The Truth About Target Lock
Ed Byrne
Lead Designer, Zipper Interactive, Inc.
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo

Our primary goal when we started last year was to create a killer control system that would allow players to experience SOCOM with one analog without making it “cheap” or too easy. To do this we implemented a system that took all sorts of elements into account and gave feedback to the player through the size and position of the crosshair reticle. So here’s the lowdown on how this system works...

Target locking and visibility: most of the beta testers realized this after a while, but just because you have someone target locked, doesn’t mean you’ll get a kill, or get one quickly. There are three main factors that determine how lethal you are when you have an enemy locked:

* Accuracy
* Hit location
* Distance

For accuracy, there are a lot of factors we put in that determine just how true your shots will land. For instance, when you move, you become less accurate in general, no matter what you’re firing. Burst firing and high-recoil weapons will affect the accuracy of weapon too, but you can avoid this by going prone or crouching for less recoil. Additionally, each weapon is more or less accurate than others. Check the statistics of the weapon you choose in the Armory.

You can gauge your accuracy by watching how much your crosshair ticks are moving. Generally, the more the ticks move away from each other, the less accurate you’re shooting. Wait for those ticks to come back together before firing and you’ll have a much better chance of hitting your target (as opposed to hitting the guy next to him J)

Hit location is where you reticle is going to be on your opponent when you lock him. Obviously the upper torso and head is a better place for it to be than the lower torso or arms. The reticle’s position is fluid when you have a target lock – it moves around in response to your situation and actions. Primarily your best chances of getting a high torso or headshot are by not moving and being in a low stance. The closer you are too, the better your chance of aiming for the head. You can see your reticle respond to your tactics in the game when you have a target – it will glide up and down over the target as you move, stop, change stance or close the gap. Also, your opponent’s movement affects the hit location – if you can wait until your prey has stopped moving you have a better chance of a lethal shot.

Finally there’s distance. All weapons have a different lock range – the distance at which you can lock on to a far away enemy. For example SMGs have shorter lock ranges than rifles, to reflect the effective firing distance of these weapons. The further away you lock someone, however, the lower you aim. No auto-headshots for distance attacks – you’ll still need to use your scope for that. A big factor in determining how far away people can lock you is your visibility. That small eye icon in the bottom right of the HUD changes from white to black as you go from being completely exposed to being totally hidden. You can hide in places with lots of foliage (like bushes or tall grass) or where there is a lot of shadow. The better hidden you are the closer people have to be to target you.

Think this gives an unfair advantage to snipers? No sir – every time you fire off a round that visibility meter goes bright white for a few seconds – and during that time you have no cover bonus (you just gave your position away after all) allowing enemies to target YOU much more easily.

So that’s what is going on behind the scenes in every game of SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo. There are pros and cons for almost every tactic you can use – sniping from a distance, sniping from cover, running and gunning, ambushing or spraying and praying. You’ll need to keep your tactics fresh based on each encounter, gametype and map.

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