workings

[retfarcimak]

I joined this site recently, and I'm interested in the apparent historical accuracy that the game offers, so I want to suggest a couple things.

First off, could a system similar to Verdun's MG system be implemented? I know this is a different time period, but I know that the MG 34/42 could not be fired from the shoulder by one man, at least from what I've heard from several people, mainly due to length and fire rate. If you are not familiar with the system, in order to fire some of the heavier machine guns (such as the German MG08 family) you have to set it up on it's bipod to do it, and while you can hipfire some weapons (such as the Lewis or chauchat) you can only aim down the sights when similarly set up.
[video=youtube_share;-l0CEsCf390]https://youtu.be/-l0CEsCf390[/video]
The link is a video to some Verdun gameplay. Note how, at around 0:58, when he picks up the machine gun, he has the marker telling him if he can set up a machine gun. I don't think the marker needs to be a thing, there could be a short animation of the soldier trying to set it up or something like that in it's place if the element would be added.

Extending on the idea, I've seen pictures and video from WW2 of SS soldiers working in pairs to fire the MG 34 or 42 while standing. One person would hold up the barrel shroud, having it on his shoulder, while the other would aim and fire the weapon. It seems like an idea that would improve teamwork and squad play if added in, but I could understand it not being added in.

The final thing I want to add here, is something that may help you guys with modeling the reloading sequence, since it's not completely as easy as lifting the cover, shoving in a new belt, and pulling the bolt, it's slightly more complicated, at least for the MG 34 and 42.

The link is to a video by a channel known as forgotten weapons. It is the firing of the MG 34 and 42. Around 0:45-1:17 shows the MG 34's loading procedure, and at around 4:04-4:39 shows the MG 42's loading procedure. Of course, he does it pretty slowly, probably because he's A not panicking, B not a soldier, and C it's probably his first time shooting and loading them, but it would definitely be a lot slower than shown in some of the WW2 games out right now, and would be a different process entirely, in fact, depending on the game. It would be a nice detail if the MG 42 beer keg handle's hinge could be modeled. (you can see it specifically hinge as he pushes the charging handle back forwards)

Something else I noticed in the video is, around 5:34-6:27 he shows the process for changing the barrel for the MG42. It would be nice if that could be implemented in the game as well, changing the barrel every couple of reloads like they did in real life, for instance. I'm not certain, but I've heard that the barrel would be changed every 200 rounds during combat.

As a side note, I also noticed something in the slow motion footage, it clearly shows how the weapon feeds while firing with the belt sticking out on the right hand side, and the bullets dropping from the bottom. This could help with modelling the firing animation, and the links sticking out on the right could help indicate how many rounds are left in the belt (say you use 50 round belts in the game and the player fires 10, he could count the links sticking out on the right, and know that he has 40 rounds left) though you could also use a disintegrating belt, in that case it would just spit the empty links of the belt out on the right.


I hope this is helpful to you, I'm looking forward to seeing the product when the open testing commences, from what I've seen, the game looks amazing, including a preview animation I've seen of a lee-enfield reloading for this game. ^^

 

[Aniallator]

I think most of what you brought up are wish list features for the devs; there's no guarantee if or when those features will be implemented, but they're aware of them and hope to have them in the game some day

Me, I'm especially keen on usable bipods, and, as you said, requiring the MG34/MG42 to be deployed to be able to ADS (though I think they should be able to hipfire, unlike Verdun's MG08s).

 

[retfarcimak]

I think they'd perform more like a hybrid between the 08 and the something like the lewis, personally. ^^ More firepower (like the 08) with the hipfire of a lighter weapon. I also posted a topic on the magazine cut off, but that one for some reason vanished after I edited it to fix an error when it came to a link.


As a side note, I really hope the reload animations are realistic like the ones seen in the video, as the longer reload could add to tension in stand offs. Plus the barrel change mentioned could allow for actual real world strategy used by the allied forces. (in heroes & generals, there's not much you can do, IRL, a US soldier was trained to move every 200 rounds, when the barrel change would occur)

 

[Aniallator]

As a side note, I really hope the reload animations are realistic like the ones seen in the video, as the longer reload could add to tension in stand offs. Plus the barrel change mentioned could allow for actual real world strategy used by the allied forces. (in heroes & generals, there's not much you can do, IRL, a US soldier was trained to move every 200 rounds, when the barrel change would occur)

Animations take time development-wise, but rest assured I think the devs are aiming for realism rather than H&G-like garbage when it comes to reloading animations!

 

[retfarcimak]

Animations take time development-wise, but rest assured I think the devs are aiming for realism rather than H&G-like garbage when it comes to reloading animations!

Glad to hear that. ^^ To be honest, I wouldn't be too disappointed if they had the animations as a lower priority to balancing the game and making it playable. (AKA not the unplayable mess that is H&G) So long as they do manage to add the realistic animations in game... Especially if they hit the imperial roadmap and add in the type 11.

 

[VonMudra]

WWWeeee are well aware of such things. I've fired both MGs in real life, so I'm well aware of the reload operations. That said, the way Ian does it is not the fastest manner, and it can indeed just be pulled through for reloading. Also, barrel changes were nominally every thousand rounds or so of firing, not 200, and were exceedingly fast. The only time it was ~200 was during periods of prolonged bursts, aka, basically running out the belt rather than controlled fire.

 

[retfarcimak]

WWWeeee are well aware of such things. I've fired both MGs in real life, so I'm well aware of the reload operations. That said, the way Ian does it is not the fastest manner, and it can indeed just be pulled through for reloading. Also, barrel changes were nominally every thousand rounds or so of firing, not 200, and were exceedingly fast. The only time it was ~200 was during periods of prolonged bursts, aka, basically running out the belt rather than controlled fire.

Alright then. ^^ So would something like the barrel change, if implemented, only be used in a suppressive fire role then?

 

[mp3aink]

thanks bro.....

 

[Xanderman]

thanks bro.....

Mate, this is the second time I've seen you post 'thanks bro' in the forum. Are you going to post anything constructive or not? If not go away.