Part 1: Terms
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In gunbound, power is measured in 'bars'. One bar is
exactly 1/4 of your power meter. Therefore your full
power would be 4 bars. Half power is 2 bars, and so on.
If you look at your power meter you can see little
triangles marking each bar.
You will see lots of measurements that have fractions of
a bar. Most formulas can't easily be used with exactly
2 bars or 3 bars or 4 bars. You need to use the powers
in between. For example 2.5 bars is pretty common -
That's 2 bars and then half of the next bar.
To be more exact, sometimes you may even see something
like 2.95 bars. Basically, .05 bars is the smallest amount of
power you can add or subtract using slice shooting method.
So if you needed 2.95 bars, you just start slicing and then
release the spacebar a hair before your power level reaches
the third bar. 1 'mm' is what a lot of people call .05 bars,
Some people might say "1 mm less than 3 bars" instead of
2.95 bars, but they're the same thing.
For power levels that are a little weird, you need to use
your estimation and experience. For example, 2.65 bars..
it's not near the 2 or 3 bar marker. How do you know
what 2.65 looks like? How can you tell if you're slicing
exactly 2.65 and not 2.6 or 2.7?
For situations like that, you should know simple fractions.
It's not hard to estimate 1/2 of something, or 2/3 of something.
To estimate 2.65... all you need to know is that 2/3 = .66.
So 2.66 would be 2 bars, then 2/3 of the next bar.
Since 2.65 and 2.66 are pretty much the exact same, you
know that you need 2 and 2/3 bars of power.
You can also measure power in pixels. Your power meter
is exactly 400 pixels wide, so each bar is 100 pixels.
So it's easy to know that 1.2 bars = 120 pixels. Some
very precise guides show power in pixels, like "2.53".
But you almost never ever have to control your power
so perfectly. In fact, using slice, it's impossible to shoot
exactly 2.53, you must shoot 2.5 or 2.55. You can
miss by a few pixels of power and still hit the enemy.
But for many formulas, you need to be able to control
your power level within .05 bars (1 mm, or 5 pixels).
In many cases, .05 bars over or under your intended
power will cause a miss. But .02 or .03 is not a problem.
Some more terms:
Wind factor: This is a number, usually very small, that
you can multiply the wind's strength by to get a new number.
That new number will be either how many angles to adjust your
shot or how much power to adjust your shot.
For example:
Let's say the wind factor is .5 (most wind factors are fractions).
If the wind factor is .5, and the current wind's strength is 6,
then you multiply .5 * 6. The answer is 3. That answer
tells you how many angles to adjust your shot
(by either raising or lowering your angle).
You will sometimes (rarely) see a power adjustment formula:
Let's say the wind factor is .03 ...and current wind
strength is 20. Multiply .03 by 20 and your answer is .6.
This small number is how much power to add or reduce
from your 0 wind shot, so if your 0 wind shot uses 2.5 bars..
then in 20 wind, after you do your calculations, the new power
would have .6 added to it (so new power is 3.1).
Wind: When you see just the word "wind" in a formula like this:
(Wind * Wind Factor) then the word 'wind' represents whatever
the current wind's strength is. So if you're shooting in 10 wind,
then you're multiplying 10 * Wind Factor.
Distance: Distance is usually measured in 'parts'. For shots
that use a fixed power and changing angle, 1 part usually
is the same thing as 1 angle... Like to make your shot land
1 'part' closer, you just add 1 angle.
To make it land 10 parts further away, you lower 10 angles.
For formulas that use a fixed angle, you will see a power level
listed for each part... for example, a really precise formula
will use 30 parts per screen, and will give you 30 different
power levels (one to hit each part). A less accurate formula
might use 4 parts, so you only have 4 power levels
to remember.
Getting back to the most common formula type, where
1 part = 1 angle... how much distance is there in 1 part?
It depends on original power and original angle. Like if you're
using only 1 bar of power, then 1 part is tiny, because
changing your angle by 1 won't really affect a 1 bar shot.
In fact with that kind of power level you'd probably need to
change your angle by 10 to make any noticeable difference
in distance. But if you're using full power, then 1 angle
creates a huge difference in distance.
If you pick the wrong angle using a full power shot,
you're guaranteed to miss.
Screen: Distance can also be measured in screens.
