First off, it'd be neat if the target lead-off was shaped in accordance to each gun's equipped area of tracking. It'd also make the second part of this suggestion work easier, as intuitively knowing that line where your gun will/won't track is a bit harder if it's not circular.

So, instead of weapons that tracked in x degrees in any direction, what if they had a unique shape? As you can see in this picture of the Prom, if there actually was a turret on the bottom, there's no way it could bend and shoot upwards. It could however have pretty decent lateral coverage. If it were dependent on ship type, that's one more trait which could differentiate combat ships, and it'd make combat interesting because orientation would become more important in other situations than when fighting a Vult.

Good idea in theory, but the devs would have to come up with a code for it, as well as some way to write down the info so that us normal people can understand it.

I really like this idea

New image link; http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w50/zamzx/Picture3.png

There's the problem with the code required for this, but I think the Autoaim Area could be visualized by a simple translucent overlay.

I like this idea, too.

This idea is full of win and would not only make combat more realistic but much more interesting

Teh BIG [Stamp of Approval]™

There's small versatility between the Centurion, Vulture, and Raptor. What if the Centurion had a diamond shaped auto aim? (Two triangles <>) It'd be weakest when turning diagonally, where ships turn twice as fast, so the pilot would be hard pressed to moderate their rotations. What if Vulture had stronger vertical auto aim? It'd have some better protection against attacks coming from the top and bottom, where the enemy has the greatest chance to hit it's broad wings. What if the Raptor had better lateral auto aim at the price of vertical? Its two widely spaced ports would overlap in front.

How about a rear pointing turret?