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Uziyahu--IDF

More Random Ricochets

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Need more random ricochets.

They seem to always bounce at a shallow angle. The path of least resistance is usually straight upwards (less air pressure as you go up), so they shouldn't always be shallow.

Would like to see lateral ricochets off of surfaces like walls and poles, too. Would really add to the immersion.

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I think there are a lot of ricochets, you simply can't see them as only every 5th round at Tank MGs and every 3rd at infantry MGs are tracers and non tracers at normal assault rifles.

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Ricochets do not bounce at random angles, they're very much subject to their trajectory and the angle of the surface they hit. And chunks of metal traveling at supersonic speeds are totally unaffected by ambient air pressure :)

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Ricochets do not bounce at random angles, they're very much subject to their trajectory and the angle of the surface they hit. And chunks of metal traveling at supersonic speeds are totally unaffected by ambient air pressure :)

Sorry, but your opinion is divorced from reality, in that a battlefield isn't a sterile laboratory where all things are perfect. You can see PLENTY of videos from Iraq and Afghanistan proving this.

For one, when a bullet starts tumbling, that DEFINITELY makes its next trajectory random when it again contacts a surface.

When a round hits the dirt, does it contact nose-first or does its underside contact? Well, given that your typical field isn't devoid of vegetation and perfectly flat, that in itself is random. I don't know a single marksman on a battlefield who can fire single shots like billiard balls, calling his shots like a pool shark.

How much twist is there on the rifling? You don't think that has an effect on ricochet trajectory? How about the velocity as it bleeds off over distance? (Making a bar-graph of this is very helpful.)

And no, even high-powered rifle rounds are not impervious to the effects of air pressure. Even bullets have a drag coefficient.

I'm not some ding-dong who has only done the physics on paper. I've shot hypersonic rounds at all kinds of objects. I've had the same fly past me.

If the following happened every time a .50 BMG round was shot at the same material, no one would spend time cracking manhole covers and metal plates...

I'd say that his shot wasn't sufficiently "influenced" by its trajectory when it ricocheted.

Finally, I would like to add that innocent civilians are often killed on the urban battlefield by these bullets that naive or uncaring marksman believe are only going where they are aiming. Some seem to try to comfort their souls by telling themselves that just because they can't see what is on the other side of a wall, that means there aren't any innocents there. Toddlers are supposed to develop more advanced thinking skills than this when they begin to tire of the game of "Peek-a-boo", or do you believe that when a person's face is hidden behind their hands that it actually disappears?

Edited by Uziyahu--IDF

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Wait - you asked for random ricochet bounces, then go to lengths to explain to me exactly how ricochets get their new direction due to all kinds of reasons.

OK, fair enough I see that some small amount of randomisation function is the best way to simulate this, and I agree. But it's still mainly dependant on it's gross trajectory and angle of impact. Small random variations from that is fine, and I believe is already implemented.

I thought you were meaning completely wild, literally random direction bounces, which would not be very realistic IMO. I thought you meant this because you started mentioning atmospheric pressure being less directly overhead and so the bullet would "want" to go that direction, which quite clearly is wrong.

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