Having troubles making the switch?
I see lots of people come into Elite only to complain of how hard it is to see or hit the target and then end up saying they don't like it and that they are going back to the original version. Have patience. It is not entirely the same game. New skills are required. I'm sure that if you got it down pat on the original you will get it here too, just don't expect it to come without a little effort.
I just had a btb game with only me and one red where we took turns parking at the end of the runway while the other would come in shooting on a bomb run. With the brake set we were immune to the incoming bullets but you could still see when a hit was scored. It was great practice for finding the range for bullet drop.
What I found was:
* you can see the enemy from much farther away than the bullets can go.
* past a certain range the bullets vanish.
* it looks like bullets have a very similar range as the maximum distance shot for a tank, perhaps a little bit further.
* when you first get in range just line up the target with the bottom of the small inner circle of the gun sight. It's usually right there and as you get closer it moves up to the center of the cross hairs.
So you might hold your fire for a bit when the Reds first come into view. Not only are they out of range but you are also wasting bullets and giving the Reds a very good indication of where to aim for you. It may not be that you "can't see well enough to hit anything" but that you are not in range yet. Even with my poor vision, by the time I'm in range I can see where the red plane is. The problem of banners covering planes has gone for me. I have reduced the name tag size to a little more than half and it seems to remember this setting now. (iPad os9) I don't suggest making them smaller than necessary; with hills, clouds and trees able to block your view, sometimes the red name tag sticking up is the only way you can spot a tank in the trees. (It actually makes a slight disadvantage for squad members because their name tag is taller.)
I'm not sure yet but there seems to be a difference in the drop when shooting from different elevations, meaning that if your target is higher than you, you need to lead your shots differently than when you are shooting at a lower target.
Shooting at a far off plane that is going crosswise to your direction is very different here. Leading your shots requires several factors and definitely requires some experience to get a feel for it.
The soldier seems to have a shorter range yet, with more pronounced drop. (When doing rapid fire it looks a bit like he's going pee. Lol!) Some players seem to get in chute instantly and are able to shoot dead ahead before you can see the chute deploy. I always feel like I'm trying to run in a dream and it seems like it takes forever to line up a shot. I'm finding long range from the chute to be almost entirely luck. (Edit: it's easier to control now.)
Tanks have much shorter range in elite. Also, I often don't get a kill when I hit a propeller dead on. The sweet spot for me seems to be just above it. The trees can be fun to hide in and shoot from. There are lots of good places to take cover when shooting at the ships. In btb, the patch of trees below the hill in front of north base is a great spot to lob shells from. The added bullet drop can help to hit the hangars from that spot. The forest at South base is a little too far away to be good cover for shooting hangars...still working on that one. I think providing air-cover for tanks would bring many games to a faster end.
It takes a little getting used to but elite is much better in my opinion. Having the lazar shots of the original seems almost cartoonish to me now. I'm not saying that the game is much more realistic but I think it is a step in the right direction. Make the switch. The sooner you do the more ahead of the curve (or ballistic drop) you'll be.