1 screen = left side of your screen to right side of your
screen. It doesn't matter what size monitor you use, 1
screen on gunbound is always 800 pixels wide. So your
monitor and my monitor show the same amount of the
map on each screen. It's not like I can buy a 40 inch
monitor and see the entire map without ever moving
the screen. If I have a big monitor, I still see the same
amount of map as someone with a small monitor,
I just see all the graphics looking larger than usual.
That's why you should never trust a formula that
measures distance in "inches" or "cm" or even
"fingers". Only measure in screens.
To be exact, 1 screen is usually measured by using
right click in a game and dragging the screen around
so that your body is all the way to the left or right
edge of your screen. If your body is half on/half off
the screen, and the enemy's body is half on/half off
also, then you and the enemy are exactly 1 screen
distance apart from each other.
SD: Short for "screen distance", 1 SD = the situation
I describe above, where you're half off the left edge
of the screen and the target is half off the right edge
(or vice versa). 1/2 SD would be half this distance.
+/- : When you see this, it's usually in a formula like
90 - distance +/- (Wind * Windfactor).
That doesn't mean you can choose to add OR reduce your
angle. You must only do one. So how do you decide whether to
add to your angle or subtract from it? Just common sense.
If wind is blowing up or towards the enemy, it helps your shot
fly further. If you don't want the wind to blow it too far, you will
raise your angle. If the wind is blowing against your shot and
making it land too close, then you just lower your angle. The
lower your angle is, the further your shot will travel (up to
a limit of angle 45, in both the real world and gunbound your
maximum distance from a shot will always be at angle 45).
Fixed power formula: This are formulas that use the same
power (almost) all the time. You hit different parts of the
screen by just changing your angle. For example
with the banpao formula, using turtle or armor, you
will use 3.0 bars of power. The actual power level in
any fixed power formula DOES change a little depending
on the enemy's distance. Like with banpao, for close
shots you use 1 mm less than 3 bars. For far shots
you need to add 1 mm (so shoot with 3.05). If you don't
make these tiny power changes, then you will see that
your shots don't land where you expect. Like the formula
says angle 60 will land exactly 1.5 screens away, but if
you use only 3.0 bars you will be a bit short of 1.5 screens.
Fixed angle formula: For these types of formulas the angle
you shoot at never changes, you just calculate power
based on how far the enemy is and the wind.
BJSL: This is a change angle, change power formula.
You use different powers to control the distance of your
shot. You change your angle to adjust for the wind
blowing your shot too far or too short. I won't explain
it yet.
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Ok enough terms, here's how to use formulas.
Here's a very very typical formula that is the basis for dozens
of formulas on my site:
2.4 fixed power formula
Power: 2.4 bars fixed.
Angle: 90 - distance +/- (wind * wind factor).
30 parts per screen.
Ok, we know the power is going to be 2.4 bars. It says 2.4
fixed, which means always use 2.4 bars (although if you
were paying attention you know you should use a bit
less for close shots and a bit more for far shots).
Now we just need to calculate the angle. To start, we see:
Angle: 90-distance.
distance is the same thing as "how many parts there are
between you and the target". So if there are 30 parts per
screen, then a target who is 1 screen away would be 30 parts
distance. If they are half a screen away, then their distance
would be 15 parts.
So, if I see a target 2/3 screen away, and my formula
says to use angle 90-distance... what is my shooting angle?
Well, if it's 30 parts per screen, and the enemy is 2/3 of
a screen away, you will say that the distance = 20.
20 parts is 2/3 out of the full 30 part screen.
Since the formula says to use angle 90-distance,
then you would do 90-20. The answer is 70.
Therefore your shooting angle is 70.
So now we have a power (2.4) and an angle (70).
70, 2.4 will hit an enemy who is 2/3 screen (20 parts)
distance from you.
But! We only just calculated shot in 0 wind. How to adjust when
there's wind?
This is a good time to introduce windcharts.
Below is a basic windchart. The idea is simple.
You multiply the number on the chart by the
current wind's strength, and your answer will
be some number. You then raise or lower your
angle by that number. If wind is blowing towards
the enemy, raise angle. If wind is blowing against
you, lower angle. That's it. So for example if
the wind in your game is blowing against you
and a little bit up, (like at 10:00 o'clock) then
look at this chart and look at what number
is sitting by the 10:00 o'clock position. In
this case it's .5 ... so you will multiply your
current wind's strength by .5 to get the
amount of angles to adjust.
Ok so to recap, a typical formula works like this:
1. memorize the angles and powers to hit different
places in 0 wind. Usually the formula will tell you how
to hit at LEAST half screen distance and 1 screen
distance in 0 wind.
