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Hi everyone,
I just bought the game a couple of weeks ago and I'm loving it so far, despite what I'm about to say. For context, I'm an avid FPS player and have been for many, many years. Before getting HLL, I thought it will be way clunkier than it is. I actually think it plays great as a shooter. The biggest selling point is definitely the team play though, especially when you're lucky enough to hop on a server with a good commander and a squad that is friendly, listens to orders and wants to work together no matter the task they're given.
In any case, the issue I wanted to point out and discuss with you are the iron sights. I'm sure this is a topic that has been discussed more than a few times, but bear with me.
The problem with iron sights in HLL
For a game in a WW2 setting iron sights are obviously going to be the main aiming device for most weapons, aside from a sniper game here or there. Many games, HLL included choose to implement iron sights in a way that they're more of an obstructive nuisance than a tool used to aim the weapon effectively.
I believe that the main reason why they're kind of difficult to use in HLL is because everything is modelled in such a way that the rifle sits very far in front of the face of your soldier. Because of that, they make the rear and front sights as equally focused as the target you're aiming at 200m out. The main issue here is the lack of depth.
In reality, a soldier's eye would be right against the rear sight and he'd be focusing on the front sight post (kind of) while looking through the rear aperture. This is especially true in the case of the M1 Garand, since its rear sight is further back than that of the Kar98k, for example. My point is, when aiming the rifle, you wouldn't really be able to see the rear sight at all. Instead, you'd be seeing a blurry outline of the sight and, as mentioned, focusing on the front sight post.
My conclusion here is that iron sights in HLL are implemented poorly and not really enjoyable to use. They also stray from realism, because in order to be able to use certain rifles, they had to make some of the rear sight peep holes much larger than in real life. For example, The M1 Garand's rear sight peep hole looks like you could fit a golf ball through it, as opposed to the actual rifle. See below.
I just want to add that I understand why they had to make the rear sight this large. The way they implemented aiming in general would render the rifle completely unusable, if the rear sight's peep hole was as tiny as it is in real life.
Which game implemented iron sights best (imho)?
Hopefully you guys remember Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30. It's a WW2 shooter from 2005 that had an ok story and introduced some interesting mechanics like giving orders to a couple of squads in order to suppress and flank the enemy. It was far from the best game ever, but I really loved it back in the day.
Putting aside the game's story and other mechanics, one of the best things it brought to the scene was how the developers chose to implement the iron sights. Without further ado, let's jump straight to the examples.
As you can see, the rear aperture sight on the M1 Garand is true to life. The size of the hole is more or less exactly like on the real thing.
But wait till you see the this...
In my opinion, this is the best possible way to implement iron sights in a video game.
This simulates the soldier's eye being much closer to the rear sight of the weapon, as it should be. Due to that, the developer can accurately portray the eye "focusing" on the front sight post, rendering the rear sight sort of "invisible". This generally opens up the field of view and allows the player to have better peripheral vision, while clearly seeing the target with zero obstructions besides the front sight post.
Here's an example with the MP40.
And one more example with the Kar98k (I would agree that this one is kind of weird though).
Keep in mind that this is a game from 2005. With today's graphics I'm positive that an iron sight system like this could be improved and implemented even better. I honestly think this should be the standard for all shooters, especially the ones where aiming with iron sights is literally what you do 99% of the time when you're trying to shoot someone.
What do you guys think?
Exactly, it’s just weird, like nobody took the time to grab a rifle and see what aiming with iron sights is really like before designing and implementing them into the game. Obviously, it’s possible to implement them right, as BIA proved years ago.
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That’s the thing. They’re not uncomfortable. You see more and can aim easier.