How does "Autotarget" effect the Game?

Im curios...im not someone who uses thinks like "Autotarget" and "help" like that....cuz its not the way i like to play that game..but actually i face Missions with nearly a HUNDRED of Targets with 30-40 Bomber to take down...which is so hard, cuz if you dont take down those bombers fast enough the gonna hurt your Capships.....

so if I use Autotarget, does it change anything? I mean, do I still get all the Medals ive got so far without using Autotarget..which is quit a few right now...several bronze and silver stars...gold medal and some special medals ...

I'm not sure if/ don't see why Auto-Target should have any effect personally. I hope it doesn't.

I mean its essentially just hilighting the next nearest hostile, as any modern IFF probably (or should) do to aid a pilot anyway.

Auto-Target is really only useful if you're not bound by any particular mission objectives (i.e. a plain dog-fight situation).
I find myself often using manual targeting instead, especially when I need to intercept bombers or ships attacking my escort ships (of course not "real" manual targeting, but using the hotkeys to select the e.g. the nearest bomber).

Well, I recognized that I was wrong with my question......
I dunno how but I activated something that make every close Gunshot a HIT. Dunno how I did it, I thought it was Autotarget but after I aborted the Character and started a new one, I saw that it is NOT Autotarget.

So the question is still up. Even that I dont know how to activate this "help", I would like to know if it has an effect on the game. Considering the Medals you may not receive using this "help".

Well, the Excalibur fighter has an "auto-aim" feature, which helps with targeting. This has always been a feature of the Excalibur, going back to Wing Commander 3. You can't turn it off; it's just how that fighter works. It doesn't impact any medals or anything; it just makes the Excalibur badass enough to survive being outnumbered by a higher factor than the other fighters

Auto-target : your fighter will automatically target the nearest ennemy ship (fighter or capship). It is similar to hit the H key (target nearest enemy) after each kill.
[spoiler:2cvwiq90]Auto-aim : only on the Excalibur. When the targeted enemy ship is close enough to the HUD center, your guns fire at the computed spot. So that makes the fight A LOT easier.[/spoiler:2cvwiq90]

And to answer the question : the auto-target has NO effect on the rewards (medals) you could obtain.
I think - but not sure - it has no effect on the pilot stats / current score in the "Barracks" screen. You have to try yourself.

Although auto-target is very useful in hot battles, it doesn't always target the closest enemy ship in front of you or it may target a cap ship when you want the fighter next to it, so be ready to use a key stroke to change your targeting if you need to.

its always faster to kill the far guy in your scopes than the close guy behind you

arisian wrote: Well, the Excalibur fighter has an "auto-aim" feature, which helps with targeting. This has always been a feature of the Excalibur, going back to Wing Commander 3. You can't turn it off; it's just how that fighter works. It doesn't impact any medals or anything; it just makes the Excalibur badass enough to survive being outnumbered by a higher factor than the other fighters

Ah, ok that is what happened to me.....no wonder I couldnt turn it off or as I started a new Pilot on...^^

thx for the info...


Accolon out

I use this post for another hint : I find very useful the command "Target ship in reticle", Y key by default. That command targets the ship that is nearest the HUD center. It's quicker that to depend on auto-targeting, this way you start firing with no delay to the ship that is just in front of you.
This command is also good to target exactly what you want and not what other targeting commands decides. Example : when you are near a capship and want to target only fighters or vice-versa.