2. Figure out whether you need to change angle or
change power or both to hit different places on the
screen, if the enemy isn't exactly at (for example)
half screen or 1 screen.
3. Now figure out how to adjust your angle or
power for wind.
4. You now should be able to calculate a good
angle or power in any situation, as long as
the formula is accurate and you did your
math correctly and carefully measured how
much distance is between you and the enemy.
Oh, don't forget your formula is limited by
power level, like 2.4 bars cannot shoot past 1
screen distance, and if wind is blowing against
you strongly, it can't even shoot 2/3 screen
sometimes.
Example formulas and how to read them:
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Fixed 60
Ok, this says "fixed 60" so you know the angle will always be
60. Then you see by each bot a number, with "1/4 SD, 1/2 SD"
etc. in columns. If you remember the terms listed earlier, that
means 1/4 screen distance, 1/2 screen etc.
If I wanted to use this chart in a practical way, I would memorize
the 4 power levels for my favorite bot. It's not hard to remember
4 things (plus power level). Then if I wanted to learn other bots
I'd just remember whether a bot is a little lighter or a little
heavier than my favorite bot. For example sate's shot is shown
as being just 1 mm over turtle or armor's. So if you learn
turtle or armor you should be able to use sate if you just
remember "add 1 mm power".
BJSL 80
So for this one, we have a similar setup on the right... showing
1/4 SD, 1/2 SD, etc. You memorize the power levels for your
chosen bot. You know the angle will be 80 to start.
Why is there no 1 SD power for armor and turtle? Because
if mage must use full power to hit 1 screen away with angle 80,
then armor and turtle (who have a heavier shot) can't hit 1
screen away even with full power. Remember where I said
earlier that most formulas are limited by power level? Like
2.4 can't be used past 1 screen distance? This formula is
limited by the angle... angle 80 cannot be used past
1 screen distance either (and for armor/turtle not even
1 SD).
So we can see from the chart that if you wanted to hit
1/2 screen in 0 wind, the angle is 80 and the power is
2.9 for armor or turtle. Now what if there is wind?
For wind adjustment, the windchart on the left has wind
factors just like the example I showed earlier.
You multiply wind strength by wind factor and you
get a number. You then raise or lower your angle
by that number. So this is how BJSL works... you
are going to change both your angle and your
power... power is changed only to control the
distance your shot will travel before you adjust
for wind, and angle is changed only to compensate
for the wind's effect.
Last example. If you can get this chart you
can get any formula probably.
2.5 backshot
From the formula we can see
60 - (wind power X wind index) + (distance) = shooting angle
Shooting power: 2.5 bars
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So, starting angle is 60, then you subtract some number.
The number you subtract will be the result of
(wind power X wind index).
You use the windchart shown to calculate your number
and then subtract the answer from 60.
So, let's say wind is 10 directly left or right (to use the
chart when facing the other way, you just use the same
rules but backwards). The chart says to use 0.5 as a wind
factor, so 10 * 0.5 = 5.
Subtract 5 from 60 to get 55. That's the basic
angle after wind adjustment (but before distance
adjustment).
Distance adjustment: You just add the distance to
your target (measured in parts) to your current angle.
So the current angle we calculated was 55. From the
formula we see: "Take half screen to be 15 parts. "
So if the enemy is half a screen away, we would add
15 angles. So 55+15 = 70.
So in theory the shot is angle 70, 2.5 bars. BUT -
It just happens that if boomer is using a backshot,
your maximum distance will come always from angle 66.
If you try angles higher than 66, your shot will still land
at the same distance as an angle 66 shot (or even closer).
So using angle 70 would be useless. Where on the formula
does it warn you about this? It doesn't exactly, and that's
why you must practice and learn from experience what
the limitations of a formula are. That is why using a
formula is not "just like using an aimbot" (which is
what some stupid people try to say about using
formulas).
You can also sometimes overcome the limitations of
your formula with a little brains. If the enemy is a hair
over 1 screen distance and you're using the 2.4 formula,
and you already know that 60, 2.5 will be 1 screen distance...
then it's easy to guess that 60, 2.55 will work for just past
1 screen distance. Or if wind is blowing against you and you
know your shot won't reach 1 screen, you can feel or guess
how much power to add to make the shot go 1 screen. Then
you can keep using your formula with this new slight change
in power.
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